12/27/22 12/27/22

GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION

#089 GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION

Scripture II Peter 2:4-9 NIV Orig. 12-16-62

Rewr. 8-3-77

Passage: 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

Purpose: To remind men that God’s Word establishes the reality of His judgment, but that out of that judgment are the first rays of hope and salvation.

Keywords: Salvation Judgment

Introduction

Most of us who have spent any time at all singing in Baptist churches are familiar with the music of John Newton. We have enjoyed such favorites as “How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours” and “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.” We may know very little, however, about his own Christian experience.

When he was still only a boy, he left his native England to go to sea. The day he left home, his mother hold him that she would pray every day that he would become a Christian. (Has it ever occurred to you what might happen in the lives of your children if they knew your spiritual concern for them?) Many years passed, and that prayer went unanswered. As if to aggravate the sorrow that his mother knew, the life of John Newton turned to depravity and decay. He became, eventually, a slave trader, plying the waters between West Africa and the American South. He had come finally to moral and spiritual ruin.

It was in that depravity, however, that God convicted him of his sin. After his experience of repentance, at which time he turned to Christ in faith to save him, John Newton wrote, as an expression of his own life and transformation, a song that became one of the best-loved songs in Christendom, “Amazing Grace.”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come,

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

I. The Condemnation. V9 “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and . . . to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”

CONDEMNATION IS DESERVED. The examples of our text show that the angels were not spared, but were cast into mystical “Tartarus,” a holding area awaiting judgment: not gehenna (hell), mentioned at least 11 times by Jesus; not sheol (Old Testament), a region of departed spirits. Revelation 6:8 “. . . a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”

There was a prior world judgment by flood upon the ungodly. Deliverance was through the preaching of righteousness.

There was a judgment of limited scope upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was to serve as a warning to others. As the judgment was limited, even so there would be the righteous “living among them” who would be delivered.

There is also the evident displeasure of God with contemporary humanity. Our age is an age of indulgence. Judges 17:6 “In those days . . . every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Did you catch the article in the paper this week? A St. Bernard parish political figure reminded a reporter that questionable funds were not a kick-back, but a campaign contribution.

Paul found it necessary to remind believers in Ephesians 5:18 “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the spirit.” Proverbs 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin.” Luke 18:11 “I thank Thee, that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers.”

God’s truth concerning condemnation covers all the ages of man. Genesis 3:17 “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of the life.” I Kings 21:21, Elijah said to Ahab “I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.”

I looked with dismay at a Times Picayune article, June 7, 1977, about a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old facing indictment on 4 counts of murder. One said, “I’d rather be sailing.” Those two boys lived in somebody’s community with the gospel. Are there any like them in our community? What to do? As a member of Riverside Baptist Church, what do you do? Leave it to the staff! As a Christian, a Baptist, live in indifference? It’s just temporary.

II. The Judge. V4 “For if God spared not the angels that sinned . . . , to be reserved unto judgment.”

He is the judge who cannot be mocked. Have you ever thought to consider what you taught your small children about Santa Claus, and later about God?

You’d better not pout, you’d better not cry

You’d better be good I’m telling you why…

You used a fairy tale to bargain your child into better behavior, getting them committed to a myth. That is not wrong in itself, but when you fail to teach them the true meaning of Christmas and their ultimate responsibility to God, then you are mocking God.

To live in atheistic disbelief is not to mock God. Martin Luther tells of the time when “I hated God and was angry with him.” But by his own reckoning that state of mind and heart spoke badly for himself and not of God.

Even Madalyn Murray O’Hair claims to believe in a god of nature. But, you see, she wants a quiet god who makes no claims or demands. One who sits around like the three monkeys with eyes, ears, and mouth covered.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

He is the judge who cannot be other than just. He will not turn his back to ignore sin. Psalm 90:8 “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of the count.” Jeremiah 32:19 “. . . Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

In the Orleans Parish Criminal Court record of one Richard Norman Glover, self-accused rapist and murderer of 17-year-old Cynthia LeBoeuf, confessed in June 1972. In October 1972 he was ruled insane and unable to stand trial. He was committed to East Louisiana State Hospital. In March 1975 he was ruled synthetically sane, and able to stand trial. In February 1976 his admission of guilt was allowed (5 to 2) by State Superior Court. Eleven months later they reversed themselves and Glover was free.

III. The Promise. V9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.”

It is a promise which cannot be earned. Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ.” Understand, please, that we may stand convicted of sin, and sincerely want to change our ways. But the power for justification is not in ourselves, but in Christ. Satan’s last foothold occurs when God convicts us of sin and he, Satan, tries to make us think that we can change ourselves.

It is a promise which can only be believed and received. It is more than a mere fresh veneer. Matthew 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men’s bones.”

It is the new birth, an inner change, wrought by God alone. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

NOTE by Rev. Skinner: Verse 4 contains a reference to God in judgment. Verse 9 completes this in reference to the Lord in that through Him there is the promise of deliverance.

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

12/27/22 12/27/22

THUMPS IN THE NIGHT

#088 THUMPS IN THE NIGHT

Scripture Ezekiel 1:26-2:5 NIV Orig. 6/14/64

Rewr. 8/78, 8/24/87

Passage: 1 ²⁶Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne⁽^A⁾ of lapis lazuli,⁽^B⁾ and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.⁽^C⁾ ²⁷I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.⁽^D⁾ ²⁸Like the appearance of a rainbow⁽^E⁾ in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.⁽^F⁾

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory⁽^G⁾ of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown,⁽^H⁾ and I heard the voice of one speaking. 2 ¹He said to me, “Son of man,^[^a^](^I⁾ stand⁽^J⁾ up on your feet and I will speak to you.⁽^K⁾” ²As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me⁽^L⁾ to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.⁽^M⁾ ⁴The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.⁽^N⁾ Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’⁽^O⁾ ⁵And whether they listen or fail to listen⁽^P⁾—for they are a rebellious people⁽^Q⁾—they will know that a prophet has been among them.⁽^R⁾

Purpose: Calling attention to the integrity of God’s word to call His people to our higher goals of faith.

Keywords: Compassion Person of God Word of God Sin

Introduction

Have you ever been called upon to chase down some uncertain noise that has gone “thump” in the night? You went to bed after a hard, long day, expecting to get a full night’s sleep. You had even spent some quality time with your family, and so had gone happily to bed and to sleep. In the quietness, and with contentment you had dropped quickly off to that place somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. Then your wife sits bolt upright in bed and asks, “What was that?”

“What was what?” you groggily reply.

“That noise!” she says.

“What noise?” you ask, sensing some urgency.

“That thump!” she insists.

By now, you are ready to suggest that she’s watching too much TV, or that she should not have eaten so much pizza, either of which would not have been a smart thing to say. Before you can blurt it out, one of the children pads into the room in the dark, and you hear a sleepy voice say, “Daddy, I heard a funny noise!”

“Well, if it was funny, why are we not all laughing?” is all that you can think to say.

But now, you, the brave, strong daddy must get up and face the unknown, and you didn’t even hear it go thump. After a few minutes you come back to bed assuring them that all is secure. All you did was get a glass of water, but they don’t know that. You have to reply when they ask what went thump. Daddies just know that there are things that go thump in the night.

But what if the “thump” is a word from God, and we are not tuned in? What if an event, or a spoken word, is a love note from God to you, and you are involved elsewhere?

The boy Samuel heard a thump in the night (I Samuel 3:4) and it was God. “Where are you, Samuel?” Where are we when these experiences come?

I. The First Thump Involves Seemingly Religious People. Ezekiel 2:3 “And He said to me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.”

A nation having every spiritual advantage becomes indifferent to these very values. Their history records God’s blessing. Their prophets called them again and again to their destiny. The promise to them was of a Saviour/Messiah who would usher in the kingdom age.

We also should feel this sin burden upon the world. There are too many indications of faithlessness. A Babel ethic has appeared on the contemporary scene. The morality of Sodom visits our people. Political chaos is born of expediency. Sexual permissiveness leans upon the icy wings of liberation, freedom, sensualness. Godlessness stalks the streets as a plague.

Too near at hand are the cold stares of people turned from religion who never gave it a chance.

James 1:27 reads “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep themselves unspotted from the world.” I pastored a church once that was in a region of ideal, rustic simplicity and contentment, and its members reached out to several people in the community who were HIV positive, in love and caring.

What if, as some suppose, that this present stage is beyond redemption. Be reminded that God is the Judge; that decision is His. Revelation 6:17 “The great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand.” Hosea 6:5 “Thy judgments are as light.”

As God has vindicated His faithful people in the past, He will do so again. Ezekiel here comes to a rebellious people. His own Son invaded a world of spiritual procrastination of people saying one thing and doing another.

What is expected of us is a willingness to be his vessels unto righteousness, not as doers of wrong only, but as proclaimers of right.

II. The Second Thump in the Night is Disbelief. V4 “. . . you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ . . . whether they hear or whether they refuse, they will know.’”

God’s concern for His people is seen in every valid experience. On an early earth day when a man looked lustily from a piece of fruit to her who was the true object of his lust, he and she could think only of deliverance from God’s oppressive PRESENCE. Yet it was He who took the step in their behalf. “Adam, where art thou?”

On the hinder end of forty long wilderness years came a limping population. Their struggling so vaingloriously was over a span of forty years, a highway that could have been trod triumphantly over a few short weeks. To these Hebrews, forty years late, bedraggled, beaten, not yet ready to attest that God keeps His promise, God came to explain His choice. Deuteronomy 7:7 “The Lord did not set His love on you and choose you because you are more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of people: But because the Lord loved you.”

It should not be difficult for us to grasp such a concept today. Don’t wait to see ourselves as lovable, see God’s innate affection for His people. My wife and I had gone to retrieve one of our daughters from some summer activity. We were in an art gallery passing time. There before us was a picture of Christ holding a Saturday Night Special. The picture attested to nothing about Christ. It boldly asserted the artist’s view of faith, and of sin.

God’s commitment, as His promise, is to these human needs. Jeremiah 31:3 “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.” Malachi 1:2 “’I have loved you,’ saith the Lord, yet you say, ‘In what way have you loved us?’” Instead of declaring God’s love as we have experienced it. We raise other questions of validity of His love. “What have You done for us lately?”

III. The Final Thump Is the Reminder That This Is Our Message Also. V1 “And He said unto me Son of man, stand upon thy feet and I will speak to thee.” He continues to desire to speak to the lowly son, or daughter, of man. He spoke to Jesus constantly, because Jesus was constantly available. He speaks to Ezekiel as one presently available. He spoke to Moses with the fear of Egypt upon him and sent him as deliverer. He spoke to Amos, the herdsman, and sent him to Israel with a message of hope.

How many others are there to whom He is yet able to speak? To one eating the dust of some godless employer. To one struggling under the ingrained and irrelevant habits learned in childhood. And to the one whose life is marked as available to God.

He speaks and calls us to the intention to obey. We can’t serve God while thrashing aimlessly in the mire of shame over past sin. In the admission of sin, there is always the offer of forgiveness with acceptance. I Samuel 15:22 “To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken, than the fat of rams.” To this end came the Spirit to Ezekiel, set him on his feet in a position of obedience, spoke to him of God’s expectation. Recall Luke 11:1-4 “teach us to pray” and the parable in vv. 5-13: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Conclusion

I experienced a thump this week. JH Harris stopped by. It was his third time. The first time, he came seeking help. The second, he just wanted to say thank you. His 12-year-old son was with him. He stopped again last week. He was running from trouble, going back to South Louisiana. He wanted me to know that the boy is dead. He had heart disease, it hadn’t been detected soon enough, and he wanted me to pray with him. It is too easy to overlook the people around us who most need what we have to share. Listen to the thumps in the night. They are all around us.

12/27/22 12/27/22

WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

#476LS WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

Scripture Luke 14:1-14, NIV Orig. 3/13/68

Rewr. 1/30/85

Passage: One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ²There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. ⁵Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[^a^] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶And they had nothing to say. ⁷When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ¹²Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Purpose: Using the occasion of the Lord’s Supper for a brief message relative to the interrelationships of Jesus at a supper.

Timeline/Series: LORD’S SUPPER

Introduction

Take note please that on a Sabbath, the Holy Day to a Jew, Jesus went into the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to share in a festive meal. It is said that the Jews normally ate two meals a day; but on the Sabbath a festive meal was added to the middle of the day. It is a joyful occasion.

Some people have a forlorn and complex view of Jesus as a man who never was other than serious. John Wesley founded a school near Bristol, England, where no games were allowed because “He who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man.”

William Barclay (G30p201) gives us some examples of this short-sighted view of the happy Christ. He quotes Swinburne, “Thou has conquered, O pale Galilean. The world has grown gray at the breath.” Julian spoke of “pale-faced, flat-breasted Christians for whom the sun shone and they never saw it.” And it was A.B. Bruce who said one “could not conceive of the child Jesus playing games when he was a boy, or smiling when he was a man.”

There were those present who were “watching Jesus closely.” Let’s join them and see what we can learn of our Lord’s disposition.

Observe Jesus’ Presence at the Supper. Jesus never refused any man’s hospitality. V1 “He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath.” Jesus went in response to a supposed kindness. It was a large gathering including lawyers and Pharisees. It included also an infirm man, either a plant or someone who happened in off the street. Jesus was not ill-at-ease in the surroundings. V1: “They watched Him closely.” Paratereo means “to watch with sinister intent.”

Note, please, that at such a supper given in His honor, Jesus is present.

Observe Jesus’ Activity at the Supper. He was there as a Pharisee’s guest. The lack of sincerity on the part of some would not change Him. He was there as a guest. However, one was present for whom something must be done. V4: “And He took him and healed him and let him go.”

Attention is called to the Pharisees’ lack of value judgment. It was the Sabbath. That was their excuse to do nothing. Jesus not only does what is right, he rebukes their do-nothing attitude.

At this supper given in honor of our Lord is the appropriate time to check our own values.

Observe Jesus’ Teaching about a Supper. V7: “So He told a parable” about being invited . . . to a wedding feast.” There is always relevancy in Jesus’ teaching. They were at a supper as guests. Some were not acting accordingly.

V7 “He noted how they chose the best places.” Thus, His teaching to them was a lesson in humility. V10 “When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”

Note that it is a rare thing for us to think of ourselves as humble. What place would you want at the table where Jesus sat?

Observe Jesus’ Advice to His Host. He encourages him to examine his motives. Why do we do the things we do? Duty? Self-interest? To befriend? He had invited Jesus and perhaps the infirm man. Fearing what his friends would say, he invited them.

Do the right thing and let God provide the blessing. What better advice or higher goal could we accord than this? I will do the right thing, and I will wait for God to bless as he will.

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

12/27/22 12/27/22

BE STILL AND KNOW (Psalms series)

#048a(s) BE STILL AND KNOW

Scripture Psalm 46:1-11 NIV Orig. 10-9-83 (Psalms series)

Passage: God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.^[^c^]

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields^[^d^] with fire.
¹⁰He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Timeline/Series: Psalms

Introduction

In North Carolina once, we were hiking and became confused about our location. It was noon, with no help from the sun. Planes were flying and making a lot of noise. Not only were we lost. But I became aware that we were walking in a circle.

As we took a rest to try to figure out the best course of action to follow, the planes suddenly flew off to some other place. After a moment, the sound of trucks on the highway some miles off were heard, and we had our bearings.

I. Consider the Pace. V2 “Though the earth be removed.”

What terrible things we do to ourselves when we continue without recourse in the never-ending cataclysm of activity. The Psalmist moves from dismay to disillusion, through despair to discovery. As the Psalmist views his troubled mountain, we need to view our troubled world.

II. Consider the Pause. V10 “Be still and know.” The word “be still” means “to relax.” It is not surrender, giving up. It reminds us of the sabbath rest. Worship is the best place and sphere for this to take place. Vance Havner, preacher from the Blue Ridge Mountains, wrote that “the trouble with the church today is that we have too much ‘supper room’ and not enough ‘upper room.’”

III. Consider the Peace. V11 “The Lord God of Hosts is with us.”

Mark 4:36, still of storm, “Peach be still. . . . Have ye not yet faith?”

Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

Luke 19:37f Dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. They wanted Him to rebuke the disciples for believing that peace followed Jesus.

Paul “I have learned in whatever state I am therein to be content.”

IV. Concluding Thought.

Verses 1-3 Picture God holding the reigns in a struggle through creation’s cataclysm. Selah

Verses 4-7 Picture man struggling in social relationship, and vainly, apart from God, living happily. Selah

Verses 8-11 Picture the perfect peace to come that clearly is the accomplishment of God alone, for His people alone.

Closing

St. Francis of Assisi, “Christ and the City,” p 104.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love.

For it is in the giving that we receive,

It is in the pardoning that we are pardoned,

It is in the dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Ephesians 6:20, ”[The gospel], for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

12/27/22 12/27/22

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: ¹⁷But 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. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I 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. ²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²²But 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. ²³For 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.”

12/26/22 12/26/22

PUMPING IN PERFECTION

#053b PUMPING IN PERFECTION

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

Rewr. Dates 4-19-75

Passage: ¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so 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?

12/26/22 12/26/22

THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

#055a THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

Scripture John 8:21-36, NIV Orig. Date 10-2-61

Rewr. Dates 4-18-85 (7-77)

Passage: 21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Purpose: To introduce a doctrinal study called The Doctrine of Christ so that my people will better understand their need of Christ, the sin-bearer.

Keywords: Christ the Saviour The Christian Life Sin Power

Introduction

It has been several years ago, but the news services told the story all around the country. The streets of the city of New York were electrically dark, but were aflame with human passion. Different reports gave different accounts. 1,700, 1,800, as many as 2,000 arrested for looting and arson. An old jail, long out of service, had to be reactivated to hold the mobs.

It started with a power failure and turned into a night of terror. Untold numbers of people were caught up in a wild melee in the streets that suddenly engulfed them. Some of them found themselves doing things that they would never have done under other circumstances.

Nevertheless, their weakness violated the law, caused pain and suffering; they would have to pay for their crimes. In other places, those more detached from the human scene were scoffing at the evangelical concept of sin. Is there sin? Can there be a God who judges sin? Are we accountable for the wrongs we do?

Sin comes to us in all shapes and colors. It waltzes through one’s life with the whisper of a gentle breeze, or it destroys everything in its path like a late Summer storm. It registers every degree of intensity from anguish to zeal (misguided). It is real! There are different kinds. These are difficult to categorize. One sin exceeds all others in total effect upon our lives. It is the Sin of Sonlessness. It is the sin unto death. It spells death for people, for cultures, for nations, for churches.

I. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in Minimized Human Potential. John 8:34-36 “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

You see, creation included Christ. God created a being capable of self-will and therefore of response. Genesis 3:5 “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 “God has made man upright, but they have sought many inventions.” They were seeking not what God’s will provides but what their will tolerates.

From the first it was His intention to redeem man through Christ. One of the things remembered with fondness from New Orleans is the trips to Women’s Hospital and the magnificent walks by the nursery window. There were dozens of babies. The spark of life is God’s gift. Spiritual life also. John 1:16f “of His fullness have we all received . . . . The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Any of us may achieve material success apart from Christ, but it has no redeeming effect. Some unnamed author of Profit and Loss wrote:

I counted dollars while God counted crosses,

I counted gains while He counted losses.

I counted my worth, my things gained in store;

And he sized me up by the scars that I bore.

I counted honors and sought degrees,

He counted the hours I spent on my knees.

I never knew until one day by the grave

How vain are the things that we spend life to save.

I did not know till a friend went above

That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.

Dr. Arthur Burden, Christian psychiatrist in New Orleans, served on the Foreign Mission Board screening committee. He recovered from a heart attack in 1974. “God spared my life. I am sure of that. I am not completely sure for what reasons. The things that are important to me now are the little every day things: a blue sky; time spent with my family; the touch of a friend’s hand.”

We reach our fullest potential by the measure of our attachment to Christ.

II. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in a Life Turned Inward. John 8:26 “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard from Him.”

The first concern of the life turned inward is that it contradicts God’s will. What if Jesus had allowed Himself to get side-tracked? What if He had been satisfied to turn Israel around? V26 “I see so much to judge.”

For the reformer, what if the goal becomes an end in itself, and the source of the goal is lost from view? “He who sent me is true.”

You see, Israel was to be the agent through whom others came to believe. “And I speak to the world.” Isaiah 42:6 “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, . . . and give thee . . . for a light to the Gentiles.”

Though Jesus didn’t get side-tracked, we can. The question is not just the expending of spiritual energy. It is primarily openness of life to the will of God. I Corinthians 3:11f “No other foundation can any person lay than what is laid, which is Jesus. Whatever is built . . . gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. Fire shall try everyone’s work of what sort it is.”

This life turned inward becomes a barrier to the way rather than a guidepost. Parents can stand in the way of children. Failing to be a consistent witness, we stand in the way of others. G.K. Chesterton wrote: “We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

III. The Sin of Sonlessness Separates One from God. John 8:34 “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” It is to know God through His Son. Gladstone “All that I think, all that I hope, all that I write, all that I live for, is based on the divinity of Jesus Christ, the central joy of my poor wayward life.” Phillips Brooks “The only way to realize that we are God’s children is to allow Jesus to lead us to our Father.”

But to be without Christ is to be without dependable hope. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on Him.”

Conclusion

He held the lamp each livelong day

So low that none could miss the way,

And yet so high to bring in sight

That picture fair of Christ, the light,

That gazing up--the lamp between—

The hand that held it was not seen.

He held the pitcher, stooping low,

To lips of little ones below,

Then raised it to the weary saint

And bade him drink when sick and faint;

They drank--the pitcher thus between—

The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He blew the trumpet, soft and clear,

That cringing sinners need not fear,

And then with louder note and bold

To storm the walls of Satan’s hold:

The trumpet coming thus between,

The hand that held it was not seen.

But when our captain says, “Well done

Thou good and faithful servant, come.

Lay down the lamp, lay down the cup,

Lay down the trumpet, leave the camp.”

Thy weary hands will then be seen,

Clasped in his pierced ones, naught between.

Author unknown

12/26/22 12/26/22

THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS, reflections on 9/11

#055b reflections on 9/11 THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

Scripture John 8:21-36, NIV Orig. Date 10-2-61

Rewr. Dates 9/14/2001; 4-18-85 (7-77)

Passage: 21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Purpose: Post 9-11, to introduce a doctrinal study called The Doctrine of Christ so that my people will better understand their need of Christ, the sin-bearer.

Keywords: Christ, Saviour Christian Life Sin Power

Introduction

The study brought us today to John 8:24. The horrors of the week do not necessitate a change. The gospel is still the hope of our world. We must be faithful, but careful in exploiting what we possess. Commitment is the exercise of the day.

We have watched, for three days now, as a brigade of men and women have hauled away the debris of the World Trade Center. Hundreds of thousands of tons of the by-product of the hate of a small group of people. A vast commitment of principal because one person may still be alive under it. Such effort is simply a by-product of love.

So, the text has not been changed, though some remarks will bear on the depth of the outcome of such a week.

Significantly, the controversial remarks of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell must be brought into such a text. Has God taken a protective hand away? It is impossible to argue the point that we Americans have enjoyed that protection. Now, is it gone? Are we without it? They are honorable men, and men of vision, but they are wrong. His hand is extended to all people of “good will,” whatever their religion or life principle. And, so must our hand. In the crisis of that hour, and the days since, there have been tens of thousands of those responses.

The tragedy happened. It was not willed by deity to happen. Nor was it a chance event. It was humanly engineered. So must be the conditions of recovery.

Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Jeremiah 31:29 “In those days . . . say no more ‘the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ . . . Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.”

Even if Robertson and Falwell could prove their contention, I would lay claim to that concluding prayer of Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds’ feet and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.”

Any of us may achieve material success apart from Christ, but it has no redeeming effect. Some unnamed author of Profit and Loss wrote:

I counted dollars while God counted crosses,

I counted gains while He counted losses.

I counted my worth, my things gained in store;

And he sized me up by the scars that I bore.

I counted honors and sought degrees,

He counted the hours I spent on my knees.

I never knew until one day by the grave

How vain are the things that we spend life to save.

I did not know till a friend went above

That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.

Dr. Arthur Burden, Christian psychiatrist in New Orleans, served on the Foreign Mission Board screening committee. He recovered from a heart attack in 1974. “God spared my life. I am sure of that. I am not completely sure for what reasons. The things that are important to me now are the little everyday things: a blue sky; time spent with my family; the touch of a friend’s hand.”

We reach our fullest potential by the measure of our attachment to Christ.

For the reformer, what if the goal becomes an end in itself, and the source of the goal is lost from view? “He who sent me is true.”

Conclusion

He held the lamp each livelong day

So low that none could miss the way,

And yet so high to bring in sight

That picture fair of Christ, the light,

That gazing up--the lamp between—

The hand that held it was not seen.

He held the pitcher, stooping low,

To lips of little ones below,

Then raised it to the weary saint

And bade him drink when sick and faint;

They drank--the pitcher thus between—

The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He blew the trumpet, soft and clear,

That cringing sinners need not fear,

And then with louder note and bold

To storm the walls of Satan’s hold:

The trumpet coming thus between,

The hand that held it was not seen.

But when our captain says, “Well done

Thou good and faithful servant, come.

Lay down the lamp, lay down the cup,

Lay down the trumpet, leave the camp.”

Thy weary hands will then be seen,

Clasped in his pierced ones, naught between.

Author unknown

12/26/22 12/26/22

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY

#649 25^TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY

PRAYER

When a man and woman come to choose for themselves the estate of marriage, they do, whether knowingly or unknowingly, choose unto their united life, that which is a product of the love and grace of God. Whatever the level of their spiritual experience, they enter into a contract of which it is God’s purpose to bless As early as the second chapter of Genesis, the first book in God’s Word establishes the intent of God. Of the creation encounter we are taught, “The Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him.”

It is a happy experience to look with eyes of faith through the pages of holy scripture, and to discover, again and again, the positive blessings of God which are associated with marriage. Though our Lord, Himself, did not marry, He graced its meaning by choosing a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee for the occasion of His first miracle. On such a happy event as this, as surely as at His baptism, He announced His Messiahship and His miracle-endowed ministry.

The primary impact of Jesus’ teaching on the subject of marriage was clearly established. Both Matthew (19) and Mark (10) record the basis of marriage as the foundation stone upon which the social culture of family life is to be built. Jesus said, “For this cause shall a man leave His father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

There had been other Old Testament passages that had formed the nucleus of Jesus’ teachings. It was a broad principle stated by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4:9. “Two are better than one.” He had stated the principle much more meaningfully in Proverbs 18:22. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.” Solomon’s experiences teach us also what he learned in the retrospect of having lived counter to the principle. One of the most beautiful Old Testament passages is in The Song of Solomon where the lovely Shulamite woman rejects all of the pursuits and advances of the king because of her love for the one whom she would ultimately marry.

There is yet another dimension of the holy estate of matrimony presented in the scripture The New Testament epistles speak of the church as the bride of Christ. This One who is Lord is pictured as giving His life for His one true love. Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians reminded the believing husbands that they “were to love their wives, nourishing and cherishing the relationship, even as the Lord the church.”

As the imprint of the intent of God is found almost from the first page of scripture, it is seen finally in the last book and near the last chapter. The revelator, John, records in Chapter 19, “blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Though it is not an issue here, the believing husband or wife is encouraged to believe that their witness will be effective in bringing an unbelieving spouse to faith. (I Corinthians 7:14)

We have come together here this evening, not to unite in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in acknowledgement of the attainment of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary. This acknowledgement declares to all who care to take notice that the years yet to be are even more important than the ones that have been. On the occasion of this anniversary, you are surrounded by the friends who have walked with you through both sad and glad. Others here are themselves the result of your marital trust.

You stand before me as two already united in the eyes of the state, and considered so by your friends and loved ones. It is an ennobling act of faith which seeks to commemorate this happy event in the presence of these who know and love you.

We are told that “Where two or more are gathered together in the name of the Lord, He is present there with those who are His.” (Matthew 18:20) What more significant gathering of two or more of His own than to accommodate a believing couple in their desire to sanctify their union for these important years ahead.

It is then, not with symbolic candles that we come to express the meshing together of your individual lives. It is not to sign the necessary but too often meaningless documents of State. It is not even to give renewed meaning to the rings of ceremony already shared. It is simply to restate the vows of union.

I request that you join right hands, face each other, and repeat these vows:

“I thank God for the holy estate of matrimony.

“I praise His Name for the fusing of my life with yours.

“I bless His Name and for His will expressed lovingly through our lives.

“I am pledged in wedded love to you alone for so long as we shall live.”

PRAYER

12/26/22 12/26/22

WEDDING CEREMONY OF THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH

#071 WEDDING CEREMONY of THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH

Prepared by Lamar Skinner November 21, 1987

Marriage has historically been one of life’s greatest celebrations. Every culture has had its very own means to this end. The processes, whether primitive or exacting, have enabled the two contracting parties to form a normative relationship. These individuals would, in this manner, disassociate themselves from the vestiges of the single life, and begin the experience of shared intimacy. Life takes on the different hue of sharing. There are now two hands on the tiller of faith and circumstance.

The declaration made here is all the more significant because there are already two others who stand to gain greatly by this association. It is all the more significant then, that we enter into this celebration prayerfully.

You will bow with me, please, for prayer.

PRAYER

We are assembled here, in the home of friends to joyfully share in this celebration of marriage. Our minds, hearts, and spirits join with those of

Tommy Michelli

and

Vickie Smith

to enjoin the spiritual oneness of marriage. We acknowledge responsibility, responsibility first to God, Himself. Responsibility to other family members who surely are affected by this decision. Marriage, in its fullest dimension, is the achievement of God alone. We are to look to Him for the greater fulfillment of family. We are surely to praise Him for the opening of doors that led upward to this celebration. You have prayed about your own decision. Others, who love you devotedly, have prayed for you. As great significance is seen in prayer for the wedding, even greater significance is determined for marriage. No more measured circumstance could come out of your wedding here today than that of determining that God will hold the place of honor in your individual and collective lives.

As the years have passed, Tommy, Vickie, you have meandered down separate trails toward a destiny that you could not imagine. You were guided through your own childhood, but the day came when more assertive decisions became your lot. Events of magnitude have occurred. You have experienced both happiness and grief. Stumbling steps have reached toward selfhood, toward becoming the person you can, and ought to be. There have been many times when your steps were the steps of a person alone. When you turn from this place, the sands of time will reveal partnered steps. Work with all your heart and soul to keep it just that way. Look to God as the source of your strength.

Marriage is not innovative. It is not unique. It is simply acquiescence to a greater divine plan.

“And the Lord God said, ‘It isn’t in man’s best interest for him to be alone; I will make another person to complement him. They will be suited to each other’s needs.’ Then the Lord . . . brought this woman to the man. This explains why the man . . . is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.”

To this end we are gathered here. It is toward what we believe to be the will of God that we here move. We do little more than add man’s prose to God’s promise. For it is the promise that sends faith to replace the fantasy of the dreamer.

Because you have indicated to me that these goals to be shared are your desire. As you want this spiritual priority to guide your relationship, I then request that you join your right hands and repeat these vows.

I Tommy take you Vickie to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

Vickie, your vow is no more nor any less than that of the one who here becomes your husband.

I Vickie take you Tommy to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, til death do us part.

Now, as a sign of the confirmation of these vows, you will share together the rings of covenant. The ring has had other uses throughout history. But none match the holy estate of their importance in marriage. The symbolism of pure metal and unique form address the purity that is to attend your relationship, and the eternality of your covenant.

Do you, Tommy/Vickie, give this ring to Vickie/Tommy, as an eternal covenant of your love?

Each responds “I do!”

Do you receive the ring, Vickie/Tommy, as such a token of love, and do you so promise to wear it as it has been thus intended?

Each answers “I will!”

Those of us gathered here by your invitation have heard you pledge your love each to the other. We have watched as you sealed the contract of your marriage with the rings you have shared with the other. I therefore, as your pastor friend, and as an agent of this state empowered to do so, happily acknowledge your new station as husband and wife. Take care that this holy covenant remains so. Become the family, father, mother, and two daughters, Jessica and Lindsey, loved fully by you both.

Tommy, you may kiss your wife.