GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION
#089 GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Scripture II Peter 2:4-9 NIV Orig. 12-16-62
Rewr. 8-3-77
Passage: 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
Purpose: To remind men that God’s Word establishes the reality of His judgment, but that out of that judgment are the first rays of hope and salvation.
Keywords: Salvation Judgment
Introduction
Most of us who have spent any time at all singing in Baptist churches are familiar with the music of John Newton. We have enjoyed such favorites as “How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours” and “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.” We may know very little, however, about his own Christian experience.
When he was still only a boy, he left his native England to go to sea. The day he left home, his mother hold him that she would pray every day that he would become a Christian. (Has it ever occurred to you what might happen in the lives of your children if they knew your spiritual concern for them?) Many years passed, and that prayer went unanswered. As if to aggravate the sorrow that his mother knew, the life of John Newton turned to depravity and decay. He became, eventually, a slave trader, plying the waters between West Africa and the American South. He had come finally to moral and spiritual ruin.
It was in that depravity, however, that God convicted him of his sin. After his experience of repentance, at which time he turned to Christ in faith to save him, John Newton wrote, as an expression of his own life and transformation, a song that became one of the best-loved songs in Christendom, “Amazing Grace.”
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come,
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
I. The Condemnation. V9 “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and . . . to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”
CONDEMNATION IS DESERVED. The examples of our text show that the angels were not spared, but were cast into mystical “Tartarus,” a holding area awaiting judgment: not gehenna (hell), mentioned at least 11 times by Jesus; not sheol (Old Testament), a region of departed spirits. Revelation 6:8 “. . . a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”
There was a prior world judgment by flood upon the ungodly. Deliverance was through the preaching of righteousness.
There was a judgment of limited scope upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was to serve as a warning to others. As the judgment was limited, even so there would be the righteous “living among them” who would be delivered.
There is also the evident displeasure of God with contemporary humanity. Our age is an age of indulgence. Judges 17:6 “In those days . . . every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Did you catch the article in the paper this week? A St. Bernard parish political figure reminded a reporter that questionable funds were not a kick-back, but a campaign contribution.
Paul found it necessary to remind believers in Ephesians 5:18 “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the spirit.” Proverbs 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin.” Luke 18:11 “I thank Thee, that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers.”
God’s truth concerning condemnation covers all the ages of man. Genesis 3:17 “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of the life.” I Kings 21:21, Elijah said to Ahab “I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.”
I looked with dismay at a Times Picayune article, June 7, 1977, about a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old facing indictment on 4 counts of murder. One said, “I’d rather be sailing.” Those two boys lived in somebody’s community with the gospel. Are there any like them in our community? What to do? As a member of Riverside Baptist Church, what do you do? Leave it to the staff! As a Christian, a Baptist, live in indifference? It’s just temporary.
II. The Judge. V4 “For if God spared not the angels that sinned . . . , to be reserved unto judgment.”
He is the judge who cannot be mocked. Have you ever thought to consider what you taught your small children about Santa Claus, and later about God?
You’d better not pout, you’d better not cry
You’d better be good I’m telling you why…
You used a fairy tale to bargain your child into better behavior, getting them committed to a myth. That is not wrong in itself, but when you fail to teach them the true meaning of Christmas and their ultimate responsibility to God, then you are mocking God.
To live in atheistic disbelief is not to mock God. Martin Luther tells of the time when “I hated God and was angry with him.” But by his own reckoning that state of mind and heart spoke badly for himself and not of God.
Even Madeleine Murray O’Hare claims to believe in a god of nature. But, you see, she wants a quiet god who makes no claims or demands. One who sits around like the three monkeys with eyes, ears, and mouth covered.
Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
He is the judge who cannot be other than just. He will not turn his back to ignore sin. Psalm 90:8 “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of the count.” Jeremiah 32:19 “. . . Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
In the Orleans Parish Criminal Court record of one Richard Norman Glover, self-accused rapist and murderer of 17-year-old Cynthia LeBoeuf, confessed in June 1972. In October 1972 he was ruled insane and unable to stand trial. He was committed to East Louisiana State Hospital. In March 1975 he was ruled synthetically sane, and able to stand trial. In February 1976 his admission of guilt was allowed (5 to 2) by State Superior Court. Eleven months later they reversed themselves and Glover was free.
III. The Promise. V9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.”
It is a promise which cannot be earned. Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ.” Understand, please, that we may stand convicted of sin, and sincerely want to change our ways. But the power for justification is not in ourselves, but in Christ. Satan’s last foothold occurs when God convicts us of sin and he, Satan, tries to make us think that we can change ourselves.
It is a promise which can only be believed and received. It is more than a mere fresh veneer. Matthew 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men’s bones.”
It is the new birth, an inner change, wrought by God alone. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
NOTE by Rev. Skinner: Verse 4 contains a reference to God in judgment. Verse 9 completes this in reference to the Lord in that through Him there is the promise of deliverance.
***THE CONCLUSION OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
FAITH MADE PERFECT
#036 FAITH MADE PERFECT
Scripture James 2:19-26 NIV Orig. 10-14-62
Rewr. 10-8-87
Passage: 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[b] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Purpose: Beginning the new church year with an emphasis on faith and church organization in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper
Keywords: Church Activity Faith Ordinance Lord’s Supper
Introduction
Tomorrow is a special milestone in our great Baptist Heritage. It represents a very special anniversary for Louisiana Baptists.
On October 12th, in 1812, the first Baptist work was begun in our state. That was the date, in Washington Parish, on the Bogue Chitto River, that the Half Moon Bluff Church was organized.
For 175 years, the gospel has been proudly proclaimed by Baptists of Louisiana. Those earliest believers, because of their location in extreme southeastern Louisiana, were for some years affiliated with Mississippi Baptists, but they were, nonetheless, the forebears of Louisiana work.
It was the same year, by the way, that Adoniram Judson left to go to Burma as a missionary. If you recall the story, you recall that he changed to his life-long Baptist faith on the ship that took him to a land that knew nothing of Christianity. He went, then, without support. His former denomination withdrew support. And it was before we Baptists were known for our missionary vision. These struggling churches, not unlike Half Moon Bluff, in the early Nineteenth Century, supported what missionaries that there were, on butter and egg money, by the women of the Ladies Aid Society, the forerunner of our Women’s Missionary Union.
It has been people of vision, working together organizationally, who have reared up this great Baptist heritage. It seems that some of us are satisfied to let some parts of it die. In the name of our Lord, and in His covenant with us in his own blood, I challenge you to be a strong arm of influence in our town and Parish, for our Lord, and for His church.
I. Faith Demands an Effort Put Forth. V22 “…by works was faith made perfect.” Make no mistake, they were not saved by works. Abraham faithed God. God imputed (deposited to his account). Those with children away at school have to impute solvency so that these young people will appear secure. That depositing of worth expects a response of concern. In other words, the works don’t save, but they prove the faith.
Our faith calls us to organize our concern. We organize a Bible teaching program called Sunday School for the teaching of the Word of God. A Church Training emphasis was organized years ago to personalize youth involvement and growth. Today it provides opportunity for growth in Christ, in Bible study, in ability, for all. Missions organization is just that, a means to share with all the prospect of service to the needs of humankind.
The 2nd Sunday in October represents World Hunger Day. Are you aware that 730 million people remain hungry every day? The wafer and juice we consume is more than many will have all day. In Ethiopia, 5-10 million may starve this year. In America, there may be as many as 3 million homeless. People working full-time at minimum wage are $1800 below the poverty line for a family of three.
Thus, faith is an instrument in our lives for good. Faith is belief. But it is belief to train, to work, to serve. And we begin where we are. Too many Christians assume that they are excused from such service. No person in this room is little qualified to serve Christ, none too old, or too feeble.
Rahab (v25) served, simply by becoming a relocation agent for God’s people passing through.
II. Faith Made Perfect is a Process Through Which We Grow in Our Understanding of God’s Will and Way. V26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” As a believer, I have a responsibility: To stay as close to the Lord as I can through Bible study, service activities, and mission involvement (Camp Harris), and to walk by faith—to live by faith—to work by faith.
As a believer, I have a responsibility to share. We share readily with those we love. When will our hearts be open to love those less fortunates for whom Christ died? We have been successful in the Georgia Barnette State Mission Offering. We will soon endeavor to opportunize the Lottie Moon Foreign Missions Offering. What can we do for hungry people?
Conclusion
Let me remind you as we turn our attention to the Lord’s Supper, that stewardship is a faith venture also. In the great text of II Samuel 24:24 about David and Araunah the Jebusite, Araunah was prepared to give whatever it might take in the King’s name. David’s reply is a classic. “Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer . . . offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.”
What better time, than now, can we offer to our Lord, that which comes of dedication and even sacrifice?
THE IMAGE OF THE CHURCH
#029 THE IMAGE OF THE CHURCH
Scripture I John 1:1-10 NIV Orig. 10-18-64
Rewr. 10/7/86
Passage: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Purpose: Lead my people in the observance of the Lord’s Supper with a brief message about our image as God’s people.
Keywords: Church, Image Lord’s Supper Ordinance
Introduction
I am not sure any longer what happened to it, but I used to have a book in my library entitled Games People Play. The author, Eric Berne, simply describes some of the ways that people pretend to be different than they really are. They imagine the kind of person they wish to be, or what they perceive others expect of them, and then they pretend to actualize that concept.
Children grow up playacting. In fact, it is one of the strong ways they have of perceiving the adult world of choices. Perhaps many have gone into chosen professions, including church vocations, who first playacted their way through some rainy day activity.
This fantasy world stops being a game when deception is being practiced. And remember, there are two kinds of deception: one, the kind when we deceive others; the second is the kind when we deceive ourselves.
Churches have to be careful also. We have a true image in our community. We want to be sure that the image being portrayed to our community is accurate, and that it is Christ-honoring.
I. The Church’s Image Is Seen in Her Fellowship. V3 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us.”
Is it the image of compassion or compensation? Who stands to benefit most?
Is it dependable or demoralizing? Someone asked me recently, “Have you ever had a friend really let you down?” “Yes!”
Is it indispensable or insensitive? Do we really look for opportunities to share our faith through acts of ministry?
Is it peace-making or pageantry? We by our attention, or lack of it, determine what our image is.
Someone has suggested that the church has become a babysitter for delinquent parents, and organizer of discreet partying. Even if that is accurate, we are not wrong if we continue other image functions that enable us to portray ourselves as the people of God. Psalm 119:63 “I am companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts.” Ecclesiastes 11-12 is a treatise about human activity, and ends, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
II. The Church’s Image Is Seen in Her Spirituality. V6 “If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” Of what does the constituency of the church consist? Is it socially prominent? Is it wealthy? Are its members educated? Are they baptized Baptists? Remember that our church covenant requires that shared baptismal encounter. Is it a mecca of variant entities from throughout the community?
What the church should reflect: Those led by the Spirit of God to receive Jesus as Saviour; those who have publicly professed their faith in Christ; and those who declare their faith through worship and witness and ministry.
Regrettably, some speak of “The church within the church.” This is a divisive concept. Paul Tillich has defined faith as “ultimate concern:” Concern for self; concern for others; and concern for the output of our lives in association with others.1
III. The Church’s Image Is Seen in Her Purpose. V7 “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
This is not one upmanship—It is a worthy walk of faith. It is Christ supreme in our lives that He might be perceived as supreme in all things. It is to give expression to the transcendence of God.
Conclusion
Someone tells the story of a new family that moved into the small town. Needing groceries, the housewife called a local merchant and discovered that he delivered. She placed her order, and soon a young delivery boy was at her door. While there she inquired about his name. “Humphrey Bogart,” he replied. “Why, that’s a very famous name,” said the wife. “It ought to be,” came the immediate reply, “I’ve been delivering groceries around here for years.”
Our image needs to be true, it needs to be our own, and it needs to reflect a servant mentality.
1 Tillich, Paul. 1964. Theology of Culture. London: Oxford University Press. p. 6-7
LIVING BUILDING STONES
#15 LIVING BUILDING STONES
Scripture I Peter 2:1-12 NIV Orig. 5/10/64 (10-81)
Rewr. 10-1-86
Passage: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Purpose: To show that we are the Living Building Stones out of which the redemptive mission of God is brought to fruition
Keywords: Mission, Church, Christ, Propitiation, Heritage, Fellowship, Tradition
Introduction
Octoberfest celebrations are underway everywhere. Most of the people who are celebrating have no idea what the original concept was. It would never occur to them that this is a harvest ritual. They are totally void of any comprehension of meaning in relation to the bounty of God in general. And the provision of Christ in particular. How many people who are caught up in the wild melee of these celebrations will see them as a time of rededication, and of new beginnings?
Werner Marx, Moravian missionary to South America, remembers his own childhood in the home of missionary parents in Tibet. He remembers dedication services for new workers where fledgling missionaries were required to place both their hands on their head and declare, “Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel!” Their lives were fixed to the place where they were, and they were to be prepared to be used of God to build what He would build.
It is not inordinately visionary to think of ourselves in that same light. We are “living building stones” to serve the place where we are. We are not here by accident, you and I. We are here a-purpose, and the purpose is God’s.
You remember Walt Kelly’s comic strip, Pogo. The characters were animals, but the gist of the strip was human relationships. They were having trouble getting along with one another, and Pogo observed, “The trouble with us is that we are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.” He eulogized to his fellow-denizens of the swamp, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
I. In the First Place, Living Stones are Provisional. V9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy mountain, a peculiar people; for ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Consider the analogy as it relates to building. The architect determines the style of stone. The workman rasps away any rough edges to bring the stone into symmetry. The stone has only yielded to this superior wisdom.
True Baptists have sustained a real romance with the local church. We have rightly viewed it as the proper descendant of the body of believers found in the New Testament. In the real sense, descendants also of Israel. The physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God.
But the Church in every age has faced the temptation to lose its outward vision. The aging process does indeed bring on the hypochondria of deterioration. This lends support to the discovery that two kinds of churches tend to grow: those newly started, who are able to sustain the freshness of mission, and those that “re-dream” the dream. What we must discover are new ways to minister to those outside the local church. We will not have many new people to come here. The key is finding a means to the disenfranchised ones. Consider the inner child of the past; bad childhood experience; the threat of surrendering some ingrained passion. What we need first at First Baptist Church is not new people in town, but those among us who re-dream the dream.
One of the real problems of the late 1980’s is to deal with the burden of spiraling expenditure that eats away at what we ought to do for others and for God. An editorial cartoon in NSW (10-81) is of two cave men exhausting their possessions trying to own the more powerful weapon. Dr. Leslie Weatherhead wrote: “Picture in your mind a man of say a million years ago, grabbing his club and running for his cave because his enemy was in sight. Then picture modern man in his imported suit grabbing his gas mask and running for his bomb shelter because the attack alarm has sounded. Which is civilized?”
II. Such Living Stones are Also Providential. V4: “So come to Him, our Living Stone—the stone rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God. Come and let yourselves be built, as living stones, into a spiritual temple; become a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We are required to rethink the entire meaning of fellowship. Clarence Willis in Oakdale attended regularly but would not unite with the church because of church suppers. The problem at Corinth was with “Love Feasts.” Jude 12: “These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted, twice dead.”
But Jesus used “sup” as an analogy of faith. Revelation 3:20: “Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” So we have justification for fellowship meals. But Blackie’s thesis is right, fellowship is more than eating together, whether in the same room or under the same tree.
I remember a wedding reception in New Orleans, but Christian fellowship was on few minds.
Fellowship is not merely a joint walk by equals either. What happens in too many marriages of those who seem supremely suited is that there is no spiritual unity between them. The novelty wears off, and the bond comes unraveled. Fellowship is a walk together in the dispensation of grace, God’s grace. It is to be of the same mind as God, and of his Son, Jesus.
In the sphere of worship, prayer, ministry, and administration, we have fellowship. 1 John 1:7 “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other.” No, we don’t have to give up church suppers or dinners. We don’t even have to hold them outside. There is even some room for parlor games, the right kind, but they must be occasions of Christian fellowship.
Vance Havner said: “The church today needs time out to tune up. We are so busy building a bigger orchestra, that we won’t stop to tune the instruments. What good is a big orchestra if two-thirds of the members never show up for practice, or else are off-key when they perform?”
III. So, These Living Stones are, Above All Else, Propitiational. V6 “Wherefore also, it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. It no longer is an extension of Judeo/Christian traditions. Upon this building stone all rests. Notice verses 7 and 8. The craftsmen are at their work. The surveyor has found the site. The architect has fitted plans to the site. The builder has begun construction. But all have discounted the capstone.
The only link to the past that matters is Christ. But our best link with Him is NOW. Don’t ask where we have been but, rather, where we are going. Do we walk together in Christ? Are we STONES for the building? Do we willingly fit into the chosen place? Is it nothing more than Pogo’s “insurmountable opportunity”? What is the church’s destiny? What is our church’s destiny?
Tonight, Sardis: “thou hast a name that thou liveth.”
In a few weeks Philadelphia: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door.”
Conclusion
Most of us have had enough of Alice in Wonderland to remember the basics of the story. Alice is at a crossroads, not sure what to do next. She encounters the Cheshire Cat. He enquires, “Where are you headed?” She responds, “I don’t know.” To which he responds what must be the feeling of our Lord for many of us as well, if you don’t know where you are going, “Then it doesn’t matter!” Which road is taken at the crossroads?
We Christians are to know where we are going, and which road leads to our destination.
Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by. That has made all the difference.”