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Sermons from the Chardon church of Christ
Episodes
5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Ephesians 5: 15–16
Did you realize all the things we do with time?
We “MAKE” time,
and we TAKE time, for things that are important to us.
We “SAVE” time with all kinds of gadgets and doodads.
We “MARK” time,
we “KILL” time,
we “RACE AGAINST” time.
AND (someone noted) that the worst thing you can do with time,
is “WASTE” time.
One little girl complained to her mother after her first WEEK at school
“I’m wasting my time. I can’t read,
I can’t write—
and they won’t let me talk!”
Our text for today is Ephesians 5:15–16
"See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time,
because the days are evil."
We may think that Paul was SIMPLY saying
don’t waste your time. But it’s more than that.
The Greek word Paul uses here is “exagorazo”
which means to “REDEEM” the time.
It’s the same word Paul used in Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law,
having become a curse for us--for it is written,
"CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE--"
To REDEEM means - to purchase, to buy,
to obtain by making a payment.
Paul is telling us that our time is so crucial,
so critical, that we must treat it like
a valuable and precious commodity that
MUST NOT be squandered and wasted.
We must redeem the time (he says) - but why?
What’s so critical about time that it must be redeemed?
Most of us would think the reason time is valuable
Is because we only have so much of it.
Sooner or later, we’re all gonna die.
Now, if you’re blessed you may live 80 or 90 or100 years,
but sooner or later your time is gonna run out.
So don’t waste your time!!!
But that is not really what Paul says here.
“Redeem the time... because the days are evil.”
What does that mean?
Well, think about it this way.
Do you have a bucket list?
A bucket list is a list of things
you want to do before you “kick the bucket.”
And what people have on their bucket list
tells you a lot about their priorities.
They may want to go to Europe,
or make a “Hole In One”,
swim with dolphins,
go deep sea fishing,
meet a famous person
or jump out of a plane.
There’s all kinds of things you could put on your “bucket list” –
and there’s nothing wrong with those things
(except maybe jumping out of an airplane).
God has some BUCKET LIST items for Christians
to add to their list:
1. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through him (Colossians 3:17).
2. Pray without ceasing (1st Thessalonians 5:17).
3. In everything give thanks (1st Thessalonians 5:18).
4. Lay hold on eternal life (1st Timothy 6:12).
5. Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord (2nd Timothy 1:8).
6. Hold fast to your profession of faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23).
7. The just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).
8. Forsake not the assembling together each Sunday (Hebrews 10:25).
9. Despise not the correction of the Lord, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives (Hebrews 12:5–6).
This is just to mention a FEW
BUT what is that ONE THING
we must not leave off our bucket list?
Ephesians 5:17
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
This parallels with what one of the WISEST MEN ever in history
(King Solomon) concluded in Ecclesiastes 12:13
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man".
Paul continues in Ephesians 5:18
“ do not get drunk with wine, for that is sin,…
but be filled with the Spirit”
What? What’s he talking about here?
Well, he’s saying that in order for us
to fully understand God’s will,
we must be totally controlled by God’s Spirit.
And then he makes an odd comparison:
“don’t get drunk on wine” he says.
That seems illogical until you understand what he’s trying to say.
Have you ever seen someone who’s been drunk?
How can you tell if they’re drunk
if you never saw them take a drink?
Well, you can tell they’re drunk by how they walk,
by how they talk, by how they think
and by how they act.
Everything about their drunkenness
is obvious by their behavior.
They are FILLED with alcohol... and it controls them.
By contrast Paul says,
don’t be filled with alcohol (don’t get drunk)
but be FILLED with the Spirit.
In other words, the Spirit should so fill you
that it controls how you walk and talk
and how you think and act.
That is crucial for Christians –
we need to be so filled with the Spirit of God
that people know it when they see our behavior!
So, how do we get FILLED with the Holy Spirit?
Well, first we need to understand
that we already have the Spirit inside of us.
Acts 2:38 promises us "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.”
Ephesians 1:14 tells us –
God’s Spirit “is THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance
until we acquire possession of it,
to the praise of his glory.”
You can’t be a Christian without
God’s Spirit inside of you.
So, first we need to realize
we already have the Spirit inside of us.
But here in Ephesians it says
we need to be “refilled” with Spirit.
What’s that all about?
Well, first let’s examine what Paul tells us to do,
and then I’ll try to explain WHY this is so important.
First, Paul says that in order for us to be filled with God’s Spirit
we need to... SING.
We should be “addressing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” Ephesians 5:19
One group that I particularly enjoyed listening to
was a trendy folk group called “Simon and Garfunkel.”
As I listened to their music more critically,
I discovered that one of their songs went this way:
“I have no need of friendship,
friendship causes pain,
it's laughter and it's loving I disdain...
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock - I am an island.” (I Am A Rock).
It’s a Great song... but really depressing.
Another song declared: “Hello darkness my old friend .....
I’ve come to talk to you again!”
The Bible teaches us that music has
a spiritual power over the Spirit world!
One of the greatest singers in the Bible
was a little shepherd boy named David.
The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 songs
(or Psalms) that the Jews sang,
and David wrote half of them.
He was so good at singing
that people began to pay attention
long before David ever confronted Goliath.
In the meantime, King Saul (the King of Israel)
had decided to stop listening to God
and run his kingdom his own way.
So, God withdrew His Spirit from him
and the King became plagued with an evil Spirit.
He plunged into depression,
and that EVIL SPIRIT tormented King Saul so much
that (on the advice of one of his friends)
he sent for David to sing for him.
Music has power over evil.
And it has the power to bring peace to my heart and soul.
So, when you’re depressed or struggling –
find a song that glorifies God and sing it.
One song we could sing
in most any situation in life is
“This World Is Not My Home.”
“This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door.
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
The chorus “O Lord, you know I have no friend like you,
if heaven's not my home, dear Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
Now, it doesn’t matter if you can sing well
Or with much power. The point is:
find a song that glorifies God... and sing it.
Use the power of GOD’S music to lift your soul
out of despair and sadness.
Secondly - Paul tells us,
that in order to be filled with God’s Spirit,
we need to be “giving thanks always
and for everything to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20
Now, quiz time: HOW OFTEN do should give thanks? (ALWAYS)
and FOR WHAT should we give thanks? (EVERTHING).
There’s a lot of people who have a hard time doing that.
Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet
who made a lot of money for his writings.
One day a newspaper reporter came up to him and said,
“Mr. Kipling, I just read that
somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings
amounts to over a hundred dollars a word;
Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said,
“Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that.”
The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket
and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill
and gave it to Kipling and said,
“Here’s a hundred dollar bill, Mr. Kipling.
Now, you give me one of your hundred dollar words.”
Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred dollar bill for a moment,
took it, folded it up, and put it in his pocket
and then smiled and said, “Thanks.”
He’s right! The word ‘thanks’
is certainly more than a hundred dollar word.
I would say it is more like a million dollar word.
Thank you is one word that is too seldom heard,
too rarely spoken, and too often forgotten.
If we would all adopt an attitude of thanksgiving into our lives –
our lives would be changed. We would cherish each day.
Studies have been done over the years
where people have been asked to
write down 10 things they’re thankful for
and after an extended period of time
the list is sadly too often still incomplete.
Many people become so negative
they struggle to think of 10 things they’re thankful for.
BUT, when given a tablet of paper
and asked to write down things they were unhappy about,
or disappointed with,
or frustrated about,
they could fill out an entire tablet of paper... and ask for another.
Why?
Why are they so unhappy?
Well, because most folks aren’t used to
being thankful for what they have.
For example, they don’t express thankfulness
for the fact that they have 2 hands.
Why should they? They’ve ALWAYS had those two hands.
And they’ve always had the ability to run
and laugh and hear and see and sing.
Why be grateful for those things?
By contrast, these folks tend to focus instead
on what they DON’T HAVE.
They dwell on the wanting of a better job,
or a better car, or a better spouse,
or a better ... whatever.
And that’s why they’re so depressed –
there is ALWAYS going to be stuff that they don’t have,
or that they can’t possess!
So they end up being miserable/unhappy people.
Philippians 4:4-7 says “Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice...
do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Learn to be grateful for what you have
(and quit focusing on what you don’t have)
and you’ll be so filled with God’s Spirit
that it will change how you think and how you behave.
And the world around you will notice.
This was the key to Tom’s lesson last week:
Jesus is the Light,
We are to reflect that light,
AND let our light so shine before men
THAT they may see our good works…
And GLORIFY our Father who is in Heaven.
CLOSE: I want to close by explaining
WHY it’s so important to be “Filled” with Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that Spirit is a very powerful force.
He teaches us, He comforts us,
He helps us in our prayers
when we don’t know what to say.
Romans 8:11 tells us that We have the same power living in us...
that raised Jesus from the dead!!!!
“If the Spirit of Him who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
Being “filled with the Spirit” is all about
laying hold of the full power of the Spirit
God has given us.
You see, for the Spirit to operate fully in our lives,
we’ve got to make our hearts decent places for Him to reside.
For example, let’s say I invite you to come to my house.
But when you come in the door,
the first thing you see is my clothes scattered everywhere,
dishes are piled high in the sink
and papers are covering the counters.
I have cats all over the place... 3 or 4 of them...
and I have not cleaned up after them for weeks.
Now, how comfortable are you going to be?
How willing will you be to spend time with me?
Not very.
The same is true for having the Spirit FILLING our lives.
If we don’t clean up our lives
by filling our hearts with singing
and praise and such,
God’s Spirit is NOT going to feel
real comfortable with you.
But when we learn to sing songs
about God’s glory,
train our hearts to be grateful
and filled with thanks
THEN God’s Spirit can be COMFORTABLE inside us,
and be able to work His POWER
fully in our lives.
But that’s only if you’re a Christian.
If you don’t belong to Jesus,
His Spirit isn’t going to be inside you.
That’s why we need to respond to His free gift of salvation
as Acts 2:38 tells us
"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.”
Sermon Contributor : David Dykes
7 days ago
7 days ago
John 1:6-8
INTRO: Good morning church. In our first lesson from John’s gospel we noticed in the prologue where he introduces Jesus; that Jesus is the Word, He is the eternal God who reveals the message and character of God. Jesus is the creator of all things and nothing was created without him. Further, in Jesus is life. If we are not in Jesus, we are dead. We are dead in our sins, separated from God, and have nothing. In Jesus is life and also, Jesus is light. Through Jesus we have light in the darkness of this world to know the way to the Father. John introduces his gospel with these great themes in the first 5 verses.
I. John The Witness: In recap, the first five verses have revealed the eternal Word of God. The prologue is all about the eternal Word who is the eternal life and eternal light. Now we continue in John 1:6-8 – “6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” John sets about telling us about a man named John.
A. This sudden change has caused a lot of writers to try to figure out why John put verses 6 through 8 at this point because it really feels out of place. If one was to skip these verses and read from verse 5 to verse 9 it would read this way; “5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 9. That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.” We might wonder; “Why did you put this about John in this location?” I strongly suspect that it is intentional by the writer.
1. The first 5 verses are about the eternal nature of Jesus, calling Him the Word. He is the very message of God. He is light and life. He is equal to God in every way, fully divine, fully God. Everything that was made, He made. There was not anything made that wasn’t made by Him.
2. In verse 6 – “There was a man…” We've gone from Jesus as the word, the eternal God, the revealer of God, the revealer of light and life, to now… here's a man. He's an important man, but he's just a man.
3. The synoptic gospels describe him as “John the Baptist”, for he baptized people and preached repentance. That is our common way of understanding him. But in this gospel the author does not call John - “the Baptist.” I think that is interesting. In this gospel John is called - “the Witness” and that is his primary importance, not as the baptist but as the witness.
B. As we begin this part of the text we notice a key word describing this man in verse 6, that word is “sent”. Verse 6 tells us of the commission of John. John did not come about his task on his own accord. John was “sent from God”. John was divinely commissioned to be a spokesperson.
C. We find the next key word in verse 7, the word, “witness”. John is a human witness sent from God. He came to give his witness or testimony concerning the light. Keep this in mind: John’s purpose is “… to bear witness of the Light…” This is very important to the theme of John’s gospel. Bearing witness only occurs a few times in all three synoptic gospels combined. However, bearing witness occurs 33 times in John’s gospel.
1. You will recall what we read last time in John 20:30-31 where we are told of the objective that the author has in this gospel. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” This gospel is the testimony, the witness, to prove Jesus is the Son of God.
2. John is the Witness with the purpose to testify of Him. It is his job to testify that Jesus is the light. He is going to be the witness of that. Jesus is the Son of God, and John is making that declaration.
3. John has a very specific role. When the true light comes, it is his job to recognize the true light and then go about pointing everybody to the light and say, He's the light, He's the true one, He is the word, He's the lamb.
D. The purpose is clearly stated in verse 7. “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, (and now here is the reason) that all through him might believe.” John came as a witness so that all might believe through him. His job is to point everybody to the light so that everybody will believe in Jesus through the testimony John gives. The work that John is going to do is to bring about faith and belief in the people who listen to him so that their faith is in Jesus.
1. The author is not saying that all would believe through Jesus. Jesus is the object of our faith. Jesus is who we believe in. John would function as a witness to the light so that people would believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
2. Through John’s witness people were to recognize that Jesus is the light and therefore believe in Him.
3. John’s role as the witness was to recognize the true Light when it appeared and call attention to it. This belief is not merely acknowledgement, which we will notice throughout this gospel. Believing in Jesus means to recognize who Jesus is, to put one’s trust fully in Him for deliverance, and commit one’s self completely to the Light.
4. If you will, John as a witness is a recruiter for the light. His testimony is to bring people to recognize the light. That's an important purpose. When we get to verses 19-34 we're going to see John at work. We will read about what he does and we should ask; is he fulfilling his obligation, fulfilling his divinely commissioned charge as pointing people to the light? This is what our apostle John, the writer of this gospel, is describing for us as an important role.
E. Before we leave verse 7, I want us to consider a few things. First, I want to talk about belief. One of the things that we will notice in John's gospel is he's going to spend a lot of time talking about belief. We saw that is the purpose of John’s gospel as we found in John 20:30-31.
1. The goal of John the apostle in writing this gospel is that all will believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And as we read in verse 7 the purpose of John the witness is to cause belief so that all will believe that Jesus is the light.
2. Let’s go to our most famous passage that everybody knows. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Belief is everything in this gospel.
3. John’s goal is for people to recognize who Jesus is, to recognize Him as the light, to recognize Him as the true and living God, recognize that they are to commit to Him. That is calling for a dramatic life change.
4. To know Jesus is the eternal word, the true and living God, light and life, such that people will not only believe Him, but obey Him, serve Him and surrender their lives to Him. This is what the apostle here is describing as belief.
II. Witness to the Light: A witness to the light. Do we recognize the irony of this statement? It is truly shocking. Why would someone have to bear witness to the light?
A. If we were to turn out all the lights in the room at night so that it was pitch black, and someone were to turn on a light, no one would have to testify and tell people that over there is the light. If I turned on a light, would I have to tell you that there is a light? You would know that there is a light that is on. You would be able to see the light.
1. Nobody in the morning runs around the Earth and says, “Hey, by the way, folks, there's the light.” No kidding. We see the light. There it is.
2. Who would need someone to testify, to give witness to the light? — Only people who can't see… This is at the heart of what this gospel is about. Only people who cannot see, people who are spiritually blind, need somebody to point and say, “There's the light.”
B. People who cannot see, people who have been in the darkness for so long, that they cannot recognize light or comprehend what light is. Remember in John 1:5 we noted the dual nature of John’s declaration: “And the darkness did not overcome it” also means “the darkness did not comprehend it.” Jesus is the light shining in the darkness.
1. The word we translate as “overcome” or “comprehend” we can look at both ways. One aspect of this is that Jesus is the light and the darkness does not win. Darkness will not overcome light. Light always overcomes darkness.
2. Another aspect is the darkness doesn't understand. There is this spiritual blindness that is at work. As we go through this gospel, we're going to observe a number of places where John seems to intentionally use ambiguous, dual meaning words, because he wants to capture both ideas. I think this is a spot where the idea of light not being comprehended works. Why would you need John to be a witness to the light? Because the darkness doesn't comprehend it.
3. The light is shining in this world and people don't get it. John is the witness telling the blind people who live in the darkness that the light is shining and to go to the light. It is John's purpose to grab people by the hand and show them the light and say, “Here is the light so that you can see.”
4. John has come as a witness to tell the spiritually blind, “Here is the light that is shining” and to try to direct people to that light. It's such an amazing statement. To me it is such a curious but implied thing that John, the author here, wants us to understand about the role that is being played. To recognize the spiritual darkness that we are in and the need for someone to point us to the light.
C. Well, John the witness, lives and his job is to point to Jesus saying, “He's the light.” Then the apostle Paul comes along and says… “Do you know what?” As apostles, that's our job, too.
1. Notice what Paul says about the Apostles in 2nd Corinthians 4:3-6 – “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”[ESV] The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2. Paul says, we’ve got a world full of blindness. People are in the dark. They can't see and Satan is at work in this, blinding their hearts, blinding their minds, so that they cannot see the true light.
3. Paul then speaks of the Holy Spirit of which Jesus says in John 14:16 – “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
4. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” There is the who, what and why as people might say.
D. We are blind and in need of someone to give testimony to the light. John was the first witness to the light shining in the darkness. After John, then the apostles were witnesses to the light shining in the darkness. The apostles received the light and gave the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to the world.
1. Paul is saying, the light of Christ has shone in us so that we may give light of the knowledge of the glory of God. So that we can now give testimony of the light to the world, because the world is in darkness.
2. He is writing of apostolic authority here the Corinthians. Paul says, we have been given something special. We have received that light. We are witnesses to the light. We are bearing witness about the light of Christ so that the world now can come out of that darkness, and they can now come to the light, and they can comprehend and leave that darkness and no longer be spiritually blind—spiritually lost in darkness.
3. We can come to the light through what the apostles’ show us, through their teaching. They were witnesses to this light as well.
E. This problem has not changed even today. People are still blind and lost in the spiritual darkness. They cannot see the light and they need people to point them to the light. The apostle Paul taught that the Jewish nation was to be a nation who brought people from the darkness to the light and were to be a guide to the blind… but failed. (Romans 2:17f) Paul tells them there in verse 19, You were to be a guide…to whom? The blind, and a light…to whom? The world, the nations, yet what Paul said—is they failed.
1. After condemning the Gentiles in chapter one of Romans, he turns to the Jews in chapter 2 and says, you were to be a guide to the blind. You were supposed to lead them to the light of God. You were supposed to show them the way.
2. You were supposed to live your lives in Holiness and Godliness and purity so that people would see the light of God, and they would come and understand Him and learn of Him and come out of that darkness. Paul's charge to them is—you have failed.
3. That's why Paul says in Romans 3, all have sinned. “… For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;”
F. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”[ESV] Jesus uses this same imagery and says “You are the light of the world”.
1. As we study scripture we will find this is more than just simply holy conduct. Often when we talk about being a light, what we mean is what we want to do is keep our nose clean, keep pure, don't sin, do what's right. Yes, that's absolutely part of walking in the light. A critical part. If we are not obedient to God and we are not doing as He says, we're not shining lights at all. We're in darkness.
2. There is more to being lights in the world though. It is not only that you will be pure so you can go to heaven, but that your purity will cause others to see the light of Christ and that they will follow him. When we do this we are reflecting the light of God.
3. Our mission is to be lights in the world, showing people the glory of God. The world is in darkness. The world is spiritually blind. They do not see, they do not understand, they do not comprehend. That is why we function as illumination, as we reflect the light of Jesus.
4. I love how Jesus says it in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others…” Why? “so that they may see your good works…” You're going to be doing what is right. You're going to be showing that you are truly living faithfully to God. Why? Still in verse 16, “… so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
5. Paul uses this same idea in Philippians 2:14-15 – “Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” The way we live in this world, reflects God’s light, illuminating the wrongs.
III. The Position of the Witness: Finally, notice John 1:8. John was not that light.
A. The author of this gospel wants to make this point abundantly clear so that we do not make a mistake in our understanding of who John is. John is the witness. John is not the light. John came to bear witness to the light. The author wants to emphasize John’s subordination to the light.
1. This first chapter will make this point a number of times. John is not the light and he is in submission to the light. John was sent by God to be a witness. The Apostles were witnesses. They were able to shine as lights because they physically observed, and could witness. They saw and heard Jesus.
2. For us, we are able to say, we are experiencing the light. We are walking in the light. Though we have not seen Him personally like they did, we are able to be lights in the world and show them; here is the way of God. Try to break people free from the grasp that Satan has over their minds and hearts as they dwell in darkness.
3. Successful servants of Jesus understand their proper role: to point to the light. We do not point to ourselves. We do not glorify ourselves. We do not point people to the church. Successful servants of Jesus point to the light. We glorify Jesus. We point people to Jesus. We show people Jesus. As we live, we simply point to the One greater than us. Our teaching must always point to Jesus. Our lives always show glory to Jesus. We must continue to point people to the light. We cannot walk in the light of Jesus and then put that light under a basket, hiding it from others. We must shine.
CONCLUSION: John is not the light and he said as much when he was questioned later in this chapter. He is subordinate to the light. I think that is what John was intending in verse 6. Five verses of; who is Jesus? He's the eternal word. He's the eternal God. He's light. He's life.
Who's John? He's a man. He's sent by God, but he's a man. This is a staggering idea, considering what Jesus will say in the other Gospels. He says there was no one born of woman greater than John. John the Witness, John the Baptizer, Jesus says that there was nobody greater than him. Yet, the writer shows he's subordinate to the light.
He's not the light. As great as he is, he's not the light.
What's John doing? What's he saying? The one who's coming is greater than me. I'm not even worthy to get on my knees, and to use our language, to untie his shoes, to untie his sandals. The greatest one that ever lived, that was born of woman, and he's not worthy. He understood his role… point to the light. That's what his job was all about.
Everything we do needs to point to Jesus. Everything about our lives is about pointing to the light. John, the witness, understood his role. He understood what it was all about. Our job is not to point the world to other Christians. Our job is not to point people to the church. Our job is to point people to the light, to point people to Jesus, because this is not about us. This is all about Him. This is all about Jesus Christ. That's what is critical about our mission.
This isn't about, “Hey, we've got a great group here. We have a great time together. We got a good family here.” Although true that's not what we're here for. We are here to point to the light. When we lose sight of that, we can become insular and forget what our mission and our job is all about. We turn within ourselves. We look at this world and think, “They’re full of darkness, and we don't want to be around them. They're awful, wicked people. We'll just come here, and hunker down, get away.” If we turn inward we've lost sight of our job to be lights in the world.
They're not going to find the light unless we take them by the hand and show it to them because they are blind. They are blinded and will not see it on their own. We must show it to them, grab them by the hand and say, this is Jesus. He's the light you need to see. Open your eyes and look at the great thing that we have before us. Its critical then, as Jesus would say, we don't hide the light.
The darkness doesn't comprehend. John had to be a testifier, a witness, to the light in the darkest of worlds. I know that sounds crazy. The people were looking for the messiah. It should have just been obvious, it should have been like the sun rising. When Jesus came, that should have just been like, “ta-da!” What you will read in the next few verses is they didn't receive it. They didn't get it.
The same is true today. Do not lose hope. Do not give up. Do not tire in doing good and shining your light in this world through your holy conduct, continuously reflecting the glory of God and always pointing to the light.
Pick up your song books for the song of invitation. The invitation is a call open to everyone to make themselves right with God. 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 and for you. If you need to be baptized into Christ, don’t continue to hide in the darkness of this life without the light of 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.
# 600—Jesus Is Calling
Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville
Monday Feb 10, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
John 1:1-5
INTRO: Good morning church. Today we will continue our look at the prologue to John’s gospel. In our last lesson on we noticed John’s foundational teaching that Jesus is God. John proves Jesus is God by showing that Jesus created all things and that in Him is the light and the life. Paul puts it this way in Colossians 1:13-23 – “13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14. in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20. and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22. in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight 23. if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard…”
First I’ll quickly mention some of the background I gave last week. In our lesson we said that this gospel is filled with signs and symbols. John uses these in talking about spiritual life. As we read and study this gospel, it is important to ask ourselves why John is using the sign we read about. It is just as important to consider the distinctiveness of this gospel. John omits many things that are in the other gospel records. Perhaps the most notable of missing elements in this gospel is that there are no parables. While Matthew and Luke are filled with parables, the Gospel of John is not.
John’s gospel records events that the other gospels do not record. Only John records the miracle of changing water to wine. Only John records Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus. Only John records the woman at the well in Samaria. Consider that only John records the raising of Lazarus from the dead. While the other gospels focus mainly on the teachings and movements of Jesus outside of Jerusalem, John’s gospel keeps its focus on Jesus primarily, in Jerusalem.
John’s gospel contains seven signs, most of which are unique to his gospel. Those seven signs are the water turned to wine, the healing of the official’s son, the healing at the pool, the feeding of the 5000, walking on water, healing a blind man, and raising Lazarus from the dead. The ultimate and final sign is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. There are also seven “I AM” statements made by Jesus that John records. This gospel reflects a great deal of symmetry in its unique way of bringing about faith in those who read it.
The prologue to John’s gospel sets the tone for what John is presenting. We are going to read so much about life and light in this gospel. John’s effort is to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, by showing that Jesus does what God the Father does. This will be a theme throughout the gospel. In these first five verses we see that Jesus is God because He did what God can do: create, give life, and give light. These are activities reserved only for the power of God. Since Jesus did these things, then He is also God.
This theme becomes the lens by which we must study John’s gospel. We should ask ourselves how Jesus’ teachings or actions parallel what we see God doing in the Old Testament; therefore proving that Jesus is God. D.A. Carson makes the same point: “John intends that the whole of his gospel shall be read in light of this verse. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God” (Pillar New Testament Commentary, 117).
As I said, there is great symmetry here, there's clearly an intention behind this writing. I really want to place weight on that. When you approach John's gospel, you are intended to ask why. Why is that story there? What are you trying to tell me with that event or that teaching or that saying?
I. Jesus Is The Word: Let’s begin by examining this – Jesus is called “The Word.” Consider that there are many descriptive terms that the Holy Spirit could have used through John to describe Jesus. He could have been called the light, the life, or some other term. But the term given to the Son of God is the “Word”. What is being communicated by calling Jesus the Word? Last time we mentioned that the term “word” is defined as the basic unit of speech that communicates… has meaning.
A. In keeping with the theme of this gospel, God’s word is what brings things into existence… and brought the world into being. To call the Son of God by the term “the Word” denotes that creative power of God that must have been there in the beginning. The Word must have been there before creation because it is through the Word that the whole universe was spoken into existence.
B. The other important aspect of the Son of God being called the Word is that the Word reflects the one who speaks.
1. A person’s words are the means by which people reveal what they are thinking. You do not know what is in my mind unless I communicate my thoughts to you. What we say and how we say it reveals things about us. Therefore, “The Word” is the revelation of the mind of God. The Word reveals the very nature of God.
2. Jesus is God’s Word for us. Because Jesus is the eternal Word of God, and because that Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we are able to know God. When you see Jesus you know who God is. God is not a “far away”, “we don’t know what he wants”, kind of deity.
3. This is the point the writer of Hebrews makes as he begins his letter. Hebrews 1:1-3 – “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…”[ESV]
C. I notice the parallels in the beginning of John’s gospel. God has spoken by His Son. The Son is the revelation of God. Through the Son the world was created. Through the Son we are able to see God. He is the radiance of God’s glory. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. He upholds the whole world by His powerful word. Jesus is the Word because He is the revelation of the mind of God.
1. We can know God because we have the life and teachings of Jesus. This is why Jesus could say, “…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9). Could Jesus have stated the fact of His deity any more clearly than here? That is what is being presented in the first 3 verses of John… the Word is God.
2. If we want to know God and know what God is like, then we need to know Jesus. One writer stated it this way, “What Jesus did was to open a window in time that we might see the eternal and unchanging love of God.” Jesus is God’s message to the world. Jesus is God’s teaching, commands, and direction to the world. You can not separate knowledge of Jesus and knowledge of God.
3. You can't see God, but when you see Jesus and get to know Him, only then have you seen the invisible God and know Him. To put it another way, to call Him “The Word”, is to say that Jesus is God's message to the world. It's the revelation of His will, it is the representation of who God is, it is a declaration to all people for all time—this is the very nature, character and will of God Himself. It's a very important beginning point.
II. Jesus Creator, Not Created: The first part of our text has come under great scrutiny, especially by those who claim that Jesus is not the eternal God.
A. The Muslims claim Jesus was not God but a created human being like a prophet. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that all of our Bibles are mistranslated.
1. They claim the text should say that “the Word was a god.” In fact, their translation, the New World Translation, has this rendering.
2. The point they make is that there is no definite article in the Greek in front of the word “God.” In the English, "the" is the only definite article; meaning there is only one word used to indicate a specific noun already known. Nouns in English are preceded by the definite article when the speaker believes that the listener already knows what is being referred to.
3. Greek scholars will tell you that there being no definite article is an unacceptable argument because the Greek does not work like the English language. In Romans people try make a difference between “law” and “the law” by looking for the definite articles. That is not a valid approach.
4. By way of reference, John 1:6,12,13, and 18 also do not have a definite article in front of the word “God” but no one renders those verses as “a god.” No one reads, “There was a man sent from a god, whose name was John.” No one argues that John the Baptizer was sent from “a god”. He was sent from God the Father. The argument from Greek is invalid. Rather than take us down the road of Greek, we can defeat this false teaching just by using the text itself because John is making an emphatic argument.
B. John writes in verse 3, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” If the Word was made or created, as some groups contend, then He had to create Himself. All things were made through Him. This is an important argument that John makes to cinch this up because there was a Gnostic issue in John's day that wanted to try to make this separation.
1. If Jesus, the Word, is a created being, then He must have created himself. If you do not exist, you cannot bring yourself into being. This is a pretty simple idea. How can you make yourself if you do not exist to make yourself? Therefore, if He made everything that was made, then He cannot be made. If He made everything, then He cannot fall into the “made” category. He must be the maker.
2. If He created everything, then He does not fall into the “created” group. He is the creator. It does not matter what Greek you know or what Greek arguments a person may want to present. To say that the Word was created is a direct contradiction of the clear words of this verse. Everything that was made was made by the Word. Therefore, the Word was not made.
3. The typical argument goes something like this; “He was created by God the Father, and then He in turn created everything else.” That is absolutely not what John is saying. John is making an absolute statement, “and without Him nothing was made that was made”.
III. Life, Light, and Darkness: To call Jesus “the light” and “the life” is another way to declare that Jesus is God. These terms were used in the scriptures to describe what God does. The concept of light and life in the Old Testament is extremely important in how it ties to the very nature and character of God.
A. In Psalm 36:7-9 we read, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”[ESV]
1. God alone possesses the fountain of life. We are only able to see because of the light of God. Light and darkness are contrasted in a number of symbolic ways in the scriptures.
2. Light refers to truth (Psalm 119:105) and darkness refers to falsehood (Romans 2:19).
3. Light symbolizes holiness (1st John 1:7; Romans 13:12; 2nd Corinthians 6:14) and darkness symbolizes sin (Isaiah 5:20; Acts 26:18). Satan’s kingdom is called the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13) but Christ dwells in unapproachable light (1st Timothy 6:16). Darkness stands for death while light stands for life (2nd Timothy 1:10; Ephesians 5:13).
B. The word of God is often pictured as the light.
1. Proverbs 6:23 – “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,”
2. In Psalm 18:28 it says, “For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.”[ESV] God's lighting His lamp is a reference to the constant enlightenment available to the faithful in God's Word.
3. You probably recall Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
C. Until the arrival of Jesus, the light had been put out. Not only was the world full of sin, but the nation of Israel had lost its way and no longer represented the light to the nations as it had been instructed to be. For more than 400 years God did not send a prophet. No one was speaking the inspired word of the Lord. The Jewish nation had been left in darkness because they had turned away from the Lord. Jewish writers of the first century understood themselves to be lacking the light of God.
1. In the Babylonian Talmud, Yomah 9b: “After the latter prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi had died, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel…”
2. Josephus wrote, Against Apion: “It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time;”
3. The Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Temple altar had been defiled and we can read of their actions in 1st Maccabees 4:45-46 “… So they tore down the altar and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them.”
D. In John 1:5 there is a change. Up to this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects or aorists); now he switches to a present tense. “And the light shines in the darkness,”. The light continually shines and even as John writes, it is shining. It expresses the timeless truth that the “light of the world” never ceases to shine.
1. John 8:12 – “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””
2. John 9:5 – “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
3. John 12:46 – “"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
E. We stand in a great time in human history, along with everyone who has lived once Christ came to the earth. The eternal message of God has been revealed through the life and teachings of Jesus. Further, Christ sent the Holy Spirit to guide His apostles into the full revelation of God’s truth, and they wrote that message down for us.
1. We must not look at the scriptures that we hold in our hands as words on a page. As Peter would confess, “You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). You are holding God’s light in your hands. You are holding life in your hands. The light continues to shine in the darkness. The eyes of your heart can be enlightened and you can comprehend the will of the Lord. Give your full devotion to the word of God. It is the light you need in this dark world. It will restore your soul and give you life if you will let the Spirit’s words reach your heart.
2. This imagery should capture our hearts in understanding when Jesus, who called Himself light, then calls His disciples “lights in the world.” Not only did Jesus preach that we are “the light of the world” in the Sermon on the Mount, but listen to the words of His apostle, Paul.
a. “Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”[NKJV] Philippians 2:14–16.
b. We have a great charge to be kept. Shine as lights in the darkness of this world by holding fast to the word of life. Live in a way that shows you are lights. Do not let your light be made dim by sin and by the weights of the world that hold us back from shining bright.
CONCLUSION:
In the text we start to see what John wants us to take away from this Gospel. The intention of John right from the very first words is that we will be struck by the recognition that Jesus is God. He is the eternal God. He created everything. That means we are responsible to Him because He is our creator.
Jesus Christ is life. Not only the Giver of life, but He is life. If we are not in Him, if our relationship is not with Him, if we are not pursuing Him, we do not have life. We are pursuing death. We are wasting our time in the things of the world when we do not pursue the ways of God.
He is the light. The Scriptures so often remind us that we were in darkness. We were lost in our sins. We didn't know which way to go. With Jesus, we now can receive light and life. We can now know the way to God. Jesus reveals everything about where we stand before God and what we need to do to be in a relationship with God. I think the biggest point about light throughout the scriptures is that it is the word of God that's light. Again, there is a play on words here; John wants us to understand that by seeing Jesus as the “word”, rather than calling Him some other name or title, is because it is the word of God that is light.
One final thought. With this symbolism of light, we need to consider Paul’s words in Philippians 2:14-16, “Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”[NKJV]
Jesus in His sermon on the mount says, “You are the light of the world.” Paul connects that to us saying “…you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life …”.
This tells us that we are to be the image bearers of Christ. We are to reflect the glory of God. We are shining lights in this world, not because of who we are, not because of anything innately within us. We shine as lights in this world because we are reflecting the light of God.
We are reflecting the light of Jesus, the word of God who brings life. We are reflections of His light into darkness. God, through His word, tells us how to do that. You notice Paul says, “Holding fast to the word of life”. We do that when we hold on to the word of God tenaciously. When we recognize that our light only comes from the light, the true light, that light is not about us.
Light is not derived from us. We can't come up with what God says. We can't come up with God's rules. We can't come up with, “This is how I want to worship or how I want to do things.” The true light we are going to reflect is the very message and very word of God. We are told at the start of verse 14, “Do all things without murmuring and disputing”. We are to be blameless and innocent.
We are to live out life in a way that we are not obscuring the light of Christ. Through sin, through our various weights and issues that we endure in this life, it is so easy for us to block the light, so easy it is for us to obscure that light.
The light still shines, and we are to be mirrors of that light, reflecting it in every aspect of this world, in every aspect that we reach out, in every area and sphere of influence that we have, we are to be the resounding light that this world needs to come out of darkness.
Pull your songbooks out, and in a moment we'll sing the invitation song. We invite you to come to the light. We invite you to see Jesus is the light of life. He's everything that we need. We are to reflect Him. We are to obey Him and serve Him.
John, in such simple words, with such magnificent imagery, shows us how great a savior we serve, what He has done to draw us out of the darkness and into the light, so that we then in turn shine as lights in the world.
We beg you to come to the light, to turn away from your sins and be immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins, and then serve Him with all of your heart. Serve Him fully, thinking about how we reflect Him as children of light in this world. That is our focus, and that must be our eternal goal until we are with Him.
Anyway you respond to that invitation to come to Jesus, to obey him and serve him, the opportunity is given to you. Would you come while we stand and sing?
# 642 - I Am Resolved
Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville
Monday Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Monday Dec 30, 2024
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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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.
Monday Dec 23, 2024
Monday Dec 23, 2024
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 1st 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.
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
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. 2nd 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 2nd 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