WISE UNTO SALVATION
#053 WISE UNTO SALVATION
Scripture II Timothy 3:12-17 Orig. Date 10-22-61 (4-75)
Rewr. Dates 1-12-86
Passage: 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Purpose: To speak to my people early in the year encouraging them to give stronger consideration to the need to study God’s Word with a renewed intensity.
Keywords: Bible Christian Responsibility Baptist Belief
Introduction
I stood there that day talking with a lady about a need for a music worker. She shared some reluctance, but I felt that she was almost convinced. I moved in like a fisherman at his favorite fishing hole. I reminded her that we simply wanted to see her talent invested in this important “kingdom” cause. Her response was sincere. “Brother Skinner, I love to sing, but there’s a lot I don’t know about music.” I felt like a chess payer moving in to checkmate. Said I, “I love to preach, but there’s a lot I don’t know about preaching and sermons.” I was just getting ready to pat myself on the back when she took the wind out of my sails. She responded, “Yeah, but YOU can fool people, and you can’t when you don’t know music.”
I never cease to be amazed at the capabilities that many people have. There are few things in this world that are not within the scope of being mastered if one has the heart and the will, and some intellect thrown in for good measure.
There are musicians who have dedicated their lives to mastering music. There are theologians who likewise have mastered the art and craft of sermon and rhetoric. Believe it or not, there are even people who understand American foreign policy. They know what is going on in Nicaragua, even Libya, or South Africa.
Make no mistake about this then. If one wants to understand the Bible, it is within our grasp. We can, and must, see it as vital to the Christian life. We must perceive of God’s Word as the agent of His communication with His people. Such a voice would not be shoddily handled when so much depends on it.
I. We Discover that This Book was Written By Men Inspired. II Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
There are a lot of different reasons that people write: Some to share knowledge; some to entertain; some to express their prurient thoughts. Others write simply because it is easier than working. The Bible was written as a storehouse of redemptive knowledge. Its purpose was not science, not astronomy, not even history. God is at work redemptively.
Psalm 110:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Luke 24:32 “Did not our hearts burn within us as he opened to us the Scriptures?” Romans 15:4 “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
Patrick Henry referred to the Bible as “a book worth all other books which were ever printed.”
II. Written By Inspired Men, It Had God for Its Author, Salvation for Its End. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” God is then eternally responsible for His Word. In man’s beginning, he struggled to communicate with other men, and language was born, a language capable of expressing the deepest of thoughts. In man’s entrapment in the nuclear age, communication has been replaced by détente. God’s Word is now more than ever man’s only surviving means of brotherhood.
God’s purpose according to His Word will not and cannot be averted. The writing of the Bible as we know it today covers about 1600 years of man’s history. The Old Testament was born and woven in three fragments—Law, Prophets, and Writings. By 150 A.D. a complete New Testament canon was in circulation. Many translations preceded the ones we know: Jerome, mid 4th century; Wycliffe 1380; Tyndale 1611; King James 1611. The TEXTUS RECEPTUS was the basic King James text. Though some 5,000 manuscripts have been found since, there is a total alteration of less than one percent.
III. God’s Word has Truth without Any Mixture of Error for its Matter. Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every work of God is pure. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar.” There is not to be found any book with the integrity, credibility, and authenticity of the Bible. Why do people waste time on the trashy books that offer only a fleshly sensation at best? They may do worse. This is the real evil of pornography: What it does to us, and what it keeps from us.
The truth of man’s gravest need is found and continued in the book we know as the Bible. We were concerned with Watergate. We are concerned with Southeast Asia. We wonder about ecology and energy supplies. There is an answer to “Why am I here?” and “Where is it all going?”
Psalm 43:3 “Send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me.” John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” II Corinthians 13:8 “We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”
IV. The Bible Goes on to Reveal the Principles by Which God Will Judge Us. Romans 2:12 “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." John 12:47-48 “If any man hear my words. . . . the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
The most significant aspect of that judgment is faith in Jesus. Whatever good there is, or merit, in any human life comes about as a result of faith.
Aristotle said of his own writings that they “were given for action and not for discussion.” Even so, with the Bible, it is easier to get people to talk about the Bible, even to study, than to get us to do what it says. We marvel that Codex Sinaiticus sold for ½ million dollars. Vaticanus was so closely guarded that it was not known until Napoleon conquered Rome.
V. The Bible Is and Will Remain to the End of the World the True Center of Christian Union. Philippians 3:16 “Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” We have learned some things worthy of keeping: We are judged by the same standards. We are forgiven alike through Jesus. We are saved for equal purposes.
It will do us well to remember that the totalitarian state is enemy to the purpose of sharing this Word from God. One is reminded of a Hitler quote to youth-oriented groups, “Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, or the sayings of Jesus, it is all the same old swindle. . . . One is either a German or a Christian. You can not be both.” A Hitler mouthpiece was head of the German people’s church. National socialism must not be judged from a biblical or ecclesiastical standpoint.
VI. The Bible is the Supreme Standard by Which All Human Conduct, Creeds, and Opinions Should be Tried. I John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
CLOSING
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.
Then looking in I saw upon the floor
old hammers worn with beating years of time.
“How MANY anvils have you had,” said I,
“to wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out you know!”
And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
for ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
the anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.
Attributed to John Clifford
MISSIONS: THE TUNE OF OBEDIENCE
#050 MISSIONS: THE TUNE OF OBEDIENCE
Scripture Isaiah 54:1-5; John 4:31-41 NIV Orig. 11-26-61
Rewr. 11-28-84
Passage:
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
Purpose: To call attention to the clear teaching of Scripture as it gives us our mandate to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Keywords: Christ Redeemer Missions Church Obedience
Introduction
It was an Easter meeting of the Northampton Association in England. The year was 1791. The urgency of missions was a new and controversial theme for English Baptists. For as long as any of them could remember their belief had centered around Calvinism. They were known as Particular Baptists because they believed that God was a “Particular” God, and that only certain “elected” people would be saved.
At that meeting, men like Andrew Fuller and John Sutcliffe spoke to these assembled believers. But on this occasion, they spoke on the challenge of missions.
It was just one month later when many of these same pastors and church leaders assembled again. They were to induct a young man into the role of pastor of one of these churches. As a part of the program, this young man was to preach. He chose a subject which was a part of a study in which he was engaged. The title of his sermon was “The Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen.”
The young man who was assuming his first pastoral role was William Carey, the man who today is called “The Father of modern missions.” That day he referred to statistics. There were 731 million people in the world: 2 of 10 were Muslim, 5 of 10 were pagan, only 3 of 10 were Christian. Something must be done to point these lost multitudes to Christ.
John Ryland, the pastor who baptized [Carey], was present. He spoke up, “Sit down, young man: When the Lord gets ready to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine.”
A year later, on May 30, 1792, [Carey] preached again to the Association. “Expect great things from God . . . Attempt great things for God.” Within a year, Carey and a Baptist surgeon named [John] Thomas would be on their way to India.
I. Foreign Missions Fulfills the Tune of World Diplomacy. V3 “Your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” V35 “Look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” The world desperately needs to have an option to be Christian. It is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. It is Communist. How [many have] any chance to be Christian? A group of Christians emerged from a Jewish tour bus at the Dome of the Rock. The Muslim overseers had closed it for the day. The guide remarked to her driver, “I could do just as well without any religions.” Unfortunately, there are many Christians who act as if they agree.
Do you think Muslims will hesitate? Would see the world in Communism? Then we must support a mission program that reaches out in love.
Yes, missionaries are still making an impact with the Gospel. There are those who deny it. They say this person from another culture is not a messenger from God, but a harbinger of Western values. Baptist missionaries in most of the world are supporting national leaders. The good work for Ethiopian people is being done by the religiously oriented.
Here is the One Way that WE can creatively take a world stand. John Denver said in USA Today: “If one man is hungry, then I am hungry. If a child is starving, then my child is starving.” Missions is the one remaining best hope of the world.
II. It Not Only Fulfills World Diplomacy, but Church Deputation as Well. V35 “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields.” Matthew 28:19, 20 “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
There can be no doubt that we are to evangelize. A young clergyman asked the Duke of Wellington if it wasn’t useless to preach to Hindus. “Look to your marching orders, ‘Go, preach the Gospel to every creature.’” S3p252.
The message of Christ has not found fulfillment until we share it with another. Each one of use came to believe through the witness of another. Our faith witness ought to include family, neighbors, others. Family and neighbors we can reach; missions helps us to extend our hands around the world.
It is no little job. World population is presently approaching 5 billion. By the year 2000 it is expected to be close to 6 billion.
WORLD AREA POPULATION % CHRISTIAN [1984]
Western Europe 516 million 30%
Eastern Europe 425 million 5%
[South] America 384 million 3%
Africa 700 million 2%
Asia 2.9 billion 0.1%
North America 280 million 40%
To walk with Christ is to identify with His message. Matthew 24:14 “This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” Revelation 14:6 “I saw another angel . . . , having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Southern Baptist men gave 100,000 Bibles in Russia, and then they gave 100,000 Bibles again!
In preparing for Jonah last week, I read again why Jonah hated the Assyrians so. Do we want a Gaddafi or Khomeini or Khrushchev clone in control? God left the Jews because they became nation-centered.
90% of Protestant preaching is to English-speaking people. 90% or more of Christian wealth is in the hand of English-speaking people. English speakers make up 9% of the world’s population.
III. Missions Also is Necessary to Fulfill the Credibility of the Saviour. V34 “Jesus saith unto them, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” I John 4:14 “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” He continues to seek that accomplishment through men and women of faith and good will.
There are things that we can and must do. Be sensitive to the searchings of faith in the lives of people around us. Acknowledge that the means to winning the world is through the support of evangelically oriented missionaries. Take a prayerful look at what the Lottie Moon Christmas offering means in that purpose.
Remember that the way we live and talk, and the way we support our church and kingdom causes, tells people what we think about the credibility of the Saviour.
Conclusion
Do you know who Albert Einstein was? Perhaps the greatest brain in scientific revolution.
Do you know about Karl Marx? Probably the greatest mind behind 20th Century economics.
Do you recognize Sigmund Freud? The prime mover of psychology.
All were Jews!!!! But the need
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
A RADICAL CHANGE
#049 A RADICAL CHANGE
Scripture Romans 6:1-23 NIV Orig. 5-20-62 (6-77)
Rewr. 11-9-88 (1-85)
Passage: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series from the Book of Romans, here drawing the contrast between sin’s death and Christ’s life.
Keywords: Death God Grace Life Sin
Series Romans Revival
Introduction
Finally, the truth has been revealed relative to the “Shroud of Turin.” For hundreds of years there has been speculation about this simple linen shroud. It was claimed to be the burial shroud in which Jesus was buried, and was for centuries, Christendom’s most baffling relic.
The relic is controlled by the Catholic bishop of Turin, and thus its name, although it is owned by Umberto II, a deposed king of Italy who, at last report, lived in Portugal.
It is just over 4-1/2 meters long, and just under one meter wide. It has been submitted to extensive scientific analysis, including carbon 14 dating, and computer technology. Even pollen samples were evaluated.
The shawl had blood in all the right places. Even the imprint of a human face. But the computers could not confirm its validity, and said absolutely nothing about life after death. It was determined that should this be proved to be the right cloth, then Jesus was 5’10-1/2”, and weighed 175 pounds.
Well, in fact now we know that it was not the burial shroud of Jesus. Even the Catholic Church admits that the early history of the cloth cannot be ascertained.
What if? What if it were the cloth? Suppose that these tests authenticated the shroud. We Christians would have a miracle to flaunt. One of the scientific team members said,
“If Christ was resurrected from the dead, then the gospels are truth, and eternal life—immortality—is offered.” (Ray Rogers—Omni p.95)
But the possibility of a miracle no longer exists. We are not yet without hope, however. The Bible has much to say on the subject, and the apostle here affirms that death, for the believer, will be swallowed up in life. He speaks of a most “radical change,” and it is that death “hath no more dominion.”
I. So Radical a Change Acknowledges Death to Sin. V2 “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” V6 “…Our old man is crucified with him.”
To begin with, Paul has much to say on the subject of death. Beside this note of being “crucified” with Christ, death is alluded to fourteen times in these first eleven verses. It is a subject not given wide circulation in our sophisticated culture. Tabloids on display at check-out lines sensationalize it: “Five Psychics Tell Why They Believe in Life after Death.” The scientific community offers us the name of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross as the most knowledgeable: “Although I do not consider myself a particularly religious woman, I find no conflict between the Christian concept of an after-life, and my own careful studies on death.”
But the death here is not just the cessation of bodily function. Remember the legal ramifications invoked in the Karen Ann Quinlan case. Who could throw the switch? Someone finally did, and she survived on a tube feeding for nine years.
Biblically, death is the soulmate of sin, and is viewed judgmentally. But is God death’s source? The answer is a resounding “No!” We are emphatically told that the “wages of sin is death.” Thus, sin, and its corollary, resulted from acts of will.
So, as death is more than cessation, life is more than breathing and bodily function. A war correspondent in Vietnam told of interviewing a crusty Marine sergeant. He was eating cold beans with his bayonet. “If I could grant one request right now for you what would it be?” “Give me tomorrow!”
A TV special on “Violence in America” concluded with this evaluation, “Biological life alone is not enough for a rational being. He, or she, wants participation in the social process.”
For the believer, death dispels the power of sin to rule and distort lives. Chapter five dealt with sin and grace. Sin and death are personified in Adam. Grace and life are personified in Christ.
The present chapter moves more to the drum beat of faith (sanctification). V14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Having received Christ as Saviour is being perceived of God as following a new leader. Satan has lost the battle for your soul. But he has not lost your address. Depending totally on the carnality of our faith, he exercises influence.
II. So Radical a Change Acknowledges that a New Life is Given. V11. “Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is not mentality that separates man from the beasts of the field. Within limits they have intellect. Consider pets, zoo animals.
Nor is it our ability to communicate. The great whales are said to communicate over hundreds, thousands of miles of ocean. Diane Fosse studied the great apes. Her death may be attributed to her affinity. Brahmans, Hindus, see animals as “brothers with them before God.” (National Geographic, November 1988)
What separates man from beast is his potential to faith-relationship with God. Scriptures declare this uniqueness. Genesis 2:7 “God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is that “breath of God” that we know as faith. It is here that “baptism” enters into Paul’s discussion. Baptism is the “sign” of that faith. Not salvation by legalist “rite,” but that baptism is expressive of that faith. Faith shows itself in many ways. Baptism is one.
We also have a fairly complete criteria of what that faith-relationship consists of. First it is dependable. In V11 we read “reckon”—to us often meaning no more than “suppose.” Then, it was an accounting term reflecting absolute accuracy. Secondly, it is free. V20 Enslaved to sin, we are set free to righteousness. V18, 23. Such faith knows no class distinction. Lastly, it is eternal. The word aionios means “eternal,” “endless.”
III. So Radical a Change Comes Through Jesus Christ. V23 “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The place of Christ in the equation of salvation is without equal. We were “baptized” (v3) into Christ Jesus. Our fleshly being was “crucified”(v6) with Jesus. “Death” in Christ Jesus is what frees us from sin (v7). Thus, we come to “live” (v11) through Jesus. And ultimately, eternal life (v23) comes through Him.
Lay to rest any thought that religion is nothing more than a person’s sincerity. There are waves of people who are sincerely wrong. At the abortion clinic, the young pregnant woman advises opponents to keep their “morals off of her body.” People around Louisiana think that devil worship by teenagers is idle (sic) curiosity. Sincere people say “God wouldn’t send anyone to hell.” Satan would, and he would gladly use our being “sincerely wrong” to accomplish it.
Conclusion
An unknown author left a couplet on death.
Some men die by shrapnel, some go down in flames.
But most men perish inch by inch, in play at little games.
Death comes to all alike. The method, manner may change, but only Christ makes a difference in dying. As there is more to life than blood flow, breath, body function, there is more to death than dying.
SEEKING BETTER THINGS
#045 SEEKING BETTER THINGS
Scripture Colossians 3:1-4 NIV Orig. 4-14-63
Rewr. 1-6-74/4-8-79
Passage: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Purpose: To speak to my people on the occasion of Easter celebration to call to their minds the need to lift our horizons in the Lord Jesus, and commitment to Him.
Keywords: New Birth Easter Resurrection Christian Living
Introduction
A BAG OF TOOLS
Isn’t it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, a book of rules:
And each must make—before life is gone—
A stumbling block or a steppingstone.
--R.L. Sharpe--
We do not have to look very far to discover people who have committed themselves absolutely to their life priorities. Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist, considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Mary Leakey, paleontologist and contributor to National Geographic, was committed to the task of discovering man’s beginnings. Ralph Nader was a consumer who made news about the dangers of the Corvair and Pinto; a young college student had died. Nuclear scientists are convinced that one of man’s energy sources is in their field, and they are committed to efficient and safe nuclear power plants; it is too late to turn back because there are already 500 of these plants in the world, either in operation, or in some stage of planning or construction.
We Christians must come to terms with the need for commitment to our Lord, and to His church, in order that we might be known as people whose energy resources and reserves are given over unconditionally to our Lord to bring glory to His name.
Seeking better things is as immanent in the spiritual world as in the material world.
I. The Natural Beginning Place for Any Improvement is to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.“
Apparently, most of us are looking for some good out of life. For Adam, it was a rather arrogant goal, to be like God, all wise and eternal. For Job, it was for an answer to a philosophical question, albeit a very important one (Job 14:14) “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Thomas, who walked part of life’s trail with Jesus, was one who could not settle for faith, He had to have fact. “I will believe that He is alive, only under the circumstances of touching the nail holes, and feeling the torn flesh on His side.”
But regrettably, the goal for most of us is not changed from that day long ago in Babel (Genesis 11:4), “Let us build us a city and a tower. . . , whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
We are compelled here as Christians to remember that life has a higher, nobler goal. It begins with the certitude that Christ is alive. Luke 24:3 “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.”
It takes on its deepest meaning when we discover through faith that we are alive with Christ. A.A. Ketchum wrote the hymn on p. 429 in our hymnal, Why Do I Sing About Jesus?
Deep in my heart there’s a gladness; Jesus has saved me from sin!
Praise to His name, what a Saviour! Cleansing without and within!
Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me?
He is my Lord and my Saviour; Dying, He set me free!
Paul is not here appealing for a sham other worldliness where we only contemplate eternity. He is clearly acknowledging that for the Christian, his new standard of value will be God’s standard of value: Giving more than getting; serving more than ruling; forgiving more than avenging.
Vance Havner, the contemporary Baptist evangelist, gives practical advice to all of us: “I would say to today’s young minister, ‘Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation. You can well afford to dispense with many other activities some may think indispensable. You will be returning to a way of life almost forgotten now, and you may be eyed askance by all runners in the Great Rat Race. But your chance may come one day to speak your piece on some strategic occasion, when weary humanity has reached saturation and boredom listening to everything else. On that day, your quiet walks and lonely vigils will pay off. If that chance never comes, they will have paid off anyway.’”
II. Then, Let this Seeking Continue in the Positive Thrust of Christ-Like Living. V3:2-3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” The Gnostics believed in hidden wisdom. The meaning here is obvious. The believer does not automatically lose worldly desire. One never loses the potential to sin.
Something else did happen, and still does. Their lives are wrapped up in Christ. The Greeks commonly spoke of a dead relative as being hidden in the earth. The believer dies a spiritual death in baptism, and is hidden in Christ. Baptism literally engulfed the early believers in the Lord. It should be so with us.
There is another reason why the believer should be so wrapped up in the Lord. Satan rarely, if ever, gives up on bringing disruptive influences to bear in our lives.
Paganini, the great violinist, was in the middle of an important concert when one of the strings on his violin snapped. He continued to play as if nothing had happened. Then, a second broke! He played yet on without hesitation. Then, unbelievably, a third gave way with a sharp crack! For a brief moment, he paused. The audience assumed he would quit. But he calmly raised his famous Stradivarius with one hand and announced, “One string . . . and Paganini!”
With a tremendous, furious skill and matchless discipline, he finished the selection on a single string. The audience arose and gave him a thunderous ovation.
There are times in our lives when things go wrong. Strings one after the other seem to snap. It becomes increasingly easier to quit. But when we are wrapped up in Jesus, going on is the thing to do. Nothing pleases the prince of darkness more than for the children of the Father to forget who we are and WHOSE we are. Nothing robs him of power and pleasure in our lives like trusting the Lord the more in difficult times than in good times.
You see, the Christian life has a final goal of Christlikeness. The Christian’s life is never more than when it is in the process of becoming.
There is the new consumer advocacy. There is genetic engineering. For the believer, there is that priority that establishes the Lordship of Christ, and my only solution to the sin problem in my life is through Him.
CLOSING
The three Hebrew children, young men actually, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were threatened with death if they did not accede to the demands of the Babylonians. They were to worship like Babylonians and act like Babylonians. “If it be so that our God is able to deliver us, well; but if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve thy gods or worship them” (Daniel 3).
When Paul arrived at Miletus, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17). He reminded them of the two essentials of the kingdom: repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus. He, Paul, was not going to be around to help them, but this was the essential message that they were to bear to the people of their city.
Repentance and faith. They still are the elemental functions of belief: Repentance—clearly, we are sinners, and only repentance toward God will ever change that; and Faith—faith that Christ died on a cross as the enabler of repentance and forgiveness, and the better, fuller life that is in Him.
JUSTIFIED FREELY
#044 JUSTIFIED FREELY
Scripture Romans 3:19-31 NIV Orig. 11-12-61 (11-85)
Rewr. 10-5-88
Passage 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, here defining the message of justification for all mankind.
Keywords: Bible Study God, Grace Man, Lost Justification Law
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
Although it has been a number of years, many of us will still remember news reports out of the city of Philadelphia, and the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. It was the summer of 1976. By some fateful choice, the American Legion was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia. Many of the legionnaires were staying at the Bellevue Stratford.
After the convention was over, and many of the conventioneers had returned home, a strange pall of illness invaded the lives of many of them. Although they were in hospitals in several parts of the country, their doctors read the symptoms the very same way. These people had an unknown illness. For that reason, it became known as “legionnaires” disease. In the weeks following at least 29 people died as a result of complications from the disease. These people had either stayed at The Bellevue Stratford Hotel, or had taken meals there.
Public censure of the hotel began immediately. Before the end of that year, a period of no more than six months, the hotel was closed. What had at one time been one of the proudest of the Philadelphia hotels, slowly sank into an undeserved oblivion. The hotel did not cause those deaths. But its association with them was such that a cautious public would no longer avail itself of these accommodations.
We have an aversion to that which seems to be a threat to our physical well-being. We are insisting on more and more safety in every mode of transportation. We spend huge amounts of money encouraging medical science to protract life.
We have no aversion, however, to sin. We seem willing to take our chances with it even when we know what a threat it is. Thus, Paul reminds his readers, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace through . . . Christ Jesus.”
I. First, then, Is the Need for Justification. V23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thomas Hobbes wrote, “whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin.” The first three chapters are an extension of this premise. God has revealed Himself to the gentiles through nature (Romans 1:19-20). He revealed Himself to the Jews through Law (Romans 2:14-15). All have rebelled against this revelation (Romans 1:29-32 and 2:1-5). All will be judged on the basis of truth rejected (Romans 2:9-11). All are equally guilty (Romans 3:21-23).
Here will begin (through chapter 8) the supreme workings of faith. Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, or angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things past, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Man, whatever his cultural bias, is the fallen creation of God. We were created in, and for, holiness. Acts 17:26f “From one man made He every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth: and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him. . . reach out for Him and find Him, though . . . not far from any of us.”
The first man was created in holiness but voluntarily fallen. So, each one of us, though touched by that same life force of God, is fallen. Holiness implanted but not yielded to in our lives, is thus lost.
We were created to remain under the just law of God. The article was somber and sobering. “Last night while you slept: 15,000 arrests were made, more than 3,000 were committed to mental institutions, there were nearly 100 suicides and 30 murders.”
II. There is Purpose in This Justification. V22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Man had the choice of positive obedience, and of belief about trust in community, too. It was no impossible alternative. The only available example is Jesus. While we have the seed of sin, the choice is our own.
God chose man to dwell in fellowship. That purpose has never changed. It was witnessed by law and prophets. Isaiah’s “suffering servant” passage (Isaiah 52:13f) confirms. Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring thee back.”
The same truth pertains to Jew and Gentile, v22. “There is no difference.” V23 “Both have sinned,” or “miss the mark.” Hebrew v. Greek suggest bad aim or powerlessness.
“Justified freely” (v24) means a judicial decree. “Redemption” (v24) refers to a slave market, where a price had to be paid.
I Peter 1:18f “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish.” This brings us to the very heart of the gospel. It speaks of the measure of redemption—“freely” (v24). It speaks of the manner of redemption—"by His grace” (v24). It speaks of the means of redemption—“through . . . Christ Jesus” (v24).
It behooves us to recognize the choice that we are left to make. Human reason tells us to avoid the implication of guilt. Matthew Arnold, poet and author of Victorian England, pictured sin “not as a monster but as an infirmity.” Elsewhere: “an infirmity to get rid of.” He says not “How”!
The likely choice is the (word), not human reasoning. Romans 3:2 “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Guilt is a factor, and restitution is inevitable. The workable alternative is faith in Christ as redeemer and sin bearer.
III. Finally, We See the Example of Justification. V28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Paul’s argument here is not simply justification by faith. He has already settled that: V24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ.”
His argument is one for the exclusiveness of that faith justification. His point is clear. God does not opt to save some by faith and others by work. Such inconsistency is the spawn of infidelity. It is a human trait, not a sovereign one. If God’s mood allowed such swings, how would we know what is His contemporary exercise?
So the point is thoroughly made: He is God of both Jew and Gentile. Jeremiah 10:7 “Who would not fear you, O you king of the nations?” “Nations” is reference to non-Jews. Greek translates ethnos as “nations.”
Mark 12:29f “Hear O Israel, the Lord is one . . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” For the Jew, the law is the source through which faith flows. (Galatians 3:24, in the King James calls law a “schoolmaster.”) For the Gentile, grace is the instrument of faith. But for both, it is the act of believing faith that saves.
So, Paul reminds us that sin is the problem. We are without defense or excuse. Repentance is the key that activates this faith. Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian, said, “You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it will be too late.”
Closing
On our one trip abroad, we stopped briefly in Venice. On a ride through the canals, we saw the bridge called The Bridge of Sighs. It is said to lead from a courtroom to a dismal prison. “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD
#042 THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD
Scripture Matthew 5:5-13; 26:39 NIV Orig. 7-5-64 (10-75) (4-85)
Rewr. 4/22/84
Passage: V5-13 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
V26:3939 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Purpose: Using Jesus’ teaching and example in prayer to remind us of the parameters of God’s grace in our lives today
Keywords: Commitment Grace of God Prayer Christ Mediator Communication
Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader of peaceful resolution, gained many of his most significant insights from Christ. He is quoted as having said that he would have given more serious consideration to having become an avowed follower of Christ had it not been for some of the Christians that he had known. It is still so, that the greatest hindrance to the Kingdom of God is usually found in the discordant events in the lives of those who are presumably members of the kingdom.
Dr. R.G. Lee entitled one of his favorite sermons, “The Menace of Mediocrity.” In it he writes “Mediocrity is somebody with diamond and ruby talents, worth as little to God’s cause through the church as a punctured Japanese nickel is worth at a Chinese bazaar.” In that message, he mentions another sermon entitled “Bantam Baptists.” Dr. Lee said he could have preached the same message to any gathering. He would only have had to change the name: “Midget Methodists, Peewee Presbyterians, Lilliputian Lutherans, Puny Pentecostals, Miniature Mennonites, or Diminutive Disciples.”
Too many of us as Christians seem content to go through life with some such spiritual mediocrity as that mentioned in the child’s verse that many of us read to our children.
“Solomon Grundy
Born on Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Taken ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
And that was the end of Solomon Grundy.”
I. Grace is First Considered in Communication with the Father. V6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.”
It acknowledges the practiced humility. It means to practice prayer. It means that we are to do so even though we are not advantaged in the world’s eyes.
Charles Schultz has cartoon books for teens. Girl to Sunday School classmates: “I had to give up my secret closet of prayer. Every time I went in there, all those cashmere sweaters made me feel guilty.” Think how many of the world’s problems could be resolved if more of us were willing to be disadvantaged. Ireland could become a land of religious harmony. Central America could offer struggling third world nations a chance to be free and economically secure. South Africa could resolve racial hostility.
It acknowledges practical meditation. Clearly, we are to search for answers. We are to do so with resolve in what the Father already knows. V8 “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask.”
Jesus not only taught us so to pray, he exercised this option to the fullest. Recourse to this grace is extended to each of us. Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” II Chronicles 32:8 “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us.” We seem to want Him removed out of our politics and government, out of our schools and homes. All that will be left is churches. All that will be left is some social stigma, or worse, against believers.
Mediocrity is but a step away when we fail to be in touch with God’s grace through prayer. It is to claim other resources than God. It is to claim dependence on our own wit and charm. Luke 18:11 In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, [I thank Thee that I am me.]”
II. Grace Extends to Companionship in the Father. V8 “Be ye not therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” It pertains to a day-by-day awareness of God, and His help. Norman Vincent Peale: “Millions of men and women are creeping through life on their hands and knees merely because they refuse to rely on any power but self.” Too many of us are too distracted by the myriads of things in our lives. V7 Admonishes us “not to use vain repetition as the heathen do.” It is to put the Lord first, and to know where we stand with Him.
Remember the old radio ad of the dog sitting before an old timey speaker. The caption says it all: “His master’s voice.” It is to be obedient to Him. “Too many Christians spend six days sowing wild oats, and the seventh praying for a crop failure.”
Such companionship offers not only daily help, but also delivering help. V13 “Deliver us from the evil one.” People who are insensitive to Satan’s zeal, tend to discount his power. It is amazing how many people respond to exercise, diet programs. They eat the right foods. They work out strenuously. But these same people give no consideration to spiritual needs. James 1:4 “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.”
The promise of God’s help is in accord with the practice of faith. I Corinthians 10:13 “God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.”
Daily help, delivering help, becomes determined help. V10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We don’t come into the kingdom grown. We grow in the pursuit of God’s will as we nourish our interest in it. Our Daily Bread told of a tribal chief where missionaries were working. “If you become better men and women by being Christians, you may remain so; if not, I forbid you to be Christians at all.”
III. Beyond Communication and Companionship, there is Commitment. Matthew 26:39: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
No person ever wanted to live, or had reason to live, like Jesus did. “Let this cup pass.” He thought of needs: hunger, disease, injustice. He thought of meaningless religion: unbelief, cynicism, error. He thought of misguided zealots: Jewish and pagan. He thought of the disciples and their wavering faith: Judas’ rejection, Peter’s denial.
Jesus wanted to live. “Let this cup pass from me.” But greater than His desire to live was His determination to do God’s will. Thus, grace is given: Grace opening to us the door to communing with the Father; Grace enabling us to experience companionship in the Father; Grace motivating us for commitment in the Father.
Conclusion
The French painter, Emile Ranouf, has depicted on canvas what he calls, “The Helping Hand.” It is of an elderly man in fishing gear, rowing a boat with a small girl at his side. Obviously, there is great love between them. Her small hands are also on oars. He looks at her fondly. The child has desire, but the strength is the grandfather’s. Thus is a renewable parable of our relation to God.
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
CHANGES IN THE WIND
#023 CHANGES IN THE WIND
Scripture I Corinthians 15:35-58 NIV Orig. 8-18-63
Rewr. 3-29-89
Passage: 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[c]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[d]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Purpose: Continuing a study for Prayer Meeting out of the epistle to the Corinthians.
Keywords: Bible study Resurrection
Timeline/Series: I Corinthians
Introduction
Twice a year we notice instantly the changes taking place all around us. Last Winter we observed the deterioration of nature. Where there had been beautiful flowers, only spindly stalks remained. Where vegetable gardens had produced food for our tables, only a few sparse weeds staked their claims under the diminishing sun. Where trees had spontaneously graced our lives with shade, all that remained was leaf litter to be gathered and burned. But change had occurred.
Change has come once more. From the lifelessness of Winter there is beginning to emerge the incandescent beauty of Spring. Dogwood, azaleas, tulips abound, and share their joy all around.
Change is natural. But something beyond the natural is God’s gift to the redeemed. Paul is determined to share the uplift of this victory.
I. Raising Some Oft Asked Questions. V35 “How are the dead raised? And with what manner of body do they come?” The Jews deliberated such questions. They are questions about the resurrection body. The rabbis windily debated these.
The Greeks did not believe in a bodily resurrection. They believed in the immortality of the soul. The body of flesh was the house of sin.
The text exemplifies the resurrection body. Such debating is foolish. Death is the natural corridor through which such life begins. Not speaking as a botanist, but a plant dies and produces seed, which germinates to form life. There are variances throughout creation: The flesh of man as beast leads to the glory of bodies terrestrial and celestial.
Thus, resurrection is the ultimate hope. There are four antitheses:
a) The perishable vs. the imperishable—Romans 8:21 “The creature . . . shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
b) Humiliation vs. glory—Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. . . .”
c) Weakness vs. power—II Corinthians 12:9, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
d) Physical vs. spiritual—There are two supreme thoughts here: that the physical body belongs to all, and that the spiritual body belongs to the redeemed.
II. A Vital Difference Between the Two Adams. V45 “The first man Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”
The first Adam is a man of dust, destined to return to the ground, and with a nature that guarantees only a grave. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. PBS’s Nova ran a story about the concentration, highest in the world, of Huntington’s Disease in villages along the shores of Lake Maracaibo. This neurological disease is always fatal, and the program was called “The Killer Gene.”
Christ is not a man of such nature, but a man of heaven. Spiritual bodies are for those who share His nature. Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
III. The Mystery of the End-Time. V51 “Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” There is a mystery to be declared. It has a different connotation from I Corinthians 14:2, which is about the mystery of speaking in tongues. There the idea is secretiveness. Here one thinks of unveiling.
Here it involves immortality. In Greek, athanasia means to deny death, euthanasia means “easy death.” Man’s immortality is not natural, but by grace. Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.”
Christ is the One in whom is victory.
A HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL
#021 A HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL
Scripture Romans 8:18-39 NIV Orig. 7-15-62
Rewr. 3-21-85
Passage: 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[c]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series from Romans, define for my people that wonderful hope that is in Christ.
Keywords: God Sovereignty Hope Holy Spirit
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
I read recently the story of a young writer who believed that he had composed the classic short story. He was persuaded that it was the best that he could do. Though the plot was not original, the young man felt that it was a masterpiece of realism.
One day he was introduced to a famous author, and to his delight, the old man asked his new friend to come to his study and read his manuscript to him.
The story was about the only son of a poor widow living in a cottage nesting in a Pennsylvania valley. The boy decided to go to the city to seek his fortune. The mother, in true motherly form, saw him off saying, “Now remember son, if you ever get into trouble, no matter how bad it is, you set off home and as you come over the hill, you’ll always find a light burning in this window—and I’ll be waiting to welcome you.”
As the young author read his manuscript he told the young man’s story. It was one of decline and fall into debauchery and crime. After a time in prison, and after his release, he decided it was time to return to the old home place. He came finally to the only hill that remained between himself and his home. As he walked over the crest and looked down, there was the outline of the old cottage in the evening gloom, but no light burning in the window.
The old author, who had listened intently all the while, leaped quickly to his feet and cried: “You young devil, put that light back.” That light represented hope. As long as it remained, then the remoteness of the story did not matter.
I. A Hope that is Wonderful Defines the Human Struggle. V22f “For we know that the whole creation groans in labor pains together until now. And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit.” We must first link with the prior message. V16 The Holy Spirit confirms human spirit. We are therefore God’s children—heirs. Heirship is fulfilled only at death. As another thread in the tapestry of eternity, death becomes less frightening. In 1939 Lou Gehrig said of his illness: "Fans, for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” In 2 Corinthians 10:15 Paul wrote “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
Oneness with Christ is ours.
In this sense, Paul confirms human suffering. Whatever the struggle, it is less overpowering beholding what is to be. All of us know someone in the throes of some deep agony. How much easier when there is a supportive family. What a difference friends can make.
Paul says (V19) “creation” will be better off for man’s struggle to redemption. Natural man brings nature to the brink. PBS, in “Passion to Protect,” reported than 1 in 1000 animal species becomes extinct through a natural event, once a month through a man-made event.
Misuse of chemicals are creating a far-ranging problem. An article published 3-20-85 reported that it was a pesticide chemical that caused the death of 2,000 people in Bhopal, India.
Man’s spiritual redemption, cosmos out of chaos, is nature’s hope also. Hope (v20) is not God’s hope. It is man’s hope, nature’s hope. With God there can be nothing less than absolute certainly. The struggle is of divine ordination. The world may be in its birth pains, V22—tsunami, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc. Man is in his coming to oneness with God.
II. A Hope that is Wonderful Describes the Spirit’s Intercession. (V26-27). V26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.” It is intercession in prayer. He doesn't do our praying for us. When burdens stymie prayer, He comes to our rescue. It is not intercession when we are not praying, but when we can’t pray.
It is intercession in weakness. We are trying to impress others with our strengths. But “when I am weak, then I am strong.” The Holy Spirit comes in our weakness. Helps (V26)—sunantilambanomai, “to take hold of with another.” Ever tried to pick up a wheelbarrow by the handles? Even if a friend takes one of the handles? We need a helper who understands the problem. For instance, the best marriages are often those where weaknesses are known, understood, and accepted. It is intercession seeking compliance with the will of God. “According to [the will of] God” V27 is surely the sense of the verse: 2 Corinthians 10:15: “Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly.”
III. A Hope that is Wonderful Explains God’s Sovereignty V26-28. V28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to his purpose.” Not some pantheism by which we are elected if all goes well with us. Not some theistic “chance.” 2 Samuel 7:28 “And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.” It is God active in the framework of history. Acts 17:24-28 at Mars Hill: “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (V26). God guides that history by those who cooperate with His purpose, just as we must seek to pray for the Spirit to intercede.
As we “faith” events around us, we are “working together” with God. “Purpose” translates “a placing before.” It is to establish priorities. V. 29-30 contain God’s loving purpose for the Christian. “Foreknew”—to know before hand; “predestinate”—horizon—to set a limit, “confirmed to the image of His Son”; “called”—all are called, those who respond are certified; “justified”—legal and formal acquittal; “glorified”—bring to a promised place of honor.
IV. A Hope that is Wonderful Exemplifies Christ’s Substitution (VV 31-39). V32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also freely give us all things?" We are redeemed by this substitutionary work of Christ. In Him we are God’s own dear children. He doesn’t love others less. His love is personalized by response as John was “the Disciple whom Jesus loved.” To be in Christ is to be uncondemned (V34). To be in Christ is forever (V39).
Closing
We had a couple of pianos tuned recently. Did you ever wonder how they do it in big chuches where they have lots of pianos? How would it be to tune the first, and then to tune each succeeding one to the one just finished? Would the twenty be in harmony with the first? No, in no way!
Our two were tuned with a tuning fork. If one had two hundred to be tuned, they would all require tuning with the same tuning fork.
This wonderful hope, of which we have spoken, is “in Christ.” It is up to each of us to rest in Him to have this hope.