Chardon church of Christ

For The Birds

FOR THE BIRDS
GENESIS 8:1 – 17

OPEN: I am told that an Indiana cemetery has a tombstone that is over 100 years old which bears the following epitaph:
"Pause, stranger, when you pass me by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. So prepare for death and follow me."
An unknown passerby read those words and underneath scratched this reply: "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went!"

An old Aztec legend tells of a man named Tapi who was a very pious man. The legend says that the creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was told that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into this boat.

Naturally everyone thought he was crazy.  But then the rain started and the flood came.  Men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well.
Finally the rain ended. And Tapi decided that the water had dried up when he let a DOVE loose that did not return.

In China there’s an ancient temple, and on one wall there’s a painting shows boat owned by a man named Fuhi (the Chinese version of Noah) out upon raging waters.
Dolphins are swimming around the boat and a DOVE with an olive branch in its beak is flying toward it.

In an ancient Babylonian Epic the hero Gilgamesh gives his story about a flood:
“When the seventh day dawned I loosed a DOVE and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting-place she returned. Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-place she returned. I loosed a RAVEN, she saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back.
Then I threw everything open to the four winds, I made a sacrifice on the mountain top.

YOU can visit the internet and explore different flood stories from such diverse nations as
• East Africa
• Argentina
• Australia
• Bolivia
• Cuba
AND…
• Fiji
• Egypt
• Iceland
• India
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Russia
• Vietnam

And of those 35 flood stories that were examined
ALL of them talk of humans being spared in the flood.
32 of them include a boat.
24 include an account of animals being spared.
At least 6 of them include references to a dove.
Two of those included references to a raven (one to a hawk).

Whenever archeologists encounter such similar stories like these from so many diverse peoples they tend to believe SOMETHING happened.
And of course... we know something DID happen.
It was a flood for global proportions that destroyed all of mankind because of their wickedness.
In the midst of the Biblical account of the flood we read an intriguing story for the birds.
Two birds actually: A Raven and a Dove.

In Genesis, the Raven actually plays a fairly minor role in this play because all we’re told about it is found in verses 6 and 7:

“After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.”

Noah released the raven 40 days after these mountaintops had appeared. And the bird never came back INTO the ark itself... it just kept flying around.
Maybe it rested on the ark itself, maybe on the mountaintops in the distance.
But the raven never returned to the safety of the ark again.

Now the Dove gets a little more press.
It’s sent out from the ark 3 different times.
1. The first time, the bird finds no place to rest its feet ... and so it returns to Noah and Ark.

2. The 2nd time, the dove returns with an olive branch in its beak (indicating something is growing).

3. And the 3rd time – it flies away and doesn’t return at all.
Now, the question that came into my mind as I read this story was this:
• Why are we even being told about these birds?
• Why waste the ink?
• Why would God care?

Now remember that we should begin every study of Scripture with one basic concept.
II Timothy 3:16-17 tells us
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

ALL Scripture – not just the parts I like.
Not just the parts I agree with.
Not just the parts that “speak to me.”
ALL Scripture... including this story.
Thus, if God put these two birds in the story it would seem that there would be a reason
So, allow me – this morning – to give you my understanding of the message from the birds.

1st – These two birds are distinctly different.
The Raven, for example was an unclean bird
Leviticus 11 tells us: "’These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture... any kind of raven”. Leviticus 11:13 & 15

There were certain animals and birds that God’s people in the Old Testament were not allowed to eat and they were not allowed to offer as part of a sacrifice to God.
And every Raven was unclean.  These birds quite literally feed on death.  They eat the flesh of dead animals.  Ravens are scavengers...
They look for death.

By contrast, the dove was a clean animal.
Doves were birds the Israelites could not only eat - they could offer them in sacrifices to their God.
In Genesis 15 – when God cut His covenant with Abraham - Abraham was commanded to bring animals for sacrifice... one of which was dove.

Leviticus 1 says that doves could be offered as burnt offerings.
And Leviticus 12 says doves were to be offered for certain kinds of sin offerings.
So doves were clean animals.

But beyond that... God seems to have a very special place in His heart for these birds.

Jesus regarded them as symbolic of purity and innocence.
Jesus told His disciples they should be as “innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

But perhaps the most powerful image of doves in scripture happened after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. Mark 1:9-10 tells us that 9) it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up [a]from the water, He saw the heavens [b]parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.

God made the dove the image that represented His Holy Spirit.

SO, Why would Noah release an unclean bird (the Raven) AND THEN a clean bird (the Dove) from the Ark to “see if the waters had dried up from the earth?”
I think there’s a very simple answer to that.
I believe God told him to.

If I’m right, I can think of at least three things God wanted us to know.
1st God wanted to remind us of something – the flood brought death.
As I said before, Ravens literally feed on death.
They eat the flesh of dead animals.
They’re scavengers.
They look for death.
And after the flood, there was plenty of death.

Genesis 7:20-23 says that when the flood did its work: 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on [a]the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath [b]of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

The flood brought death... because the flood brought God’s judgment upon mankind.

In Genesis 6:5-7 we’re told
5 Then [a]the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent[b] of the thoughts of his heart was only evil [c]continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
The flood brought death.

Everything with the breath of life in its nostrils... died.
There was plenty of food now for the raven... because the Raven fed on death.
God tells us “The wages of sin is death...” Romans 6:23
* You can ignore it if you like but it’s still going to be true.
* The world would like to brush it aside if they could but they can’t
* Hollywood can laugh at it but it doesn’t change the reality.

How many of you have ever been to Niagara Falls?
I’ve visited Niagara Falls a few times and every time I’ve visited I’ve been struck by the fact that they don’t want you to get too close to THAT water. They’ve got fences up/ and they’ve got signs up - to WARN people... to keep people away

Why? Because, if I get too close to the waters of the Niagara, I could be dragged to my death.
Now, I can ignore those fences.
I can laugh at the signs that warn me not to get too close.
But if ignorant enough to get into those waters... I will die!

God wanted His people to remember: Sin brings death.

And God wanted to remind His people that the waters of the Flood were about judgment/ Death
So, first – the message of the birds is about death and judgment.
But the 2nd message is different.
The 2nd message of the birds is all about hope.
The Raven looked for death
But the Dove looked for life.

Do you remember what the Dove brought back to the Ark? (olive branch)
I’ve been told that the olive tree is one of the hardiest of plants. A cutting from such a tree can take root in good ground and grow quickly.
It became a symbol of life for Israel... and it was a symbol of hope for those in the Ark.
Things were growing now from the ground!
For almost an entire year, Noah and his family had been confined to their boat.
For almost an entire year, the world around them has been covered with water.
For almost an entire year... they’ve been the only living things on earth.
But with that olive branch - God gave them a sign that said – things are turning around.
Things are going to get better now.

The Bible is filled with stories about Godly men and women who faced difficulties in their lives. They faced trials and hardships even death. But the repeated message in Scripture was that God always stood beside them.
Daniel, David, Shadrach/ Meshach and Abednego, Moses, Joshua, Esther.

Each of their stories gives the same message:
Isaiah 40:31 “... But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

Or as Psalm 30:5 tells us: "For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But [a]joy comes in the morning."

Our trials and tribulation won’t last forever.
We will not going to be confined to our Ark of troubles indefinitely.

There’s will come a time, when God will open the door and we will walk out on a new world of hope and encouragement.
But we have to wait for God’s timing.
The flood didn’t abate until God was ready for it to.
But when that time came... God sent His people a sign of hope.
So, the first message of the birds was that of death.

The 2nd message was that of hope.

And the 3rd message of life.
God doesn’t like death... He never has.
When the raven flew away from the ark, did it ever return?
No.

Genesis 8:7 says "7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth"
By contrast, when the dove was released VERSES 8 & 9
. "8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself."

The Dove returned to Noah and the safety of the Ark.
The Raven (the symbol of death) never did.
Why not?
Because Death is not welcome with God.
God did not create His people to die.
He created us to live forever. (PAUSE)

And that is why Jesus came and died on the cross in our place.
The wages of sin is death... but Jesus took our place
He paid the price for our sins.

Hebrews 2:14 tells us that "14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,"
Jesus came to conquer death.
And when He comes again, I Corinthians 15: 54 – 58 says:
"54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O[n] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

The story of the birds... and that of the flood itself was all about life in the midst of death.
I Peter 3:20-22 tells us:
“...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also— not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand— with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

You can have that life from Jesus today.
INVITATION

Be Great By Faith

BE GREAT BY FAITH
JOHN 1:12-14

A preacher was on a radio program
where the interviewer was an atheist.
The atheist demanded that the preacher
NOT quote any scripture during the interview.
“I don’t want to hear any Bible on my airways.
You got that?
No Bible on my airwaves.”
So, then the interviewer started the program by saying:
“I submit that you Christians are not respectful of my opinion.
I believe I should be able to get into heaven
because I’ve been a good person.
What do you say to that?”

The preacher thought about it for a moment
and then said “Let’s say you go to the wealthy side of town
and approach a beautiful mansion.
You ring the doorbell and when they answer the door
you inform them that you expect to be able to move in.
What do you think they’d do?
You don’t know them and they don’t know you –
WHY should they let you move in?

It’s the same with heaven.
You’re trying to tell me that God should let you into heaven
just because you’ve come to His gates
and demanded to be let in.
But you don’t know Him and
you’ve spent your life attacking His character.
Heaven isn’t about how good you’ve been.
It’s all about knowing Jesus.
Jesus said that no one gets into heaven
except through Him and you don’t know Him.”

Now that makes sense doesn’t it.

Why would anybody let you stay in their house
if they don’t know you?
Particularly if you make it clear that you don’t like them
and you don’t WANT to know them.

That’s essentially what our text this morning is all about.
“To all who received him, who believed in his name,
He gave the RIGHT to become children of God.”
(John 1:12)

We get into heaven because we WANT to know Jesus.
And once we decided we want to know Him,
and we want what He has to offer,
then we weren’t some stranger
knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door.
We get to move in with Jesus
because we are given the right… to be children of God.

The Declaration of Independence
has an intriguing phrase that says:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator (God)
with certain unalienable RIGHTS,
that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In other words – the Declaration declared
that God gives us rights.
But there’s one right that’s not mentioned
in the Declaration of Independence.
And it’s a far greater right than any rights
That are listed in that document

We find it in John 1:12
“To all who received him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the RIGHT to become children of God.”

Essentially, we have the right to a vast
and powerful inheritance because of our faith,
all because we’ve BELIEVED in His name –
all because we wanted to receive what Jesus offered us.

we need to realize how thankful we should be
for that inheritance. Think about this –
what do you have on earth
that’s more important than heaven.
What would you be willing trade for an eternity with Jesus?

Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven
is like treasure hidden in a field,
which a man found and covered up.
Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has
and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
in search of fine pearls, who,
on finding one pearl of great value,
went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:44-46

What’s Jesus saying?
He’s saying that there’s nothing on this earth
that could possibly begin to equal the value
of eternity with Jesus.
What we have with Jesus is worth EVERYTHING,
And NOTHING we have (on this earth)
compares to Jesus and what He offers.

Paul said it this way:
“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss
for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things
and count them as rubbish,
in order that I may gain Christ.”
Philippians 3:7-8

I once read that the printing press
was one of the greatest inventions ever.
Up until that time,
all books were painstakingly printed by hand –
which made books very rare and very hard to find.
But the Printing press changed all of that.
Information was suddenly made available to 1000s of people.

And (pause) one of the most significant accomplishments
of the printing press was that it allowed people
to have their own copies of Scripture.

During one of the printings,
one of the Bibles had been ripped
and a scrap of paper from that Bible
ended up on the shop floor
where it was found by the daughter of the owner.

And on that scrap of paper… were these words,
“For God so loved that He gave...”
The rest of the verse was missing,
but that simple phrase moved her,
and the rest of the day she went around
with a smile on her face.

Her mother noticed … and asked what had made her so happy? The girl pulled the crumpled paper from her pocket
and showed it to her mother.
The mother read it and asked,
"What did He give?"
And the girl replied
“I don’t know,
but if God loved us enough to give us anything
He must love us deeply.”

So, the question is - how much is eternity in heaven
worth to you?
What would you pay to get Jesus and what He offers?
Well, our passage says that the way we can get Jesus
is to RECEIVE Him on His terms, to BELIEVE in His name!
“To all who received him, who believed in his name,
He gave the right to become children of God.”
John 1:12

So, what does that mean?
What does it mean to receive Jesus/ to believe in His name?
Well, it helps to know what it DOESN’T MEAN!
Notice the next part of our text:
“Those were given the right to become children of God
“were born, not of blood; nor of the will of the flesh;
nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)

So, there’s only one way to become a child of God.
How???
By being born OF God.
But, there are 3 ways
you CAN’T become a child of God.

You can’t become a child of God BY BLOOD!
In the Old Testament, you became a Jew
because you were born into a Jewish family - by blood.
But you can’t do that with Jesus.

You can’t become a Christian
by being born into a Christian family.
You could come to church for decades
with your Christian family.
But YOU are the one who has to decide
that YOU want TO RECEIVE;
and YOU want to BELIEVE;
YOU are the one who has to make the decision.

And you can’t become a child of God
by the “Will Of The Flesh.”

This means that you (in your flesh)
can’t decide that YOU’RE good enough
to be good enough to please God.
A lot of people believe –
if they do enough good things
they can EARN salvation.

That way, it’s their own RIGHTEOUSNESS
that gets them in.
And frankly, God couldn’t keep them out
if He wanted to because they’ve EARNED their spot.
But Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
You become a child of God
ONLY by following Jesus!

And 3rdly – you can’t become a child of God
by the “Will Of Man.”
Somebody else (like your father/mother/best friend)
can’t decide for you that you will become a child of God.
That’s one of the problems with infant baptism.
The baby didn’t believe in Jesus.
The baby didn’t decide that they wanted to be a child of God.
All a baby really wants is a bottle of milk –
they're hardly able to decide to become a "child of God"... somebody else made that decision for them.

ILLUS: Rod Cameron (a former missionary to Africa)
was once approached by a leader from an African town
in which he was ministering
who wanted his 2 children baptized.
When asked how old the children were,
the man responded “ages 3 and 5.”

Rod thought on that a moment and replied,
“John, why do you want your children baptized?”

John responded “My wife and I
have been reading the Bible and we believe
that we need to have our children ready to go to Heaven.”
Rod said, “well then,
why don’t we just baptize everyone in the village?
You’re a strong man, we’ll start with the oldest
and work our way down,
and we’ll drag them down the river one by one
and put them under water.”

Puzzled, John asked “Why would we want to do that?
They may not want to be baptized!”
“That’s right,” said Rod,
“you really need to want to become a Christian
to be baptized, and your children aren’t ready for that yet.

Now, how about you and your wife?
Are you ready to make that commitment?”
Sometime later, John and his wife were baptized
and raised their family to love God.
Their children accepted the gospel
and were also baptized when they were old enough
to UNDERSTAND WHY they NEEDED to be baptized.

Jesus said: “Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved, but whoever does not believe
will be condemned.” Mark 16:16

So, let’s review:

you can’t become a child of God…
By being born of blood (i.e. – being born into a Christian family);

you can’t become a child of God…
By the will of the flesh (you – in your FLESH –
can’t decide you’re good enough);
Nor by the will of man (your friends/family
can’t make that choice for you).
In short - you can’t become a child of God on your terms.
You’ve got to do things - God’s way.
But how do you do things… God’s way?
What does God say in the Bible
that I need to do to “receive” Jesus?

First I need to believe in His name…
(that’s what it says here in John)
John 1:12 says “But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God.”

What do I need to believe about Him?
Well, it’s not that hard.
I’m supposed to believe that Jesus is God in the flesh
and that he’s come to change my life.
“The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

(PAUSE) Faith as the foundation of our salvation
shows up a LOT in Scripture,
but does that mean I don’t need to repent as well?
NO – I need to repent.

Acts 3:19-20 tells us “Repent therefore,
and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
that times of refreshing
may come from the presence of the Lord,
and that he may send the Christ appointed for you.”
Repentance means to “TURN BACK” –
turn away from a sinful lifestyle.
God says that repentance is part of what we do
to have our sins forgiven.

(PAUSE) So, Faith and Repentance are vital for salvation,
does that mean I don’t have to confess Him?
NO… confession is important too.
Romans 10:9 says I need to confess that Jesus is Lord.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.”
Notice, it doesn’t say I am confessing my sins.
Instead, it says I must confess that Jesus is now my LORD.
I’m confessing that Jesus will now own me
and all that I have because He’s my Lord!

(PAUSE) So, Faith, Repentance, and Confession
are all part of our appeal to God for salvation.
Does that mean I don’t have to be baptized?
Well… that’s not what the Bible says.

When the crowd was convinced
that they’d crucified their Messiah,
“they were cut to the heart,
and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
"Brothers, what shall we do?"
And Peter said to them,
"Repent and BE BAPTIZED every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:37-38

Notice, these folks already believed at Pentecost
(they were convinced they’d crucified Messiah)
but apparently, they hadn’t “repented”
or been baptized.
But when they made that decision to repent/
and when they were baptized, they received a promise.
They were promised to be forgiven of their sins
and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So those are GOD’S way of RECEIVING Jesus
as your Lord and Savior –
which we are required to accept with no substitutes.

One last thought.
Right after the book of John tells us
about how to become Children of God
it makes this statement
“And the Word (Jesus) became flesh
and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14)
Why would it be important
that we’d know Jesus dwelt among us?

CLOSE: An atheist told a friend about his visits
with his 18-month-old granddaughter.
He said that he regularly made a 90 minute drive
once a month to visit her.
And he said “I don’t push myself on her.
I don’t even go and pick her up…
because she might cry.
But I go and visit so that she will know WHO I am.

My hope is that – as she gets older
she will eventually come to me
because I SHOWED UP all these early visits.
Jesus was God –
who SHOWED UP in the flesh –
so that we’d know WHO He was.
He came to earth to be with us…
so we’d know how much He loved us.
And eventually (because we saw who He was)
we’d COME to Him because
we saw the God who cared enough
to die for us.

INVITATION

Examples

By Jerad Allen

Good morning. If you'd like to, turn to Matthew 6. That's where the majority of our lesson will be today.

I feel like I say this a lot before my sermons, but as most of you know, I'm attending Bowling Green State University right now. As a student I take a lot of tests. I'm in college. I don't know how long it's been since some of you have taken an academic test. For a few, I can imagine it's been a couple of decades.

One thing I like to have before a test or an essay is a model. I like examples because they help me to know what to expect, what to do, and how to prepare. It's easier to prepare when I have an example.

The chapter we’re looking at today is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. What he is giving us in this chapter is examples. He is commanding us how to live in certain ways, how to do certain things. Today, we will go over ways to please God. We will go over prayer. We will go over the fasting, treasures in heaven and many other things.
To start out, I will read verses one through four. Be careful not to do good deeds in front of other people. Don’t do those deeds to be seen by others. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. When you give to needy people, do not announce it by having trumpets blown. Do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They announce what they do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want to be honored by other people. What I’m about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward. When you give to needy people, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Then your giving will be done secretly. Your Father will reward you, because he sees what you do secretly.
How often on the news or on the internet or other things, do we see celebrities or other famous and rich people announce how much they're giving? I remember seeing a headline a few years back that Bill Gates pledges that he will give half of his fortune to charity by a certain time. How often do we see man announce their good deeds, screaming, “Look at how good I am. See what I can do. See what I am doing. How good am I?” That's not how the Lord tells us to give to the needy.

That's not what the Lord commands us. We should not be announcing our ways in what we do. We should do it in secret because this does not matter. You should not boast about the good you do.

In Ephesians 2:8-9, it says, For by grace have you been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

In James 2:16, it says, For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

You are not saved by the works you do. Without faith, your work is dead. No matter what you do, you could cure cancer, you could solve world hunger, but if you do not have faith in the Lord, if you have not taken care of your own soul, it will not matter. No amount of good deeds you can do can erase the sins that you have committed. Nothing can erase the deeds that you have done. Only through faith, only through the blood of Christ can those sins be forgiven, not through your own works. As it says, faith apart from works is dead, but also works apart from faith are meaningless.

I tell you, when you do these deeds, do not boast, do not announce them. If people see them, so be it, but do not make sure they see it. As my father said, we should be cheerful givers, but we should also not be boastful givers. Think of the parable of the woman who gave that one little penny. Jesus took more worth out of that one little penny, all she had, than the hundreds, even the thousands that the rich men were giving, because those rich men were being boastful.

We can move on from there. Verses 5 through 8 say, And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Do things the Lord wants you to do, not things that will bring you recognition. In Colossians 2:23, it says, whatever you do, work heartedly as for the Lord and not for men.

Work for the Lord, not for men. It's in the Bible. In Colossians 2:23, it tells us this, because you ought to work for the Lord, in his kingdom and not for the Earth and its. You cannot serve two masters, so you must follow the Lord and do as he tells you and do things as he has taught us. Do things for him not for the world. This is what these verses are getting at. Do not be like the hypocrites in the synagogues.

Moving on to verse 9, it says, this then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Here we have Jesus' model prayer. This is not the prayer we should all say at every turn, but an example for us. Earlier, as I said, I like examples before tests. I like them a lot before essays or presentations, too, because they show me how the teacher wants it. Teachers like their presentations and essays in certain ways, and when you have examples, it's a little easier to follow that.

That's what the Lord is doing. He's a teacher. He's giving us an example of a proper prayer. That's what we should focus on here. How does he want us to pray? What does he want us to say? How does he want us to address him? Here it says, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. He starts us off. He starts his prayer off recognizing the Lord, our Father in heaven, our King above all. Hallowed, gracious ,is your name, great is your name.

Moving on to verse 10, Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Many times, Jesus and others in the Bible say, Lord, your will be done.

In Romans 12:2, we are told, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We must ask the Lord for his will to be done, but we must also be able to determine what his will is ourselves. As it says here, do not be conformed to the world, but let our minds be renewed so we may better listen to God's word, for His orders, for what we should do.

Let His will be done because His will is greater than ours. He knows what is right, what is perfect. While we are beginning to understand and beginning to learn what is truly right, and we know what is right, we have problems doing it. We have problems picking the right way. We need to ask the Lord to guide us, to allow His will to be done, to give us the strength for His will to be done.

Give us today our daily bread, verse 11.

Here we are to ask our basic needs. In the Bible, we are assured that following the Lord, our basic needs will be met. We will have the amount of water and the amount of food we need. We do not need to worry about these things because the Lord will provide them for us.

In Psalms 55:22, it says, cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. The Lord will sustain your hunger. He will sustain your thirst. As long as you are following him, you can be certain that you will have what you need to make it through the day. Then the the next day and the next until your time has come.

To move on, verses 12 through 15, say, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins as well.

In Matthew 18:22-23, we're told about the servant who had his debt forgiven. This is a parable where a servant owes a great debt to his master, and the master graciously forgives him. The servant then had another servant who owed him some money. It was a small amount, and he threw him in jail. As reprimand, the master put his debt back on him. That is a good example of what the Lord means.

We must pray, we must be able to forgive our enemies because are we not also sinners? Have we also not transgressed against God? How can he forgive us if we are not even willing to forgive what has happened, what has been done to us? How can He forgive what we have done to Him? That is something I feel many people struggle with. Sin is not just some arbitrary thing you are doing that's wrong. You are actively committing sins against God. You are defiling God. These are acts against Him. Just as someone's sins can harm you, our sins harm Him.

Another thing we must pray for the strength to forgive. Some people do some pretty bad things to us, and it can be really tough. Our enemies sometimes run us in ways that we might find unforgivable, that we might find impossible to forgive, but we must pray for the strength to forgive others.

In 1^st Corinthians 10:13, it says, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way to escape that you may be able to endure.

We know that we are not given temptation beyond our abilities, so we must pray for the strength to overcome it. We must pray for the strength to get past it. We must pray that the Lord points us down a path of the righteous and for the strength to walk it.

Verses 16 through 18, goes over fasting, and it says, When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen, and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Again, as this chapter has told us, I think four times already, do things for the Lord, our God, in His honor, to His glory, and not for the recognition of man. As it says, those who do it, their reward is in full. They will receive their rewards in this world, but they will have nothing for what is beyond. Do things for the Lord, not to be seen in a better light with your peers.

In 1^st Samuel 16:7, it says, But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

While we see what's on the outside, the Lord sees what's inside. That is why it is important that we have the right mind and attitude when we serve him. Because while others might think we are living righteously and nobly, the Lord knows the truth. If your heart is tainted, if you are not committed to him, he will know. You must make sure that you are not just doing the right things, but you have the right attitude, and that you have faith in your heart, that you have love in your heart, that you are doing things the Lord has commanded you to as the Lord has commanded you to do them. The Lord can see more than man. He can see what is in your heart, not as just what is on your clothes and what you do.

Moving on to Treasures in Heaven, verses 19 through 24, say, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

You cannot serve both God and the world. You cannot be part of the material world and God's kingdom. You cannot commit yourself to both. You must choose.

In 1^st John 2:15-17, it says, Do not love the world for the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides in him forever.

The things of the world are temporary. The great monuments we built, the grass that grows in our fields, one day will all burn away. The pyramids over in Egypt have stood for thousands of years, but one day they too will be burned away. Nothing here is permanent. Everything here is temporary. Everything here will be burned. Even our bodies will decay and decompose back into the ground.

Our spirit, our soul is forever. That is what truly matters. That is why you should not keep your treasures here. Keep your treasures in heaven with the Lord. Put your faith in Him so that one day you may be with Him. Do not go on with your life thinking that you will be okay just by coasting along, by putting your treasures here because those treasures will burn up. Those treasures will be cast out on judgment day.

Moving on, verses 25 through 33 say, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink, or about your body or what you wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow? They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? O you of little faith. So do not worry saying, 'what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you. Therefore, do not worry for tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.

Matthew 4:4 says, But he answered, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Why should we not worry about today? Why should we not worry about clothes? Because that's not really important. What happens to us on this Earth isn't really important. It's what comes out of the mouth of God, and how we follow the Lord.

Look at Steven. He was stoned to death. You think he was worried about food in that moment? You think he was worried about how his body was going to be after the stoning, about what was happening in him here in this world at that moment? No. He was still screaming the word. He was screaming the word of God. He was following the Lord. We should not worry about this world, about what happens here, because the Lord will take care of us, and because at the end of the day, this is not where our soul will reside forever. This world is only temporary. This world is finite. Our souls are forever.

In Philippians 4:6, it says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

The Lord will provide you with what you need. Do not worry about the trivial because it will be given unto you. As you're following the Lord, you will be taken care of. As he said, if the birds are fed, will you not be as well? If you are to find yourself in persecution with people wanting to end your life, remember Matthew 5:10, blessed are those who are persecuted for the for righteousness's sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Should we worry? We shouldn’t, right? Because what will it do? No amount of worrying will buy us an extra second of time. Our lives are going to be as long as however they are, no matter what we do. When I had tests last month taken, I was a little worried at what they were going to come back like. I was fine, but I really shouldn't have worried. Even if they came back bad, my grades were just still going to be fine. I was still going to be good. The tests were already done, so worrying did me no good.

Many of us worry far too much when it does us nothing. It does not serve us. It does not serve the Lord. When we find ourselves in situations where we might be scared, where people are against us, or people are persecuting us, we must remember that even in death, we will be fine because the Lord Our God's sacrifice, because the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed himself, His body, His life for us.

Through His sacrifice, we can be saved. That is why you do not need to worry because Jesus has already taken your punishment for you. He was on that cross suffering for the sins we committed, that I committed, that you committed, that people across the street committed, across the world committed. We don't need to worry because Jesus has taken care of it. He has paid the debt we owe.

I ask you today, if you have not told the world that you believe in the Lord your God, if you have not been baptized for the remission of sins, if you have not confessed the Lord your God here, I ask you why and why wait? Your time worrying cannot buy you any more time, but your time can come at any moment. Waiting does nothing. I ask you if you have not been baptized, that you be baptized here today. We have a purposely good baptistery ready. Thank you.

How Many Sins?

Acts 9:1-19
By Jerad Allen

Good morning. I want to say I got a sense of de-ja-vu, but I've made that joke the last couple times I was here. It’s getting a little old. I made that same joke back at Jerusalem and my granny said I was running out of material.

To get started I want to ask you a question. How often do you sin? How many sins do you think you've committed? How great are the acts you have committed against our Lord? For many of us, it's a lot. Actually, for all of us, it's a lot. It's quite often that we fall. We falter quite a lot.

That takes me to a man, a serial killer named Jeffrey Dahmer. All of us know this man was known for the defiling acts he would do to his victims. We know he killed many and just what he would do to the bodies afterwards. An interesting thing about Dahmer though is before his execution, he claimed to have been saved. He claimed he had turned to the Lord and was born again. Do I know if this was true? I don't know. I didn't know him. I think he was dead before I was even born.

That brings up an interesting question. How great are the sins that can be forgiven? That takes me into the subject we'll be going over today. Our text is Acts 9:1-19. Many of you will recognize this as the road to Damascus where Paul was turned. Where Jesus came to him. To start I will read verses 1 through 3. “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.”

Saul was a Pharisee at this time, known for going around taking anyone who confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and murdering them, throwing them in prisons, persecuting them. We can see that when he asked to be given permission to bring any man or woman.

In Galatians 1:13, Paul said, “for you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.”

Look at how he says “intensely” here. This wasn't something he was doing as his day job. This wasn't something he was doing as a hobby or something he was doing out of a sense of the right thing to do because he was born that way. No, this was something he was adamant about doing. He was adamant in destroying the church and the way and the reputation and things that Jesus had left behind.

In Acts 26:9, it says he was convinced that he ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He wasn't just attacking the people that followed him. He was going after Jesus' name. He was going after the man. He was going after what Jesus was. Saul was a sinner, a murderer, a man who took many lives.

To add to this, the first time we see him in the Bible is at Stephen's stoning at the beginning of Acts 8. He was there as a disciple of the Lord was being stoned to death for preaching, for spreading the word.

In verse 3 of our text, it says, “… suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.” Imagine you're on your way somewhere and this is a time you don't have technology or things like that. You're riding horses and bam, a beam of light comes down. That would be terrifying to anyone. It was to Saul and the people around him.

To move on let’s read, verses 4 through 9; “then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight and neither ate or drank.”

Why Saul? Why would Jesus show himself to Saul of all people? A murderer, someone actively hunting his people. Why would He show himself to this man? Surely there was a better person to show Himself to. Surely there was someone more worthy, more righteous and less despicable than Saul.

In 1^st Timothy 1:16, Paul answers this very question. “But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

He was the worst mankind had to offer. He was the “worst of sinners”, as he put it. He was an awful, no good, despicable little man, but Christ redeemed him. Christ saved him to show that it does not matter whether you are worthy. It does not matter what you have done.

In the Bible, it says certain sins are unpardonable, but Saul had not done these. It is my understanding, few people commit that sin. Jesus showed himself to Paul to show that anyone can be saved.

When I was going over this lesson with my Pap, he brought up, and my granny brought over a good point too, that Saul's intensity and his passion for getting rid of the church could be very easily turned over into spreading it as well. If a person is willing enough to completely annihilate something, if you can get them to do the opposite, they will be a hard and valiant worker

I want to focus on after Christ left for a second let’s look at verses 8 and 9. It said that Paul could not eat or drink for three days afterwards. Imagine how intense an experience this must have been. How extreme it was. It says he was trembling and astonished. I feel like that probably doesn't explain what was actually going through his head. If he went through something where he did not have sight, he couldn't eat or drink for three whole days, it sounds like he went through some serious trauma. No, the Lord just showed Himself to Paul. That is showing of the power that Jesus wields.

Moving on to verses 10 through 12, it says, “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming and putting his hand on him so that he may receive his sight.”

The Lord told Saul to go where he will meet Ananias, and Ananias is being told where to go to find Saul. This shows us nothing's really an accident. Even though they are given explicit instructions here, if you listen to the Lord and follow what He is telling you, you will go to the right place and you will end up with the right people. This is a more obvious example with the Lord actively telling them both where to go in dreams and in visions. This is a good example of how we should lead our lives. When we hear the Lord, we should listen as they listened here.

Let’s read verses 13 through 16. It says, “then Ananias answered, “Lord, I've heard many things about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.””

I want to look at a passage in Luke 19:1-5. It says, “He entered Jericho and was passing through and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. For He was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house.”

Tax collectors weren't exactly seen in the greatest light at the time. They were actually hated. Many people despised them. In the next couple of verses, we see how the people were astonished that he chose the tax collector, that they were mad that he chose someone so unlikeable.

In verse seven, it says, “all the people saw this and began to mutter, he has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” They were mad that he chose, out of all the people there, to go to Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, the worst of them.

Imagine the same situation in Acts 9. In some ways this is a similar situation to what Ananias is in, but instead of a chief tax collector, it is someone that you know is actively hunting you and wanting you dead. I think that Ananias following Jesus' orders here shows his faith and his courage.

He has been told he will be fine. He has been given the confidence of the Lord that he will be fine, but there's still that little human part of him saying, this man is going to kill me. Yet he shuts that up and does what he's told. He follows the Lord's will. That shows his courage, his faith in Jesus, and how we should live as well. Many people in the Bible listen to the Lord and they die because of it, but they do it because the Lord told them to.

In the chapter before this, chapter eight, Stephen was stoned, spreading the word. Most of the apostles were executed. Even if we come across persecution, we must have the courage and the faith to follow through in spreading the gospel and following the Lord's will. That is what Ananias shows us here.

In verses 17 through 19, it says, “And Ananias went his way and entered the house, laying his hands on him. He said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.”

This is when Saul fully surrendered to the Lord. This is when he was saved. He became a new creation. No longer was Saul there. He would soon be known as Paul. As we are told after this, he spent time in Damascus with the disciples there learning and preaching.

In Mark 16:16, we are told whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Was Jeffrey Dahmer saved? I don't know. I didn't know him. I couldn't tell you anything about him. I don't particularly want to listen to any of the interviews on the internet, because I find people and things like that kind of depressing. It's possible he was saved. It's possible that someone who did all those things is saved.

When you're in hell, there's no difference between a mass murderer and someone who just lied a bunch of times or committed other sins. If you do not turn to the Lord, you will end up in the same place as them.

I ask, why wait for damnation? Death can come at any moment. It does not wait for you to finally turn to the Lord. It is better to do it now than to wait.

If you have not repented and been baptized for the remissions of your sins, I ask you, why not? We have a perfectly good baptistery here that you can use if you want.

Thank you.

Clinging Obstinately To Sin

Mark 12:1-12

INTRO: Good morning church. For our text this morning open your Bibles to Mark chapter 12. I’m going to read a fairly lengthy section of scripture. It’s a familiar section and I beg your indulgence as I read this. We’ll begin with verse one.

Mark 12:1-12 – “1. Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 2. "Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3. "And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4. "Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5. "And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. 6. "Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, `They will respect my son.' 7. "But those vinedressers said among themselves, `This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8. "And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. 9. "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. 10. "Have you not read this Scripture: `The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 11. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?'' 12. And they sought to lay hold of Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”

The parable recorded in our text is, in comparison with the rest of the parables, unusual, and different. There are historical thoughts here suggesting this is a parable concerning the Jewish nation.

In fact, one commentator refers to this parable as a “historical parable” which he believes gives briefly the history of the Jewish nation from the exodus to the destruction of Jerusalem.
The parable is most assuredly pointed... so pointed, in fact, that the hearers would have had no difficulty in understanding its message.

Because this parable is very significant to the time Jesus was living and teaching, I think we need to spend some time examining, at least in brief, the details we find. As we look at these details we might think “this really isn’t all that relevant to me and to our time”. However, if we carefully engage in the study of the parable, there are great lessons to be learned here.

I particularly want you to look at verse 12: "And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way." I would like you to note this verse; we will come back to it later. I’ve entitled this lesson “Clinging Obstinately to Sin”.
Verse 12 indicates that was exactly the response of the people to whom the parable was spoken and for whom it was intended. They clung obstinately to their sin.

I. Points to note: Let’s turn our thoughts to the points recorded in this parable.

A. We’re introduced, first of all, to a vineyard. Clearly from a scriptural reference the vineyard refers to the nation of Israel.

1. You might want to turn with me to Isaiah’s prophecy chapter five and we will begin at verse one. Here’s what we read: Isaiah 5:1-7 – “1. Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard. My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3. "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5. And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6. I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.'' 7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, weeping.” Clearly, as I said, the vineyard is Israel.
2. Notice the people when they heard this parable were aware that it was spoken against them. They immediately were able to make the connection. When we carefully read both the parable and the passage from Isaiah, we notice that there are some similar pictures, well-known pictures, take from Isaiah chapter 5 and included in the parable in Mark chapter 12.
3. These people are aware of the prophecy of Isaiah. When Jesus begins to speak they know the subject He is speaking about.

B. In the parable there are the husbandmen or vinedressers, as some translations have it; these are the religious leaders of the Jews.

1. Now, it was not all that unusual for there to be an absentee landlord who would rent out his land to others.
2. We are told that historically there were wealthy people who owned property they would rent out and they themselves resided elsewhere. Indeed this was common in many places and cultures up to, and including modern times.
3. As we read the parable and as we look at Isaiah chapter 5, we notice that the land owner has done everything that he could possibly do to give advantage to the vineyard so that it will produce a good crop. He has hedged it around to protect it. He has dug it up and planted well. He has put in the tower and the winepress.
4. But he is an absentee landlord. Distant ownership can give opportunity for irresponsibility and corruption.

C. We are also told in the parable about the servants that the landlord sent time and time again. Who were these servants? They were the prophets whom God had repeatedly sent to Israel.

1. These servants were sent to collect the rent for the land. It should have produced a great crop. The crop should have been sold. Money should have been plentiful. It was reasonable for the land owner to be paid his due for renting the land.
2. What happened? These prophets, these servants who were sent, were treated shamefully. The Bible says they even killed some of them. How…very…tragic.
3. In Matthew 23 verse 37 Jesus is heard lamenting over the treatment of the prophets by Israel. Matthew 23:37 – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” These are tragic words—words where Jesus speaks volumes of the history of Israel’s treatment of the prophets.
4. In Acts 7:52, the preacher Stephen asks a pointed question of the Jewish leaders. Acts 7:52 He says: “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,” Well the truth hurts, doesn’t it? Rather than being affected positively by the truth, these people who heard the question knew it was a question asked of them in an accusatory way. What did they do? Ultimately they killed Stephen.

D. As we read the parable we notice that servants are sent repeatedly (think about that) he didn’t just send one servant to collect the rent. Repeatedly the land owner sent his servants hoping to collect his due. The fact that God repeatedly sent the prophets speaks to me of the longsuffering nature of God.

1. As I studied this I realize that the land owner had legal rights and he could have exercised those rights.
2. God could have ended His relationship with an ungrateful Israel at any time and He would have been absolutely justified for doing so.
3. I want you to turn to 2nd Chronicles 36 and read some verses with me—verses that help us see the nature of our God. 2^nd Chronicles 36:14-16 – “14. Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.” Look at those words. Why did He do this? Why over and over again did He send the prophets? Because He had compassion on them.
4. If we learn nothing else from this parable in Mark 12 we need to learn the lesson that God is longsuffering. In 2^nd Peter 3:9 - Peter tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

E. The parable goes on to talk about the land owner sending his only son, his dearly beloved son.

1. The son will come and speak with greater authority than the servants who were sent, because he is the son. In the parable the landowner probably thought: They won’t treat my son the way they treated my servants.
2. In Hebrews chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 the writer of the book records this: Hebrews 1:1-3 – “1. God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets. 2. has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3. who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
3. Yes, God spoke for hundreds of years through the prophets, but in these last times has spoken to us by His Son, by His Heir. His Heir has come to reveal the commandments of the father. How was He treated? Not a bit better than the prophets who had come before Him.
4. When He came they killed Him and threw Him unceremoniously out of the vineyard which belonged to His Father. I want to go back to this passage in Mark 12 for just a minute and there’s a verse at which I would particularly like us to pay attention. It is verse eight: Mark 12:8 – “And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.” This is a reference to Jesus. Jesus knew when He spoke these words that this was a reference to Himself. Here is another indication of His knowing that He is ultimately going to be killed by His religious enemies.
5. There is something said in the parable that gives us some insight into the thinking of those wicked husbandmen. They thought if they could kill the heir they could come into legal possession of the vineyard. The religious leaders in Jesus time were so jealous of their position, their power among the Jews; they would do anything to preserve it. Just as these husbandmen would do anything to preserve their position. There’s a little indicator in the 11th chapter of the gospel of John. Verses 47 and 48: John 11:47-48 – “47. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. (Now look especially at verse 48.) 48. "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.''” They were jealous for their position and they wanted nothing to happen that would endanger their power and their role as leaders among the Jews. Does this have application today?

F. Jesus then makes another reference in the parable. He makes reference to the fact that the vineyard is going to be given to others. The others to whom He refers are the Gentiles.

1. Again in John’s gospel, chapter 10 at verse 16, Jesus says: John 10:16 – “and other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus never shied away from making reference to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the fold of God.
2. Turn to the book of Hosea 2:23. Hosea 2:23 – “Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, `You are My people!' And they shall say, `You are my God!' ” This passage is quoted in Romans the ninth chapter verses 23 through 25. Romans 9:23-25 – “23. and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24. even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25. As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.''”
3. Clearly it is an inclusion of people who are not His people, but would become His people… the Gentiles. I have a strong suspicion that the Jewish leaders who heard these words were not thrilled with what they heard.
4. Jewish thought in those days would have been that any spiritual equality of Gentiles with Jews just “did not compute”. What Jesus said was offensive to the priests and the Pharisees and Scribes, but they knew that He had spoken this parable against them.

II. The Response: What was the response? How did they respond?

A. We read it a while ago in Mark 12:12 (that verse that I said we would come back to): Mark 12:12 – “And they sought to lay hold of Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.” They tried to find a way to lay hold on Him, to arrest Him, but those people who were so jealous for their position were also filled with fear of the population. Often that is the way with people who find themselves in error. They can be bold when all the circumstances are for them, but when the circumstances are a little iffy their boldness turns to flight. They left Him.

1. Here’s the point. There was no change. Jesus had spoken, clearly had taught with reference to historical facts of the Jewish nation and they knew it. We have heard the statement that those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Those people were not learning the lessons.
2. Its one thing for something to be so unsettled, so confused, that you don’t get the point. But they knew Jesus had spoken a parable against them. Yet there was no change. There was no learning. They were clinging obstinately to their sins.

B. That brings us to the question I want us to think about this morning: Why in the world do people cling obstinately to sin, to error?

1. Is it possible that they think God is so distant, so uninvolved, so unconcerned, with human affairs? In the 94th Psalm beginning to read a verse four: Psalms 94:4-7 – “4. They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. 5. They break in pieces your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage. 6. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. 7. Yet they say, "The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand.''” What the Psalmist is saying is some people have the impression that God is so far away that you can do whatever you want and He will not see, and you will not be held responsible. If you think that… you are very wrong. God sees. God knows.
2. Well, that’s one reason I believe that people cling obstinately to sin because they think He is not involved. It’s like when a young person goes off to college. While they were at home with their parents their behavior would likely fit their parent’s expectations. Now that they are away from their parents, the parents cannot see what is being done, or hear what is being said. The student may do what they like and the parents will never know. I’ve got a news flash. Parents always seem to find out. But that’s our way of thinking. Distance. God is distant from us—we think—so we can do what we like.
3. Is it possible that people think that God WILL NOT punish them for their sins? Perhaps. In the book of Ecclesiastes the eighth chapter beginning at verse 11: Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 – “11. Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.”
4. When Nina & I travel to Tennessee, along I-40 for example, people are whizzing by us. They aren’t going 70 miles per hour. They are going noticeably faster. I don’t know what their thoughts are. Yet I have a suspicion that most of them think: I’m not going to get caught, and… if I’m not caught then I won’t be punished. If I’m not going to be punished… then I’ll just do what I want to do. Is that why do people do what they want to do? I’m not going to get caught. I’m not going to be punished. God is love, He loves me. Is that why they cling to their sins, their error? I’m not going to be punished?
5. Or perhaps people value their own ways so highly that they minimize their relationship with God. Once again the book of Psalms, chapter 10 and verse 4 the Bible says: Psalms 10:4 – “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” Notice the word “proud”. I’m all about me. It’s ALL about me. My relationship with God isn’t really all that important as long as I can have my way, live MY life. And be able to say… I did it MY way. Is that why people cling obstinately to sin? I want to have my way. My ways are just so important to me that I really don’t have time to think about God.
6. Here’s another thought. Is it possible that there are just people who refuse to admit they’re wrong, that they’ve made mistakes—that they’ve sinned? Obstinate refusal to admit sin. Perhaps that was the situation with the people to whom Jesus was speaking in this parable. If you turn your Bibles to Romans chapter two, listen to what the writer says in verse one. He’s writing this to people who should have known better. Romans 2:1 – “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” That’s what they were doing—judging others. The writer says by the inspiration of the spirit of God, they were guilty of the same things. In their judgment of others they are not recognizing their own error. They refuse to admit their mistakes.
7. Is it possible that there are people who are just enjoying their own role, their position, so much, that they really don’t have time for a relationship with God? I think of something that is said in Galatians 1:10 that addresses itself to this idea. The apostle Paul wrote: Galatians 1:10 “ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” So many people are affected by this malady—men pleasers. Is that why people cling obstinately to their sins, their error?

CONCLUSION:
There are many reasons why people cling to their sins, but listen, folks, not a one of those reasons is worth the consequences. Not a one.

I wonder, do we make the same mistake these stubborn, obstinate people made; those against whom Jesus spoke this parable? I’m going to continue what I do. I’m going to continue to enjoy what it is that I’m doing even if it is wrong. I don’t care. I’m going to do it. Would that ever be our attitude?

If you recall some past lessons where we read of the sermons on Solomon’s porch we saw again illustrated the obstinate refusal of the religious leaders. Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. What a wonderful message that is. Yet, there comes a termination point. Hebrews 9:27: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die."  During my lifetime I can repent. I can turn to God. I can be obedient to God. Once I come to this termination point (and it comes for all of us) it’s too late. In the meantime God doesn’t desire the perishing of a single soul. Both Old and New Testaments say the same thing. He doesn’t have pleasure in the death of the wicked.

The issue hangs on our repentance. That was the issue for many of those religious leaders — and they were not willing to repent. I’m going to have my way no matter what it hurts, not matter who it hurts. I’m going to have my way—obstinacy.

When I think about the book of Jonah, I’m sure Jonah believed with all his heart that there was absolutely no reason for him to go to Nineveh to preach. These are sinful people. They are not about to change.

Finally though, he came and began to preach a simple message, just a few words as a matter of fact. He moved on to another place and preached the same message. And the first thing you know those sinful, awful people where repenting! They were not clinging stubbornly to their obstinate ways; and from the king to the lowest of the people they repented in sackcloth.

I wonder today about those who hear the message and are not yet Christians. If you are one, will you repent of your sins whatever they may be? Or for some reason cling obstinately to the way you are? Perhaps you see and understand, that repentance calls for you to in obedience to the gospel; “come and be baptized into Christ”. Yet, for some reason you are unwilling to repent before God and change your heart in a way that brings you to obedience.

We also should be concerned about Christian people. Yes, we are concerned about those who are out of Christ and lost, because they are lost. We all know many Christian people, people dear to us. We love them and are concerned with the impenitence of some Christians. As the cares of this life weigh us down, some of us slip into only giving lip service to God. Do we think; “I’m here. I’m able to be checked as present this morning as I should be." Do we recognize the things about our lives that we need to change? Or… do we cling, obstinately, to error?

As we sing the song of invitation, if you’ve been clinging to your own sinful ways let us urge you to repent, and make whatever changes need to be made. As a Christian if you need to change, ask God’s forgiveness. If you need our prayers, we would be glad to pray with you. If you need to be baptized into Christ, don’t cling obstinately to a way of life without the Lord for there will come a time when it is too late.

Whatever you need we invite you to come as we stand together and sing.

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Reference Sermon: Cecil A. Hutson

Why Is Repentance So Important?

Mark 1:15

About 10 years ago, there was a 67-year-old Belgian woman named Sabine Moreau. She had left home to travel about 1 ½ hours to Brussels (the capital city of Belgium).

TWO DAYS LATER, after having crossed five international borders, she found herself in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, nearly 900 miles from her home.

It was probably at that point that she suddenly realized that she might not be in Belgium anymore. She admitted that she’d seen “all kinds of traffic signs. First in French, then in German, and so on “But I didn't ask myself any questions. I was just distracted…” But the real problem was that her GPS had malfunctioned, and she just took it for granted that it was guiding her to her destination. She later said: "When I passed Zagreb (the capital city of Croatia) I told myself I should turn around."

She’d gone the wrong way - was miles away from home - and she finally told herself she needed to TURN AROUND.
In our text today we see a word that means “turn around”… the word “REPENT”.

Jesus said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; REPENT (turn around) and believe in the gospel."   (Mark 1:15)
You see, many of the Jews had gone the wrong way in their lives - they’d traveled MILES away from God – and they needed to turn around… and go back to Him.
THEY NEEDED TO REPENT!

* This idea of repentance is a repeated theme throughout the Bible.
The Old Testament prophets told Israel repent/turn away from their sins - saying “Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations." Ezekiel 14:6

* When John the Baptist was baptizing people at the Jordan River, he preached about “The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Luke 3:3

* At one point, Jesus sent out His 12 disciples and THEY preached that “People should repent.” Mark 6:12

* On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

* And the Apostle Paul preached “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

It shows up again, and again, and again throughout the Bible. So obviously… repentance is important to God – which raises the question: Why do we have to repent? Why is it so important? Well, the main reason is – we tend to mess things up in our lives.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 says “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”   We’ve all said or thought or done things in our lives that make us ashamed. And if we don’t repent of those things we can end up traveling a long way away from God.

And yes, even Christians need to repent.  In I John 1:9 John tells Christians: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Confessing our sins means that we admit we’ve messed up and we intend turn away from those sins and return to God.

ILLUS: One of my favorite Old Testament stories is about Adam and Eve after they’d sinned.  God comes down to the Garden and asks a couple of questions: First, God called out to Adam and asks “Where are you?”  And Adam replied “I was afraid, because I was naked, & I hid myself." And God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

Now – quiz time: When God asked Adam “Where are you?” … didn’t God KNOW where Adam was? Of course, God knew! God knows everything!  Then why ask the question?

Because God was giving Adam a chance to “fess up”… to REPENT of what he’d done.
Then God asked “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  But didn’t God know Adam had eaten of that fruit? Of course, God knew! God knows everything!  So, why ask the question?

God was giving Adam another chance to repent.  So twice, God gave Adam a chance to confess/repent but Adam must have figured, what God didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. He figured that if he just covered his SIN/nakedness with leaves, and hid in the bushes… Well, God wouldn’t notice! Adam decided that – all he had to do was ignore the sin and the problem would go away.
But it doesn’t work that way. Sin makes us feel guilty, and even makes us want to wash away our guilt.

ILLUS: Back in 2006, researchers at the University of Toronto reported they’d found that People who suffered from an experience that brought a guilty conscience had this “powerful urge to wash themselves.”

In the study, the researchers asked some of the volunteers to recall their past sins. And then they were all given an opportunity to wash their hands as a symbol of cleansing their conscience of past sins. Those who had been instructed to recall their sins washed their hands at “twice the rate of study subjects who had not been asked to think about their past transgressions.”  We’re not geared to feel comfortable with the shame of our sins. In fact, even a PARTIAL admission of guilt isn’t enough.

ILLUS: There was a study conducted about 10 years ago that was titled: “I Cheated, But Only a Little.”  The researchers studied over 4,000 people and discovered that people who only PARTIALLY confessed a transgression felt worse than those who didn’t confess at all.

The point is this: repentance is necessary to rebuild a person’s life. Without true, complete repentance, the shame and guilt of past behavior can cripple us… or even destroy us.

ILLUS: There was once a gifted author named Earnest Hemingway. He wrote books like “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “The Old Man and The Sea”, “A Farewell To Arms” and dozens of other novels and short-stories.

His writing style was so powerful that it influenced numerous authors of the day. And Hemingway was romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and his outspoken and blunt public image.
As a child, Hemingway grew up in a very devout church-going family and yet, when he grew up - he wanted nothing to do with God. He ended up living a depraved and immoral lifestyle and seemingly had no conscience and no moral standards. At the age of 61, Earnest Hemingway… took his own life.

At one point he wrote “I live in a vacuum that is as lonely as a radio tube when the batteries are dead and there is no current to plug into.”

He lived and died an empty life because he had no intention of turning away from the kind of life he’d lived. He had no desire to repent and seek God’s forgiveness. If Hemingway HAD repented, his life could have turned out differently.

Acts 3:19-20 says “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you.”

Without repentance we can’t have any of that.  
Our sins cannot be blotted out. Without repentance, there is no refreshing of our lives. In other words… without repentance life can become very empty and meaningless.

But when we repent, our sins are blotted out and we can be refreshed because God removes the guilt and shame from our lives. That stumbling block is removed and life gets easier.

Now, in our verse today, Jesus said “Repent and BELIEVE…" (Mark 1:15) Why did Jesus include that word BELIEVE?

Well, Proverbs 3:5-8 actually tells us why: “Trust (believe) in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

Wow! That almost sounds like what we read in the book of Acts. Acts told us that - if we repented/ if we turned away from evil/ times of refreshment would come from the LORD!  And Proverbs told us that if we repented/ if we turned away from evil/ God would give us healing for our flesh, and refreshment for our bones.

But Proverbs starts out by telling us that we need to do something else FIRST – “Trust in the LORD will all our hearts and NOT lean on our own understanding.”  You see… we have to acknowledge God – and we have to believe He cares for us – and THEN He can do things in our lives.

What Proverbs 3 is saying is this – Trust God/ Repent Of Evil, and if we do that… God can fix the problems in our lives.  Proverbs is basically saying – make God your authority; make Him your guide; make HIM your… GPS.

ILLUS: Do you remember the lady who got lost in Europe?
She’d only intended to go to Brussels, but she ended up going 900 miles in the wrong direction. Why did she get lost? Well yeah, she got distracted and wasn’t paying attention, but the real problem was that her GPS wasn’t trustworthy. Her man-made guidance system malfunctioned and led her the wrong way.

Now a lot of people in this world spiritually rely on man-made guidance systems. If they need wisdom… they turn to their friends, they turn to the internet, and turn to various scholars and experts.

But they don’t look to God for their wisdom. They don’t trust God for His advice. They DON’T trust the LORD to GUIDE them in life. And (well) why should they?

They’ve got those OTHER GPS systems they trust THEIR FRIENDS…THE INTERNET…ETC.so, why bother with looking to God first?

Do you know what happens when they rely on something other than God? And, Do you know what happens when something else becomes their source of wisdom/advice/guidance?(PAUSE) Well, they tend to get lost in this life.  

Have you ever been lost? You’re were in a strange city, or on a country road with no signs. You don’t know where you’re at and you have no idea how to get where you want to go.  Do you remember how you felt at that point? Well, when I’ve gotten lost I got anxious, worried, and frustrated. The information I thought I could rely on… misled me.

Now, we all live in a lost world, and we’re surrounded with advice and directions that are wrong – and the reason they’re wrong is because – they are not based in God’s thinking.

And when we listen to that WRONG information we tend to get anxious, worried, and angry, because those are the feelings we get… when we get lost.

And when you and I start feeling that way about life, it’s a sign that our personal GPS has misled us. That’s why Jesus said: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

If we want to stop being anxious/ stop being worried/ stop being angry about things we cannot control, then we have to give up trying to control things our way… and let Jesus have control.

We need to trust (believe) God and turn away from sin, and we’ll find forgiveness of sin, a time of refreshment, and rest for our souls. THAT’S WHAT JESUS PROMISED!!!

CLOSE: I want to close with a familiar story of a young man who got lost. He was one of 2 sons of a wealthy man, but he didn’t respect his dad and he wanted to live life HIS own way.

So, he demanded his share of the inheritance and he went off to live his life HIS WAY. And it was a GOOD life. A lavish life. A life focused on enjoyment and partying. And he had all kinds of friends who helped him party and enjoy his wealth. But when his money ran out… so did his friends.

As Jesus told the story: he stated that a severe famine arose in that country, and the boy began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

And he got so hungry he longed to be fed with the food that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. I suspect he’d come to the point in his life where he became anxious/worried/ maybe even angry with himself.

And Jesus said that the prodigal Son … “came to himself”. He took a good look in the mirror and he said “I don’t want to live like this.”

He realized it was time to turn around and return home. So, he repented/ turned his back on the empty life he’d been living, and went back to his father. And, while the boy was still a long way off the father saw him… and RAN to him. He hugged his son, and kissed him. He dressed him in the finest of garments, put a ring on his finger & shoes on his feet and had fatted calf killed … and they had themselves a party.

And the Father said: “‘my son was dead, and is alive again; he was LOST and is found.’ And they began to celebrate." Luke 15:24

Jesus was talking about us.

We have oftentimes wandered off from the Father, and we have to understand that the empty way of life that many people embrace leads to a lot of emotions we don't want to have.  We want to be at peace.

So Jesus says: "Repent" because you and I need it as much as the people outside the church. Now the advantage we have is that at least we have the book to read and we can learn how God wants us to think.

Now, people outside of Christ don't have that... and that's our advantage. Because when we see a friend or a relative, and they're anxious and worried and even filled with anger, we can ask them "Do you really want to live like that? Let me tell you about Jesus.

INVITATION

Reference Sermon by: Jeff Strite

The Second Great Commandment

By Jerad Allen

Good morning. How's everybody's day been? I can understand the snow. It's been a bit much.

As some of you may know, I go to Bowling Green State University. I'm there as an education major. Right now I'm on Thanksgiving break, so I'm home for now. As an education major, we're being taught how to properly educate our youth.

I'm specifically a middle childhood major. I'll be teaching middle school, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th graders. One important thing that I've learned is to be able to relate the content to the students. I'm a math and social studies major. Math in particular is something kids can find a hard time relating it to their life.

Oftentimes, you'll see students asking, when am I going to use this? Why is this important? When does this apply to me? One thing teachers must do is find ways these students can relate it to real life. One example is when we're going over division and fractions. We can easily relate that to price discounts. If it says 50% off, that's a fraction or one half. You can relate that to students as a fraction and relate math in that way.

What I want to do today is bring up a time, as Christians, we might ask, “How am I to be a Christian?” Today we will be going over Luke 10:25-37. Some of you may know, this is the parable of the Good Samaritan, where Jesus answers the question, What does a Christian look like?

I'll start with verses 25 through 27. “On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the law? He replied, how do you read it? He answered, love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Here, the lawyer is referencing Moses in Deuteronomy chapter six, when he's talking about the Israelites. Moses is talking to the Israelites about God's covenant. Here, specifically, verses five and six are being referenced. These are the Lord's commands. Jesus call them two of the greatest commands. Love him with all your strength, all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Earlier in class, we were talking a lot about brotherly love and what that is and how that shows. It's in the same vein, love your neighbors, love your brothers, and love those around you. What does this look like though? There are plenty of examples in the Bible. Many times Jesus attended to the poor and the weak.

In Mark 12:28-31, it says, one of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating, noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer. He asked of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one answered is hear, O Israel, the Lord, your God, love your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. These commandments, as I was researching for this sermon, were repeated many times in the Bible.

One of the ladies here, after my first sermon, told me that to get it through to people you're preaching to is tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what your told them. I believe what she was say was say it once, say it twice to make sure they hear it, and then say it three times to really just make sure they get the point. That's what I think is being done here. These are very important commands so the Lord repeats them, and He repeats them again, and again, and again.

Verses 28 an 29, says, you have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, who is my neighbor?

The lawyer is testing Jesus here. He is questioning Him. He is, I don't want to say interrogating, but he is pressing onward. He is trying to test Jesus' knowledge. I just kind of have to ask, how arrogant must you be? The Jews had been prophesying about a savior for their entire existence. Now that savior is here in front of you, and you have the gall to test him? The gall to test his knowledge? To test what he knows?

I also think that the lawyer knows who his neighbor is. He knows exactly what Jesus means when he says, your neighbor. He just wants to believe it is the people he thinks it should be, the people he wants it to be, but not the people he knows it is—the people he knows he should treat neighborly. Here he is really asking, who must I treat neighborly?

In Romans 12:20, we are told, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will keep burning coals on his head.

Feed your enemy. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. I would say this is acting pretty neighborly, right? If you're to act neighborly to your enemy, to someone you despise, to someone who has harmed you, to someone who seeks ill will upon you, who else do you think you should act neighborly towards? Your brother? Your actual neighbor who lives right across from you? Maybe the random kid on the street who is outside all the time, but doesn't necessarily have friends? I ask you, if you are to treat your enemy neighborly, shouldn't you treat everyone around you neighborly? Any man, woman, child you come across?

Let’s move on to Luke 10:30-32. “In reply, Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road. When he saw the man, he passed on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed on the other side.”

Notice who passed him here, a priest and a Levite. A priest is meant to lead his people spiritually. This is a spiritual leader. This is an important man, and a Levite, from what I saw, is a man to aid the priest. These are important figures in the temple. These are important figures in the Jewish faith, and they pass over the man. Of course, they were probably not without reason. They may have assumed that it was a trap. Maybe he was trying to lure people closer to him so he could in turn rob them. They may have thought it was a lie. That’s not a bad assumption, but as spiritual leaders, as people who are meant to be the example their followers look to, I think they should have done better.

As the lawyer earlier mentioned, you must love your neighbor as yourself. As we looked at earlier, even your enemy is your neighbor. The men here did not act neighborly; they didn't even have the decency to ask if the man was okay. Notice how they didn't just pass by. They didn't say a word to him. They saw him, looked away, and went on their merry way. They didn't have to get close to him to simply ask a question, but no, they didn't ask.

In 1 John 4:20, it says, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen.”

Christ is calling the priests and the Levites specifically out here. I think this is a specific example for the culture and the people of the time. They were not only not being neighborly, but for not loving God. If they did love God, as the commandments state, they would also love their neighbor, right? Those are the two greatest commandments.

Love God, love your neighbor. If you truly loved your brother or your neighbor, then you would help them in their time of need. You would ask them, are you okay? You would help them in their time of need. You would aid them. Here though, they just passed by, and did nothing. Religious leader, important people in the temple did not help. They did not do a thing.

Moving on with our text, “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was. And when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day, he took two denarius and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said. And when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”

This Samaritan showed kindness, showed brotherly love. It is interesting that Jesus used a Samaritan in particular as the man who was showing love, who was showing kindness. Samaritans were not looked on kindly. The looked down on them. They were a racially mixed people and were looked on as a lesser class by society as a whole at the time.

Jesus uses one here to emphasize, not only should everyone act neighborly, but everyone should be given neighborly acts as well. If a Samaritan man is showing kindness to a man he has never met, to a man he knows nothing about, and then so should the Jews of the time as well. So should everyone else. No one is exempt from this. It seems like Christ likes using Samaritans in the Bible. The woman at the well is another good example of Him doing the same thing.

She was a Samaritan woman and he had a lengthy conversation with her in John 4. It makes sense though. Since they were looked down upon, since they were seen as a lesser people, Christ would use them to show everybody can be saved, that everybody needs to act this way to gain this thing and that this is available to everyone who does this. It is a gift anyone can accept. I believe that's why he uses a Samaritan man here.

In Galatians 3:13-14, it says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

Christ's gift is for everyone. He is the fulfillment of the Jewish law. It is for everyone, not just the Jews of the time, not just for a select few. It is for all of us, so we should act in accordance. We should act neighborly to all.

Back to our text verses 36-37, “which of these three do you think was neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in this law said the one who had mercy on him. Jesus said go and do likewise.”

I want to point out something else before I get into anything. Notice what the lawyer said. Did he mention the Samaritan? Did he say Samaritan? He didn't. He said the one who had mercy. He actively went out of his way to not mention the man's race, to not mention his class, to not mention who he was. Instead, he said the one who had shown mercy. Notice, again, the arrogance this lawyer shows.

Jesus just went through this whole parable explaining to the lawyer how he should act and how it should be applied to everyone. It seems he can't even let his own prejudice towards those people, towards Samaritans, let him acknowledge the Samaritan that was used as an example. The man that acted neighborly when his own priests, when his own Levites, people he would see as worthy, didn't. Think about that how this lawyer in particular, shows just how arrogant he was.

I asked you when you go into the world do not be like the priest or the Levite. Be like the Samaritan and be a neighbor to all. Feed the hungry and take care of the sick. For if we love God then we must love our neighbors as well. If we love our neighbors, then we show our love for God as well.

Mark 12:30-31 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
Christ loved us more than we could ever imagine. It is our job as Christians to replicate that love and follow in his footsteps, to do as he did. His life was an example on how we are supposed to act. He has told us that those two commandments, those two simple commands, that is the key to following a good and Christian life. That is how He walked. Those commandments led His every decision.

Most important to me is to love your Lord. Love our God, because if you truly love the Lord, then the love for the neighbors will come naturally. Those works, those kind acts will follow.

If you truly love the Lord, then you will obey His commandments and be baptized for the remission of your sins. If you love the Lord, why wait? Death is in any corner. At any point, robbers could jump out of nowhere and stab you, and you might not be as lucky as the man in the story who was able to survive and received help. You may be left with nothing. Death can come whenever, wherever, at any point.

Why wait? There is no way but His way. As I leave to you today, I asked you if you have not been baptized, please come. Thank you.

More Righteous Than These

Matthew 5:20-48

A man was telling about being a student at the University of Southern California, and he and his friends worked hard to earn their PhDs, because they wanted to be allowed to hold the coveted title of “doctor”.

Then, one day one of their professors told about a friend of his who’d called his home and asked if the “doctor” was in. The professor’s 10-year-old answered the phone & replied, “Well, yes… but he’s not the kind that can do you any good.”

Today, we’re going to read about a group of men who had the titles. They were men of importance and prominence in Israel. They were like the PhDs who were called “doctor”… but they didn’t have TITLES that could do you any good.

In our text today Jesus tells his audience (in the Sermon on the Mt) that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

Now, that’s kind of an odd thing for Jesus to say, because Jesus really didn’t like the Pharisees all that much. There’s a famous passage from Matthew 23:27-28 where Jesus says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but withinare full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
I mean, at one point in our passage it would seem that Jesus is praising the Pharisees, but then, in the passage in Matthew 23, He's condemning them as hypocrites and white-washed tombs. What's the deal?

Well - it helps to understand that the Pharisees were respectable religious leaders in Israel. The Pharisees were major teachers and leaders in the synagogues (which were kind of like the churches of our day). They were known for their high moral standards, and for their encyclopedic knowledge of the Scriptures.

Now, by contrast, there was another group of men called the Sadducees. The Sadducees were often the priests and leaders at the Temple; So, here we have the Pharisees, who essentially ran things the synagogues, and then you had the Sadducees who ran things at the Temple.
And these Sadducees - while they believed in God – they didn’t really believe in a God who could do anything. Sadducees didn’t believe in the miracles of Scripture, nor in the promise of resurrection of the dead.

That sort of set the Pharisees and the Sadducees at odds with each other... and the Pharisees were constantly standing up against the Sadducees who were widely known to be corrupt… and not really nice people!
And Jesus NEVER praised the Sadducees… but he did kind of praise the Pharisees.
Even when Jesus was slapping down the Pharisees in Matthew 23:2-3 He said that,

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat (in other words, they taught from the Bible) so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice." Matthew 23:2-3

That’s where we get the phrase:
“PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH”.

These Pharisees knew their Bibles but they didn't obey it. They could tell you the difference between right and wrong. But they didn’t practice what they preached.
They had the title of being religious people… but their title didn’t do them any good.
Someone has noted that the Pharisees would have made impressive church members.
They knew their Bible inside and out; they prayed at least 3 times a day; dressed in their Sunday best for worship; they took their morality seriously. But they were hard people to get along with.

A young Christian woman told of her experience dealing with Christians as she worked at Lowes. She stated that a lot of the folks who worked at Lowes absolutely hated to work on Sundays. It seems that the church folk who came and shopped there on Sundays after church were the most disrespectful, selfish, and insulting people she’d ever met.

In fact, I’ve been told that there’s a lot of waitresses who hate waiting on tables of church-goers, eating lunch after worship on Sundays, because of how demanding and ungrateful these people often are. In essence, they don't reflect well on the Jesus they say they serve.

Those people are the Pharisees of our culture. They are the religious people who wouldn’t miss church on a bet, and who have memorized Bible verses by the boatload – but they only care about themselves. They only care about what you can do for them, not for what they can do for you. And they stand in judgment of anybody who doesn't live up to their standards. And that’s just OUTSIDE the church building. On the inside of the church building… things can get even worse.

Jesus told the story about “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:
‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14

In our day, when people come to church, there are those amongst them that are like that Pharisee. They say "God I'm thankful I'm not like that person! I'm thankful I don't behave like they do! I'm grateful that I do more at church than they do!" And they go on and on and on about how much more righteous they are than that other person. They're kind of like the person who said: “No one’s saved but thee and me… and I’m not sure of thee.”

(PAUSE) Now, back in the days of Jesus the thing the Pharisees would do was that they set the bar of morality really high. They'd tell you what YOU needed to do. They might not do those things themselves, but they wanted to make sure YOU knew what was expected of you. They did that to impress people with how religious they were. They could play the game so that you'd think they were more righteous than they were.

But then Jesus came along and He set the bar of righteousness even higher than the Pharisees did. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus would quote something the Pharisees endorsed… and then Jesus would explain that that wasn’t quite enough for God.

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ I mean… that’s right out of the Bible. The Pharisees would have taught that. In fact, they probably felt pretty good about themselves when Jesus said this because they’d never murdered anyone… But then Jesus upped the ante. It’s not enough not to murder anyone…

“I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:21-22

Then Jesus quoted the Bible again: "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ It's right there in the 10 Commandments. And the Pharisees would smile and say “Yep… I've got that box checked – I’ve never committed adultery!" But then, again – Jesus said that wasn’t good enough – “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
Ahhh man! Seriously? They believed they could look lustfully at a woman and God wouldn't mind. But God did mind.

Jesus was exposing their selfishness and shortcomings!

And I could go on and on and on "You've heard it said..." "But I say unto you..." telling them "let me tell you what God REALLY thinks about that. And he cut the Pharisees down, bit by bit until there was no righteousness they could claim for themselves.

The Pharisees had felt they all had their moral ducks in a row; and here was Jesus, just shooting down all their ducks. Their morality was never going to be good enough for God.

(Pause) AND THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT!
Jesus said “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” But the righteousness of the Pharisees fell short. God’s righteousness would always exceed that of even the most righteous Pharisee.

Romans 3:10 said “It is written: ‘none is righteous, no, not one.’”; Romans 3:23 said “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; and Romans 3:20 declared “No-one will be declared righteous in (God’s) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

The point is – you can’t be righteous enough to earn your way into heaven. Even the most righteous Pharisee wasn’t gonna be good enough, because God’s bar of righteousness was just too high. Now, why would God do that? Why would God set that bar so high?

Well, the answer is: God set it that high because He was God.
God is the very portrait of what righteousness, and holiness and perfection would look like. And so He's telling us what He's expecting from us. We'll never really quite get "there" – I mean, even the Pharisees couldn't get there, so even the best of us is going to fail.

God was saying "this is where the bar is – you shoot for that bar!

Because it's important for me (God) to know you're at least trying to reach that bar."

By contrast, gods of the Greeks and Romans that were in the cultures around Israel – they weren’t very moral at all. Stories were told of how selfish and untrustworthy these gods were; there were stories about their partying and drunkenness; and how they could be jealous and vengeful.

In short, the pagan gods were a lot like the people who worshipped them, because these people who worshipped them had literally created their gods… in their own image.

Someone once speculated… that the pagans probably did this (created their gods as being selfish, etc.) so that they could make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings. If these gods could be immoral in how they behaved, then that would give their worshippers an excuse for any sins they might commit.

The pagans created their gods in their own image, but we didn't. We didn’t create our God in our image …
HE CREATED US IN HIS, and He set the standard of what was right and what was wrong.

And God DID set a high standard for us. God said “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16).

And at the end of the passage we read from the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said -
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)
But wait a minute - we just got done saying that God is way more righteous and holy and perfect than we’ll ever be. That's a high standard. Why set it so high! I mean - if God knows I can’t be moral like Him, why would he set the bar of morality so high?

Well… if God had set the bar low, all we’d have to do to be righteous would be to be more righteous than the person sitting next to us (don't go looking around at the person next to you) and, if I could compare myself with several other folks - that would give me bragging rights.

My morality would be impressive because I was better than most people I knew. And you'll hear people say that! "Well, yeah, I know I don't do what I ought to do, but at least I'm better than my neighbor or relative who claim to be Christians! You ought to see that church goers down the street."

They compare themselves with other people because by comparing themselves, they make themselves look better.

But that’s not the way things work with God. MY self-righteousness would never be impressive to God. That’s part of the reason the bar is so high – so we’d know we DON'T deserve heaven. I don't, and you don't.

When Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Ephesus, he spent the first part of his letter telling how much God loved them. But then he pointed out– that BEFORE they became Christians – they were “dead in their sins” and they “were, by nature, children of wrath” before they came to Christ.
Then he wrote: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works (your righteous deeds), so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:4-9

I can’t boast about my personal righteousness, because I was saved from sin when I was still dead in my trespasses. God gave me the gift of his grace when I did not deserve it.
I didn’t deserve His grace/forgiveness, but He gave it anyway because He loved me (and you).

CLOSING: Now, it just so happens that there’s a story in the Bible about a prominent Pharisee who was as impressive as any man could be. If you ever thought you had a reason to be confident – that your works would impress God – this man had a far better pedigree than you (or I) would ever have.

He was “circumcised on the eighth day,
of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews;
as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;
as to righteousness under the law,
blameless.” Philippians 3:4-6

HE WAS BLAMELESS!!!
If anybody had a right to get to heaven… he did! But then, he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was never the same. We know that this Pharisee as a man named Paul. He was a man who wrote nearly ½ Of our New Testament; A man who planted numerous churches across Asia in places like Corinth, Ephesus and Philippi;
He was a man who most of us would like to be like.

And yet he wrote:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners,
Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” I Timothy 1:15-16

The BEST of the Pharisees realized he was the WORST of sinners! And as he was baptized into Christ he was told “Rise and be baptized and WASH AWAY YOUR SINS, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16)
Reflecting on that decision to turn his life over to Jesus, Paul wrote: “I count everything as loss (all of his righteousness/all his accomplishments) because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8

INVITATION

The Foolishness of Preaching - Preaching The Cross

1st Corinthians 1:21-24

INTRO: Good morning church. Every year many people celebrate an event they call the Holy Week and Easter. The focus of this event is on the last days of Jesus on earth and culminates with Easter Sunday, the cross and the resurrection. To some it is an obligation from the religious community to which they belong. They go to church because they feel they have to put in an appearance, but most of the rest of the year they do not show up.

When we began this series we talked about “the scandal of the cross”. In the religious world the reality of the cross is not often preached. I wonder if by going to an assembly on Easter some of these people are put off from looking deeper into the cross. A Baptist preacher once said: “Bluntly stated, the cross is bloody, it's an offensive message and it's a shameful death in the ears of the world”.

Death is a topic most people like to distance themselves from. The preacher continued; “the word of the cross is foolishness. In other words, it's nonsense, pointless, idiotic, and mindless. That is what the cross is to the natural man”. Perhaps that is why most of the year in many churches you do not hear the cross preached.

I. FOOLISHNESS.

A. That preacher said “the word of the cross is foolishness”. What is foolishness? What is a fool? What is it to be foolish? The synonyms in the dictionary give us some hints. These include: simpleton, dolt, dunce, blockhead, numskull, ignoramus, dunderhead, ninny, nincompoop, saphead, sap. 2. Zany, clown. 5. Moron, imbecile, idiot. 6. To delude, hoodwink, cheat, gull, hoax, cozen, dupe.

1. Turn with me in your bibles to 1^st Corinthians 3:18 – “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” Interesting, I thought that foolishness was the opposite of being wise. Doesn’t Proverbs 1:7 say in part: “Fools despise wisdom”? Yet, here Paul says something that sounds different, “let him become foolish that he may become wise.”
2. Let’s look at 1^st Corinthians 1:18 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Are not those that are lost… perishing… the ones in need of this message? Why then is it foolishness to them?

B. Consider what some people think about preaching the cross.

1. They say; someone dying on a cross almost two thousand years ago has no relevance today. They are not interested, and they don’t even want to discuss it. Besides, - they might tell you, - there have been many good men who have died for good causes down through the years. Surprisingly this is also the attitude of some in the religious world.
2. A Dean of St. Albans Cathedral, Jeffrey John, said on BBC radio that the crucifixion of Jesus for the sins of the world is: “pretty repulsive as well as nonsensical [i.e. foolish] … What sort of God was this, getting so angry with the world and the people He created and then, to calm Himself down, demanding the blood of His own son? ... Anyway, why should God forgive us through punishing somebody else? It was worse than illogical, it was insane. It made God sound like a psychopath. If any human being behaved like this, we would say they were a monster.”
3. Dr. John Dominic Crossan, former co-chairman of the theologically liberal Jesus Seminar, made a similar comment in October 2000 when he said he finds it "an obscenity" that God had somebody else suffer for our sins and that sacrificing His own son was "a sort of transcendental child abuse."
4. Yes, for the unsaved and the unrepentant … the preaching of the cross is foolishness.

II. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TELL US?

A. Paul says in 1^st Corinthians 9:16 – “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

1. Paul knew how unacceptable his preaching would be … but still, he preached the cross.
2. He knew the words he was saying were completely contrary to the spirit of the age. He came to them in fear and trembling. His message was alien to them. Many had never heard of Jesus, and they had no interest in hearing about Him. “Why tell us Greeks and Romans about a Jew whose end was crucifixion? He is nothing to us. We have our own gods and our own religions, we don’t need another!”
3. Paul wasn’t telling them “nice‟ stories, with fanciful lyrics and ear-tickling daintiness. He preached to them nothing else and nothing less than the Son of God who died on the cross to save sinners.
4. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know anything else, because he did. He was a clever and intelligent man who had been taught the deep things of his Jewish faith from a master, the Pharisee Gamaliel. He had an advanced education. … Yet, when the Lord saved him, he did not hesitate to become a fool for Christ.
5. Paul was not an uneducated man. We read in 1^st Corinthians 2:1-5 – “1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5. that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

B. That brings me to our text for this morning. Read with me 1^st Corinthians 1:21-24 where Paul tells us – “21. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23. but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24. but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

1. When the apostle Paul referred to the “the foolishness of preaching”, he acknowledged that there were many who considered the message of the cross just plain foolishness.
2. I am not certain just what was happening among the Christians in Corinth, but we know they lived in a city dominated by Greek thinking and wisdom. We also know that the church there was one of divided loyalties.
3. There was some pressing need for the apostle to emphasize the cross of Christ. While the resurrection was central to the apostle’s preaching, we cannot escape the fact that the cross was always in his mind and teaching.
4. I would like us to think for a few minutes of some things in the context of the verses we have just read.

III. THE CONTEXT

A. The cross was to the Jews a stumbling block - 1:23a. Why?

1. In spite of scripture to the contrary they expected a militant Messiah. They cried “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!” when He went into Jerusalem. (John 12:13)
2. We read the Jews sought a “sign” - Let’s look at Matthew 12:38-40 – “38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.'' 39. But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

B. We read that the cross was to the Greeks foolishness - 1:23b Why?

1. Theirs was the world of the great Greek philosophers.
2. Secular wisdom is what was highly valued among them.
3. The idea of a savior executed by crucifixion made no sense to them, just as it makes no sense to some today.

C. Preaching the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing– as we read in 1^st Corinthians 1:18a. Why was that?

1. To the Jews and Greeks of Paul’s time, they just could not get past their prejudices. In fact, Paul, then called Saul, was among those. He wasn’t interested in Christ. Jesus held no appeal whatsoever for him. In fact, more than any other name, he despised and rejected the Name of Jesus. Yes… he understood those to whom he was preaching because he was once as they were.
2. The Jews and Greeks had a lot of trouble accepting the idea of a crucified Savior. As in our day, so it was in Paul’s day … Speak to them about anything else, virtually, and they will listen to you, at least for a short while … but speak to them about Christ, and immediately the “shutters come down”. Every type of religion is given a platform, but if you preach the Gospel, you meet with aversion and opposition.
3. Look with me at 2^nd Corinthians 4:3-5 – “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world (referring to Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.”[KJV] There is a personal choice involved and Satan is right there to blind those who will not believe. ... Failing to accept the benefits of Jesus’ atoning death is true foolishness.

D. Worldly wisdom leads to unbelief in 1^st Corinthians 1:21 – “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, …”[NKJV]

1. Worldly wisdom puts its trust in what man can do and provide. Many attend church to be entertained, to be made to “feel good”.
2. Worldly wisdom does not believe in what it cannot see - or in that which does not seem logical or rational.
3. We need to remember Romans 1:20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” - unbelief is inexcusable!

E. In 1^st Corinthians again, look with me at 1^st Corinthians 1:26 – “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”[ESV] The wise, the powerful and the noble of the world are rarely among the called.

1. It is a sad, true fact confirmed in human experience, yet it is not to say that none of the wise and mighty are called for we find there was Dionysius at Athens (Acts 17:34); Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Crete (Acts 13:6-12); the noble ladies at Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:4,12); and Erastus, the city treasurer (Roman 16:23).
2. When we are called we are called by the gospel 2^nd Thessalonians 2:14 – “to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”[NKJV] Paul writes that God called them by the gospel. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are the central facts of the gospel.
3. Are perhaps, those who reject the gospel simply “above” such needs as those the cross supplies? I’m thinking of the sermons on Solomon’s porch.

F. In 1st Corinthians 1:18b we read: - “… but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In v.24 “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The preaching of the cross is the power of God to the saved.

1. The word translated as “preaching” is from the Greek word which means “to proclaim or to publish”.
2. We may tend to forget in this world which emphasizes entertainment, that it is the message and not the messenger or their eloquence which is God’s power.
3. Human wisdom is very dismissive of God’s truth for so, so many reasons - but the “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) can accept His truth and act upon it.

G. The idea of the cross is rejected by human wisdom. This morning I mentioned some religious leaders that were talking negatively about the idea of the cross. In 1^st Corinthians read with me 1^st Corinthians 1:25-28 – “25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28. and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,” That cross, that thing of disgrace, is a challenge to human wisdom. “that old rugged cross, so despised by the world”.

1. I would suggest that the whole idea of the word of the cross is to bring one to faith. God explains something to us in Isaiah 55:8-9 – “8. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'' says the Lord. 9. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
2. Think about baptism – it is so rejected by the wisdom of the world. I know of those who profess belief up until the act of baptism, and then they say they cannot see the point!
3. Human wisdom would design something much more elaborate, more “meaningful” or logical ... but faith simply acts in obedience to the word.

IV. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PREACHING THE CROSS.

A. The world looks at us as fools, - and even in some church circles there are those who look at us as fools because… we hold to the Gospel and we continue to preach it. It is foolishness to them … but it is the message God gives His children to proclaim the way He has set before us. Yes, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but it is a message the Christ-rejecting world cannot afford—not to hear, and consider …

1. What is said in v. 21 is in part … “it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”
2. There is only one means of entrance into Heaven and it is on the basis of what Christ did on the cross. There is no other way of salvation, only God’s way which He purposed, and has completed, through His Son.
3. Therefore, each time we present the Gospel there is always, - a response. God’s Word is met with either acceptance or rejection. Either the Christ of the Gospel is accepted, or He is rejected; there is no “in-between”, there is no half-way decision.

B. How does the foolishness of preaching the cross become effective in the salvation of souls? If I was to stand and preach the Gospel with tears running down my face, would that convince someone to be saved? If I was with them in a room for hours and we spoke about nothing but their need to come to Christ, would that be effective? Is it about the methods we use, - how up-to-date, or how old-fashioned? No, we are clearly told not to attempt to use the worldly wisdom of words.

1. Here is how the preaching of the Gospel becomes effective … “it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” The salvation of lost souls is the consequence of God’s pleasure to offer salvation, - in other words, His will. The means by which His will in the salvation of souls becomes effective is through the foolishness of preaching the Word of God.
2. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached Christ. He spoke to the crowds about their need for salvation. Following Pentecost, what were the apostles doing? … “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42).

V. WHAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE?

A. Search the Scriptures and you will find preaching is God’s way of telling lost sinners they need to be saved. Ah, some say, we’re not in the first century anymore! … Yes, I know we are not, but what we need to realize is God has never instructed us to replace preaching. … Preaching has always been the method He has used to proclaim the Gospel.

1. It is not the plans, programs, or the latest techniques of men that capture the soul for Christ … It is the Holy Spirit Who draws the sinner to salvation through the preaching of the Word of God!
2. Advance another method, and you’re attempting to take away from God and apply man’s wisdom!
3. Lost souls can only be saved when God’s word is sown in their hearts, and then He brings it to fruition.
4. This is the Gospel He sets in your heart, and this is the Gospel with which He saves you. Through the preaching of His Word, we learned we were sinners in need of a Savior. We were led to that place where we would believe and accept that message. True salvation has no other source than God. It will never be attractive or appealing until through His word, He opens our blinded eyes to see it. It will never make sense until through His word He gives us understanding. It will only be “foolishness” and a “stumbling-block”.

B. What kind of people does God call to preach the foolishness of the Gospel? He calls those who are committed to it, and convinced of it ... the kind who know it is real themselves. It is not just the person that stands up here, it is all of us. It has nothing to do with titles, or degrees, or anything else... It has all to do with knowing Christ, and desiring to make Him known.

1. Christ, and all He represents, is the true wisdom of God – 1^st Corinthians 1:30 – “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ”
2. Because of the wisdom of God, we, (“the called”), are in Christ.
3. Christ and the cross are set in contrast to the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world crucified Jesus – but because of Jesus the called are seen by God as righteous, sanctified and redeemed!

C. Yes, we glory in the Lord! I would call to your mind Galatians 6:14 – “But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

1. So many in our present world would dismiss Christ and scripture.
2. The world argues today for a secular society with no mention of God ... much less the cross. “The cross of Christ crucifies Christians to the world, by inspiring them with such principles and leading them to a course of life which renders them in the eyes of the world as contemptible, and as unfit for their purposes as if they were crucified and dead." (MacKnight)
3. But we are of the called ... and we will preach Christ and Him crucified ... and we will find our joy in the blessing of the cross.
4. It is the only message we are told to preach. From the moment of our conversion until the moment the Lord calls us home or comes for us – it is our responsibility to make the Name of Christ known as the only Savior.

CONCLUSION:
Of course, not every believer is called to stand before a group or teach a class … but every believer is called to make the Name of Jesus known. Some of us are tillers of the soil. We, by our actions or our words, help prepare the ground for the gospel to take root. Like those early New England farmers we find rocks in peoples lives that can hinder the seed taking root. By our actions and our words we can help to remove those rocks. Sometimes it is only one rock at a time, perhaps by a kind word or deed. Sometimes by finding a rock that is a misunderstanding and doing a little teaching. In the end, stone by stone, the ground is cleared and the seed finds a place to grow.

You don’t need to stand at the podium to preach a sermon. You can preach a sermon in your own home or in your work-place. The words you say, the attitude with which you say them, the opportunities you take … your friends may look at you and think you are “strange” … They might not understand or be able to make sense of what you are saying …

But you don’t have to use fancy words and try to impress them … simply believe and trust in what God’s Word says in, 1st Corinthians 1:17f – “… preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” … 21. “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” …

God has blessed us with many things; that includes the ability to choose. He has also blessed us with the ability to learn, given us His word and this wonderful universe to learn from. With the abilities to choose and learn, we also have the ability to change our minds as we learn. We see this all the time as we study the natural world and learn more. If one never hears the word their choices will be limited. Preaching the cross, be it with our words, our actions, our lives, is our joy and this foolishness ... the wisdom of God.
Folks, if you are here this morning and subject to the gospel invitation we invite you to come and let us know your need. For those who need to be baptized into Christ we would like to assist you in that need. If your need is prayers of your brothers and sisters we are ready to pray with you. However we can help you, we encourage you to come while we stand and sing.

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Adopted from Sermon by: Cecil A. Hutson

The Third Sermon - Preaching The Cross

Acts 5:42

INTRO: Good morning church. We continue our look at the cross today with Acts 5:42 – “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” This tells us that the apostles preached Jesus "daily in the temple, and in every house". Last time we read of the healing of the lame man at the Gate called Beautiful at the temple. Peter has declared this healing was done by the power of Jesus, “whom you crucified”. The Sadducees were incensed at this! But Acts 4:14 tells us – “And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

We do not find that the council gave any reason why the doctrine of Christ must be suppressed. They could not say that it was either false or dangerous, or of any evil tendency; and they were ashamed to own the true reason… that it testified against their hypocrisy, wickedness and tyranny. What the Sanhedrin did not do is of great significance. They had denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a fact Peter had boldly affirmed in their presence, but they could not deny the healing of the lame man.

They conferred among themselves determined to oppose the teaching of the apostles. The best thing they could think of, at the moment, was to threaten them. Therefore they "commanded” the apostles “..not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18).

The early days of preaching and teaching in Jerusalem must have been exciting. The word "multitude" was used to describe the number of the disciples. Can you imagine a time when hundreds of people were responding to gospel preaching in a desire to be baptized into Christ? It was a time of great generosity as people shared their material blessings with those who had little or nothing. It was a time when miracles of healing were very evident. All of this, however, did not go unnoticed by the high priest and his henchmen! So...

I. THE "ADDING" OF DISCIPLES CONTINUED DRAMATICALLY

A. Teaching continued on Solomon’s porch and Acts 5:14 tells us – “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,”.

1. Remembering Acts 2:41 – “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” these are people being baptized!
2. We also remember Acts 2:47 – “… And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” these are saved people being added!

B. The apostles have been warned, commanded, not to speak in the name of Jesus and then let go. What happened? Let’s read in Acts 4:23-31 – “23. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25. "who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: `Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? 26. the kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.' 27. "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28. "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29. "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30. "by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.''”

1. Notice this next verse, Acts 4:31 – “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” God gave this visible sign that His promise of miraculous power to the Twelve would continue to be honored. The place was shaken.
2. They had prayed to be granted that “Your servants with all boldness may speak Your word,” Then in v. 31 we are told “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” This was not a repetition of the wonder at Pentecost, but a continuation in the apostles of that power "from on high" which had been promised, and the result was their speaking the word with boldness.
3. We know they spoke of the crucifixion and we read in Acts 4:27-28 – “"For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.”
4. They also spoke powerfully of the resurrection - Acts 4:33 – “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

II. BUT HOSTILITY TO THEIR PREACHING WAS VERY REAL

A. I recall when Paul was giving his defense to King Agrippa what he said about Christ...

1. Acts 26:26 – “For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.” Done in a corner? In a manner of speaking it was done in a little corner of the universe known as the Planet Earth; but it was not unnoticed. As some of the Sadducees and Pharisees were able to see while He was among them: “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "… Look, the world has gone after Him!”” John 12:19.
2. The preaching of the apostles was not done in a corner hidden from view either. They were in Solomon's porch - they could hardly be missed!

B. Let’s move on to Acts chapter 5. Acts 5:12 – “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch.” They had prayed in Acts 4:29-30 – “grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.''”

1. We read “…through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done…”
2. Their power and authority were vastly strengthened; and the forward thrust of Christianity was greatly augmented.
3. Acts 5:14-16 – “14. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15. so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

a. The scripture does not tell us that any of the people upon whom Peter's shadow fell were healed. However, this does emphasize the overwhelming popularity they were experiencing.
b. Luke testified, particularly at the close of Acts 5:16 that Peter performed many miracles of healing, but he does not describe the mode.

C. Done in a corner? Oh no! The results were predictable. Acts 5:17-18 – “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” Ah, the Sadducees again

1. Preaching of Jesus' resurrection was grossly objectionable to them. It was a repudiation of their system; and therefore they seized the apostles.
2. That teaching would undermine the Sadducees credibility. Their solution? Jail them!

D. But God had other plans for them. Acts 5:19-20 – “But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.''”

1. This deliverance from the prison was certainly an exceptional thing. This is another of the supernatural wonders that attended the inception of Christianity.
2. I notice though that the reason had nothing to do with the injustice, the personal discomforts, and such things - it was all about teaching "the words of this life". This means all the words relative to eternal life in Jesus Christ. A similar meaning to what we see in John 6:68, where Peter's words to Jesus are recorded, "you have the words of eternal life."

E. What did the apostles do? We continue in Acts 5:21-28 – “21. And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23. saying, "Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!'' 24. Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25. Then one came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!'' 26. Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. 27. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council…” Let’s stop there for a moment.

1. The first thing we see is they did EXACTLY as they were told by the angel. They went to the temple and taught. The command to go straight back and preach in the Temple sounds to a prudent mind almost incredible. To obey that command seems like an act of reckless audacity. Yet, they went.
2. It is clear now that the purpose of the angelic rescue of the apostles from prison was not connected with their personal safety; for the angel's directive put them right back in a position that was vulnerable to the persecution of the priests. We conclude then, that the purpose of their release was the continuation of their preaching the word of God to the people.
3. None of the miracles done by the apostles, through them, or upon their behalf should be viewed as anything other than God working with them for the preaching of the gospel.
4. Sign after sign was given to these hard-hearted leaders of Israel, but they remained stubborn. Under the circumstances, they could not have failed to know that God was with the apostles of Christ, but they were determined to carry forward their opposition in the face of all this.
5. It seems to have been utterly beyond their comprehension that God would remove their whole nation rather than allow them to block the world-wide proclamation of the faith in Christ.

III. THE HIGH PRIEST'S CHARGE

A. Acts 5:27b-28 – “…And the high priest asked them, saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!''”
B. The high priest said three very distinct things here.

1. First, he reminded them they had been forbidden to teach in Jesus' name. It seems incredible to me, the hatred which the Jewish religious hierarchy had for the blessed name of Jesus, which name they simply would not say under any circumstances, saying "this name," as is said here instead, and always referring to Him as "this man" or "that man."
2. Second, he accused them of filling Jerusalem with their doctrine. I suppose we should not be surprised at that. These religious leaders had been replacing God’s word with their own “doctrine” for generations.
3. Third, he accused them of trying to lay the blame for Jesus' death on them.

a. They remembered well the crucifixion ... they had initiated it.
b. Guilty people often want to shift blame to others - guilt is not fun. Thomas Scott wrote in his commentary; “See how those who with presumption will do an evil thing, yet cannot bear to hear of it afterward, or to have it charged upon them. They could cry daringly enough, ‘His blood be on us’; but now they take it as a heinous affront to have Christ's blood laid upon them.”

C. The "words of this life" referred to by the angel, challenged their tradition and status quo.

1. Arrogance and prejudice are enemies of truth and are the children of pride.
2. If there is any challenge to arrogance, or prejudice… it is unwanted, and unpopular!
3. This high priest and his crew were well entrenched in position and power - leaving no room for any admission of error – no room for change – and no room for growth.

IV. THE APOSTLES' RESPONSE TO THE HIGH PRIEST

A. They first acknowledged loyalty to God - Acts 5:29 – “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”

1. It is true, human authority had commanded them to stop preaching. There was no device by which the powerful priestly enemies of the Lord could intimidate the witnesses of His resurrection.
2. When faced with this choice - God, or men – the only choice is God. They were bluntly told by the apostles that they were subject to God's orders, rather than to the Sanhedrin's prejudice. A new age had dawned, and the religious leaders could not prevent it.
3. The apostles’ response is a truth for you and me as well.

B. They proclaimed the cross of Christ - Acts 5:30 – “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.”

1. They make clear that Jesus was sent by God - thus, He is the Messiah.
2. The apostles are unafraid of identifying them as guilty of crucifying Jesus.
3. When we read and study the book of Acts, we see the crucifixion mentioned in various ways - but always as central to the proclamation of the word of God.

C. They proclaimed the resurrection by reference to exaltation - Acts 5:31 – “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

1. The “One” that the Jewish rulers had declared unworthy, God declared to be Prince & Savior. It is implied that repentance as well as remission of sins is a gift; however to give repentance does not mean to bestow it without the exercise of our own will; for repentance itself is an act of our will.
2. The great need of Israel? Repentance. This statement that Israel needed to repent was totally unacceptable to the Sanhedrin. That they, the religious leaders of the people, needed to repent was preposterous in their eyes. As Walker said: “They were as much incensed as a body of bishops would be today, if the same charge should be made against them. They had absolute confidence that their descent from Abraham guaranteed them complete possession of every promise of the Old Testament.
3. Pride and arrogance led them to prejudice, the “us vs. them” mentality which still divides the people of the world into the imagined “good guys vs bad guys”, friends versus foes. The “us” group consists of people who agree with our beliefs, share our worldview, and hold to our same prejudices and preferences. In the “them” are those who disagree with us or hold a different ideology. There are many dangers in having an “us vs. them” mentality as a Christian, the uppermost being that it is contrary to the heart of God our Father.
4. Last week we saw that the great possibility because of the cross, was forgiveness, the blotting out of our sins. Something not possible under the Law of Moses and something the religious leaders should have embraced. Instead they rejected the Just One.

D. This is not a retelling of a tale heard from others, for the apostles proclaim in Acts 5:32 – "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” ... "we are his witnesses of these things"

1. The high priest and Jewish leaders could deny, complain, and do bodily harm, but there was no way they could bury the truth of Jesus.
2. Their predictable response? Acts 5:33 – “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”[KJV] ... their answer for any opposition seemed to be "kill it"!

a. This sermon was essentially the same as the one delivered on Pentecost; but the results produced by the declaration of the gospel were different. On Pentecost the people were pricked in the heart, they believed and many repented. Here the priests were infuriated and filled with murderous intent.
b. The difference being the ground on which these words fell. Paul affirmed this in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16. It saves some, destroys others, yet it is not the gospel, but people's response to it. There is an old saying "It is the set of the sail, and not the gale, that determines the way we go."

3. The word "Obey," is used here, indicating that "a lifelong obedience to God" was a continuing condition to be fulfilled by those desiring to enjoy the continued gift of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 4:6-7 we read – “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!'' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” [NKJV] Here is declared that the Holy Spirit is given to men, not to make them sons, but as a consequence of their already being sons. The popular notion to the effect that God sends the Holy Spirit with the purpose of making men desire to serve Him is totally wrong.

CONCLUSION: In the past few weeks we have seen three sermons given by the apostles.
The first sermon was on the day of Pentecost following the resurrection when Peter preached the gospel, convicting those listening of their guilt and confirming the risen Christ. Peter told them the answer to sin, of what Jesus had done for all of us, and how to accept God’s grace that was offered. Three thousand obeyed.

The second sermon of the apostles was on Solomon’s porch at the temple following the astounding miracle of the healing of the man born lame. Peter preached the cross and the resurrection to the people gathered there. The religious leaders showed up and detained the apostles. We saw the defense Peter gave, convicting those same leaders and we are told five thousand people believed.

In this third sermon the apostles are again teaching on Solomon’s porch. It was a time of great teaching and healing and people flocked to the apostles even from the surrounding cities. For some physical healing of course, but for those who believed the healing of their souls. Peter again preaches the gospel message, the religious leaders interfere and put the apostles in common prison. God sends a messenger to release the apostles and confirms they are to continue the work.

Each one who hears the gospel message is at some point going to give an answer. Even ignoring the message is an answer. What is your answer to gospel truth? To the cross? Jesus' crucifixion is not isolated in history, it happened - and it happened for you and me.

Preaching the cross does not always make sense to the prideful and arrogant people, who have become stubborn and prejudiced. My hope and prayer are that the preaching of the cross of Jesus will affect each of us and make of us better people. . Like the high priest, we make the choice - he chose badly - will you?

We are about to sing the invitation song. God’s invitation to “come” is always open.

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Adopted from Sermon by: Cecil A. Hutson