Chardon church of Christ

Hearing God’s Word Properly

Hearing God’s Word Properly
Romans 10:11-17

INTRO: Good morning church. For our text this morning let's turn to Romans 10:11-17. Whenever I sing or hear that song, Break Thou the Bread of Life, I imagine what it must have been like to be on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and listen to Jesus speak the word of God. What a blessing that would have been.

We can't go back in time to be in that location and enjoy that blessing, but we can turn to the Scriptures and we can read the word of God for ourselves. What a blessing that is! We need to appreciate that.

We need to have the desire to want to hear the word of God at all times and to hear the word of God properly. In our text, we read, “11. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'' 12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13. For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'' 14. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15. And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!'' 16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?'' 17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

In verses 14 and 15, a series of questions is asked. We learn from those questions that preaching, teaching God's word is very important. That has to do with the overall theme of the Book of Romans.

In Romans 1:16 Paul said, “16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17. For in it (i.e. the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.''” The importance of the gospel or the word of God is expressed in these verses.

God's word must be taught for people to believe and then call on the name of the Lord so that they can be saved. Gospel preaching is so important that people just simply cannot be saved without it.

We notice that something else is emphasized in these verses. Not only is preaching God's Word emphasized, we learn from verse 17 that hearing God's word is also important. By hearing the Word of God, we're able to develop faith.

We understand from Hebrews 11:6 that we must develop faith to please God. It says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” As a result of hearing the Word of God, we're able to develop faith which as we know is belief and trust, and then we're able to please God.

I. Hearing God’s Word - We've just read how important it is to hear the Word of God, but we must hear the Word of God properly. I suggest that perhaps there are various ways of hearing, and we are concerned about hearing God's Word in the right way.

A. Let’s begin by showing that there are different ways of hearing Scripture. Jesus presented this lesson in one of His parables. Let's turn to Luke 8, and consider Luke's account of the parable of the sower which we are all familiar with.

1. Here Jesus is showing four ways of hearing the Word of God. Let's begin with the parable, and then we'll look at the explanation. Start at Luke 8:5f. “5. "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6. "Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7. "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8. "But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.'' When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!''” A sower, or a farmer, went out to sow his seed, and as he did so, the seed fell upon different types of ground.

a. There's the wayside ground, it's hard and crusty. The seed cannot penetrate it. Since it cannot penetrate, the seed doesn't have a chance. It can't germinate and produce a plant. What happens? The birds see it and they eat it.
b. Then there's the rocky ground. Think of this as a thin layer of soil that's on some rocks. A seed here can germinate and bring forth a plant in that small amount of soil, but as the plant grows, it can't develop a healthy root structure. There's very little moisture. Consequently, in the heat of the day, the little plant doesn't have a chance. It just withers away.
c. There's the ground that's infested with thorns. There's enough soil there for the seed to bring forth a plant. Unfortunately, there are also thorns or weeds if you prefer, and they grow up with it. The consequence is that the little plant is smothered by all the thorns. It doesn't have a chance.
d. Then there's the good ground. The good ground receives the seed. The seed produces a plant. The plant matures and it produces fruit. That's what the sower wants. The sower wants to reap a great harvest. That's why he sows the seed in the first place.

2. In Jesus’ day, and even now in some places, the seed is sown by broadcasting it over the ground. This method of planting involved scattering the seed by hand over a relatively large area. As the seed is broadcast, it does fall upon various types of soil. Imagine the people in the Lord's audience listening to this parable. Anyone who knew anything about agriculture back in that day would have been very familiar with what the Lord was talking about. Perhaps they could even identify with going out and sowing the seed themselves, or maybe they had a relative who did that and had the same experiences.
3. When Jesus finished that part of the parable, He indicated that there was a profound spiritual lesson to learn. He said. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Jesus said I'm teaching you a very important lesson. I want you to hear it well.

B. What is the lesson that the Lord wants us to take from this parable? We're very fortunate in that the Lord explained this.

1. As we look at the Lord's explanation, first we notice that the seed is identified for us and we don’t have to figure that out. “11. "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” The seed is identified for us very clearly. Jesus, in explaining the parable, is showing four ways of hearing the word of God.
2. Jesus is talking about someone who goes forth to teach the Word of God. As the teacher or preacher is engaged in the work of presenting God's Word, they need to understand that there are four ways in which people will hear. Keep in mind that when I’m talking about a preacher or teacher I am talking about all of us as we engage with others to teach them the gospel. It may be teaching one or teaching many. Jesus is showing how the word of God, the seed, is received.

a. Let's see what Jesus was talking about when He talked about the wayside soil. Luke 8:12 – “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” Here's an individual who hears the Word of God but it doesn't take root in their life. They can't be saved. They enjoyed the blessing of hearing scripture from you, but there was no desire to learn. As the soil is hard, so is that person’s heart. Consequently, they lose it.
b. In Luke 8:13 Jesus continued explaining His parable. “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” The shallow soil, overlaying rock, produced quick but impermanent results. This stands for the easily converted, the easily lost. Jesus is talking about someone who hears… the person hears with joy and obeys the word of God. Unfortunately, they do not develop a healthy root structure and when put to the test, they fall away. That type of hearer cannot produce any fruit.
c. Luke 8:14 – “And the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” The hearer in this category is blessed in that they hear the word of God and receive it into their life. Unfortunately, other things in their life take over and what happens? They do not bear any fruit.
d. Then in Luke 8:15 – “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” This good ground is the way that we need to be—striving to hear God's Word—with an honest and good heart. When we hear it, we keep it and then bring forth fruit with patience.

C. Jesus taught very clearly these four ways of hearing the Word of God, and since there are several wrong ways in which God's Word can be heard, we need to listen very carefully to the warning that Jesus gave in Luke 8:18. “Therefore take heed how you hear.”

II. Hear God’s Word Properly - From this, we see it's not enough to just hear, we need to strive to hear properly. If we do not hear properly, we cannot develop any faith. If we do not develop faith, then we cannot please God. Since we're interested in pleasing God, we want to know how to hear God's Word properly so it can lead to the development of our faith, which leads to a production of fruit and that pleases the Lord.

A. Let's look now at some scriptures which teach us how to hear God's Word in the right way. For one thing, we must hear with understanding.

1. Let's look at Matthew 15:10. Here Jesus was teaching a multitude of people. “Then He called the multitude and said to them, "Hear and understand:”
2. What were Jesus’ opening words on this occasion? He said, hear and understand. Understanding is very important. While that may seem obvious to us I ask, is it always easy to understand Scripture the first time you read it? Not always.

a. Have you ever had that experience? Jesus said, hear and understand. Can you hear one time and understand everything perfectly? I know I don’t. But if we hear with the proper desire and hear over and over again, finally we begin to understand. To hear properly, we must hear with understanding.
b. A person may read Scripture and become frustrated because they don't understand the whole Bible at one time. There's a lot of information recorded in God’s word, and we have to be patient. We also have to practice some perseverance. You can't just hear something one time and grasp the entirety of it. As obvious as this should be we often find in the religious world that people latch on to one thing and fail to study the whole and gain full understanding.
c. Study often involves repetition and also a willingness to look elsewhere in scripture for help in understanding what you are currently studying. It has been said every time you study a passage, you'll learn something new. That is if you had the desire to learn.

3. Jesus said, hear and understand. By the way, I had always thought if I said something one time, people ought to get it. That ought to be sufficient. I learned that even in explaining something to aerospace engineers’ repetition is required. Go back and study the Lord's teaching and see how many times He repeated something that He'd taught earlier. Consider also how many times a concept is repeated by inspiration in God’s word.

a. Why is that? Because we as humans sometimes have a hard time grasping something we've only heard once. As you teach or preach don't expect people to grasp something the first time you say it, because Jesus repeated some of the same lessons over and over.
b. I suspect we or someone we know has bought something and when it comes to setting it up they don’t even read the directions. I've seen people read directions and throw them away and say, I can't understand that. That's silly, isn't it?
c. What's worse is taking this grand old book, trying to do just a casual reading and say, I can't understand, then close it up, never to read it again. That's sad. We must hear and understand.

4. By the way, the same parable that we read a few moments ago is recorded in Matthew, chapter 13. Let's look at verse Matthew 13:19. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.” You see how it helps us to study the same statements found in the various Gospel accounts. We're able to learn additional details as Jesus was explaining the wayside hearer. Here it says that he “does not understand”. To hear properly, we must hear with understanding.
5. Along those lines, Ephesians 3:4 says, “by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ”. That verse shows us that we can read and we can understand the word of God. The Bible even acknowledges the fact that some things are somewhat challenging for us.

a. The apostle Peter in 2nd Peter 3:15-16 says, “… our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand,”
b. While some scripture might be challenging, that's not saying that it’s impossible to understand. If we study and rightly divide the word of truth, we can understand the will of God. To hear with understanding, we must hear with the right attitude and we must have a desire to understand.

6. Let's look at Psalm 119:18. “Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.” That's a wonderful request to make. Whenever we hear and study God's holy Word, ask the Lord to help us open our eyes so that we can see the things that He wants us to see.

a. What about a person who doesn't approach Scripture with that attitude? This might be a rather crude illustration, but it would be like me having glasses, which allow me to see, and then refusing to wear them. Does that make any sense? No, it doesn't. What's a whole lot worse is not having the proper desire to know God's will.
b. Having glasses to aid my vision and then not wearing them is one thing, but looking at Scripture or hearing Scripture without a burning desire to know the will of God and then put it into practice, that's what's sad. Psalm 119:18 is a wonderful prayer, a wonderful request for us to make whenever we study Scripture. That request I believe, like Solomon’s request for wisdom, pleases God. A person, who will approach Scripture with an optimistic, positive disposition, will be able to understand.

B. Let's look at Acts 17:11. This verse is very familiar to us. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”[ESV] To hear God's Word properly, we need to hear with eagerness, but also with discernment.

1. Those people enjoyed the blessing of hearing an inspired apostle preach. Did they just accept blindly what Paul said? No. They received Paul's message with readiness of mind, that is, with eagerness. While they were eager to hear, they also exercised discernment. What did they do? They searched the Scriptures daily to determine whether the things they were hearing were right.
2. Someone once asked me if it would bother me if someone checked out what I'm preaching. It would be wonderful if they did. On occasion, I have even tried to select sermons that might stir up the desire to check it out. That's what we're supposed to do.
3. We shouldn’t accept any teaching blindly because if we do we might be following a blind teacher, and you know what happens when the blind follow the blind. Both will fall into the ditch. We have to hear with eagerness, and with discernment to make sure that what we're hearing is the truth.

C. Another point I would like to bring up is that to hear God's word properly we need to do so with a meek or humble spirit.

1. Let's look at James 1:21 which we have just studied in class. “herefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”   “Receive with meekness” is a very important point when it comes to hearing the word of God.

a. People sometimes approach the Scripture with their preconceived ideas of what is involved in pleasing God. That's the wrong way to approach Scripture. We are to let God tell us how to please Him. That's hearing with meekness or humility.
b. Why is it so important that we do that? It is because that word is able to save our souls. Our salvation is at stake. It's imperative that we hear properly, which involves hearing with a meek or humble spirit.

2. As we endeavor to hear with meekness, there's something that must be avoided. We must avoid hardening the heart. Look at Hebrews 3:7-8. “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness,”. We need to learn from the mistakes made by the children of Israel. When they heard, oftentimes they hardened their hearts and provoked God.

a. Look at verse Hebrews 3:15. “… Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
b. Now Hebrews 4:7. “again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today,'' after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.''” To avoid hardening our hearts we must receive God’s word with meekness or humility.

D. Finally, as we hear, we must obey. Let's continue at James 1:22f. “22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24. for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” James is a great illustrator. Not only did he teach clearly in a straightforward fashion, but he illustrated the lessons he was teaching.

1. What about a person who hears, but doesn't obey? He's like a person who looks in a mirror, sees something out of place, and doesn't do anything about it. He just goes on his way. When we see ourselves in the mirror if something is out of place, our hair, tie, whatever, we correct it. This person sees in the word of God something that is out of place in their life and they do nothing.
2. That's the illustration that James is using to show how important it is that we hear with meekness the implanted word because it's able to save our souls. As we hear, we need to do what the Bible says, that is, to put it into practice.
3. James said again in James 1:25 that a person who looks into the perfect law of liberty continues in it. That's the kind of hearer that we need to strive to be.

CONCLUSION:
In today’s lesson, we have looked at some principles that relate to hearing God's Word properly.
We must hear with understanding.
We must hear with eagerness, but also with discernment.
We must hear with a meek or humble spirit.
As we hear, we must obey.

As we study and hear God's Word, let us understand it and allow it to bring forth fruit in our lives. That puts me in mind of Galatians 5:22-23 where Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit. We should each take time in our studies to investigate those nine characteristics that make up the fruit of the Spirit. When you do so, remember these principles we talked about today. God help us to think about these things and always hear His Word in the right way.

Let's go back to that scene that we imagined earlier. Being on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, along with a multitude of people, Jesus is there, and He speaks the word of life.
What a blessing that would have been to be present and to hear the Savior teaching.

The ones who were truly blessed were the ones who heard correctly and put it into practice. Thank God we have His Holy Word to study today.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon by: Raymond Sieg

Appendix:
“Critical scholarship has more trouble with Jesus’ words giving His reason for speaking in parables, "that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand," than with anything else in this passage. Some are simply incredulous that Jesus would have used a device specifically to blind and harden some of His hearers; but such was undoubtedly the case. The explanation is in Matthew, where that sacred author quoted at length from Isaiah 6:9,10, thus explaining the use of parables as God’s means of bringing about the hardening of Israel, the parables, of course, not being the cause of the hardening, but the occasion of it.

The real reason of the blindness and unbelief of Israel lay in the fact that they had "closed their eyes" to the truth.
Furthermore, what is said of the parables here is true of the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so designed that stubborn, willful, and self-deluded, hardened hearers of it will actually be destroyed by the holy Gospel itself. Paul said:

We are indeed the incense offered by Christ to God, both for those who are on the way to salvation, and for those who are on the way to perdition: to the latter it is a deadly fume that kills, to the former a vital fragrance that brings to life (2 Corinthians 2:16).

There can be no wonder then that Jesus cried with a loud voice and said: "Take heed how ye hear!"

The dual quality of the parables: (1) enlightening them of right spirit, and (2) blinding and hardening the ones who were evil, must therefore be understood as pertaining to the entire Gospel itself. The same sunshine melts butter and hardens putty; and the same glorious Gospel saves some and destroys others; but the difference lies, not in the Gospel, but is found inherently within men themselves. It is what a man IS that determines, more than anything else, what he gets out of the Gospel.”

From Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible

Saved By What?

2nd Timothy 1:8-9

INTRO: Good morning church.
I'd like for us to begin by imagining the following. Imagine you're on a ship in the ocean and a severe storm comes up. You're out on deck. You're trying to get to safety, but a strong gust of wind, a very strong gust of wind blows you off into the water.
A man on board sees you and throws you a life preserver. You grab it and swim back to the ship and climb to safety.

From this story ponder the question, what were you saved by? What were you saved by? Was it the ship? Of course, if the ship wasn't there you wouldn't have any place to climb back to. Were you saved by the man who threw the life preserver? If the man hadn't been there, you would not have been thrown the life preserver. Were you saved by the life preserver? If the man didn't have a life preserver to throw you, you wouldn't have one. Were you saved by the water? If the water wasn't there, then you couldn't have been floating or swimming. What if maybe you saved yourself? After all you had to grab the life preserver and you had to swim. Which of those five things were you saved by? Of course, the truth is you were saved by all of them. If you take any one of those away, you would be lost.

The Bible tells us that a person is saved by many, many things. What does that tell us? What are we to make of that? Jesus said that we're to be governed by “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. Anything which God declares is necessary for salvation in one passage, must be implied, and be included in all other passages that speak about salvation. That's our theme this morning. We are going to look at all the different things the Bible says we are saved by when it speaks of our salvation. By the end of the lesson we'll see that whenever it says we're saved by this, all the things that we are saved by are included. This is something the religious world doesn't often follow or understand.

I. Saved by God – Obviously, the Bible says we're saved by God in 2nd Timothy chapter one. We're going to be reading many passages this morning. Again, this lesson is going to be looking at what God's word says we are saved by.

A. Read with me 2nd Timothy 1:8-9. “Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the Gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” We are saved by God, the Godhead…the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We can't take God out of the picture and say that we're saved by anything else. We are saved by God.
B. Jesus - On top of that, Matthew 1:21 reveals to us specifically that one of the members of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, saves us. Verse 21, in talking about the birth of Christ, says “and she will, (referring to Mary), bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” There's one of the members of the Godhead that scripture says we are saved by. We're saved by Jesus.
C. Holy Spirit - Also the Bible says we're saved by the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that gives us life. In John 3:5 Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. “Jesus answered most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Later on in John 6:63 Jesus reveals this, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.” Both in John three and John six, we are told that spiritual life comes from the Holy Spirit, another member of the Godhead.
D. When we put all of that together, we see that we are saved by God. We're saved by Christ. We're saved by the Holy Spirit. That all means the same thing.
E. It's legitimate and it's perfectly scriptural when we tell somebody or when we're talking to someone, if they ask, “how are you saved” to say;

1. I'm saved by God. That is a biblical answer to say that you're saved by God.
2. I’m saved by Christ.
3. I’m saved by the Holy Spirit.
4. That's exactly true. You are.

II. Saved by the Blood of Christ - The Bible says we're also saved by the blood of Christ. In Romans 5:9, Paul tells us this about how the blood of Christ saves us. “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

A. Justified - We're justified by His blood which saves us. We shall be saved. We'll be pronounced justified. We'll be pronounced not guilty. We'll be pronounced innocent. How? By the blood of Christ.

1. Paul here described the blood of Christ as the instrument of man’s justification, but not in any unconditional sense. It will always be necessary for people to approach God in obedience.
2. It's perfectly scriptural and truthful to say when we're asked “what are you saved by” to say, I'm saved by the blood of Christ. Anybody that's saved is saved by the blood of Christ.

B. Redeemed - Further in 1st Peter 1:18-19, still referring to the blood of Christ, Peter says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
You were redeemed. You were bought with a price. That price is the blood of Christ, which is said to be precious. This scripture also says “not… from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers”. Here is the secret of most of the errors on earth. The errors of false religions, and even the errors in the true, are often what people have received from their fathers.
C. Purchased - Paul, talking to the elders, said in Acts 20:28 – “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
D. What do we know now? The Bible says that we're saved by God. The Bible also says we're saved by the blood of Christ. Which is it?

1. Are we saved by God or are we saved by the blood of Christ? Going back to our story about the life preserver, we're saved by both. You take either one of those away and we can't be saved. Both of those are critical in understanding how one is saved.
2. We're saved by God, the Godhead, which consists of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and we're saved by the blood of Christ. That's scriptural. It’s truthful to say we're saved by the blood of Christ.

III. Saved by the Gospel - The Bible says we're saved by the Gospel.

A. In Romans 1:16, at the beginning of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, Paul reveals something else about salvation. He says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
B. It's the power of God to salvation. This is emphasized in 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The message of the cross, the Gospel, is the power of God.
C. In James 1:21 James says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
D. It is truthful and scriptural to reply to the question “by what are you saved?” with the answer “I was saved by the Gospel”.

1. I'm saved by God, the Godhead. I'm saved by the blood of Christ. I'm saved by the Gospel. I'm saved by all three. Can I take any of those out and still be saved?
2. Up to this point many people might agree with you. Perhaps from this point on in the lesson, they won't.

IV. Saved by Grace, Faith, and Works - The Bible also says we are saved by grace, faith, and works. That will raise some eyebrows among people, but yet that's exactly what the Bible says. Let’s look.

A. Grace - Romans 3:23-24 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” We are saved through His Grace.

1. It's perfectly scriptural and truthful and right to respond to the question, what are you saved by, with the reply I am saved by God’s grace. It's not any more right to say you're saved by grace as opposed to saying you're saved by God, you're saved by the blood, or you're saved by the Gospel. None of those are more important or more truthful than the others in answering that question. Yes, we are saved by grace, and the Bible makes that clear.
2. In Luke's account chapter 17 verses 5-10 Jesus is talking about faith and duty. In response to the apostles saying to the Lord in verse 5 “Increase our faith,” Jesus gives a parable which is a lesson designed to teach humility, obedience, and a sense of lacking any merit in the sight of God. Luke 17:10, Jesus says about duty, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” In other words, this teaching was to show that no man can merit salvation. To put it as William J Russell expressed it in his book: "This rebukes the self-satisfied Christian who thinks that in obeying God they have done something especially meritorious."  Man can never repay God's daily blessings, much less those bestowed by grace. We didn't deserve it, we are saved by grace.

B. Faith – That's a proper response, but it is also proper to say that we're saved by faith. Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

1. The Bible says; we're justified by His blood, we're justified by grace, and we’re justified by faith. Which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? Which of those three do I pick out?
2. We don't pick out any of them. When scripture says that we are saved or justified by one thing, everything else that the Bible says we're justified and saved by, is included. Yes, we are justified, saved by faith. Just like when Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”

C. Works - It's perfectly right and straightforward and truthful and scriptural to say that you're saved by faith, but I'm also saved by works. That'll raise an eyebrow, but it's scriptural to make that response if someone says how are you saved? I was saved by works.

1. Boy, that'll get people going, just say you're saved by works. The Bible says I am. Can't I say what the Bible says? Surely I can repeat what the Bible says I'm saved by.
2. We are currently studying the book of James in Sunday morning Bible study. James writes in chapter two, and this is just as inspired as any of those other places that we've read, James 2:14 – “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” Wait, I thought we were saved by faith. Didn’t we just read that?
3. Let's read on in verse 17. “Thus also faith by itself, (there is a key phrase), faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” It's dead. By itself, faith can not save. Just like being out in the middle of the ocean where I couldn't save myself, the life preserver didn't save me by itself. The man on the ship didn't save me by himself.

D. That's the point of this lesson. When we see all of these passages, and there are many, and we could have read and read, we will continue to find more of what the Bible says we're saved by.
E. In James 2:24 – “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” The same phrase that we've seen before, justified by His blood, justified by grace, justified by faith, justified by works, these are all the same phrase. What right do I have to say I can pick one of those four and say that's what's going to save me. No one has that right. I am saved by His blood. I'm saved by grace. I'm saved by faith. And I'm saved by works. All of those are legitimate answers to the question what are we saved by.

V. Saved by Belief, Repentance, Confession, and Baptism - Let's go on. I'm also saved by belief. I'm saved by repentance. I'm saved by confession. I'm saved by baptism. Let’s consider each of these. I’ll start with belief.

A. Belief - I am saved by Belief because John 3:16 says I am. We know that by heart, but let's read it anyway. “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.”

1. The person that believes in Him is going to be saved. We believe that. It's legitimate and right and truthful and scriptural to answer the question, what are you saved by? By saying that I'm saved by believing in Jesus Christ, that's true, it is a Biblical fact.
2. In Acts 16:31 we find these words, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to be saved. That's the absolute truth, but it's not any truer than to say that you're saved by grace or you're saved by works, or you're saved by God, or you're saved by Christ, or you're saved by the blood. When the Bible says you're saved by something, it includes all of those things the Bible says you're saved by.

B. Repentance - The Bible says, I'm saved by repentance. Remember Jesus' words in Luke 13:3 – “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” The great truth uttered here, and repeated in the same words two verses later, was to remove the false security of His hearers, then and now. I'm saved by repentance. I must repent.

1. Have you ever heard anybody answer the question, “what are you saved by”, by saying repentance? Probably not, but that's the truth. It is the truth you must repent.
2. In Acts 17:30 – “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,” It is a command. Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,” Repent and turn to God. Yes, repentance is essential, but so is confession.

C. Confession – In 1st John 4:2-3 the Bible says. “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God”

1. Are you saved by confession? The Bible says if you confess Jesus Christ you are of God, so it's perfectly right to say that you're saved by confession.
2. Of course, Romans 10:9-10 says the same thing, “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.”

D. Baptism – The Bible also says you're saved by baptism. If you want to start an argument with some folks, all you have to do is answer the question “what are you saved by?” by saying “by Baptism”. Saved by baptism is just as scriptural and just as truthful, and just as right to answer that question as is grace, faith, works, blood, God, and so on. It's just as true.

1. To answer that question Peter writes in 1st Peter 3:20f – “who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
2. Wait a minute. Baptism saves me? It saves you just as much as any of the other things we've talked about. Saved by the Godhead, saved by Jesus, saved by the Holy Spirit, saved by the blood, saved by the Gospel the word of God, saved by grace, saved by faith, saved by works, saved by belief, saved by repentance, saved by confession, saved by baptism.

CONCLUSION:
The question is who has the right to say in all of those things that one thing is the only thing that saves us? Yet, that's what the religious world does. It picks one of those things or maybe two of those things and says, that's what saves me. It seems to me that it is pretty arrogant to take all of those things the Bible talks about and say, I'm going to believe it's just these one or two things.

Going back again to our original analogy, you can't take any of those things away, the ship, the man, the life preserver, or yourself, and be saved. In similar manner, you cannot take any of those things we have read and say that some of those aren't necessary. It is the height of arrogance to say that.

When the Bible says that we're saved by God that means we're saved by grace, faith, works, belief, confession, baptism, His blood, and the gospel.

When it says we're saved by His blood, that means we're saved by God and grace and faith and works and the Bible, all of those things are included. The Bible teaches all of those things are the source of our salvation.

We simply cannot take any of those things out of the statement, the equation, and still be saved. That is not our prerogative. God saves me. He certainly does. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He surely did. I have to get spiritual life from the Holy Spirit. I sure do, as does anybody else.

The list goes on and we simply cannot take a single thing away and still expect to enter through those gates into heaven.

Scripture says we are to abide by “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. Not just some of them. Not just this one or that one, but all the words that proceed from the mouth of God. The Bible says we're saved by all of those things.

This morning we have taken a look at some of the things that the Scriptures tell us are involved in our salvation. In a past issue of House to House, Heart to Heart was an article that listed 27 things from scripture we are saved by. (July 22, 2016) I suggest to you that as we grow as a Christian we note the various things in scripture to which salvation is ascribed. The question is not, which one of these will save us; all combined ensure us of salvation.

Hopefully, we have all thought deeply about salvation, and as Christians, we continue to grow in our understanding of God’s word.

INVITATION:

If there's anyone here in the assembly that is in need of responding to the gospel, in need of prayers, whatever your needs are we stand ready to assist you and we encourage you to come forward as Mark leads us in the invitation song. Please stand.

#480 Have You Counted The Cost?

Reference sermon by: Bobby Stafford

Appendix from July 22, 2016 of House to House, Heart to Heart:
1. Christ’s words (John 6:63).
2. The Holy Spirit (John 16:8; Titus 3:5).
3. Faith (Romans 10:10).
4. Repentance (Luke 13:3; 2 Peter 3:9).
5. Baptism (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Titus 3:5).
6. God (John 3:16; Titus 2:11).
7. Christ’s works (John 20:30–31).
8. Calling on His name (Acts 2:21).
9. Christ’s name (Acts 4:12).
10. Christ’s resurrection (Romans 4:25).
11. Christ’s death (Romans 5:6).
12. Hope (Romans 8:24).
13. Confession of faith (Romans 10:10).
14. Hearing (Romans 10:15–17).
15. Preaching (1 Corinthians 1:18).
16. Fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).
17. The gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1–2).
18. Love (Galatians 5:6).
19. Grace (Ephesians 2:8).
20. Ourselves (Philippians 2:12).
21. The love of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
22. Christ (1 Timothy 1:15).
23. Heeding and continuing in the doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16).
24. God’s mercy (Titus 3:5).
25. Obedience (Hebrews 5:9).
26. Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:14).
27. Works of faith (James 2:24).

The Women With Weak Eyes

Genesis 29:16-31

A lady was walking down the street on her way to work & saw a parrot in a pet store. She went in to admire the bird, and suddenly the parrot spoke to her, “Hey lady. You’re ugly.” Well, the woman was deeply offended, and she stormed out of the store. But on her way home, she thought she’d been a bit rash, and so she stopped into the store again. But the same parrot saw her and said, “Hey lady, you are REALLY ugly.” She could hardly speak and rushed out of the store to go home.

But the next day she stormed back into the store and the parrot once again said, “Hey lady, you are SO ugly.” She was so furious that she went to the owner and threatened to sue the store. The owner was apologetic… and he promised the bird wouldn’t say it again.

A week later she went to the store again and the parrot spoke again: “Hey, lady!” She paused and glared at the bird: “Yes?” And the bird said… “You know.”

We’ve all heard the saying – “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” AND IT IS! Different cultures have different ways of seeing beauty.

For example: In many western cultures (like the U.S.) TANNED SKIN is seen as a sign of great beauty. To achieve this… women and men will use tanning beds, tanning enhancers, fake tans, and bronzers.

But, in many Asian countries - LIGHTER SKIN is more desirable. Pale skin is seen as a sign of beauty, youth and wealth. To achieve this, many women will apply sunscreen religiously, use skin lightening creams, and wear large sun hats, or special visors

THEN THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO TAKE BEAUTY ONE STEP FURTHER.

In Japan, women will go to orthodontists to have extensive work done on their teeth to make their teeth look more crooked and uneven. This is considered attractive… because it is supposed to make the women appear more approachable.
In South Korea, the current rage is to undergo plastic surgery to make one’s face appear more heart shaped. The procedure involves breaking the jaw bone into 3 parts, removing the middle part, and fusing the other two together to create a pointed chin.

Beauty is literally in the EYE of the beholder. But in the days of Jacob and Rachel and Leah, beauty was quite literally… in the eyes. We’re told in Genesis 29:17 that “Leah’s EYES were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.”

None of the commentaries I read could explain what it meant that Leah’s eyes were “weak” but most agreed it WASN’T considered a trait of beauty by the people of that day. As one person noted, her eyes made Leah unnoticed, unwanted & unloved… and unmarried.

You see, Jacob didn’t want to marry Leah… and apparently no one else did either. One person said that - Leah was one of Laban’s big problems. If she didn’t get married HE would have take care of her forever, and he didn’t want to do that.

It would cost him to keep her… and she was NOT an asset. She remained unwanted and unmarried by everyone. But then Jacob showed up and Laban decided to kill 2 birds with one stone – He could get richer (because of Jacob’s free labor) and, (if he worked it right) he could get rid of Leah in the bargain.

It wasn’t right or fair to Jacob… and it was not right or fair to Leah.

Imagine being unwanted and unloved. Even your father thinks you are a burden. And now Leah’s competing for the love of her husband… with her sister, and she’s NEVER going to win that competition. IT’S JUST NOT RIGHT!

But then… then… God steps in. Genesis 29:31 tells us “When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb…” and she had four sons.

REUBEN was her 1st: Reuben means “behold, a son”. And she thinks “Surely my husband will love me now” (Genesis 29:32) But he doesn’t!

Soon after, she has a 2nd son – SIMEON meaning “One who hears” thinking “Because the Lord heard that I was not loved he gave me this one too.” (Genesis 29:33)

As if two sons were not enough, she has 3rd boy–LEVI which means “attached.” And she thinks now at least “my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons.” (Genesis 29:34)

And then she has her 4th son – JUDAH – which means “Praise”… and she simply says “I will praise the Lord.” (Genesis 39:35)

What I find interesting about these 4 boys… is that they represent the conflict inside of Leah. The 1st & 3rd sons (Reuben and Levi) reflected her burning desire for her husband, but the 2nd the 4th sons (Simeon and Judah) she doesn’t mention her husband. These boy’s names talk about her faith in God.

Simeon meant “ONE WHO HEARS” (God HEARD her), and

Judah meant “PRAISE” and she declared “I will praise the Lord. You see… Leah was a woman of faith. Even in her unhappiness and despair she had her EYES on God. AND GOD REWARDED HER. He didn’t just reward her with sons… He rewarded her a heritage. Her boys became pivotal in God’s plan for Israel, especially the 3rd and 4th born of her sons.

Levi became the father of tribe of Levi … that’s where Moses & Aaron came from. And the tribe of Levi became the priests who took care of Tabernacle/Temple. The priests of Levi were pivotal to Israel’s worship of God.

Then there was JUDAH – his tribe gave Israel – men like David, Solomon and Hezekiah, and lots of other great Kings of the nation of Israel. (PAUSE) and of course – JUDAH was the tribe from which Jesus was born.

I remember the 1st time I realized what God did for Leah with those boys, and I thought to myself - God used an unwanted and unlovely girl to give Israel it’s most important sons. Leah was given sons, and the tribes of those sons gave Israel its greatest leaders… and ultimately, OUR greatest SAVIOR… Jesus!

But let’s go back to how ugly Leah was. She was unnoticed, unwanted and unloved, AND UNMARRIED… until Jacob came along. And even HE didn’t really want her. How do you handle that kind of rejection? Well Leah did the right thing.

She turned to God. She looked to God to HEAR her, and she looked to God to GIVE HIM PRAISE. And it was turning to God that changed her life.

ILLUS: A counselor once told a story of being asked for help by a man whose son had just admitted to a mental hospital. Upon visiting the hospital the counselor learned that the boy was expected to be there for several weeks just for observation to discover his problem, and it had cost the family several thousand dollars.

When this counselor spoke with this young man he found that the boy was withdrawn and depressed. In their conversation, the counselor asked the young man a very strange question: “If you had the power to change anything about your appearance, would you do it?” And the boy replied “You bet I would. I’d change my face.”
“Your face,” the counselor asked in surprise, “what’s wrong with your face?” - “It’s ugly.”

“It’s ugly? Who told you were ugly?” The boy replied that earlier that year, when he was at school a couple of younger boys came up to him and told him “you’re ugly.” And the young man believed it!

Once he’d discovered that, the counselor led him through a teaching from Scripture on why he should accept what he couldn’t change about himself, and within a week, the boy was changed… and on his way home.

What did that counselor teach that young man? Well, 1st he taught that there’s A Balance of Truth:

YOU and I are… damaged goods. Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” including you and me. BUT Psalm 139:14 explains that YOU are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In fact, the Bible teaches that YOU are made in the image of God.

2nd - God has FORMED us for His purposes: In Psalm 139:16 the Psalmist says “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were FORMED for me, when as yet there was none of them.” And in Isaiah 45:9 it says: “Does the clay say to him who FORMS it, ‘What are you making?’” Everything about you has been FORMED by God, and it’s been formed to give you a purpose and function. Your looks, your physique, your mannerisms - there’s is not a single thing about you that God cannot know about and use for good.

3rd God’s not finished with you yet. Ephesians 2:10 says “We are His workmanship…" He’s still working on us. In Philippians 1:6 says (God) "who BEGAN A GOOD WORK in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God never quits working on you

4th - God has an inward ideal of who you should be like – and that ideal is Jesus. Thus, God forms you and shapes you until you begin to reflect Jesus in your life. Thus, what you & I are on the outside isn’t nearly as important to God as what we are inside.

5th - If necessary God will sacrifice outward beauty to develop inward character. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul prayed 3 times for God to remove a thorn of the flesh from him. But God replied: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore (Paul said) I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

6th - There are certain things about you … that are unchangeable in your life. Your face, your body, your height, your sex - and He can use them to make you special and valuable.
So then, the counselor then led the young man in a prayer of acceptance that changed his life:

• 1. God I want to thank you for my unchangeable traits;
• 2. I especially want to thank you for ... (the traits I’ve not been thankful for);
• 3. God put me back up on your easel and develop in me the inward qualities you desire.

The point is this – when you give yourself to God - it isn’t your physical shortcomings or your disabilities that determines who you are. It’s how much God is allowed to control your life.

ILLUS: Richard Turner once did “card tricks” in front of the magicians known as Penn and Teller.

Turner would do things like cut and shuffle a deck of cards with one hand; Shuffle the deck 6 or 7 times… and then spread the cards out so that all the Spades/Diamonds/Clubs and Hearts were in order (Ace through King).

He was so quick & clever with the cards that Penn & Teller admitted that they (as professional magicians) were unable to determine how he did what he did.

But what was more amazing about Richard Turner was… he was “weak of eyes”. He’d been blind since the age of 9.

RICHARD TURNER commented: “I don’t call myself blind… because I see things in ways other people can’t see. My thumbs and my fingers can feel things that other hands can’t. I now have 10 eyeballs (his fingers).” And then he said: “We all have obstacles. All of us!

You know what I consider the worst disability of all? Procrastination and laziness. Give me blindness over that any day of the week.”
Oh, and did I mention that Mr. TURNER is also has a blackbelt in Karate? He said hadn’t missed a workout in 45 years. Richard Turner refused to let what he CAN’T do, get in the way of what he CAN.

But has he done this without God? No.

When he was a teenager he got into drugs and other bad decisions, and he says that what turned him around was a magician who became his mentor... and guided him into becoming a Christian.

He was asked: "Richard why do you think you’re here?" He replied: "I don’t think I’m here by accident. I think I’m here by design. I think there’s a creator behind the scenes.

Just like I don’t think the Statue of Liberty created itself, I think there was an engineer behind the creation of that symbol of freedom. And since I’m not here by accident then I’m here by design and it took me a lot of years to get to the point … where my purpose in life is to encourage others and inspire others while in the process blowing their minds."

CLOSE: And that brings us back to Leah. Leah depended upon God to look upon her struggles and help change her life.
She had obstacles no other woman like her could have overcome. But God gave her her children… and it was the children He gave her that brought honor to her name.
God’s grace was sufficient in her life because His power was made perfect in her weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Overall, this verse encourages believers to trust in God's grace and find strength in Him, even in times of weakness or difficulty.

Wisdom Is the Principle Thing

Wisdom Is the Principle Thing

Proverbs 4:7

 

INTRO:  Good morning church.  

A familiar story from the Old Testament is the story of Solomon asking God for great wisdom.  In 1^st Kings 4:29, we read “And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.”   Then in verse 32, it says of Solomon, “He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.”  Solomon used the form of maxims or proverbs as a special form of instruction to impart that wisdom. 

 

Solomon tells us the purpose of this in Proverbs 1:1-7 “1.  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:  2.  To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding,  3.  to receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;  4.  to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion   5.  A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,  6.  to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.  7.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Solomon says this is written to impart wisdom to those who are willing to receive it. 

 

As you examine the Book of Proverbs, you can't help but notice that it has much to say about wisdom, so much so that it has often been referred to as the Book of Wisdom.   It's interesting to take a concordance, look up the word “wisdom” and see the various passages where it is used.  What then is “wisdom”?  One commentator said, “Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge aright.”  The Cambridge Dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments”.

 

I like the book of Proverbs with its nuggets of wisdom and practical advice.   It provides insight and in it, God reveals truths about our conduct in life.  For this lesson I am going to ask you to read with me Proverbs 4:7 – “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”

 

There are two statements here in the first part of the verse that I want to consider.  The first is “wisdom is the principal thing”, and the second is “get wisdom”.

 

1. Wisdom is the principal thing - What does it mean when Solomon said that wisdom is the principal thing?  
2. It is another way of saying that wisdom is a matter of great importance.  It deserves our careful attention.
3. In addition to stating that wisdom is the principal thing, Solomon also explained in a number of passages why wisdom is so important.
4. For one thing, wisdom is of great value.
5. In Proverbs 8:11 - “for wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it”  When describing the value of something, scripture sometimes compares it to rubies.  Do you remember the description of a virtuous wife? “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.”   Solomon says “Wisdom is better than rubies”.   Then he goes on to say, “… and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it”
6. In Proverbs 16:16 is another verse that touches on the value of wisdom. “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”  This passage teaches us that wisdom is better than gold and silver.  We consider rubies, gold, and silver to be very valuable, and they are… yet wisdom is much more valuable than any of these.
7. As Solomon explained further why wisdom is the principal thing, he showed that there are blessings associated with wisdom.
8. In Proverbs 3:13-14 he touches on the state of those who find wisdom. “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.”   A man is happy when he finds wisdom.   He has reason to be happy because he's found something of great value.
9. Look at Proverbs 2:10-11 – “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,” We find that those who attain wisdom will be preserved and they will be kept. There are blessings associated with wisdom.
10. Proverbs 19:8 says, “  He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will find good.” The Bible shows that there are blessings associated with wisdom and the last verse shows that those who get wisdom love their own souls.   That thought should help us to further appreciate what Solomon said concerning the value of wisdom.  I think we can understand why Solomon said wisdom is the principal thing.

 

1. Get Wisdom - Once we have that understanding, I believe we can better appreciate why Proverbs 4:7 also says “get wisdom”. We've established wisdom is the principal thing, and talked about its value and the blessings associated with it.  That being the case, we need to do what Solomon says, and get wisdom.
2. What does “get wisdom” mean?   It is another way of saying that God's people are to do what is necessary to attain wisdom.   You can't just sit idly by and expect to receive wisdom.  Unlike the gift that God gave Solomon, it requires effort on our part.
3. How do we do that?   How do we attain wisdom?  Over and over again, Solomon showed in the Book of Proverbs how we are to put forth the effort to attain wisdom.
4. Look at Proverbs 4:5.   “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.” Notice from this verse that wisdom is to be gotten and not forgotten.  That's what the passage is teaching us.   Wisdom is to be gotten and it is not to be forgotten.
5. Let's also look at Proverbs 23:23.  “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”  We see in this verse that in addition to wisdom… truth, instruction, and understanding are also mentioned.  Wisdom is one of those things that is to be bought and it's not to be sold.  
6. That implies there is a price to pay, doesn’t it?  The Bible says we're to pay that price, but then we're not to let go of what we have attained.
7. I must admit that over the years I have bought things on impulse.  Perhaps some of you have as well.  Then, years later we have taken that same item and sold it at a yard sale for almost nothing.  As I got older, when it comes to material matters, I tried to think ahead and say to myself; in a few years, am I going to sell this at a yard sale or maybe just give it away?
8. When it comes to wisdom, we're to pay the price for it, but then we're not to sell it.  We have to attain it and we have to retain it.   That's very important when it comes to wisdom.
9. In attaining wisdom, we must go to the right source for it.  The Bible teaches us that the Lord is the right source of wisdom.  Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;” Who is the proper source for the wisdom that we are to attain and retain?  Solomon tells us the Lord is the proper source.  Solomon was not the only Bible writer to mention that.

III.    More About Wisdom – In the New Testament, James, the Lord's brother, also mentioned the same thing.  We have started our study on James in Bible class.

6. Let's look at James 1:5-6.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” James is referring to spiritual wisdom, the kind of wisdom that we need when we face trials - when our faith is put to the test.
7. There's a general principle to learn from that particular passage, and that is that God is the source of wisdom.   When we ask Him for wisdom in faith, which is part of attaining wisdom, we have the assurance that God will listen and not reproach us for asking.
8. When we ask God for wisdom, if we ask Him in faith, and we're fulfilling our responsibilities to attain wisdom, God will certainly give it to us, and He will do so liberally.
9. When the Bible says that we're to get wisdom, we need to understand that the Lord is the right source for it.
10. Since we're in the Book of James, let's consider what the Lord's brother had to say about wisdom in chapter three of his book.  James 3:13-18 – “13.  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.  14.  But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  15.  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.  16.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there.  17.  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  18.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” [NKJV]              I would like to spend the remainder of our lesson considering what James wrote on the subject of wisdom in these verses.   I believe these verses in the Book of James will help us to do what Solomon teaches us about wisdom.
11. Solomon teaches us that wisdom is the principal thing.  It's a matter of great importance.  He admonishes us to get wisdom.  Therefore we need to strive to learn what the Bible has to say about wisdom.  We can learn some valuable information from these verses that were written by James.
12. According to James 3:13-14 our actions demonstrate the kind of wisdom that we possess.
13. To illustrate this matter further consider what Jesus said in Matthew 7:20 – “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
14. Our Lord was talking about false teachers and He indicated that false teachers can be detected by the fruit that they bear.
15. In a similar way, we show by our actions the kind of wisdom that we possess.  We need to understand that there are various kinds of wisdom.  We need to be concerned about getting the right kind of wisdom.
16. And since our actions demonstrate the kind of wisdom that we possess, we should consider very carefully what James wrote on the subject in these verses.
17. Verse 13 describes a child of God who is wise, and they are endued with knowledge.   What do we know about their conduct or their manner of life?     It will be in harmony with God's will, and their works will demonstrate the kind of wisdom that they possess.
18. James went on in verse 14 to show that a person might have a heart that's filled with envy and self-seeking.
19. If a person has that type of heart, they should not boast, because they are jealous and filled with strife.   And that is no reason to be arrogant.
20. Furthermore, in their boasting, and their arrogance, they lie against the truth by pretending to be a follower of Christ.
21. To help us better understand what James is teaching; let us consider the example set by the Lord's disciples.  Certainly, if you have any question about the Lord's patience, study His ministry and especially His dealings with His disciples.  Jesus saw great potential in the men that He selected, but they had much to learn and Jesus devoted a lot of time to teaching them.  He was quite patient with them.
22. The Bible teaches us in several passages that they were constantly concerned about who was the greatest.   Look at Luke 9:46 – “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.” Jesus dealt with that situation by placing a child in the midst of the disciples.  He showed that we have to be converted and become as little children in order to enter the kingdom.
23. According to Matthew's account, they were concerned about who would be the greatest in the kingdom.  Jesus responded by teaching them what they had to do to enter the kingdom.  They had to be converted and become innocent like little children. 
24. You would think that grown, mature men would have gotten the lesson that Jesus was teaching.  No, it came up on at least two other occasions.
25. Let's look at the last occasion which we find in Luke 22:24.   Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples.  He was about to be arrested shortly after this.  It was on this occasion He gave instructions for eating His supper so that His followers would always remember His sacrifice.
26. What were the disciples concerned about though?  Luke 22:24 – “But there was also rivalry among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.”

iii.    How does Jesus respond this time?  Luke doesn't tell us, but John does.  In John 13, we learn that the Lord arose from supper, removed His outer garment, put a towel around Himself, took a basin and some water, and washed the disciples’ feet.  That was one powerful object lesson that the Lord taught on that occasion.  I think the disciples finally got it because we don't read about them arguing over that matter anymore.

1. Jesus humbled himself to the point that He performed the role of a servant by washing the apostles’ feet.  I paraphrase here, He said, I'm your master and I've stooped to the level of washing your feet.  I've served you.  You ought to serve one another rather than be concerned about who's the greatest in the kingdom.
2. What was the real problem that was experienced by the apostles?  We know what the symptom was.  They were concerned about who is the greatest.  What was the real problem behind that symptom?  They possessed the wrong kind of wisdom.  You see, the right kind of wisdom doesn't behave like that, but the wrong kind does.
3. James tells us that our actions demonstrate the kind of wisdom that we possess.  If a person has a heart filled with strife and envy, you know something about their wisdom.  It's not the kind that comes from God.  Remember, God is the source of wisdom, the right source for the right kind of wisdom.
4. There is another type of wisdom that we need to avoid.  The disciples were caught up in having hearts filled with this wrong kind of wisdom and it showed by their jealousy and their strife.
5. The disciples show us though, that we can change with the Lord's help.  They finally listened to the Lord's teaching and they changed their ways.
6. The problem with the disciples was that for a while they possessed an earthly kind of wisdom.  James goes on to describe that kind of wisdom in James 3:15-16.
7. Here he is referring to the kind of wisdom that's already been mentioned in verse 14, the kind that was demonstrated by the disciples.  Verse 15, “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”   Does this kind of wisdom come from God?  No, James says it does not come from above…rather it's earthly or worldly.  It's sensual and it's devilish.
8. What does it produce?  It produces confusion and every evil work.   We need to understand this because we are constantly exposed to the wrong kind of wisdom.  As we listen to reports on TV, we're going to hear confusion, strife, envy, and jealousy.  What are those symptoms?  They're symptoms of the wrong kind of wisdom.
9. I'm afraid that we're exposed to so much of it that if we're not careful, it can rub off on us, and we can't afford to let that happen.  We have to fight against it.
10. We are responsible for getting the right kind of wisdom, paying the price to attain it, and not losing it.  By doing that, we'll have a good influence on others.  We hear so much hatred and so much vile speech today it’s just amazing.  Those are symptoms of wisdom that James says are earthly, sensual, and devilish.  We must guard against that kind of influence.
11. James described the wrong kind of wisdom, which we are to avoid, and then he went on to describe the right kind of wisdom.   
12. This is the one that he's already mentioned in verse 13.  Now he continues in James 3:17-18 – “ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James says this wisdom is from above, in other words, God is its source.
13. James describes this wisdom in beautiful words; the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, and easily entreated.  It's full of mercy and good fruits.  It is without partiality and it is without hypocrisy.
14. What do we know about that kind of wisdom?   James says it produces the fruit of righteousness.  
15. What is produced by the wrong kind of wisdom?   Strife, jealousy, and all types of evil.

 

CONCLUSION:

Solomon said, “Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom”.  To do that, we have to go to the right source.   We also have to understand that there are different kinds of wisdom.   If we go to God according to His will, He will bless us with the right kind of wisdom, and we will demonstrate that through our actions.

 

The question that we need to ask ourselves is what kind of wisdom am I endeavoring to attain?   If we attain the right kind of wisdom, the Lord will bless us.  In return, we will please Him.

 

We have to give this matter much consideration, very careful consideration, because of the influences that we're constantly exposed to.

 

The Book of James has sometimes been referred to as the Book of Proverbs of the New Testament.  It's a wonderful book.

 

When you read the Book of Proverbs and the writings of James, you find that James just goes right along with some of the things that Solomon dealt with.   Why did Solomon and James write on the same things?   I would suggest to you it's because the same Spirit who inspired Solomon to write his Proverbs also inspired James to write his letter.  The Bible does not contradict itself, the Bible complements itself. 

 

When I study the New Testament, I tend to look at the principles that are revealed and see how they are illustrated in the Old Testament.  The Old Testament is a gold mine of illustrations that will help us to understand the New Testament.

 

When it comes to wisdom, I find I tend to reverse the order, see what Solomon first said about wisdom, and then see how James illustrates what he's taught us.

 

God, in His infinite wisdom, knew what we needed a long time ago when He gave us His Word, the Scriptures.   How thankful we need to be that when we study the Bible, we're learning from the mind of God.

 

I hope this lesson will encourage us to do what we have to do to attain wisdom, and then to do what we have to do to retain it, to buy it, and never sell it.

 

If you need the prayers of the church or if you need to come forward this morning to be baptized, we will welcome you, receive you, and help you in whatever your needs may be.   We invite you to come and make your needs known while we stand and sing.

 

 

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Reference Sermon by - Raymond Sieg

Studying the Bible

2 Timothy 2:15

 INTRO:  Good morning church.  Today’s subject is one that we need to remind ourselves of from time to time.  We have talked about this in the past, and it's something that needs to be brought up occasionally, and that is the subject of the Bible, why we need to study it, and even how to study the Bible.

This is not an easy topic to address, at least in a very short time.  We could probably devote an entire quarter of Bible class to learning how to properly study the Bible.  We can’t condense that into today’s lesson.   What we will look at today is going to be the very basics.   You might say an introduction to studying the Bible.

People have a wide range of views on the study of God’s word.   Some wonder why we do it.  Others wonder why we spend so much time at it or conversely so little time.   Are we looking closely enough, or too closely?   Perhaps you have heard some of these things or discussions on Bible versions, the use of reference material, commentaries, dictionaries, language references, and the like.   

1. I’ll start with a question; why should we study the Bible or more personally, why should I study the Bible? The first and probably the foremost reason why we need to study the Bible is because of what it is. It is the word of God, our Father and we need to approach it as the word of God.
   1. Because of what it is – the word of God. In 2nd Timothy 3:16 Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” [NKJV]
      1. That word we have translated as “given by inspiration of God” literally means “God breathed”.
      2. Paul is saying that ALL scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for us. Therefore we need to view scripture, the Bible, as God’s word.  
      3. With that in mind, look with me at 1st Thessalonians 2:13 – “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”  Paul commended the brethren at Thessalonica because they welcomed it not as some man's opinion, but as the Word of God.   That's the first reason why we need to study the Bible.
   2. To help us better appreciate God and our salvation. Another reason to consider as we deal with “why study the Bible”, is that it helps us better appreciate who God is, and gives us a better appreciation of our salvation.
      1. How can we know that we are saved? How can we appreciate what was done to make salvation possible?   How can we better know God and understand what He has done for us and continues to do for us?   The answers to those things are through the study of His Word.
      2. Romans 1:16f says, – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.''”
      3. In 1st Corinthians 2:10f – One of the problems in Corinth was related to the pretentious, empty philosophy of the Greeks, who so highly regarded the eloquent speeches of orators. In the first part of this chapter, Paul gave his reasons for not following those popular methods in the preaching of the Word. 
      4. Paul explains how we know about God, and what He reveals to us. There is a discussion about the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God and the mysteries of God’s plan. Then Paul makes this point, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
      5. In other words, what Paul is saying is the reason we can explain to you about God, is because the Holy Spirit, who is part of the Godhead, revealed it to us. When we look at the Bible as the Word of God, it is in this word that we learn about who God is.   We can better appreciate our salvation as a result.
   3. Because it gives us the answers to the questions people sometimes ask – A third reason that we would give consideration to “why study the Bible”, is because it gives us answers to the questions that people frequently ask.
      1. There are questions about life. Who am I?   Why am I here?  What is my purpose?  Where am I headed?  These are big philosophical questions that people ask and the Bible is a book that gives us the answers.
      2. In Genesis 1:1, we learn God created the heavens and the earth. Then a little later in verse 26f, we learn mankind was created in the image of God.   That's why mankind has dominion over the rest of creation and why we are to gain knowledge of it.
      3. Solomon concludes 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.”  Our purpose is to fear God and keep His commandments—which we find in His word.
   4. Because we are told to by Him – Another reason is mentioned in 2^nd Timothy 2:15 where Paul says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Paul tells Timothy, and it applies to us, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God”.
      1. Paul is telling Timothy he needs to be accurately handling or rightly dividing the word of truth. The Greeks used the word for "expound soundly."
      2. This is not just saying, as some try to make it, know the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It's talking about how one accurately handles the word of God.  You cannot do that if you're not willing to take time to study His Word.   
      3. In 1^st Peter 2:2 Peter says, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,” We are to desire the pure milk of the Word so we may grow.
      4. Then in 2^nd Peter 3:18, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.” Peter concludes that letter by reminding us we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what we are expected to do.
      5. If you recall the Hebrew writer rebuked those brethren who had not studied the way that they should. He makes the point in Hebrews 5:12-14 – “12.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.    But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”  We need to reach a point where we can digest the meat of the Word, which means becoming mature enough that you've gone beyond the basics.  
      6. The only way to go beyond the basics in the Word of God is to study your Bible. We need to study it because we're told to.
   5. To learn how to live so that we can be pleasing to Him – In addition to that, we study the Bible to learn how to live so that we can please God. The way that we please Him is by doing what He tells us to do.
      1. Back to 2^nd Timothy 3:16-17. Paul said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine…” Another word for doctrine is just the simple, straightforward word, “teaching”. 
      2. Then he says, “… for reproof…”. Today we focus on the idea of this word meaning criticism or blame.   What it means is “a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested”.  It is checking something by comparing it to a standard and identifying if what is being tested complies, or is in error.  If what is being tested is in error then it needs to be corrected. 
      3. If you have an error in your life, you need to become aware of that error so that you can make a “…correction…”. How do we correct what has been identified as wrong?  How do we correct that for which we have been reproved?
      4. “…for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete…”  Here “The man of God” is not merely Timothy. "Man" is generic and means "human being."  Everyone who walks in the way of God is made complete and completely furnished unto every good work—by the Holy Scriptures.
      5. How do you live your life righteously so that you can have a hope of heaven when this life is over? The answer is by studying the word of God and making applications in your life.
   6. To help us defend the faith – The final reason that I want to consider this morning is; we need to study the Bible to help us defend our faith.
      1. In 1^st Peter 3:15, it says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” Peter says you need to be ready to give a defense for your hope.
      2. In Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”  They had received the word of God and they needed to be able to defend it.
      3. How do we defend the word of God? We cannot defend God's word if we do not know what God's Word says.  We have an example of that over in Acts chapter 17.
      4. In Acts 17:2f, we find Paul in Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews and it says, “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” As we read on we find some of them were persuaded and some were not. 
      5. The point is, he reasoned from the Scriptures. Paul was able to take the word of God and show them how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures.   He reasoned with them.
      6. If we want to defend the faith, we need to study the Word of God. Those are some reasons why we need to study the Bible, and I am sure many more could be added to these.  
   7. Attitude - Let’s move on and I want to look at a second question. What attitudes do I need to study the Bible?   I have a coffee cup at home with the slogan on it “Your attitude, almost always determines your altitude in life.”  I suggest to you, a proper attitude is the first step in studying the Bible.  If the right attitude is not there, you're not going to be able to proceed with the things that you need to do so that you are rightly dividing or handling accurately the Word of truth.   Let's look at some attitudes that we need as we study the Bible.
      1. Understand the purpose of Bible study - The first one is—we need to know the purpose of Bible study.
         1. As we just outlined, the purpose of Bible study is to know God's will. We need to go to the Bible with the intention of getting out of the Bible what God intends for us to get out of it.
         2. In Acts 17:11 after Paul leaves Thessalonica, he goes to Berea and begins to teach them. It says in verse eleven “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”  In other words, Paul taught and they readily listened but they didn't just take his word for it.  They opened the scriptures to see if what Paul is saying is the truth.
         3. I am reminded here of what we saw in Hebrews 5:12-14.  The Hebrew writer tells them, “…by this time you ought to be teachers…”  That was a problem.  He was concerned and he rebuked them.  He said that they needed to again be taught the first principles of the oracles of God, the word of God.
         4. Then in Hebrews 6:1, he encourages them to go on beyond those first principles. “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,”  That's what our goal needs to be, to get out of God's Word what He intends.
         5. Some people, as they approach God's Word, do so with wrong motives, and they already have preconceived ideas. They approach God's Word with a prejudice that they have no intention of changing.   Often they approach the Bible simply to prove what they already believe.   They've made up their mind this is what I want to believe and I'm going to find a way for God's Word to say what I want it to say, even if it's not what it means.  
         6. Some read the Bible just out of curiosity. They might see it as one of the great classical works, and put it in their list of philosophies’.
         7. Others read through the Bible to find tidbits of trivia, the shortest verse, longest verse, middle verse, or maybe just to find some interesting sayings here and there. That's not good enough, folks.
         8. Then some go to the Bible with negative intent. They're looking for something they might call a mistake or inconsistency.   They want to reject the Bible as the Word of God.   Yes, they may read it, but they're looking for reasons to criticize what the Bible says.   If you look hard enough and you're willing to twist Scripture enough, you're going to be able to find plenty of things that you think are inconsistencies and mistakes.
         9. In short, I want to study the Word of God to be pleasing to God and to glean from the text the intended meaning.
      2. With reverence – Another attitude that I need is reverence. By that I mean we are to respect God and show God the honor that He deserves. When it comes to God's Word, we need to understand that the Bible is the word of God and be respectful of that.   Treat it as such.  It's not a novel.  It's not just a book of history.  It's not, as I mentioned a few moments ago, one of the great literary books of philosophy.   It is God's revelation to us.
         1. Paul was commending Timothy in 2^nd Timothy 3:15 where he said, “from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” I notice how he calls them the Holy Scriptures.   They are treated with the greatest respect.
         2. I remind you again of 1^st Thessalonians 2:13 where Paul said, “I commend you because you welcomed it not as the word of men, but you welcomed it as it is the Word of God.” They showed it proper respect.
         3. I'm reminded also of something recorded in Nehemiah which was written after the children of Judah were permitted to return to Jerusalem. After 70 years of captivity by Babylon they were able to return, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and then they begin to restore worship to God.  Nehemiah 8 records the great gathering together of all the people where they were going to read the law. Verse 5 says, “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.”   When they stood that was a sign of reverence.
         4. The Word of God was about to be read, and they weren't going to take this lightly. Out of respect, they stood for the reading of the law, and they remained standing as the Law was read for several hours on that particular occasion.   When I study the Word of God, I need to approach His Word with reverence.
         5. I strongly suspect, many people today have little or no reverence for the Word of God and they show it in many ways. You can see it in the way that they water down its message, where they take the message of God and they say “It doesn't mean what it says”. “It doesn't apply to us today.”  Or they outright ignore the parts of it that they do not like.
      3. A belief that you can understand it – Now here is another attitude that I need to have as I study the Word of God. I need to approach it believing that I can understand it.
         1. Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:17 – “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” In Ephesians 3:3-4, Paul explains “how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:”  Paul is saying, I'm writing these things down so that you will understand.  I need that attitude as I study. We can understand His Word.
         2. Many have been convinced otherwise. They've been convinced that we cannot understand the word of God today.   They might look at the religious division around us and say that that's proof that we can understand what it says.   They have been told, again by skeptics and critics, “The Word of God has been corrupted”. “We don't have the true word of God anymore”. “It's been compromised, and you can't depend on it”.
         3. When people hear those things they think, why study the Word of God? I'm not going to be able to understand if it is the Word of God.   There was even a point in time when the scriptures were kept from the common man.
         4. Folks, I don't believe it. I do believe that there are places that are challenging in the Bible.   But I consider that one of the good things about the Bible when I think about it.  The Bible is something that you don't just read once.  You read it more than once and you study it.  Every time you read it, you're going to learn more and more as your understanding grows.   That's the way that the Bible was designed.
         5. Yes, there are parts of the Bible that are very challenging and difficult to understand.  Peter in 2^nd Peter 3:15-16 is speaking of Paul and says, “… our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”    Peter says that there are things that are hard to understand.  He does not say that they're impossible to understand.
         6. When it comes to the matter of salvation, and when it comes to the way you live your life as a Christian, it is simple and easily understood. You can understand what you need to do to be saved and you can understand that you need to please God with an obedient life.   The fundamentals of the faith and Christian living are clearly revealed (not necessarily easy to apply, but understandable).
         7. There will be times we need help. Keep in mind though that people are ALWAYS fallible, and their direction is only useful if it is true to God’s word.  I'm not saying that the guidance of the experienced is not helpful and indeed it is needed at times.   Times where the best thing you can do is seek someone more mature in the faith and ask them “What does this mean?”   If they have studied the way that they're supposed to, they ought to be able to give you an understanding.   
         8. I'm reminded of Timothy. His job was to preach the Gospel, which means he was to share it with others.   Paul tells Timothy in 1^st Timothy 4:16 – “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”  
         9. In Ephesians 4:11f, where Paul talks about various leaders in the Lord's body. “… He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,”  People in a position of teaching, folks.   Paul continues  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,  13.  till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;  14.  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive,  15.  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ   16.  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”   Paul is saying that God has given us leaders to build us up in His Word.
         10. Why? So we're not deceived by false teachers, we're not tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. We become united and we grow the way that God wants us to grow.
         11. Remember though, people are fallible. In 1^st John 4:1 – “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God… ”  What is the saying these days?  Trust but verify, make sure that it is true.  Compare it with God’s Word.  Approach the Word of God, believing that you can understand it.
      4. With an open mind and love for truth – We also need to approach the Word of God with an open mind and with love for the truth. If we read Matthew 13:11-15 we will find that Jesus taught in parables because some people had closed minds.  They refused to hear the truth or even consider whether or not Jesus was their promised Messiah.  As long as their minds were closed, they were never going to receive the Word of God.
         1. We need to be like David in Psalm 119:97, where he said, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Like the Bereans, who received the Word with readiness and searched the scriptures daily to verify the truth.  Like Cornelius, who, concluding his explanation, said in Acts 10:33 “So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God”  
         2. It is the love of truth that should keep us studying and keep us from being deceived. 2^nd Thessalonians 2:10-12 talks about strong delusions being sent “.. did not receive the love of the truth, And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,”  They did not love the Word of God enough to study it so that they wouldn't be deceived.
      5. With a desire to learn – People do not study as they should because they do not have the desire to learn. This can be for many reasons, but any of those reasons is detrimental to one’s faith. As Christians, we are seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) which means we want to know what God expects.
         1. Matthew 5:6 speaks of hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
         2. 2^nd Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…”
         3. When we realize that we are dealing with what will judge us on the last day, we ought to put forth every possible effort to learn as much as we can. John 12:48 notes “… the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
         4. Consider also 1 Peter 2:2 – “… desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,”
      6. A desire to obey what it says – The last one I’ll mention is a desire to obey. All the knowledge is inadequate if we do not intend to obey it.  God’s word is not just a book of suggestions.  It is a way of life and that is continually emphasized.
         1. Matthew 28:18-20 – Jesus tells them that disciples are to be taught “… all things that I have commanded you”
         2. Luke 6:46 – “… why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?”
         3. James 1:22-25 emphasizes this point clearly. We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

 

CONCLUSION:

We have looked at why we should study the Bible and some reasons were;

Because of what it is – the Word of God.

To help us better appreciate God and our salvation.

Because it gives us the answers to the questions people often ask.

Because we are told to by Him.

To learn how to live so that we can be pleasing to Him,

To help us defend the faith.

Next, we considered how important our attitude toward God’s Word was in learning from it.   We took a look at some of the attitudes that will help us study effectively.   The first was we need to understand the purpose of Bible study.  We need to approach it with reverence, a belief we can understand it, with an open mind and a love of the truth.   We also need a desire to learn and just as importantly a desire to obey and please our Heavenly Father.   Worshiping God and not studying His word is like participating in Blindfolded Archery: You don’t know what you’re missing.  

We understand from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.  Then we are to live our lives in faithful obedience, well pleasing to God.

 

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism.  If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today.  If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing. 

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Taken from a sermon by Thomas Thornhill Jr

 

 

Using Birds to Build Trust

Text 1 Kings 16:30 – 17:15

Imagine you're standing on the edge of a deep, dark gorge, peering down into its mysterious depths. You can feel the cold air swirling around you, and the sound of eerie echoes fills your ears. Now, imagine someone handing you a fragile, rickety wooden bridge, assuring you that it will safely carry you across to the other side. But as you examine the bridge, you notice the rotting wood, the missing planks, and the creaking structure. It's as if it's barely holding itself together.
You hesitate, your heart pounding with doubt. The bridge sways unpromisingly, threatening to give way at any moment. Your intuition screams at you, warning you of the potential danger. It's a leap of faith to trust this flimsy bridge, knowing that one wrong step could send you plummeting into the unknown darkness below.
In that moment, not trusting in something is like gripping tightly onto the solid ground behind you, unwilling to take that perilous journey. It's acknowledging the uncertainties, the flaws, and the potential consequences, and deciding that it's wiser to rely on your own judgment rather than putting your faith in something so precarious.

Trust.
It’s a valuable commodity.
People rarely GIVE trust... usually it’s something that’s earned.
But without having trust in someone - or something – it’s hard to do anything in this life
• People put their trust in a wide range of things, depending on their beliefs, values, and experiences. Here are some common things people tend to trust:
• Financial Systems: People trust banks, financial institutions, and economic systems to safely handle their money, investments, and transactions.
• Personal Beliefs and Values: Individuals often trust in their own beliefs, values, and intuition to make decisions and navigate their lives.
• We trust that our cars will start. Have you ever gotten in your car, put the key in the ignition... and then not have it start? How did it make you feel? It should have started! It had started hundreds of times before... but now it didn’t. You TRUSTED it to be able to start when you needed it.
• We trust that our grocery stores will have food. They may not have the specific brand of cereal or coffee you want, but you TRUST they will have milk, and meat, and bread.
• When we have trouble around the house, we trust that the police and firemen will be available to protect us.
• And we trust that our friends will BE THERE for us. That our church family will lift us up in prayer and be there in our moments of joy and sadness.
Trust is woven into the very fabric of our lives.
Without trust, we can hardly function.
So, the question is: what do you trust... and why?

The story we’re looking at today is a story about trust... and the lack of it.
And it begins in 1 Kings 16: 30-33
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Ahab was a wicked king.
But he NOT JUST a wicked king... he was a wicked man
1 Kings 21:25 says “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife.”
So Ahab was a wicked King and a wicked man.

But what made him so wicked?
Well, he TRUSTED in the wrong things.
King Ahab, who reigned over the northern kingdom of Israel from approximately 874 to 853 BC is often described as one of the most wicked kings in the biblical narrative. Several factors contributed to Ahab's reputation for evil:

1. Ahab's marriage to Jezebel, had a significant impact on his reign. Jezebel was a devoted worshipper of Baal and actively promoted Baal worship in Israel, leading to the introduction of idolatry and the persecution of prophets of the God of Israel. Ahab allowed and supported Jezebel's religious practices, which went against the faith of the Israelites.
2. Under Ahab's rule, the worship of the God of Israel was actively suppressed, and the worship of Baal was encouraged. This idolatrous worship led to the corruption of religious practices and the erosion of moral values among the people.
3. Ahab and Jezebel orchestrated the systematic persecution and killing of the prophets of the God of Israel. Elijah, one of the prominent prophets of Israel, was particularly targeted by Ahab and Jezebel.
4. Despite receiving multiple warnings and prophecies from God through various prophets, Ahab stubbornly persisted in his evil ways. He showed no repentance or willingness to change his behavior, even after witnessing the disastrous consequences of his actions.

Ahab trusted the wrong things... and he trusted the wrong people
And most tragically of all - he didn’t trust God.
So God decided it was time to teach Ahab a lesson in trust.
God wants Ahab to trust Him.
So He sends Elijah with this basic message:
“Trust me on this… I’m going to make life VERY uncomfortable for you.
Until Elijah comes to you again, there will be neither rain nor dew on the land.”

ILLUS: Every year, our farmers watch anxiously to see how much rain will fall on crops.
If there’s too much, the crops drown.
If there’s too little, some of those crops dry up and die.
BUT if there’s no rain at all... ALL the crops will die.

The book of James, in James 5:17 tells us that “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”
Three and a half years without rain is a long time.
Three ½ years of drought is enough to turn a paradise into a wasteland.
And three ½ years of dryness can make men and kings desperate enough to do anything to change the weather... even kill a prophet.
So, God sent Elijah on an extended vacation.
And that (of course) is where we meet the ravens of this story.

God has Elijah hide near the brook Kerith down by the Jordan River and that’s where he lives for the next couple of years.
And while he was hiding there:1Kings 17:6 tells us
“The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”

Now this is odd for several reasons:
1st Ravens don’t generally like being around humans... they avoid us if at all possible.
2ndly Ravens were unclean birds. God’s people were not allowed to eat them, nor offer them in sacrifice.
3rd The food of ravens has usually been dead for a while. They eat road kill. They were scavengers. They’re kind of like vultures. Who would want to share their food?
4th Even if we wanted to share their food, Ravens would never share. They don’t even share their food with their babies.

ILLUS: Once a young raven is able to fly – it’s kicked out of the nest and left to fend for itself. No matter how much the young raven cries its parents will not bring it food, it is on its own. Apparently that’s an uncommonly cruel trait not shared by many other birds.
So here God has Elijah being fed by unclean, disgusting, anti-social, and notoriously cruel birds.

WHY?
Why would God use Ravens to supply Elijah with food when there are so many other simple and satisfying ways of getting the job done?

 

There are several reasons why people end up not trusting God or His word.
1. Sometimes, people refuse to trust God’s Word, because they Lack evidence: Some individuals may require empirical evidence or tangible proof before they can trust in something or someone. Since God's existence cannot be scientifically proven, they may find it difficult to place their trust in a higher power.

2. Other times people refuse to trust God and His Word because (like King Ahab) they’ve listened to the wrong people. They’ve spent time with skeptics and scoffers who have made them ashamed of their faith and doubt their God.

3. Other times people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’ve been hurt. God didn’t help them like they wanted Him to when they needed it, and because of that incident(s) they turn their back on God.

4. Still other people refuse to trust God’s Word because they’re into sin. They’ve done things they shouldn’t do and because God’s Word condemns their particular behavior or lifestyle they try to disarm God. They try to blunt his right to judge them. Because IF God’s Word is wrong on something they can ignore it as being unreliable in all things.

The problem with these approaches to God’s Word is that it puts us in danger.
If you can’t trust God... you have to trust something.

SOMETHING has to step in where God has been thrown out.
That’s what happened to King Ahab.
He didn’t trust the God of Israel.
So he turned in trust to other gods... and suffered for it.

ILLUS: G.K. Chesterton once said
“It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing.
Alas, it is worse than that.
When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything.”

Without God… the only standard of TRUST - of right and wrong - is what appeals to you. And that’s a shifting standard. It all depends on what I want, what I like, what I accept, what pleases me.

But scripture says: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
My standards are all warped.
My morality is riddled with impurity.
And if I base what I TRUST on that warpedness and impurity, then I’m going to embrace whatever gods allow me to do what I want to do.

Its insanity.
When I stop trusting in the God of Scripture... I’ll believe in anything
And eventually that will lead me to destruction.

But now, by contrast, if I trust in the God of Scripture I’m no longer led by MY OWN righteousness and holiness.
Instead… I’m trusting a God who is so holy and so righteous that my tendency will be to build my life around Him (rather than Him around me).

I’ll use His standards of right and wrong – not mine.
I’ll build on His morality in my life – not mine.
I’ll build on His expectations for me... not mine.
AND I know if I trust in Him in these matters... I will be blest.
But first I have to decide whether I trust Him or not.
And that leads me to my final point

Why would God use ravens to minister to Elijah?
He could have done it more pleasantly and much easier some other way.
Why use the ravens?
God asked him to go approach a poor widow in Zarephath to house and feed him. But the widow had no food to share. What little food she had – she was preparing for a final meal for her son and herself... and then they were going to die.
And Elijah had to ask her to share the final meal with him.
Why didn’t God send Elijah to somebody who at least had some food???
Why?
For the same reason God sent the ravens to feed him in the desert: To show Elijah His power.

Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’"
She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.”

Now, you can’t convince me that God’s sole purpose in having the widow feed Elijah was simply so that he could have something to eat!
So, what other reason could God have?
TRUST

God wanted to strengthen Elijah’s trust in Him.

God got Elijah into situations where he had no choice but to trust Him.
Because when this drought was over, God was sending Elijah back to confront Ahab.

And when Elijah went back, he had to be able to know that he could trust God.

This whole time in exile was designed by God so He could train Elijah in trust.
He showed Elijah that He could order the very ravens to feed him
He showed Elijah that He was able to enable a destitute widow to meet his needs.
Over and over again, God trained Elijah in trust.

God knows that trust is something that’s earned.
And He knows the power of trust in our lives.
That’s why He lays such an emphasis on our counting our blessings. Repeatedly throughout Scripture God tells us be thankful, to rejoice to focus on what He has done in our lives. This is more than just a “religious activity” – it’s a training ground in trust.

If Elijah had not been trained in trust, he wouldn’t have been ready when the time of testing came. In the same way – if we don’t train ourselves in trusting God, we will not have the strength to stand in the time of testing.

CLOSE: The question for you this morning is this: Who do you trust?
One man made this observation:
• “Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment
• Trust in money and you may have it taken from you;
• But trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.”

Hebrews tells us
“Without faith it is impossible to please God...”
That kind of faith is more than just “believing God exists?”
It’s a faith that has learned to trust God because of what He’s done for us.
Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists AND that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
INVITATION

Contributor : Jeff Strite

The Spirit of Antichrist

1st John 2:18-23

INTRO: Good morning church. I’m going to deviate from the lesson I had planned because something came up that reminded me of a lesson several years back and I realized this would be a good time to look at the topic again. Incidentally, it us gives an entry point to what I am going to speak on eventually.

I was reading 1st John and came across this portion which started me thinking. Turn with me to 1st John 2:18-23 – “18. Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”[NKJV]

This point in John’s letter has caused difficulty for many religious people in the world and they have become confused about John’s meaning.

What I want to look at today is what John calls, “The antichrist.” We might want to note that John is the only writer of the New Testament who uses the term "antichrist", and he uses the term 5 times.

I – The Antichrist
A lot of the reason there is confusion about the subject of “the antichrist” is because people refuse to use the best commentary on the Bible there is, and that’s the Bible itself. I’m sure if people let the Bible speak for itself they would have no trouble in understanding John’s meaning of the term antichrist. Let’s look at the text again a bit more carefully.
1. Who is John writing to? - John starts this section of his letter with one of his favorite phrases, he says “Little children” or in some translations “Dear children”. He uses the term ‘children’ many times through his 3 letters and in 1st John he uses the term “Little children” 9 times. John is writing this letter to the Christians of that time as a loving father would write to his children.
2. John is warning Christians, his “little children”. He is warning them about a problem that was very real in his day. 1st John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” Note that John uses the term “antichrist ‘twice here, singular and plural.
3. He uses the term again in 1st John 2:22 where he says, “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”[ESV]
4. He uses it again in 1st John 4:2-3 where he says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God, this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”
5. John uses the term “antichrist” in 2nd John 7 when he says, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

We are living in a society where many people believe that the term “antichrist” is used to refer to an individual. In other words, they believe “The antichrist”, ‘singular’, will appear in the end times.

Some believe that an actual person will arise in the religious-political arena and lead many people astray just before Christ comes again. This view is held by pre-millenialist and many amillennialists.

To understand what John means, let us ask ourselves some questions. Who are the
antichrists? And how do we guard ourselves against them?

II - How do you spot the spirit of the antichrist?
Unlike popular public belief, the answer is not a mystery but quite simple. And it is simply because John tells us the answer. John says in 1st John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

You see in John’s day, not sometime in the future, but in John’s day, “The antichrists” not the “antichrist” but “many antichrists”, were individuals who had at some time associated themselves with the apostles and other Christians.

But then these people had left, gone out on their own, and were no longer in fellowship with the apostles. That’s why John says, “They went out from us, and they didn’t really belong to us, because if they did they wouldn’t have gone.” From this verse, it is plain that the "antichrists" were Christians who had defected from the truth, and their departure indicates their hostility to the truth.

In other words, these people were Christians, had faith, and then at some point, they lost their faith. Why? I suspect because they didn’t respect the apostolic teaching.
John tells us that, in 1st John 4:3-6 “3… every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

If you want to relate that today, you easily can because many "antichrists" behave the same way. Many people start out acting like they respect apostolic authority and seek to be with Christians but eventually, their true nature comes out and they do not want to be with those who respect apostolic authority very long.

For example: How many people do you know who do not have the Bible as their sole authority for their beliefs? Many religious groups who won’t even read the Bible. Many religious groups hold on to the teaching of men, and men have the final say, not the Bible. Some say the Bible was for back then, we don’t need it anymore. What they are doing is refusing to accept the apostle’s doctrine.

What did Jesus say about accepting the apostle's teaching? He said in John 13:20 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." Those who reject the apostles reject Christ himself, and in effect have the spirit of the antichrist.

John tells us another characteristic of the antichrists. 1st John 2:22-23 “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

In John’s day, some people denied that Jesus is the Christ. There was a big problem with Gnosticism in that day. A Gnostic is a person who says, “A divine God couldn’t possibly come in the flesh because the flesh is too sinful.”

People in John’s day and even today allege that Jesus and Christ are two different persons. They believe that Christ merely appeared to have flesh, but in reality, didn’t. Others believe that the Christ descended upon Jesus at His baptism and departed at the time of His suffering. It is that denial that Jesus Christ came in the flesh that John identifies as the spirit of the antichrist.

1st John 4:3 “and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”

Another way to spot the spirit of the antichrist is that they deny the Father and the Son. Again in 1st John 2:22b-23, “He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

You see by denying that Jesus is the Christ, they were denying the Son. Do you recall in John’s gospel, John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” And then in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In other words, because of their denial, they are refusing to believe that Jesus came from the Father. By denying the Son they were also denying the Father. Again it comes back to John 13:20 I’ll paraphrase: “I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."

If you want to spot the spirit of the antichrist today, it would be quite simple: 1. Anyone who denies that Jesus was the Messiah. 2. Anyone who denies the nature of Jesus, that He was fully God and fully man. 3. Anyone who denies apostolic authority, i.e. the Bible and its teachings about the nature of Jesus Christ. These have the spirit of the antichrist.

Based upon the evidence I have shown you so far is the antichrist a character soon to be revealed on the stage of world events? … Let’s look at some of the views of Dispensationalists, which is currently the most popular form of pre-millennialism because they have much to say about “the Antichrist.” They would have us believe that the Antichrist is a man, now living, who will soon rise to the position of a worldwide dictator.

In his book, “The Late Great Planet Earth” Hal Lindsey declares that the Antichrist will come to power just before the return of Christ, which, he asserts, will occur during this generation. Folks, this view finds absolutely no support in the Bible.

The term antikristos is found 5 times in 4 New Testament passages, all of which are found in John’s epistles, which we’ve already looked at. It’s significant that Lindsey, though devoting a whole chapter to the “Antichrist,” never once alludes to these verses. Why? The reason for this is obvious; the biblical information on this topic is not in harmony with his fanciful theory.

Over the years countless people and groups have attempted to identify the antichrist. Go home and simply type in the word “antichrist” on the internet if you have it. I got over 3 million hits in a Google search. You will be immersed with suggestions such as the Roman Emperor Nero, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and the Pope. These are but a few of the candidates put forth. In most cases, “the antichrist” is supposed to be connected with the end of the world, the number 666, and various other signs of the times. ”

I keep going over this because we need to be aware of the view these people are coming from. We need to be aware, point out the antichrist spirit, and teach others to recognize it.

John wrote in 1st John 2:18 and I paraphrase; “Little children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” He says in verse 22, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.”

John specifically tells us that many antichrists had already come into the world. If his readers were looking for a single, solitary figure distinguished as the sole antichrist, John took that notion away by saying to them that many antichrists had come. If John was talking about a mysterious antichrist who is some sinister personage that would appear in the late 21st century why would he say this? Why would he say in 1st John 4:3 again I paraphrase, “But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

John says the spirit of the antichrist is already here, in John’s day. Any good Biblical scholar will see quite clearly that when John makes references to “antichrist” he is using that term to suggest a spirit of unbelief that can be manifested in a variety of ways, both in the past and present.

Folks, in 1st John 2:18, I would suggest you underline the term “antichrist,” and in your margin write the following, “A general disposition of unbelief; not a specific person.” John defined an antichrist as any person or group who denies the Father and the Son.

We have seen quite clearly that any person or group, which does not recognize that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come in the flesh, is a person or a group that has been seized by the spirit of antichrist. When you think about the religious world around us today, many would fall into the category of possessing the spirit of the antichrist.

III - How do we as Christians, guard against the spirit of the "antichrists?"
The way we guard ourselves against the spirit of the antichrists is by going to the people who have already experienced it. We guard ourselves in the same way John told his readers to guard themselves, and the way John tells them is by reminding them of their "anointing."

John says in 1st John 2:20-21 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” He is not talking to people who don’t know the truth but to those who do. He also tells them in 1st John 2:27 “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

John says that this "anointing” is from the Holy One in 1st John 2:20. It was this anointing that enabled them to know "about all things." It also enabled them so that they "didn’t need anyone to teach them," according to 1st John 2:27. It may be that John is talking about the "gifts of the Spirit" which in New Testament times served to provide both Revelation and Confirmation of the truth for the early church. These gifts of the Spirit were given by the laying on of the apostle’s hands. The early church in this case could then identify the "antichrists" without John's help. Despite having this "anointing", they still needed to be encouraged to continue in what they had learned.

Today the earnest of the Holy Spirit is given to all believers in Christ following their repentance and baptism into Christ. It is clear from the last clause where the neuter pronoun and past tense are used that John is referring to the written records of the gospel. It was that which they had been taught; and it was that which was abiding in them, there being no difference whatever in the word of God dwelling in Christians and the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

John in 1st John 2:24-25 says, “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us eternal life.” Just because they had "gifts of the Spirit," this did not keep them from sinning or being misled. Think of Simon the sorcerer. The same applies to Christians today. John reminds them of that fact in 1st John 2:26 paraphrasing: “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.”

It was only by paying attention to that which they had heard from the beginning that they would be able to continue to “abide in the Son and in the Father”, and receive the promise of eternal life!

We as Christians today don't have the "anointing" like John's readers did although some religious groups do claim this. If that were the case though, then we wouldn’t need the Scriptures, according to what we have read in 1st John 2:20+27, only the self-deceived would make such a claim.

Folks, we have something just as good! We have the Word of God, which is the "sword of the Spirit." Remember Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” In Jude 3 we read “ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” That is what we have. We have "the faith once delivered to the saints."

In other words, we have something which we use as the standard by which we can know the truth. It is because of that truth we find in the Bible, we can avoid being misled by subjective feelings that can be mistaken for some sort of prompting of the Spirit.

Within the Scriptures, we have all we need to enable us to know God's will. 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 “16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

But just like John's readers, we need to be encouraged to continue in what we have learned from the Spirit-given Word. Just because we have the Word of God does not ensure that we will not be misled by others.

That’s why unless we study and apply the Word, we are open to deceptions by modern-day "antichrists"! As John urged his readers almost 2000 years ago, so we must today, take the same advice he gave in 1st John 4:1. paraphrasing: “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

CONCLUSION:
Let me finish by saying this, "antichrists" are a very real problem for us today. While there may not be many professing Christians who deny Jesus is the Christ, or that He came in the flesh, there are many who reject the authority of the apostles by how they disregard the Scriptures!

It is hard in our time and culture to realize how pervasive the spirit of the antichrist is and even harder to vocalize, even to ourselves, where we see it. Tolerance is not always a virtue and tolerance not guided by God’s word is an enemy. It can help blind us and the spirit of the antichrist is not always that easy to see. We are reminded of that in 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15 with these words: 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The solution then, remains the same for us. 1st John 2:24 “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.” No matter how wonderful the work done by a person or group, how much seeming good and kindness… if they exhibit what John warns us about then they have the spirit of the antichrist. In this spirit, Christians have no part or fellowship.

People who make all sorts of claims and theories about the antichrist are missing the point of John’s words. They need to remember what John said was the significance of these antichrists—“by which we know it is the last hour." John knew that in God's purpose, Jesus could return at any time! The fact that it has been 2000 years since John penned these words does not detract from their truthfulness. Loved ones we are living, in "the last hour", and Christ may come in judgment at any time! John’s point was not only to be aware of the spirit of the antichrist—but to be ready for Christ’s return.

Are you ready for His coming? Let me leave you with Peter’s words in 2nd Peter 3:8-9 which says: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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.”

If you’re not a Christian this morning then let me encourage you to talk to someone about what it means to be ready for Christ’s return. We know from scripture that we must hear the word, believe in Christ, confess our faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, and then be baptized.
For those of the household of faith if you have gone astray I would encourage you to repent of your sins and pray for forgiveness. The grace of God has brought salvation. The question now is where are you relative to that salvation? Whatever your needs we will do what we can to assist you and we encourage you to come while we stand and sing.

Taken from a sermon by Mike Glover

What Am I Looking For - Everything or Nothing

Mark 10:17-31

Have you ever left home and had a funny feeling you have forgotten something? You don’t know what it was, but you just had this nagging feeling. A man said every time his family drove off for a vacation, his mom would say, “Honey, we’ve got to go back home, I think I left the iron turned on. I don’t want the house to burn down.”
His dad would turn around and they would go back and check and the iron would be turned off. This continued for several trips. Finally on one trip, when she told her husband to turn around and go check, he didn’t say a word. He pulled the car over to the shoulder, got out and opened the trunk and handed her the iron.

Our passage today introduces us to a young man searching for something. He’s often called the Rich Young Ruler. Matthew tells us he was a young man;
Luke describes him as a ruler, or what we would call an aristocrat. And Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us he was rich. He was a man who had two things, EVERYTHING AND NOTHING.
He was wealthy and successful, but he turned away from Jesus with nothing. He was searching for something more in life.
Millions of people are searching for something they really can’t even put their finger on what it is they’re searching for.
In 1987 Bono and the Irish rock group U2 recorded a song about this universal search. Bono sang: “I have run; I have crawled; I have scaled these city walls; Only to be with you. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
He even ends the song referring to Jesus. “You broke the bonds; And you loosed the chains; Carried the cross of my shame; Oh my shame, you know I believe it. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

Two thousand years ago, there was a young, wealthy, successful leader who came to Jesus looking for something.
Mark 10:17-31. As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions)
and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

We don’t know this young man’s name, but since we’re going to be talking about him, let’s give him the name Richie. Richie did so many things right.
He came at the right time.
He was young.
He came to the right person, Jesus.
He came with the right energy—he was running.
He came with the right attitude, he knelt before Jesus.
He came with the right question: How can I have eternal life?

What a contrast! Richie came running, smiling, full of hope, but he walked away full of sorrow, dragging his feet with his only hope in his wealth. As we examine this amazing encounter, let’s look at five observations and five life lessons.

1. A STRANGE CONVERSATION: “Keep the commandments!”
So, what’s wrong with this picture? Why would Jesus tell someone to keep the commandments to find eternal life?
Every Jew knew the Ten Commandments by heart. They knew them as well as any of us could count from one to ten.
The Ten Commandments were divided into two sections, or two tables. The first four commandments have to do with a relationship with God.
We should have no other Gods,
we shouldn’t make and worship idols,
we should never take God’s name in vain,
and we should remember the Sabbath Day.

The second table contained six commandments about how we relate to one another. This is the table that Jesus quoted.
But he intentionally omitted one of the Ten Commandments.
You might not have caught it, because you may not have them all memorized. What if I said I am going to count to ten and I say, “One, two, four, five, six...?”
You’re going to say, “Hey, you skipped the number three.”
Jesus left out one; did anyone catch which one He omitted?
Let’s go through them. He didn’t give them in order, but let’s check them off. He said, “Do not murder.” Check.
“Don’t commit adultery.” Check. “Don’t steal.” Check.
“Don’t bear false witness or defraud” Check.
“Honor your Father and your Mother.” Check.
So, Which one did Jesus leave off intentionally? “Do not covet.”

That means a desire to have more and more stuff. Jesus knew this was Richie’s problem.
Richie smiled and said, “I have kept all these since I was a boy!” Jesus said, “There’s one thing you lack.” You see, this Richie already had a “god” in his life. His god was gold and his creed was greed. And there is only room for one God on the throne of your life.

LIFE LESSON: Jesus will probe your heart to expose any competing gods
Jesus wanted to point out that Richie had a problem with greed and covetousness, but He didn’t just come out and say it. He kept probing until Richie saw the problem himself.

Many of us have probably heard of someone who went to the doctor not knowing they had an appendicitis. They complained of hurting all over their torso. The doctor had them lie down and then started probing. When the doctor gently touched the area of the appendix, I am sure they almost flew off the table.
That’s what Jesus does for us. He keeps probing to show us where we have other gods in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is working on you right now, gently probing.
What is that thing, or that person, or that activity that has become more important to you than the true and living God?

2. SHOCKING ADVICE: “Sell all you have and give it to the poor, and follow me”
Jesus said there was only one thing Richie was lacking. This one verse has caused more confusion and dismay that perhaps any verse in the Bible.
Multitudes read it and thought, “I want to obey God. So, should I go and sell everything I have, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus?”

Here’s the short answer. You don’t need to sell all your riches unless your riches have become the god of your life. Richie is the only person to whom Jesus ever spoke those words.
Nicodemus was wealthy. Joseph of Arimathea was wealthy, but Jesus never told them to sell all their possessions because Jesus knew their possessions didn’t possess them.

LIFE LESSON: Jesus provides a personal solution to remove any competing gods
Jesus looked into Richie’s heart and saw that money was his god. And Richie wanted more and more; that’s what it means to covet. So, Jesus was simply giving Richie a solution to get rid of that false God.

And notice Jesus said, “You aren’t losing your treasure, by giving it to the poor, you are laying up treasures in heaven. You’re just t ransferring your wealth.”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned there is only room for one God in our lives. He said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Jesus designs a different solution for each person. In Luke 10 a lawyer came to Jesus asking the same thing, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus didn’t say, “Sell all you have and give to the poor,” because He knew this man’s problem was pride.

Jesus asked him what the greatest commandments were. The lawyer said, “Love the Lord your God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “That’s correct.” The lawyer was looking for a loophole. He said, “But who is my neighbor?”
He wanted Jesus to say, “All your Jewish brothers and sisters.”
But instead Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, a half-breed. Jesus saw this man’s god was pride, so he said, “Love your neighbor, even your Gentile neighbors.”

In John 4 Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman at a well. She asked for some living water.
Jesus didn’t say, “Go sell all you have and give to the poor.”
He didn’t say, “Love your neighbor.”
That was her problem, she was loving too many of her neighbors!

He said, “Go call your husband.” She said, “Well, I don’t have a husband.” Jesus said, “That is correct. You’ve had five husbands and the one you’re living with now isn’t your husband.”
Jesus was pointing out that she already had a god in her life, the unhealthy desire for acceptance by a man.

If you have a competing god ruling your life, Jesus will give you a unique word to replace that god with the true and Living God.

3. THE PERSONAL CHOICE: “The young rich ruler went away sad, because he had great wealth”
Mark is the only one who gives us the tiny detail that Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. We know that God loves the world. We know that Jesus loves everyone.
But don’t forget that Jesus loves individuals. He looks at you and loves you. He looks at me and loves me. Jesus really did want Richie to make the right choice.

There’s a painting by the German artist Heinrich Hoffman. In this frozen scene, Hoffman captured the divine drama of the moment. The Rich Young Ruler is seen wearing his fancy clothes and hat. Jesus is inviting him to give his money to the poor people in the background and then to follow Him. The Rich Young Ruler looks down as he ponders the most important decision he would ever make.
Give away all his money and follow Jesus? But he has so much! And in that moment he sadly shakes his head and says, “No.
The price is too high.” And he walked away.

Not all stories end, “and they lived happily ever after.” He was a man with only two things: EVERYTHING & NOTHING.

LIFE LESSON: Jesus offers eternal life, but He won’t force you to follow Him
Someone wrote, “The saddest words of tongue or pen, are these four words, ‘What might have been.’”
God is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. But there is one area of the universe where He has voluntarily restricted His omnipotence; it’s in the area of your will. God won’t FORCE you to accept his gift of eternal life.

4. THE CAMEL JOKE: “A camel could squeeze through a needle’s eye easier than a rich person could get into heaven”
Have you heard the one about the camel? Stop me if you’ve heard it. Jesus employed overemphasis and humor to teach a powerful point.
Jewish humor was based upon impossible, ridiculous images. Jesus used the largest animal in Israel, a camel, and the smallest manmade opening and talked about the impossibility
of trying to get a camel through that.
Jesus was partial to camel jokes.
In Matthew 23 He used a pun to describe the Pharisees. He said, “You guys strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.”

It’s like the cross-eyed schoolteacher who got fired because she couldn’t keep her pupils straight.

So what was the point of the camel joke? Jesus was pointing out that it is extremely difficult for wealthy people to enter God’s kingdom… and one of the biggest reasons is because people with wealth tend to trust their own wealth MORE than they trust God.

The point Jesus is making is that it is impossible for anyone to gain salvation through his or her own merit. Richie trusted his wealth. What are you trusting today? Is there a competing God in your life?

We all must come to Jesus the same way. Bill Gates needs to come to Jesus the same way a dirty homeless man would come to Jesus. He would have to acknowledge his complete and utter need and come as a guilty sinner and receive the gift of life from Jesus.
It doesn’t matter who you are. You can be a rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief; doctor, lawyer, Native American tribal leader. There’s only one way—and that’s Jesus. That leads us to our final observation:

5. THE GOOD NEWS: “All things are possible with God”
The disciples were under the impression that rich people were blessed by God, so after they heard the camel joke they turned to Jesus in amazement. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answered with a profound truth: With men it is impossible [salvation]; but all things are possible with God.”
God specializes in miracles. When Moses had the RED SEA in front of him and an army chasing him, he faced an impossible situation, but God specializes in the impossible—and He made a twelve-lane expressway in the middle of the SEA.

When little David faced a nine-foot monster with only a slingshot, victory was impossible by human standards. But the God of the impossible directed the stone to strike Goliath right between the eyes, then David used Goliath’s own sword to decapitate his fallen foe. He showed everyone who witnessed this event that he was someone who knew how to get a-head!

When Gabriel visited a teen girl named Mary he announced she would give birth to a son who would be the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Mary said, “How can this be, since I’m a virgin?”
Gabriel said Luke 1:37, “Nothing is impossible for God.”
It’s impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but it’s a miracle when God takes a person through the door of salvation.

LIFE LESSON: Eternal life can’t be earned or bought; it’s a gift from God
Richie walked away singing that U2 chorus, “But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
Have we found what we are looking for in our current life?

The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life IN Christ Jesus our Lord.”

CONCLUSION
Someone was once asked “Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?”
That individual relied, “I’m not sure I have. I just go on and try do a better job the next time.
If I do something wrong, I just try to make it right. I don’t bring God into the picture.”

It’s not about bringing God into the picture; He is the picture.
He’s the artist of the picture that is life and the universe. And there is only one way you can approach God and that is with humility and the admission that you are lost without His forgiveness.

Hypothetically, there are three ways to get to heaven.
Notice I said, “Hypothetically.”
Number 1, you can die before you reach the age of accountability.

Two, you can live a perfect life: Never once commit a sin of thought, attitude, or action. Anybody qualify?

Or Third, you can fall on your knees and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to make you a new person through baptism.

Richie had so much, but he ended up with nothing but the god of wealth in his life.

Many may think they have everything they want or need. But if they don’t have Jesus, they don’t have anything.
Jesus is looking at us today and is extending His love to each and everyone of us.

He looks into our heart and says, “Get rid of all those idols, and follow me. I can give you a life that is really worth living.” Will you trust Him?

This World Is Not My Home

1 John 2:15-17

A father told the story of taking his 5-year-old to Disney-world. It was all the little boy could talk about for weeks and now they were finally there and the boy loved the idea that he’d get to see Goofy and Mickey and Minnie and the gang. He was so hyped.
They parked the car and could see the castle and the rides in the distance. They made their way to the ticket sales and then entered through the gates, into a relatively small area where families could have their pictures taken with all the Disney characters. Then they were going to go into the main park… but the little boy didn’t understand that.
He thought that THIS ENTRANCE AREA WAS the park and when his dad tried to herd him into the park itself, the boy threw an absolute fit. The boy thought that, they’d FINALLY gotten to the wonderful world of Disney and his dad was going to take him home.
He fought it with all he had … but as his dad brought him around the corner, THERE WAS THE PARK WITH ALL THE RIDES and the boy's cries became shrieks of joy.
Think about it: the boy had to leave what HE THOUGHT was good; to get to what his dad knew was better.

One of our hymns says the following:
“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.”

That song declares that this world is just “GOOD”, but heaven is “BETTER.”  Our text today takes it even one step further. I John 2:15 tells us “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
And that’s repeated elsewhere in Scripture: James 4:4 says “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity (hatred) with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
And in Mark 8:36 Jesus says “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his very own soul?”
Now, there’s a couple of reasons why I think God stresses this so hard. The first is: the things of this world are deceptive. The world offers things that are just GOOD… but they’re not from God. These “good” things can often become substitutes for that which is BETTER.
Notice what it says in I John 2:16 - “All that 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.”
Years ago, I heard a preacher preach on this very passage, and he tied I John 2 to a story out of Old Testament – the story of Adam & Eve. I know you’ve heard it. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He created all the animals/birds/fish of the sea. And then He created man in his image - male & female He created them. And He placed them in a beautiful garden.
And I know the Bible doesn’t say, but I can picture Adam and Eve treating the animals there as if they were their personal pets. I can imagine seeing them scratching the ears of a lion, playing tag with the monkeys, jumping around with the Kangaroos.
And there are many Bible scholars who think that there were occasions where God would come and walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evenings. And God told Adam “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) They had everything they could possibly want - just not that tree!
But then, one day Satan began whispering in Eve’s ear. “Did God REALLY say ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And with that… Satan planted a doubt in Eve’s mind. “you shall not surely die!” (he told her) “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5
Once Satan got Eve to doubt God - to take her eyes off of God - the rest was easy. He got her to thinking “Maybe you’re right. Maybe GOD has deceived me. Maybe God has denied what I’d really want and doesn’t want me to have what I REALLY want.”
And she began to look at that tree with new eyes.
I want you to notice what it says Genesis 2:9 says “the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground trees that were PLEASING to the eye and GOOD for food." Did you see that? There were all kinds trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food… but then in Genesis 3:6 we read “when the woman saw that the tree (of the knowledge of good and evil) was GOOD for food, and that it was a PLEASING to the eyes… she took of its fruit and ate.”
There were all kinds of fruit in the garden that was “good for food”; and there were all kinds of fruit that were “pleasing to the eye.” But this fruit was DIFFERENT! It wasn’t like all the other kinds of fruit, because… this was the fruit that God had denied her. And so, she desired it. And she wanted it so badly… SHE COULD ALMOST TASTE IT.
And that’s what our text TODAY (in I John 2) is talking about. This tree appealed to her “desire of the flesh”. Eve believed that THIS tree was “good for food”, even though every other tree in the garden was GOOD FOR FOOD.
And it also appealed to her DESIRE of the EYES. Genesis says the tree appealed to Eve because it was PLEASING to the eye, but Genesis tells us that all the other trees were pleasing to the eye too.
Now there’s kind of an overlap with these two desires because when people SEE what they want, they sense a desire in the flesh for what they’ve seen. And when that happens, they’ll do what they have to do to get what they want. And when it’s something they shouldn’t have, their desire for those things can trap them in sin.

ILLUS: I remember reading the story of a 6-year-old boy in Wisconsin who tried playing one of those crane operated game with toy prizes inside. I’ve tried it before, and I can never get a prize so I just don’t try anymore. But this little boy was ENTRANCED. The plush toys inside were pleasing to his eyes, and although he probably had better toys at home, he felt the desire of the flesh to have one of them for his very own.
Several times he’d tried to work the crane and couldn’t get anything. He wanted the toy, but the stupid machine wouldn’t cooperate. So, what do you think he did?
That’s right – he climbed INSIDE the machine! By the time the firefighters arrived he’d managed to get almost completely inside with just his right foot hanging out. HE WAS TRAPPED, but the firemen finally got the game unlocked and he was released unharmed.
For a short period of time, the desires of his eyes and his flesh trapped him.
There’s an old saying that “All that glitters is not gold.” It encapsulates what our text tells us today. Lots of stuff glitters like gold, and lots of stuff catches our eye and our imagination – and we JUST HAVE TO HAVE that item. But it’s not what it appears. When people fix their eyes on the things of this world they end up fixing their eyes on things that will trap them in sin.
That trap could be pornography; or drugs or alcohol, or gambling; or it could be the approval of their friends that makes them engage in activities they shouldn’t be doing; or it could be possessions they can’t afford, but they just have to have them. And so they’ll do what they have to do to get what they shouldn’t have or can’t justify.
My point is this: your desires and my desires can hurt us just like they hurt Adam and Eve. And the only way to combat this evil is to get our eyes off the things of this world and focus on God and His will for our lives.
But there’s a 3rd thing mentioned in I John that I found interesting. It’s called the pride of life. That was the real target of Satan’s temptation of Eve. He told her “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) And then the next verse says “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate...” Genesis 3:6
The “desire to make one wise” was where she really bought into Satan’s lie… because she wanted to “be like God.” The pride of life is when WE want to be in charge. WE want to be right. We want to express OUR opinions, and WE want our way. That’s why there’s so much conflict in our world. Everybody wants THEIR way. You can see it in politics; You see it in churches; You see it in homes. People fighting over stuff because they want things their way. They want to be God.
And the only way to combat that evil in our lives is to fix our eyes on Jesus.
Colossians 3:1-4 says “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. SET YOUR MINDS on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Now, at the beginning of the sermon I noted that I believed that there at least a couple of reasons God focuses on telling us to not love the world.

The FIRST was that the world can deceive and us and trap us into accepting substitutes for what God really wants to give us.

The SECOND reason I believe God stresses this so strongly is because we kind of like this world. I mean, I kind of like this world. I’ve got a great church to preach to; a wonderful group of family and friends; I’ve got a nice house, a nice car; my health’s pretty good. I’ve got no complaints. So… why shouldn’t I like THIS WORLD?
And that’s not an uncommon thought. One preacher observed that there’s all these songs about heaven.
There’s “When we all get to heaven”;
“Sing to Me of Heaven”;
“When the Roll is Called Up Yonder”;
“In The Sweet By And By”… and the list could go on and on.

But he said – “you know, when it’s all said and done, and when people are on death’s bed - they tend to NOT be so homesick for heaven anymore. They want to have just ONE MORE MINUTE, one more hour, one more day. They literally grasp at life with greedy hands to have just a longer time on earth.
That’s what happened back in the Old Testament: One of the most godly kings of Israel was a man named King Hezekiah.
2 Kings 20:1-3 tells us “… Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah… went to him and said, ‘This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’ Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD… And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”
Why did Hezekiah weep bitterly? He didn’t want to die! And he was a godly man. Lots of people don’t want to die. They don’t want to leave this world behind. I mean it’s all they’ve ever known. It’s easy to fall in love with this world.
But God says “Don’t Do That! It’s a trap!!!!” This world is not your home … we’re just passing through. As I John 2:17 tells us “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
In verse 17, John reminds us of the fleeting nature of worldly pursuits: "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." The world and its attractions are temporary, destined to fade away. Our fixation on accumulating possessions, seeking self-gratification, and pursuing worldly success will ultimately prove futile. None of these endeavors can provide lasting satisfaction or eternal significance.
On the other hand, when we align our lives with God's will and seek to please Him, we participate in the eternal purposes of the Kingdom. Our obedience to His commandments and the pursuit of righteousness grant us an everlasting inheritance. We find true joy, peace, and fulfillment by living in harmony with God's design.
And why on earth would you want to stay here? This is just the place where we get our pictures taken. The real park is just on the other side of the gate… and that’s where our Father has something far better waiting for us - just inside the gate.

CLOSE: What is the most important thing? Many Christians have noted that “it is knowing that this life is not all there is. Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production. You will spend far more time on the other side of death - in eternity -than you will here. Earth is the staging area, the preschool, the tryout for your life in eternity… This life is preparation for the next. At most you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will spend forever in eternity. It has been said that this life is “but a small parenthesis in eternity.” You were made to last forever.
the words of 1 John 2:15-17 echo throughout the ages, guiding us in the choices we make each day. As we navigate a world filled with enticing distractions, we must guard our hearts and minds against falling prey to its empty promises. Let us remain vigilant in our commitment to prioritize our relationship with God above all else, recognizing that the pleasures and pursuits of this world pale in comparison to the eternal treasures found in Him. May we continually seek God's guidance and strength to overcome

INVITATION

 

Sermon Contributor Jeff Strite

Life After Death

Luke 16:19-31

Intro: Good morning church. In Luke chapter 15, we find one of the most beloved chapters of the Word of God. It is an account of what was probably a single discourse of Jesus Christ, the whole theme of which was "The Lost." We are shown four ways to become lost. The sheep was lost by wandering away from the flock. The coin was lost through no fault of its own but through the carelessness of its possessor. The prodigal was lost by overt and willful disobedience; and the elder brother was lost through pride, selfishness, and self-righteousness.

The theme of the elder son continues I believe in chapter 16 where Jesus' continues His discourses to the disciples in the presence of the public and the Pharisees particularly. First, the parable of the unjust steward and then the story of the rich man and Lazarus, both related to the conflict with the Pharisees.

The context of this latter story goes back to verse 13, where Jesus is teaching about riches. He says in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We recognize this from Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:6. Continuing at Luke 16:14f, “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

The Pharisees didn't want to listen to Jesus’ teaching about money because Jesus told them that they needed to serve God and not Mammon and that they couldn't do both at the same time. Jesus said to them, what you're trying to do is justify yourselves (implied here) and your sinful practices before men. They were upset not because Jesus was not telling the truth, but because they were seeking to prop up their sinfulness, their love of money, and their covetousness. Jesus says God knows your hearts. He knows what your real desires are. (We talked about that a couple of weeks back). God knows what is esteemed among men. In other words, what you Pharisees esteem as being great, is an abomination in the sight of God.

I wonder how many people think like that today. They think that what they do and say is wonderful; but what God sees, He considers an abomination. When we think like God thinks, we will consider things abominable that God considers abominable. Then we will not seek to justify ourselves before men. We will certainly not seek to permit our sin to remain within our life.

Jesus taught about the differences between these two types of thinking. Some of it involved the way they saw money. Some of it involved the way they saw the kingdom of God. Some of it involved the way they saw God's word. Some of it involved the way they handled their marriages. God knew what was in their hearts.
In Luke 16:19 and following, He tells this story of the rich man and Lazarus. Now some refer to this as a parable and some do not. Perhaps this hinges on our view of what a parable is. Oxford defines a Parable as “a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.” Others add words like “comparative”, “allegorical”, or even “fictitious” to their definition.

I would not call this a parable. I am inclined to think of this as a real story Jesus is relating to show them, and us, what is spiritual reality.

It is a story about two people, one who was a wealthy man and the other who was a beggar. The story also speaks about Abraham being alive, which Jesus affirms as a reality to the Sadducees in Matthew 22:32. It contains a strong warning for us today regarding how we should live our lives and the consequences of living life solely for ourselves and not thinking about other people.

I. I'm going to look at this story today, not with the view of an allegory from which we draw a conclusion, but as a real story, a real account of two people that Jesus decides to share with us. One was a rich man and the other was a beggar, whose name was Lazarus. Let's look at some things in this story. We're going to study these verses in an expository way. I hope you have your Bibles open and that you're following along with me in the text.

A. Let's look, first at the two characters that are involved. Luke 16:19-21 – “19. "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20. "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21. "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.” These are the two characters in this story.

1. First the rich man. From the description, we can imagine he is independent. He certainly takes care of his own needs and desires regarding food and raiment. I imagine he is self-satisfied, large and in-charge, you might say.

a. He is certainly a person who many people would observe and say, there is a successful man, a person who has done well in his life... probably envy him a bit.
b. You would look at him and you might think that's a model for society. There's a role model for everyone. A man who has done well, taking care of business and taking care of himself.
c. He must have significant resources and can enjoy the fruits of this life.
d. After all, isn't that what everyone is striving for? Isn't that what everyone wants? That's the picture that Jesus sets forth.

2. The rich man is clothed in purple. Purple is a beautiful color, the color of royalty, one who has wealth and status. Purple was desired in the ancient world.

a. Lydia was a seller of purple. Acts 16:14.
b. When Jesus was mocked at His crucifixion, a purple robe was placed upon Him before He was led off to be crucified, John 19:2-5.

3. This man, this rich man, was clothed in purple and fine linen—fine linen.

a. This was also the clothing of the rich.
b. Genesis 41:42 says, “Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.”
c. First Chronicles 15:27 says “David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark… ”

4. He fared sumptuously, which means rich; costly; luxurious.

a. He was probably a picture of being well-fed.
b. He dined well, he had plenty of food to eat.
c. He had the indulgences of life, beautiful clothing, wealth, good food, and probably a great place to live.

5. What a paragon most would think, right? People would look at that man and they would say he’s a paragon of virtue. He has been blessed with so much, because of all the external trappings that he has in his life. That's how the Pharisees thought about things. They looked at the external appearances. They didn't look at the heart. God judges the heart and because God judges the heart, He knows that this rich man isn't nearly as well off as he appears to be.

B. In contrast, we see Lazarus.

1. How is he described?

a. As a beggar.
b. He's dependent upon others.
c. That's what a beggar is. He doesn't have anything, he is not self-sufficient. He is not clothed in the finest clothes. He can't take care of himself. He doesn't have a place to live.
d. He's dependent upon charity for the food that he gets.

2. He's laid at the gate.

a. We notice that he is laid at the gate. It doesn't say he walked to the gate, likely because he cannot walk.
b. Someone put him there. Probably because he could not get around physically by himself.

3. He's full of sores.

a. This indicates his physical health. It indicates a breaking down of the skin for some reason, a virus perhaps, or bacteria; even some fungi can do this. It is a very unpleasant situation and I shudder to think about it.
b. This condition can occur even today when someone has become immobile. They can not move about and constant pressure from a hard surface can produce sores.

4. He desired the crumbs.

a. He only wanted the leftovers. Have you ever been in a position where you had no food, did not know where or when you would get some and you were so hungry you would eat almost anything?
b. He was willing to accept any food, even the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. That would have been enough for him.
c. He would have been satisfied with that.

5. It says the dogs licked his sores.

a. Again, this indicates his helplessness doesn’t it? How many of us would let dogs come around and lick our sores? I don't think I would. I think I'd shoo them away, tell them to get out of here.
b. To me this indicates that Lazarus was not able, in many ways, to move around and to do things that other people can do like shoo the dogs away.
c. It also indicates that no one was giving him any medical attention at all. No one was trying to soothe him or heal him or help him.
d. The dogs seemed to be his only companions.

II. The two characters—two circumstances—the rich man and Lazarus. Let us continue Luke 16:22-23 – “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

A. Two circumstances, and now both men have died. What a great commentary on life, right? It doesn't matter how poor you are, it doesn't matter how rich you are. We are all going to die unless the Lord returns first. What will happen when we die?

1. In verse 22 we are told the beggar, that is, Lazarus, dies.

a. He was carried away by the angels.
b. For one who had only dogs to take care of his sores in this life, he then receives the company of angels when he passes away to go to the next. He is no longer alone.

2. He ended up in Abraham's bosom.

a. That represents one who has entered paradise. Like Jesus spoke about on the cross when he said to the thief, today you will be with me in paradise.
b. The Hadean realm, as understood by the Jews, had two distinct places, one for the righteous and another for the wicked. Jesus' use of those ideas here gives them great significance; for there can be no doubt that this story was intended to shed light on the intermediate state between death and eternal judgment.
c. Lazarus was there with Abraham and the presence of Abraham indicated salvation for the Jewish person, and he was comforted.

B. The rich man also died.

1. The Bible simply says that he was buried. All the rich man's wealth earned him no exemption from the final accounting which comes to all men.

a. I suspect that his friends might provide the pomp and circumstance by which the wealthy are usually accompanied to their tombs; but how vain and empty are such honors!
b. No angels came to accompany him to the next life. He was just buried.
c. Of course, he was not there anymore but his body was buried. It was all he received at death—burial.

2. He found himself in (the King James Version says hell the new King James says Hades) being in torments.

a. To the Jew the word Hades meant the realm of the unseen. It described the realm where the dead go after this life is over.
b. It is described as where one goes to paradise or torment. Jesus is said to have gone to Hades in Acts chapter 2 because He went to paradise and paradise is a place in Hades.
c. The other place where the rich man went was “torment”…a place that is full of suffering.

3. “And being in torments in Hades…” verse 23 tells us.

a. Verse 24 adds to the picture that he was tormented in the flame.
b. “… he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” He is separated from them, yet he sees them.
c. In Jesus’ teaching, we see the state of the righteous and the state of the wicked, with no time-lapse indicated between death and the entering of the soul into one or the other of the Hadean compartments. The wicked life will not wait after death to begin reaping the rewards of unrighteousness; and yet, the eternal reward for both classes will not begin until the judgment.

III. A cry goes out in verse 24.

A. “Then he cried and said, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'”

1. The first thing we notice is that the cry comes from the rich man and none from Lazarus. The rich man is tormented but Lazarus is comforted.
2. The second thing is that his cry is a cry for himself.

a. He had certainly taken care of himself in life and now after his life is over, he continues to pursue self.
b. He says send Lazarus to me with just a drop of water. Have mercy on me.
c. He could have had mercy in life, yet he showed none. We are told, “… a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.” There is an irony here in the rich man's cry for self. Lazarus needed help from the rich man during his lifetime and received none. The rich man now cries out to Lazarus for help, and what happens? He receives no help.
d. Lazarus did not ask for much in his lifetime—just a crumb. The rich man in the afterlife is not asking for much—just a drop of water. It seems none was given to Lazarus, and none was given to the rich man.

3. Next, we read that Abraham answered him. He said in verse 25, “…Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”

a. Abraham called the rich man son. Earlier, the rich man had addressed Abraham as "Father," and here Abraham did not deny that the rich man was one of the patriarch's fleshly descendants. This was significant for the Jewish people. Many Jews of that day and age thought that just being a child of Abraham meant that you were going to be saved.
b. Jesus was refuting that teaching in this story. He was also pointing out that Lazarus was a child of Abraham and was saved yet the rich man was not.
c. What does that tell us? Simply because we are a child of God does not necessarily mean we are going to be saved. There is more to it than that. We must be faithful to the Lord and do His will within our life.
d. Abraham told the rich man to remember. “… remember that in your lifetime you received your good things…” No comfort for him really, because now he had nothing.

4. He also told him that there's a great gulf, an impassable barrier, if you will, that prevents me from coming to you and you from coming to me. In other words, you can't get to my side, and I can't get to your side. This is God's design. Jesus tells us once a person has died, things are set, and there is no going from one side to the other.

IV. Then the rich man cried, not for himself, but for his family.

A. He said starting at Luke 16:27 – “…I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.”

1. His cry was to have Lazarus go visit his family. If you can't have him come over here and give me a drop of water, then at least send him back to my five brothers, testify to them of the horrible things here in the afterlife for one who pursues a life of selfish pleasure without thinking about others. My wording added there.
2. Then “Abraham said to him, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'”

a. God has given us the information that we need to live life. The only question is, are we going to follow this information or are we going to seek and pursue our selfish desires?
b. We have the information. He had the information; his brothers had the information for they had Moses and the prophets.
c. We have Christ and the apostles, men even greater than Moses and the prophets, according to the book of Hebrews. Will we listen to the message?

3. The rich man argues “`No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'” So here it comes out. The rich man understood why he was in torments. It was because he would not repent.
4. Abraham's reply was this, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” Why is that? Because they seek their selfish desires and not what God wants.

V. As we study God’s word, we cannot help but connect another event, a striking example of the truth of what Jesus proclaimed here. It occurred only a little later in the resurrection of Lazarus told in John 11. Lazarus (the other one) did indeed come back from the grave in the very presence of the Jews that were enemies of Jesus; but did they repent? No, they did not! In John 11:53 we are told, “Then from that day on they plotted to put Him to death.”

A. In a sense, Lazarus came to the Pharisees who were present when he rose from the dead. In the case of Jesus' resurrection, there was no appearance to the Pharisees. Lazarus was the one Jesus had in mind here.
B. Regarding His resurrection, Jesus did not appear "to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God," even to the apostles, "who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead" (Acts 10:41). It would have done no good at all for the Lord to have appeared to the Pharisees.

 

CONCLUSION:
Jesus teaches many things here. Here are some of the points that have been put forth: (1) the souls of men do not die with their bodies; (2) the soul is conscious after death; (3) the righteous go to a place of happiness, the wicked to a place of misery; (4) we should not envy the rich; (5) memory will not be obliterated by death; (6) he who is lost in death is lost eternally; (7) God's word is sufficient to save men; (8) Those who are lost don't want their loved ones to be lost with them.

Sometimes people get it in their mind that wherever their relatives are, that's where they want to be. If they're lost, they don't want you to be with them, just like the rich man did not want his brothers to be there with him. The lost want us to tell others about the horrible place where they are so others can avoid it.

We should ask ourselves; where do we find ourselves today? Are we more like the rich man or more like Lazarus? Jesus told this story for the benefit of the covetous Pharisees who loved the things of this world.

Jesus said in Luke 12:15 – “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Death came to both Lazarus and the rich man… it comes to all.
Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” The rich man felt the sting of death, which is sin, First Corinthians 15:56.
There are only two final destinations for a person. After this life, one will either be saved or lost. There is no makeup exam. There's a great gulf, and you can't go over to the other side.

We may have the good things in this life, yet an eternity of torment may be awaiting us if we do not repent of our sins and do the will of God. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26
Despite what some teach there will be no second chances after this life is over.
Revelation 21:27 in telling of the Holy City “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”

Jesus spoke more about eternal torment than any other speaker in the New Testament. He did so to warn people about the ultimate state of those who refuse to repent. Scripture says that we need to listen to God's word, we need to believe it, repent of our sins, confess Him as Lord, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

Many will not receive this message though it is given to them. The same warning applies to them today. They have Moses and the prophets. They have Christ and the apostles. How many will not listen because they simply do not want to obey God’s will? Do we continue to take the message of the Gospel to others? Of course, for God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, Second Peter 3:9.
Just as there are two destinations—one for Lazarus and one for the rich man, so there will be two destinations for all in this life, saved or lost.

In all of that, Jesus wanted His listeners to understand, to recognize the opportunities that we have right here and now. Do not pine over those who have gone before, nor fret about the possibility of the future, but rather think right now of where we are at.

Are we in a right relationship with God or not? Can we do something about that right now? The answer is yes, we can do something about it. We do not have to be like the rich man, who had all the comforts of life but did not make any plans for eternity. We can make those plans right now. We can change our life and our destination. We can become what God wants us to be by giving ourselves to Him.

Listen to His Word. Simply listening to the word that God has given us will show us the way. Follow it, obey it, and do His will within our life. That's what Jesus is talking about at the end of this story. That's what He's urging us to do. Listen to Him and make changes based on what He says.

This morning, you have an opportunity to do just that—to hear the Word and to obey it, to put Christ on in baptism if that is what you need to do or to ask for the prayers of the Church if that is what you need.
This morning, why not do what Jesus desires and simply give your life to Him and be faithful to Him from now on?
If you need the prayers of the church or if you need to come forward this morning to be baptized, we will welcome you, we will receive you, and we will help you in whatever your needs may be. We invite you to come and make your needs known while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon by - Kevin Cauley