HELPING THE HOME TO HAPPINESS

#105                                                   HELPING THE HOME TO HAPPINESS                                                                          

Scripture                                                                                                                                                      Orig. 5/2/65 (5/77)

Genesis 2:18-24 NIV                                                                                                                                          Rewr. 6/18/87

I Corinthians 7:3-5 NIV                                                                                                                                                                  

Passage:  Genesis 2:18-24 ¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” ¹⁹ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam^[a] no suitable helper was found. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³ The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” ²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

I Corinthians 7:3-5 ³ The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Purpose:  On the occasion of Father’s Day, urge my people to achieve a renewed understanding of the home as a unique spiritual blessing.

Keywords:          Family                   Marriage              Heritage               Home

Introduction

                We occasionally see stickers on cars identifying those within as participants in some marriage-meaning seminar.  One of these stickers states, “We believe in marriage.”  If one believes in God, and believes that He has spoken in His Word, then marriage is the fundamental human relationship.

                What we read in Genesis 2 as the historic position of scripture, is found virtually unchanged when we read Paul’s interpretation found in I Corinthians 7.  Clearly, Jesus saw it this way, and declared his teaching openly.

                According to many social scientists, marriage is at a low point of esteem.  50% of all marriages end in divorce.  The average span of a marriage is six to nine years, giving vent to what is called the “seven-year itch.”  That’s another name for boredom based on acquired responsibility.

                Don’t lose sight of the fact that in our 20^th Century, sex has become a “sales” technique.  Thus enter our salesperson counselors who advise solutions: “gracious living replaces the life of grace.”  Instead of dealing with the problem, such counselors insist on a change of appearance, or wardrobe.  The psychiatrist seeks the total dismantling of “guilt” insisting, “If it feels good, do it,” which in many cases is what we want to hear anyway.

                The mandate upon the Christian in regard to marriage, is that God is the instigator of marriage, the molder of relationship, the magnifier of trust.

                It is important that those who have weathered the winds of withdrawal, know Who has been their succor.  As well, those who are facing uncertain days of threatened dissolution, need to know that their marriage is worth saving, and to know Him, only, who can.  And, finally, those who look ahead to such a social dilemma, might know that God still honors His Word, for those who are willing to live by it, and for those who do not.

I.             Marriage is Founded upon a Unique Spiritual Heritage.  Genesis 2:24 “. . . he shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” I Corinthians 7:3 “The husband shall give to the wife what is her due as his wife; and so also the wife to the husband.”

                Such marriage is of divine origin.  Living Bible: God took the rib and made the woman, brought her to the man, who responded, “This is it!”  Grace is always getting more than we either expect or deserve.  One is impelled to see intended, physical consummation.  Some say it is the “result of sin.”  Others, that God allows it as an impediment.

                Scripture points to a higher goal of intent.  It was to be creative, intimate, relational—ever so much more than carnal expression.  It is the ultimate proclamation of selflessness.  The Greek has three words expressing love: carnal, familial, selfless.  Proverbs 18:22 “Whoso finds a wife, finds a good thing.” Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled.”

                Such physical consummation becomes spiritual between two people on harmonious spiritual terms. It is the belief that its beginning, and tenure, are of God, and it is the contentment that the relationship is its own ultimate goal.

                I remember a story (Readers Digest, March 1977), “There Came a Cry of Joy” about an ornithologist and a sparrow hawk.  He trapped it, but instead of penning it at the end of the day, felt impressed to release it.  He opened his hands, and watched as the hawk soared upward.  From far overhead he heard the cry of another bird.  “I was young then, and had seen little of the world, but when I heard that cry, my heart turned over.  It was not the cry of the hawk I had released.  I was now seeing farther up . . . where she had been soaring . . . for untold hours. And from far up, ringing from peak to peak of the summit over us, came a cry of such unutterable and ecstatic joy that it sounds down across the years and tingles among the cups on a quiet breakfast table.”

                To this divine origin is added parenthood. It is lagniappe, not biological, but spiritual, emotional.  Note: Parents, your children are being brainwashed with ideas relating to sex that are promiscuous, unrealistic.  Let them see in your marriage the bases for the divine image.  Youth, when you buy the contemporary garbage of promiscuity as a worthwhile goal, you reduce the chances that you will ever be able to experience what God wills for you.

II.            Uniquely Spiritual, Marriage is also Uniquely Human.  Genesis 2:18 “And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make an helpmeet for him.”  I Corinthians 7:4 “The wife no longer has full rights over her body, but shares them with her husband.  So also, the husband with the wife.”

                The Christian home is a respite of equals.  Matthew 19:6 “They are no longer two, but one flesh.”  These equals work together to define roles.  Indeed, the husband is to be head of wife and home.  Ron used “obey” for the wife, but merited it not written into the companion vow.

                The vulnerable marriages, Christian as well, are those that become power struggles.  Speaking tongue-in-cheek, the husband settles big issues and the wife the little ones: The wife decides where to live, school for children, vacation plans, etc.  The husband decides when to reestablish trade relations with China; whether or not to support the Contras; if PTL really should have sold the doghouse.

                Both must take serious interest in avoiding what brings grief to the other. Watchwords are communication, compromise, commitment.

                A relationship of equals is based on spiritual values.  It is this that is most easily mismanaged.  It is not a question of how much or how deeply we love.  Love is measured in terms of quality.  We must be able to gauge where we ourselves are spiritually, and to find another in spiritual harmony.  The last statistics seen call attention to a much higher level of marital success for those marrying above college age, perhaps twice as high.  It is not the college degree as much as age maturity.  Youth are clearly vulnerable.  All must remember that nothing physical or material will last. 

                Love sonnet: Thomas Moore, 18^th Century Irish poet, was married to beautiful Bessie Dykes, an actress.  In 1811, while away, he found out from a friend that she had been stricken with a skin disease, leaving her disfigured.  She dreaded his return. This poem preceded him:

“Believe me if all those endearing young charms, Which I gaze on so fondly today,

Were to change by tomorrow, and melt in my arms, Like fairy-gifts fading way,

Thou would still be adored, as this moment thou art, Let thy loveliness fade as it will.

And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Would incline itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,

That the fervour and faith of a soul may be known, To which time will but make thee more dear!

No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close;

As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, The same look which she turned when he rose.”

                Others are as well vulnerable.  Among them are those who have lost mates of special harmony.  Marriage is not an end in itself.  The key is always, “What God has joined together.”  The solution is to allow the Spirit to lead.

                The worst mistake in my life…. (***the remainder of this paragraph has been lost***).

                What about the divorced?  There are times when divorce or annulment are the only alternatives.  That person has the right to marital happiness.  The Christian must not ever take the easy way.

                I came to know Wes Jackson in New Orleans. His wife had died, and he was dating a church lady.  A friend, whose wife had walked out on his ministerial career, sympathized with him over the loss of his wife.  “As strange as it may seem to you, I envy you.  Not because your wife died, but because death is so final, while divorce is not.  I know she’s out there somewhere, and I still care for her.”

III.           For the Home to be Uniquely Christian, there Needs to be Grace to Accept Differences in Others’ Lives.  The church performs in the role of extended family.  Christ is the husband, the Church is the bride, and we are participants together in family.

                Units within that family structure are going to differ.  Marriage is the norm: the operating criteria for most of us.  Single people are just as important to God.  Marriage at any cost is not the answer.  Making the most out of marriage is the answer for all married people.  The church must stand ready to open its heart as well to those outside of traditional family, offering companionship, and a full sense of belonging.

Conclusion

                Let me close, however, with a piece called “Practical Rules for a Happy Marriage.” “Never both be angry at the same time.  Never talk at one another, either alone or in company.  Never speak loudly to one another, unless the house is on fire.  Let each one strive to yield most often to the wishes of the other.  Let self-denial be the daily aim and practice of each.  Never taunt with a past mistake.  Neglect the whole world rather than one another.  Never part for a day without loving words to remember.  Never make a mean remark at the expense of the other.  Never meet without a loving welcome.  Never let the sun go down on any anger or grievance.  Never forget the happy hours of early love.  Never forget that marriage is ordained of God and that His blessings alone can make it what it ought to be.  And you will be happy ever after.”

                C.S. Lewis wrote in The Four Loves: “If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one. . . avoid all entanglements.  Lock it up safe in the coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. . . .  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”

LIFE BEGINS WITH DEATH

#049a                                                          LIFE BEGINS WITH DEATH                                                                                    

Scripture  Romans 6:17-23, NIV                                                                                                          Orig. Date  5/20/62

                                                                                                                                                         Rewr. Dates  2/1/85 (6-77) 

Passage:  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^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Purpose:   To call attention to the new “life” that is in Christ which begins with the believer’s “death.”

Keywords:          Christ the Saviour                             New Birth                            Revival                  Salvation

Introduction

                “Life after death” is enjoying some popularity these days.  Walk in any supermarket and look for the sensationalist newspapers and you will see what I mean.  Most of the time there will be some outlandish article such as one I saw recently, “Five Psychics Tell Why They Believe in Life After Death.”  You will even hear some of the people on talk shows discuss it usually in some metaphysical way.

                I heard Paul Harvey quote Elisabeth Kübler-Ross  a while back.  She is a social scientist, and probably the world’s leading authority from a scientific standpoint of the death experience.  “Although I do not consider myself a particularly religious woman, I find no conflict between the Christian concept of an afterlife, and my own careful studies on death.”

                Perhaps, since we have access to the sensation mongers, over-zealous superstars, and sectarian scientists, we ought to see what insights God’s Word can give us.  But if you really want to know about death and its implications, the only safe place to go is to God’s Word.

I.             The Death that We Best Understand is the “Wages of Sin.”  Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.”  There is, of course, the death of body function.  Karen Ann Quinlan is the sad textbook example of a serious problem: When is a person biologically dead?  After ten years, she is still alive.

                Let me remind you that God didn’t will death.  Its source, as this verse attests, is in man’s will to sin.  Sin and its punishment are the result of man’s free will.  Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.”  I Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto Him.”

                The text speaks of moral and spiritual death as well as physical.  Who would choose life without regard to circumstances?  Why are there thousands of suicides?  Who would choose Ethiopia?

                Someone reports an on-the-spot interview by a war correspondent with a crusty Marine sergeant.  He was eating cold beans from a can with his bayonet.  “If I could grant  one request for you right now, what would it be?”  Without hesitation, the sergeant said, “Give me tomorrow!” 

                There’s a joke going around about a guy who asked a genie to make him owner of a new-car franchise in a major metropolitan area and wound up a Chrysler dealer in Tokyo right before an earthquake hit.

                There is more to life than just living.  There is a lot of difference between driving a truck, and trucking.

                Thus, we are reminded that life is to sin as death is to righteousness.  The human life is marked by sin.  Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned.”  Believers sin repeatedly.  There are sins of circumstance and diversion, and there are sins of will and purpose.  Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound?”  Romans 6:15, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?  God forbid.”

                We won’t lose salvation, but can lose direction, joy, and perspective, and can find shame.  The unbeliever is dead before God.  Ecclesiastes 3:19, “That which befalleth the sons of man befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them:  As the one dieth, so dieth the other.”

II.            The Corollary to This Death Is Life that Is a Free Gift from God.  Clearly, there is more to death than the cessation of life.  Even so, there is more to quality life than breath, blood flow, and brain function. The January 1977 National Geographic contains an article, “Planet Mars,” to show the possibility of life; Dr. Michael McElroy writes: “The elements of the chemistry set are there.  We have carbon. . . , nitrogen. . . , sunshine.  The only real thing remaining is whether the Great Chemist was there putting the elements together in the right way.”

                The life in particular here, beyond physical, is the life of faith.  The scripture declares man’s uniqueness is his relationship with God.  Man is unique  in creation.  Genesis 2:7, “. . . and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.”  Evolution would discount man’s fall, therefore there is his need of Christ.

                There is uniqueness in  his destiny.  Romans 6:6f, “. . . our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  Now if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."

                We know of what this life consists.  It is, first, purposeful living.  Romans 6:4 “. . . even so, we also should walk in newness of life.”  John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly.”

                Secondly, it is life after death.  It is not sensationalism.  It is not metaphysical gibberish.  It is not science by default.  It is God’s promise to believers.  Aionios is the Greek word meaning “endlessness.” It appears that way in 67 of 70 usages.  II Corinthians 4:18, “For the things which are seen are temporary; things not seen are permanent.”

III.           This Life that Comes Through Death Is by Jesus Christ.  Romans 6:23, “. . . The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  There are those who claim that being sincere is religion enough.  Judas probably thought he was right when he betrayed Jesus.  The Jews surely thought they were doing God a favor when Jesus was crucified.  Millions of Germans were sincere when they stood by as 6 million Jews went to gas chambers.

                There are some who suggest that this life depends on church relationship.  There is Baptist truth, then there is Catholic truth.  While pastoring in Oakdale, I had a 15-minute radio program.  Prior was West Baptist Church; after was First Presbyterian Church; then West Baptist Church to counter any opposite points.

                But the scripture points us to Jesus only as the instrument of salvation.  The Bible message is still John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

                It is clearly this message that Jesus taught,  “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).  This is what every born-again believer stakes his or her life on.  II Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”

Conclusion

                Elton Trueblood wrote in “New Life in the Church”: “There are two insights which can illumine our understanding of the Christian case.  The first is the conversion which is important is  not conversion from sheer paganism to  nominal  Christianity; not conversion from cold to warm, but from lukewarm to hot, from a mild religion to one in which a person’s whole life is taken up and filled and compelled.  The second is that the most common situation in which this kind of conversion can occur is the situation of middle age.”

PUMPING IN PERFECTION

#053b                                                          PUMPING IN PERFECTION                                                                                   

Scripture  II Timothy 3:12-17                                                                                                               Orig. Date 10-22-61

                                                                                                                                                                      Rewr. Dates 4-19-75 

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.”

                People as a rule have capabilities to master just about anything.  There are musicians who have dedicated their lives to mastering music.  There are theologians and preachers who have mastered the art of sermon and rhetoric.

                As difficult as it is to believe, there are people who understand, and who have mastered, American foreign policy.  To most of us it is beyond the scope of comprehension.  One of the nemeses of the school years is always testing time.  It’s bad enough to spend hours preparing for the subject, and then leave the classroom wondering if we even passed.  Then we look at the posted grades and see the names of those who  not only  passed, they had perfect scores.

                One of the most significant doctrinal emphases of Baptists over the centuries has been our regard for the Bible.  I do not know of anyone who has claimed to master this book.  None of us will ever be able to exceed in understanding what the Word of God proclaims in revelation.  But, oh how we need to set ourselves to the task. 

                We will never know all that we would like to know about our chosen vocations, but we work at improvement.  Knowledge abounds in the avocational areas of sports, arts and crafts, travel, history, and a thousand other subjects.  That we can not know everything does not hinder our determination.

                “Pumping in Perfection” is an apt title because the only way that we will ever get close to what we ought to be is by the embrace of the assimilation of God’s Word creatively applied.

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 4^th 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 fleshy 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

                Don’t you think it’s time for a little of God’s perfection to be pumped?

A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE

#066                                                       A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE                                                                              

Scripture  Romans 14:1-23, NIV                                                                                                        Orig. Date  11/25/62

                                                                                                                                                                    Rewr. Dates  8/31/85 

Passage:  Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”^[b]

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. ¹⁴ I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. ²¹ It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

²² So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[c]

Purpose:  Continuing the series from Romans, showing that true liberty is that that is based in love.

Keywords:          Bible  Study                        Law                        Liberty

Timeline/Series:               Romans

Introduction

                We today assume so much liberty from the dictates of others that we fail to realize what an issue this has been historically.  Huldrych Zwingli, pre-reformation theologian of central Europe, left a thirty-page treatise (2 hours) on choice and free use of foods.  He concluded with sixteen points of concern.

1. The general gathering of Christians may accept for themselves fasts and abstinence from foods, but not set these up as a common and everlasting law.
2. For God says, Deuteronomy 4:2, “You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish aught from it.”

V.            This is shown by the sanctification of both Testaments.  The Old is sprinkled and sanctified by the blood of animals, but the New with the blood of the Everlasting God, for Christ thus spake: This is the cup of my blood of a new and everlasting [covenant]

VII.         How dare a man add to the testament, to the covenant of God as though he would better it?

IX.           Paul says, Romans 8:8: “Owe no man anything but to love one another.”

X.            Again, Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

XI.           If he is to be cursed who preaches beyond what Paul preached and if Paul nowhere preached the choice of food, then he who dares command this is worthy of a curse.

XII.         If we are not bound by any law but the law of love, and if freedom as to food injures not the love of one’s neighbor, in case  this freedom is rightly taught and understood, then we are not subject to this commandment or law.

                                These points have forced me to think that the church officers have not only no power to command such things, but if they command them, they sin greatly; for whoever is in office and does more than he is commanded, is liable to punishment (20 Cen. IIp123).

                Sadly, five years later Zwingli helped to find Felix Manz guilty, under penalty of death by drowning, for preaching against infant baptism and rebaptizing.

I.             The Law of Liberty.  V10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”  The Law of Liberty addresses various themes.

                Substance—about food and  drink.  V2 “For one believes that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.”  It is wrong to judge those who do more than we, or to hold contempt for those  who do less.  Matthew 15:17, “What goes in at the mouth defileth not the man.”  I Corinthians 6:12, “All things are  lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.”

                Servants—To what degree do we deride other believers for being different?—the Amish for their clothing and buggies; Adventists for their understanding of the 7^th day.  Such considerations are extended to believers only. We don’t compromise belief.

                Seasons—On what basis do we decide what days are special?  Holidays, we sanctify.  Special family days, we honor.  Many disdain religious days. Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths.”  Don’t worship a day, but don’t fail to exercise its worth.

                The Law of Liberty reminds  us that our first consideration is in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Colossians 2:6, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  Eat out of regard for the Lord.  Treat others as you would have them treat you.  Use every day, Sabbath and otherwise, as an obedient servant.  V8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”

                If preaching, do so with the Lord in view. If helping to rear a family; if cutting grass; if presiding over a Senate committee; or if canning a jar of preserves:  Do all these things with the Lord in view.

                The Law of Liberty reminds us that we will not be judged on the basis of substance, servants, and seasons.  V10, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” I45.

II.            The Law of Love.  V15, “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.” 

                It testifies of relationship to those who behave differently. But from a Christian perspective, their difference is not a moral defect. In Paul’s day the issue centered around food (offered to idols). Today it is more around alcohol.  The real issue is concern.  The object of relationship issues more from love than belief.  Paul advocates liberty, but only love can interpret it with meaning.

                It testifies of resolution.  V17, “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  The kingdom is spiritual, such pronouncements issued should be also.  Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  It is a defined kingdom. Of righteousness, it is a kingdom with not just moral direction but with deliverance from sin, overt and covert.  Of peace, it is a kingdom of peace with God; Romans 5:1, “. . . having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                Carlyle Marney, in his book, Peace! Peace!, says: “The claims of our Lord set a man against himself, I discover.  They split him down the middle.  They make him schizoid. Once he faces up to the claims of Christ he is divided, he is at war, until surrender.  He can never be justified by what he does: his new gadgets, his nursery rhyme creeds, his one-eyed philosophies, his mudpie civilization, his kindergarten councils.  He can be justified only in himself, and his justification begins only when he is a man of peace, and his peace comes only when he surrenders to the Source of peace against which he fights.”

                It testifies of responsibility.  V19, “. . . let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”  The “things” were already mentioned in verse 17.  The Christian life is to be conditioned on such assertions.  Those who are strong in faith are to give ground, in spite of their liberty. 

                V22, “Do you have faith?” Is your faith in Christ sufficient for this kind of ordering?  The word “damned” is misleading. The Greek word kekritai means “condemned” and implies faith was not a factor in decision.  Thus, liberty will limit itself by love.

Conclusion

                The simplest way to define sin is to explain it as any act that is contrary to the will of God.  God said to Adam, “Thou shalt not eat of it.”  The moment he did, he sinned.  It was an act in direct contradiction to God’s revealed will.  Jesus taught of sins of the heart: hate, adultery, etc.  He taught that intention to sin is the same as the sin itself. Anything that hurts other people is sin.  James wrote of it this way, “. . . to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”  As a Christian, all we do is before the face of God.  To act without consideration of his presence is sin.  If the Lord would not give His approval to my conduct, then my action or my attitude is wrong.

DEMAS THE WORLD-LOVER

#061                                                           DEMAS THE WORLD-LOVER                                                                                  

Scripture  Philemon 24; Colossians 4:14; II Timothy 4:10 NIV                                               Orig. Date  12-31-61

                                                                                                                                                                       Rewr. Dates  1-6-88 

Passage:

Philemon 24, NIV

²⁴ And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

 

Colossians 4:14, NIV

¹⁴ Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.

 

2 Timothy 4:10, NIV

¹⁰ for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

Purpose: Showing that the best way to avoid straying from our faith is to continually re-examine it by the light of the way we are living.

Keywords:          Biography, Demas            Faith                      Worldliness                        Revival                  Faithlessness

Introduction

                I was a proud young man after completing my work at Louisiana College.  A significant time had come in my life.  Ann and I were already married.  We had a baby daughter named Fritha.  Soon I would begin my next level of preparation for the pastorate. 

                In my mind, at least, seminary would offer a different perspective of preparation.  There, so I thought, I would gain through the experiences of others.  My professors were to be graduate theologians.  Most had served pastorates.  Some had even taken advance studies in the finer theological schools of Europe.

                While I had been active in my home church after receiving Christ at age 16, I had reached the ripe age of 24, having left my home, and home town, and fellowship of believers to enter the military.  From there, I had gone to work in industry in Baton Rouge.  So, for six of those years prior to entering seminary, I had not had a close and uplifting experience with a pastoral role model.  Seminary would offer me that, or so I thought. 

                I now know that what I wanted was someone to lean on, someone who would serve as an occasional crutch.  But, as early as my first seminary class I discovered that there would be lots of competition.  There were 2,000 students at Southwestern, needing, more or less, someone to lean on.  And there were only about sixty faculty members.  And most of them felt that it was not in their students’ best interest for them to be leaning posts.

                I wonder if Demas looked at Paul, and Luke, and the others as someone to lean on.  I wonder if he held them in such reverence that he never found time to seek the Lord for the daily needs of his own life.  Paul had addressed this very issue with the Corinthians.  “Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in  the name of Paul?”  Demas may have missed that lecture.  What he needed, we need—a daily walk with our Lord.  Loving the world is the alternative.

I.             When First We Meet Demas, He is Called Co-Laborer.  Philemon 24 “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow-laborers.”  Clearly, there were prior years of good effect.  We know nothing of his prior years, only that this is the first of three listings.  This is chosen as the first because the object of this letter, Onesimus, is mentioned in Colossians 4:9, “a faithful and beloved brother.”

                Knowing so little, we try to piece together a life.  I watch and read with interest the scenarios of paleontologists and archaeologists who take a bone, a bead, a tool, and attempt to build a culture. Law enforcement uses artists to draw  up likenesses from slender shreds of evidence of witnesses.

                We can conclude a few things.  Philemon, written from Rome, was written first, some suggest during an early imprisonment.  Perhaps Demas was enamored of this man Paul.  Remember, at first Paul “was in his own hired house” (Acts 28:30).

                It is possible that hardships were minimal. Demas was a piece of clay being molded, not yet experiencing the heat of the kiln:  As someone (Lockyer p91) says, “like a piece of soft iron, temporarily magnetized by the presence of a magnet.”

                It would not have been difficult for any of us to revere a man like Paul.  And too many of us have revered those who unlike Paul had “feet of clay.”

                Little can be said, therefore, about Demas’ conversion.  Some would conclude that Demas had not been converted, and would be quick to say so.  They fear, I suppose, that he would thus be an example of one who had “fallen from grace.”

                But we Baptists know the truth.  We know that one cannot fall “from” grace.  Hebrews 6:19, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.”  But we know that the believer can fall “in” grace.  I Timothy 4:1, “Some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits.”

                It remains a sad commentary that some who walked the way of faith lost their zeal for the walk.  But for now, Demas is a coworker, along with Philemon (Philemon v1), Clement (Philippians 4:3), and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25).

II.            When Next We Find Him, it is with a Cosmopolitan Spirit.  Colossians 4:14 “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.”  Imagine, being mentioned in the same breath with a great Christian like Luke.  Interestingly, like Demas, Luke is mentioned by name only three times—the same three passages.  What a remarkably significant difference in these two men. 

                Imagine, as well, having the opportunity to learn scripture from such men of knowledge and spirit.  According to the best information, Luke’s gospel had been written a year or two earlier: Gospel of Luke in 60 A.D., and Colossians in 61 A.D.  Perhaps it was already being circulated. 

                It should not escape our notice that Mark is also mentioned in these three passages.  And his gospel was written first.  Luke enlarged upon it.  I checked a couple of New Testaments: Mark and Luke comprise 80 pages, Paul’s writings 90 pages. The total in the New Testament is 360 pages.

                Demas is with three who wrote half the New Testament.

                No better place than this to digress.  How seriously do we take scripture?  How long has it been since we engaged in regular Bible study?  What will be our response three weeks from now when we study Malachi?  Have you read through the Bible? The New Testament?  Have you resolved to do better in 1988?  Whom do we choose as a role model? Paul? Demas?

                Here was an opportunity to learn scripture from a man likewise skilled in science.  I love science, do you?  I have a grasp of what it means to reconcile science to scripture.  Notice, I said “science to scripture.”  If we have to reconcile scripture to science, then what’s the use?  I owe science no apology for my faith.  If my faith means nothing, then science is nothing more than separate irresistible forces on collision course. 

                We still turn out to hear scientists who are also believers, believers who are scientists: Willie Ley at Louisiana College, George Schweitzer at Southwestern Seminary.

                And this particular scientist was “beloved.”  It was a word used of Jesus in Matthew 3:17.  It is used of believers: Romans 1:7, I Corinthians 4:14.  Will you be thus remembered?  One of the pluses of the pastorate is from people who do not forget. I had a letter from a Riverside church member in New Orleans, Bonnie Williamson, kindly expressing appreciation.  People have that kind of love for family doctors also.

                Brother Doctor Luke was easy to love.  Demas was working on becoming a world lover.

III.           Finally, We Find Only a Vapor Trail of Where He Has Been.  II Timothy 4:10, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica.”  Perhaps as many as five years have passed.  At what point he left we do not know.  The spirit of his leaving seems to have been desertion.  Surely Paul would have yielded up this brother in pursuit of the will of God.

                We do know that circumstances have changed for Paul.  Clement of Rome (30 years later) says he was exiled.  Tradition affirms that he was released, but to what is conjecture.  Paul himself gives us a hint.  II Timothy 1:16f, “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched . . . and found me.” 

                Do you think Demas had become “ashamed” of “chains”?  Aischuno is the Greek word that means “shame,” or a feeling of “fear.”  “Chain,” or halusis, refers to a literal binding.  Are we ashamed of what we perceive as “chains” binding believers today?

                Thus, emerging from this Christian cocoon is a world-lover.  It does not suggest that he became worldly, only that he decided that being an outspoken Christian was dangerous.  He put his church letter in his trunk and took out for home, betraying Paul, but more important, denying  his Lord.

Conclusion

                The point of Demas’ life has nothing to do with falling from grace.  It has little to do with salvation.  It has everything to do with growing in our faith:  With sanctification if you please.  We must take care that Demas’ mistakes do not become our mistakes.  We should, and must, move in those circles that exemplify our Lord, and that ensure spiritual growth, not a kind of religious tedium that is revoltingly commonplace.

THE TONGUE OF LOVE

#060                                                                THE TONGUE OF LOVE                                                                                       

Scripture  I Corinthians 13:1-13, NIV                                                                                               Orig. Date  12-10-61

                                                                                                                                                                     Rewr. Dates  1-22-89 

Passage:  If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Purpose:   Continuing a series for Prayer Meeting emphasizing the Book of First Corinthians.

Keywords:          Bible Study                         Great Texts                         Love

Series:  I Corinthians

Introduction

                At a family gathering in Transylvania on a Sunday afternoon, the unmarried son and his steady were present.  He was in no hurry to get married, but wanted the security of a regular girlfriend.  His main interests were hunting, fishing, etc.

                As the family sat in the yard, Mark stood and said, “Let’s go!” The girl, assuming he was talking to her, stood.  But at the same time she arose, the old family dog got up.  She, recognizing how ridiculous this was, said, “Are you  talking to me or the dog?”

                The people we love ought to be able to tell by the way we talk, and by what we say, what are our feelings for them.  Paul admonished us to love in word and deed.

I.             First, We Need an Overview of Biblical Love.  V1 “Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.”    

                English has only one word to express love.  A Cajun may use it in reference to the nutria he has taken from his trap.  An addict may use it in  in regard to drugs.  A faithful grandfather uses it about a Christmas necktie.  It may be used by a man arrested for abusing his spouse.

                But Greek has four interesting words. The noun eros/verb ethan is used for sensual or spousal love, for ambition, or for patriotism; it is not used in the New Testament. The noun storge/verb stergein means family affection or group interaction or devotion;  Romans 12:10 uses the word: “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.”  The noun philia/verb philien is the most-used in Classical Greek; it applies to close family (parent/child, husband/wife). The noun agapa/verb agapan is used over 250 times in the New Testament; classical scholars saw this as meaning “benefactor,” thus is its Victorian use as “charity.”

II.            Now a Brief Grasp of the Passage.  V2 “Though I have the gift of prophecy, understand mysteries, have knowledge, have faith sufficient to move mountains, but do not do so out of love, it means  nothing.”  Love is greater than understanding, be it natural or acquired: Love is greater than a college education.  Knowledge did not set Paul’s heart on fire. Nor did it inspire such men as Luther and Wesley.  Love is greater than prophecy—Hosea became a parable to Israel.  Love is greater than works—than self-sacrifice, for instance; “Though I give my body to be burned” v3.  Morality is not morality without love.

                Love is greater than all other gifts.  I Corinthians 12:28 calls attention to the gifts.  Not all have every gift. It doesn’t matter.  But all should covet what is best, and better than all is love.

***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***

IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID

#054                                                              “IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID”                                                                                    

Scripture  II Corinthians 4:1-7                                                                                                 Orig. Date 4/19/64 (8/75)

                                                                                                                                                                     Rewr. Dates 7/22/87

Passage:  Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ² Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Purpose:  To remind my people of the need to be openly assertive of our faith in Christ as Lord of life.

Keywords:          Christian Life                      Gospel                  Revival                  Special                  Influence

Introduction

                Margaret Sangster, the social worker, writer, and editor, shared an all-too personal experience from one of the tenement areas where she worked.  The point of her life work had always been to reach out to the people around her and help them meet their own needs through private donations when government help was not available.

                She saw a need for a gymnasium for the youth of the district.  A place was secured, and because other help did not materialize, she began to supervise this activity.  A lad of about twelve came to the gym one day on crutches.  The leg was badly twisted, and Mrs. Sangster discovered that the boy had been run over, the leg badly broken, and no medical help was sought.

                She made arrangements to carry the boy to an orthopedic surgeon who had provided his services before.  She was told that the leg could be straightened, but it would take several operations.  A wealthy benefactor was found who would pay the hospital costs.  With parental approval, the transformation was begun.  As Mrs. Sangster tells the story, about eighteen months later she joyously looked up in  the gym one day to see the lad stroll in, pick up a basketball, dribble down the floor, and send it spinning through the hoop.  What a happy moment that was. 

                Years later, she  would tell the story, and ask, “Do you know what that boy is doing today?”  Of course, no one did.  “No, he’s not an attorney, or judge.  No, he didn’t become a preacher or professor.  No, he’s not in social work.”  She would hide the sob trying to surface.  “He is serving three concurrent life terms in the state penitentiary for murder and robbery.” After a pause, she continued, “I was so busy teaching him how to walk, I forgot to teach him where to walk.”

                How careful are we as Christians to teach the really important things about our faith in Christ?  What if “our gospel be hid”?

I.             What If the Gospel Be Hid Socially?  II Corinthians 4:3 “It is hid to them that are lost.”  How hard is it, today, to tell who the Christians around us really are?  Some estimates run as high as 90%. That would be all active church members, and all the 50% of church members who never attend. There are millions of others who happen to believe freedom to worship means freedom not to.

                I have seen too many of them coming out of the quick-order store with a cross around their neck, a six pack in their hand, a foul message on their tee shirt.  The answer is clearly not in one-day-a-week faith.  It is too easy to dress in religious togs and be satisfied we are convincing.  If I work, or work out, I wear something for sweating.  If I am playing golf, it certainly won’t be in my black suit.  I have a friend who occasionally wears overalls to prayer meeting; he has not time to change.

                Paul here reminds us that our faith is a “treasure” bound up “in earthen vessels.”  People take pride in their treasures.  They want their friends to share in their good fortune.  II Corinthians 5:17 “. . . if any be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, all things are become new.”  You see, the Vessel can be spoiled, the spirit within the vessel, never.

                And beyond this, God calls us to share in His vision.  Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary who served in India for 56 years without furlough, and died there.  II Corinthians 5:18 “. . . He hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  That means let your light shine socially.

II.            What If the Gospel Be Hid Politically?  II Corinthians 4:3-4 “. . . It is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”  We are watching the gospel being slowly divested from the arena of politics.  This week USA Today (July 22) reported “Over 50% of those interviewed would take all preachers off television.” 

                In our earlier history, politicians were considered statesmen.  They had an obligation to a higher law, God’s law.  Now, those who are men of faith often hope that it will not be used against them.  What had we really rather have, a character to entertain, or, with character to inspire? 

                It is a good way to judge our TV preachers, and others.  We are not out of line to want to know about the genuineness of a person’s religion.  Oliver North’s wife was presented as a born-again Christian.  Admiral Poindexter’s wife wore the frock of an Episcopal rector.

III.           What If the Gospel Be Hid Intellectually?  II Corinthians 4:3-4 “. . . it is hid to them that are lost: . . . lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, . . . should shine unto them.”  The genius of human intellect is clear.  Evidence of it appears in every age.  It is asserting itself in this 20^th Century as never before, through airplanes, atomic fission, electronic wizardry.  Many learned men and women exemplify a strong Christian witness in Congress, in the Statehouse, as University Presidents, as coaches and artisans and athletes and entertainers.

                What if we fail to make such faith clear?  Youth grow to physical adulthood, enter college, participate, graduate with honors, but face the future unsure about their faith.  With their own souls in jeopardy, their commitment to intellect may also be compromised.

                The need intellectually is to assert our faith.  We are creatures of intellect.  Our society would crumble without it.  Caesar came to the Rubicon with his armies.  He had the ships that transported them burned.   Retreat would not be an option open to them.

IV.          What If We Hide the Gospel Culturally?  II Corinthians 4:3,5 “. . . It is hid to them that are lost: . . . For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord: and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

                America has much to offer a needy world today.  There is intense physical hardship, in the third world and some even here at home.  We have the wherewithal to help.  Nothing lends itself to compassion like religious faith, particularly Christian faith.  It has the potential of worthy example.  Following the Civil War, the world saw a super power emerge.  Inclusion of ethnic groups has proven the worth of our culture.

                But our greatest treasure is our faith.  In the day when many are surrendering theirs, we who look to Christ must continue to share Him with a searching world.  Hosea 4:1 “Hear the word of the Lord, . . . for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.”

                It is incumbent upon us as believers to keep our gospel exposed to the light of day, to share our faith, to share our wealth to expedite missions, and to live obediently so that what we say matches the way we live.

Conclusion

                Albert McClellan tells us of the time when he and other convention personnel were having lunch at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville.  Soup was brought to the table, and one of the group was reminded of a story. 

                It seems that three men were having a meal together in London.  When the soup was served, all three noticed a bug swimming around on the surface of each of their portions.  The Englishman, acting discreetly, fastidiously pushed his bowl aside while claiming not to be hungry.  The American plunged his spoon under the still swimming bug and raked him into his plate, saying aloud, “I’ll take care of you!” 

                The third man was a Scot  He carefully slid the blade of his knife under the bug, balanced him carefully, then picked him off the knife blade with his fingers.  Next, he shook the soup gathered on the knife blade back in the bowl, then squeezed the bug, saying, “Spit it out, little laddie.”

                Dr. McClellan said that his group laughed so loudly at the story that others in the restaurant were attracted to their conversation just in time to hear one of the men say with a  laugh, “bugs in the soup.”  As you might expect, all over the restaurant, soup spoons were placed aside, but the real problem was for all of the people who  had finished theirs.

                We have a message to deliver, and it must be clear, because people are depending on us for the truth.

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 4^th 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

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.