Chardon church of Christ

Will Your Anchor Hold?

1 John 2:18-19

INTRO: Good morning church. I’m going to start today with some excerpts from something that I read on-line.

I don’t know if any of you are familiar with the waters of Prince William Sound in Alaska but it has very beautiful scenery. The mountains are high, the water is lovely and there are miles and miles of coastline with many inlets and channels. There is excellent sailing also… most of the time.

A couple was taking a multi-day sailboat excursion in their 35 footer. Hearing there was a big storm coming, they anchored in Bear Cove, known as a very secure anchorage on Knight Island, and set two good anchors. That night there were violent winds and sheeting rain. They scrambled outside, took down the anchor light that had blown out, and checked the anchor lines. Everything seemed secure. The depth sounder reported the same depth they anchored at, and they watched the GPS to make sure they were not dragging anchor.

In that part of the world the wind picks up speed across the open water. When it reaches the mountains a venturi effect kicks in and the wind picks up more speed as it goes up, and over smashing down on the other side. The wind gusts were hitting the little boat at over 60 mph. By 2:00 am it was impossible to sleep. All through the night and into the next afternoon the wind wailed.

Their GPS had a moving map and showed a trail of where they were being blown. By the time the wind subsided that trail on the GPS looked like a tightly wound ball of yarn. They must have spun around hundreds of times. Yet despite the terror of the night it was a very secure anchorage. The holding ground, the place where the anchors connected to the sea floor, was excellent. The anchors were invisible of course and they could only feel the violence of the wind on the surface. They were completely dependent on those anchors. If they had dragged, the boat would have blown onto the rocks and there was nothing that could have been done to stop it. Their anchors held.

I. How is your anchor holding this morning? Our text is 1 John 2:18-19 – “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.”

A. We’re not going to look at the antichrists today, but I want to focus on 1 John 2:19. From this verse we see it is plain that the "antichrists" were Christians who had defected from the truth. There are people who say that those who John said, ‘went out’ were supposedly never converted. However, this verse states quite clearly that at the time of their departure they were ‘from us’ but not ‘of us’. In other words, they weren’t faithful Christians when they left.

1. The idea of ‘once saved always saved’ is a false doctrine to the core. The word apostasy is not found in all translations, but it is found in the American Standard and some others, it means to backslide, withdraw, or what we would call fall away. The New Testament is filled with warnings about the possibility of falling away from the Lord.
2. John warns a few verses back at verse 15 (1 John 2:15) “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.” That world reliance can lead to us falling away.

B. Falling away is a real possibility for all of us. In 1 Timothy 1:19-20 “having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander…” We find that Hymenaeus and Alexander rejected the “faith” and Paul says that they have suffered a shipwreck of their faith because of that rejection.

1. In 2 Timothy 2:16-18 – Paul writes “But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.”
2. And then in 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul says that “for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world…”

II. One of the ways to help us remain faithful is to understand why some Christians ‘go out’ from among us. That’s what I want to spend the rest of the time looking at this morning.

A. Let us consider the question, “Will your anchor hold?” Drifting away is always a possibility and at times we may not even notice when we start slowly drifting from the Lord and His church. I want to suggest that it is wise for each of us to gage just exactly where we are at, with our faith.
B. I strongly suspect that many of you have seen faithful brothers and sisters in Christ over the years simply disappear into the sunset. Some are still faithful to the Lord but have moved elsewhere and some have simply drifted away. They drift away for several reasons, yet the main reason I believe is that they have allowed their anchor rope to go slack.

1. You see folks; the anchor rope must become “slack” before the anchor can be released. If the vessel maintains the “pull” on the anchor, if it is properly seated in a good anchorage, the anchor will not release.
2. Apply this spiritually and we should see that we (the vessel) must maintain the proper tightness on the anchor, which keeps us properly “moored” or connected to God.
3. When we become “slack” or fail to do as we should, we allow our anchor to drag losing its grip. When that happens, we drift just as a vessel on the water does. This could be devastating… and from a spiritual standpoint it is eternally disastrous.

C. Jesus is sharing the parable of the sower in Luke 8:5-8 where He says, – “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!''”
D. Later He was asked for an explanation of this parable by His disciples.

1. In explaining about the seed that fell among the rocks, Jesus says in Luke 8:13 “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.” Some versions use the word “temptation” and some the word “testing.” But really that’s what the word “Temptation” means; it means “a testing” or “trial.”
2. In the film “Shawshank Redemption”, which is about a prisoner called Andy who was convicted of crime he did not commit, we find Andy struggling to come to terms with life in prison. A friend says to him, “life in prison does strange things to a man, first you hate it, and then you get used to it until finally you learn to depend on it.”
3. That is one way sin works in your life. Maybe when you first became a Christian, you hated yourself for getting drunk on an occasion. After a few times of getting drunk, you get used to it and after a while you’re looking forward to it.
4. Maybe you hated yourself for gossiping about another member of the Lord’s church because you knew it was wrong. After a while you get used to people knowing you as the church gossip and you kind of like it.
5. Maybe you used to come to every service, and every Bible study. Every time there was something happening at the building you would be here. Then you started to miss a few of these days, and you hated it at first, but now you’re in the habit and whatever it is your doing in it’s place is just too important to you.

E. That’s how sin works, sin grows and if you don’t put a stop to it, it will end up killing you. That is what James is saying in James 1:12-16 – “12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God''; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

1. James says that when you get involved with sin, it’s only going to lead to one thing and that’s spiritual death. We should not be fooled, this testing that James and Jesus talk about can come to us in different forms.
2. Peter warns us about one of them in 1 Peter 4:3-4 – “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.” [para]
3. Peter is talking about the problem of our old friends coming along and testing us. We’ve all got history and we’ve all probably been involved in some ungodly activities at some point in our lives, but when we became a Christian that ungodly behavior ceased. Peter is saying, “When you meet up with those old friends, they are going to expect you to be like them, like you were before. Even though they know you’re a Christian.” They will tempt you to go back to the way you were. We need to be on our guard against that.
4. Do your non-Christians friends have more influence in your life than Jesus Christ does? Because if they do, you could be one step closer to going out from among us.

F. Another reason as to why some people go out from among us is because they pull up their anchor instead of remaining in a good anchorage.

1. Jesus in that parable” says that “some seed fell among the thorns.” He says in Luke 8:14 – “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” [para] I suspect that these are probably the most frequent ways of drifting, worry, riches and pleasures!
2. Christians get so tied up in this world and they get so involved in their jobs, their professions, that their love for God becomes 2nd place in their lives.
3. Christians start worrying about having enough money for this and that. They start to work longer hours, and before they know what is going on they haven’t been to church on the Lord’s Day for months.
4. I understand that some Christians need to work on the Lord’s Day to keep their employment, but if that job means that you’re missing out in worshiping God for months on end, then you need to be careful that you’re not on the slippery slope to falling away.

G. There’s a big difference between working to live and living to work. Jesus warns in Luke 12:15-21 – “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.'' 16. Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17. "And he thought within himself, saying, `What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18. "So he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19. `And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'' ' 20. "But God said to him, `You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21. "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.''” [NKJV]

1. When blessings had been multiplied upon this man, they only served to increase his covetousness. This man failed to recognize his status, not as the true owner of his goods, nor even of his soul, which were "his" only in the sense of his being temporarily a steward of them.
2. The loan of an immortal spirit from God was about to be recalled, and the stewardship of his worldly possessions would pass, that very night, to others.

H. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” Seeking after the things of this world has caused people to fall; money has caused people to grieve.

1. 1 Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” It is not money but the love of money, the placing of money at such a priority in your life that God comes second, which causes failure.
2. It was the love of money that caused Judas to betray Jesus according to Matthew 26:14-16. Money caused Ananias and Sapphira’s death because they lied to God according to Acts 5. Again, Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:33 - “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”
3. Ananias and Sapphira “agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord”. Some people fool themselves into thinking they are doing it all in Jesus’ name for God’s glory. Paraphrasing Hebrews 10:25 – “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
4. If you’re spending less time with God and His people and spending more time in perusing sports and pleasures, or making money then your anchor line may be going slack for want of watching and your anchor starting to drag allowing you to drift.

III. Then there is the case of more attractive anchorage. Some people drift because they set their anchor in the anchorage of false doctrine. John warned these early Christians in 1 John 4:1 he says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

A. John echoes Jesus’ warning to His disciples in Matthew 7:15 where He says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” The apostle Paul described them as being deceivers and says “… 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,” Ephesians 4:14
B. We need to understand that the Bible wouldn’t warn us about these things if they weren’t a reality. People still teach false doctrine today. The religious world has a thousand ways to be saved. The religious world has a thousand gods. The religious world has a thousand gospels.

1. It is no wonder people are confused, no wonder Christians who don’t acquaint themselves with God’s word drift away. People would rather trust people than trust God’s word.
2. Some people would rather rely on visions of angels than God’s word. Some Christians would rather trust other Christians than trusting God’s word.
3. And some Christians rely more on the preacher’s word than the word He’s preaching from. If you find that you have become like that, then you need to make sure that you’re not starting to drag your anchor.

C. The church in Galatia was dealing with the same problem that many Christians face today in the world, false teaching. Paul said to the church in Galatians 1:6-9 “6. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7. which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” [NKJV]

1. How many souls have you witnessed baptized into Christ only to find out a few months later they have joined a denominational church? How many souls have you witnessed starting off on fire for the Lord only to be led astray by someone who says, “come to our church it’s livelier”. Our worship services sometimes include movies, or sometimes we have ‘entertainment groups’ visit. We have more events, festivals, and date nights.
2. It’s astonishing how people can leave the grace of Christ and turn to a different gospel which really is no gospel at all. Those who teach false doctrine have a penalty to pay… but so do those who fall away. Hebrews 6:4-6 – “4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6. if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
3. The Hebrew writer was writing to Hebrew Christians who were saved. He says that they have tasted the heavenly gift, received the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of God’s word. They saw and heard about the miraculous events, but because Christianity wasn’t their idea of what Christianity should be they wanted to go back to Judaism. What the Hebrew writer is saying is that if they went back to Judaism, they would be rejecting their salvation. When you reject your salvation, you’re rejecting that Jesus was the Christ, you have rejected the gospel.
4. The writer says it’s impossible to come back to repentance because you’ve rejected the need for repentance. People can become Christians, and then months or even years later fall away and not return, not because they can’t but because they won’t. Those who “go out” or turn their back upon the faith are in the grips of spiritual death.

D. 1 John 1:6-9 – “6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1. I find this is truly good news. Those Christians who fall away can return if they so desire. James 5:19-20 – “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
2. There is something else we face that can lead us to drift away and that is discouragement. Many things can lead us into being discouraged but with our aging membership and the realities of the pandemic it seems more noticeable. We need the encouragement of our brothers and sisters to combat this and indeed encouragement is, by design, God’s preventative medicine to protect our hearts. Each time one of our brothers and sisters can no longer be with us, we feel a keen sense of loss. They have brightened our lives so much, and now we miss them.

CONCLUSION:
I don’t know how your anchor is holding this morning, but God knows. We are all capable of drifting from grace and suffering the shipwreck of our faith. There is only one thing more tragic than drifting away from the Lord and that is dying in that condition. It is only as faithful Christians that we have the hope of eternal salvation.

Hebrews 6:19 tells us that, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil… ” Jesus and His Word are the holding ground, the firm anchorage in the analogy at the start of this sermon, and hope is the anchor. What then is the anchor line? I’d say it is our faith.

The couple in that sailboat talked about checking the lines and how the anchor light had blown out. Keeping an eye on the anchor lines and making sure you do not drift is so important that larger vessels have an “anchor watch”, where there is always someone assigned to this duty. Should our faith become weak, if we despair and allow strands of the line to fray, we will not be lost if we watch and repent and pray for forgiveness. Our job is to hold fast to the Lord, no matter what.

I hope that your anchor is steadfast and sure even though the billows are rolling. I hope and pray that your hope is anchored fast to the rock of Jesus Christ, grounded firm and deep in our Savior’s love.

Will your anchor hold? Are you watching the line? Mark 14:38 – “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” If you think you’ve been drifting away from the Lord in some way, then please pray to God about it, repenting, and asking forgiveness “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

If you’re not a Christian this morning, then you haven’t tasted the goodness of a Christian life yet. If you’ve heard many different gospels in your lifetime then please don’t leave here today without speaking to someone about the true gospel, the full gospel, not some watered down gospel. The gospel which Paul calls in Ephesians 1:13 – “... the gospel of your salvation…”
Don’t let your faith become slack and let your anchor drift. The result of doing so is becoming separated from the Lord. If you are not anchored in Christ, obey the gospel today and then remain connected to the Lord. Seek the strength and stability in His Word so you can always be faithful.

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Reference Sermon by: Mike Glover

Dig Your Well Before You Are Thirsty

Isaiah 12:1-3

 

This morning I have entitled the sermon: Dig Your Well Before You Are Thirsty. Those who are successful in life are usually those who prepare ahead of time.

There are some who may excel later in school who did not apply themselves when they were much younger, but I would suspect that the majority of those who excel later on in their schooling or college are those who prepared themselves much earlier when they were younger. They built a good foundation. There are some who may be successful at starting a business who may not have prepared themselves when they were younger to run a business. Once again, I would suspect that the majority of those who are successful in business today are owners who prepared themselves many years prior to become a successful businessman or woman. Some prepare and succeed, and some don't prepare, and they may still succeed.

In life, depending on the road that you travel, a lack of preparation could be fatal for you. When men began to explore this world, I imagine that they learned very quickly to dig wells before they got thirsty. In some parts of the world, of course, like in the great lake regions which is where we find ourselves, there is abundance of water.

We have the lakes themselves. We have rivers and contributories that fills the lakes, so there's plenty of water. In other parts of the world, water is scarce. It's not as abundant as it is here. Therefore, any experienced explorer would have not waited until their water ran out before they dug a well or before they made some type of preparation to have water sometime later on during their journey.

If a man waits until he drinks his last cup of water to go try to dig a well to get more water, he might die of thirst digging for that well. If we think about it, the same idea applies to us in our spiritual lives.

There are times we are spiritually thirsty, or we need to be filled spiritually. If we wait until such a time to dig our well, we may find it to be too late. Therefore, we need to be digging our wells now, as children of God. Whether you are a younger person or you're well up in years, we need to be digging our well.

We read in Acts chapter 17:30-31 because he hath appointed a day into which he will judge the world in a righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, wherefore he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Once again, Acts, chapter 17, verses 30 to 31. The day of judgment is coming. The entire accountable world will find themselves being judged. That means, of course, you and me.

Every person that can understand the Gospel will be there, and no one will be able to escape that judgment. The Bible says but why doest thou judge thy brother? Why does thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10 through twelve.

In Second Corinthians five and ten, it says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every man may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Second Corinthians 5:10

Everyone will stand one day before the judgment seat of God, and every knee shall bow.

Of course, some people are willing to bow to Christ now. I imagine that's many of us here today. Unfortunately, most people in the world are not willing to bow to Christ, but there will be a day when they will not have a choice but to bow and every tongue shall confess. Some refuse to confess Christ today, but on that day, people will not have a choice but to confess.

Finally, before God or before Christ, we shall all give account for whatever we have done in the body, whether it be bad or whether it be good. For some it will be a day of judgment, of salvation. For others, it will be a day of condemnation, which is very sad to consider. The Scripture says then shall the king say unto them on the right hand, come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 25 and verse 34 says then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

In Matthew 25 verse 41 those on the right hand will be those blessed of the Father, and who will inherit the kingdom that was prepared for them before the foundation of the world. On the other hand, those who will be found on the left hand will be cursed and shall have to depart into everlasting fire, a place that was prepared for Satan and his angels. To wait until the judgment, of course, will be too late for anybody to dig their well. If we find ourselves spiritually thirsty or empty on that day, it will be too late.

Next, in times of Temptation the Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. That's First Peter five and eight.

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. James one verse 14.

For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, lasciviousness. An evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man. That's mark seven, verses 21 and 23.

The Christian life, I think we can all agree, is peppered with what we would call temptations.

There are those temptations that come from without. The Bible tells us that Satan is our adversary. We often can be tempted in one way or another by those who are servants of Satan. That can be personal contacts that we have. Of course, we have media such as television, radio, movies, and now the Internet. The list goes on and on.

There are those temptations that come from within. Our own lusts or desires that come from deep down within. Therefore, temptation should not be taken lightly. No temptation should be taken lightly. Well, why?

Temptation can lead us into sin. Sin, of course, is deadly. We all should understand, as the Bible tells us in Hebrews, chapter three, verses 13 and 14, sin can deceive, and the heart can be hardened. We do not want our hearts to become hardened.

Therefore, do we have a well to quench our spiritual thirst when we are tempted? Do we have such a well?

Then there's a period of tribulation, or period of pressure or persecution or troubles. The Bible says these things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace in the world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. John 16 and verse 33.

Acts chapter 14:21 and 22, it says and when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Listra and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming the soul of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Acts chapter 14:21 and 22.

As we know, the Christian life is not always easy. Jesus himself warned the apostles. He says, in the world, you shall have tribulation. It's like a promise, and Paul said he warned the disciples. He said to them that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Of course, trials or tribulations that we may face can come in various or diverse forms. They're not all the same.

The Bible says, yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. A person simply following Christ, that person can suffer because for that. Other suffering come because we share in the frailty of life. What do I mean by that? Sometimes we get sick. There's sickness in this life. There is pain, and sadly there's death.

There are economic pressures such as recessions or a loss of job. Then there are sufferings that come from other individuals, like terrorism, wars, and then there's of course, like natural calamities like we have had across the country, such as floods and so forth. Therefore, we need to be prepared for the drought. In other words, we need our wells to be dug ahead of time before such tribulations or problems occur.

The Bible says in Isaiah, chapter twelve, verses one through three, in that day thou shalt say, o Lord, I will praise Thee, thou, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, and he also has become my salvation. Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Isaiah chapter twelve, verses one through three.

Let’s go next to digging our wills.

We find in First John four nine through ten. And this was manifest the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.

Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. First John four nine through ten.

He said unto them, go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Then we have Colossians one and 23 if ye continue in the faith, grounded, and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard and which we preach to every creature which is under heaven, wherefore I, Paul am a minister. Colossians 1:23.

The well for judgment. First, we must focus on what God has done. We need to focus on what God has done. What did God do? God loved us.

No one deserved the love that Christ or that God has given unto us. Neither you nor I deserve that love. God sent Jesus, of course, Jesus being his only begotten son, he sent Jesus that we might live through him and through him only. Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. After Jesus paid for our sins, of course, God sent the good news, the gospel.

The Gospel is to be preached. The Bible tells us to preach it to every creature, to every ethnic background, to every person we see. The Gospel needs to be preached. By this Gospel there is hope is brought into the world.

By this Gospel there is hope. Notice these words therefore let all the house of Israel know but surely that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. When he they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts two, verses 36 through 39.

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried and ye shall have tribulation ten days. But be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. That's Revelations, chapter two and verse ten.

God has given the Gospel, which gives hope. Therefore, we must focus on what we must do. We must hear the Gospel, and of course, we must listen to what we hear.

We must let it prick our heart. We must allow it to touch our heart, to move our heart. Closing our minds to what we hear, closing our heart to what we hear will not help us. Therefore, we must obey the Gospel. And having obeyed the Gospel, we need to have dug a well for the judgment by doing so.

We must remain faithful. We need to remain faithful if we don't want our well to go dry. Now a question have you dug your well for the judgment? Does it still have water?

The Scripture says that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. That's Ephesians, chapter three, and verse 16.

We can find in Galatians chapter five and verse 22 and 23, it says but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness godliness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such things there is no law.

The well for temptation.

First, we need to focus on what God has done. God has given His Spirit to help man overcome. He gave His Spirit to strengthen us within our inner man, and He gave His Spirit that man might develop Christian character. That is the fruit of the Spirit.

Also, God gives us the family to support us. He is first the loving Father, First John three and one. He gives His children brothers and sisters, First Timothy five, one and two. Of course, he gives us Jesus to support us, our supporter and advocate. The Bible says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. That's Ephesians 5:18 and 19.

We read in Colossians three and 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual psalms, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Once again, Colossians three and 16.

God sent his Spirit and placed us in his family, but what must we do?

The Bible tells us that we must be filled with the Spirit. How are we to be filled with the Spirit? We are filled with the Spirit by allowing God's Word to dwell in us richly. That's how we are filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit and letting God's Word dwell in us are one and the same. That's something we should understand. Compare, if you will, Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians five and 18. They're talking about the same thing.

Next, we need to develop and strengthen our relationship with members of God's family. The Bible says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.

Let us hold fast our profession, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was at all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in times of need. That's Hebrews, chapter four, verses 14 through 16.

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief parting you from the living God, but exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. That's Hebrews 3:12-14.

We have First John, one and nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's First John 1:9. We need to commune with our heavenly Father in prayer. That's part of developing our relationship in good times and bad times. We should learn to pray, like the Bible says in First Thessalonians five and 17, pray without ceasing.

We should pray when things are going well, and we should pray when things are going bad, especially in times of need. We are to come boldly, (the Bible tells us) before the throne of grace that we may obtain the mercy that we need in the times of need.

We also need to commune with one another. The Bible encourages us to exhort others. It encourages us to be exhorted.

Finally, we need to repent and to confess our sins. If we have sinned in private, that is something we need to deal with in private, but if we sin in a public manner, we also need to acknowledge that sin in a public manner, before God and before his people.

The question now is how we continue to dig our wells? By staying in God's word and in fellowship. The Bible tells us rejoice in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. That's Romans twelve and 14.

Then we have blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundance mercy, have begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. And that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time wherein ye are great, ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That's First Peter one verses three through six.

In Romans 15:13 now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, and believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit).

In Second Corinthians one verses three through five, bless be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the suffering of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ. Second Corinthians one verses three through five.

A few more verses, wherefore comfort one another with these words First Thessalonians 4:18.

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, edifying one another even as also ye do First Thessalonians five and eleven.

We exhort you, brethren. Warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. First Thessalonians 5:14.

The well for tribulation. First focus on what God has done for us. Once again God has given to us hope that gives joy that can exist even during our tribulation. That's what God has given us, a joy that can exist during problems, during troubles. This hope is not limited. We can abound in this hope.

God has given us, brethren, that can comfort us. Brethren are to comfort the feeble minded and to support the weak. First Peter, one and 13.

Go to Romans 15 and four, it says for whatsoever things were written, afore times were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Romans 15 and four.

Then there's Hebrews 6:10-12. It says, for God is not unrighteous to forget your works and labor and love which ye have showed toward his name, and that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to fulfill assurance of hope until the end, that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherited the promise. That’s Hebrews 6:10-12.

Hebrews 10:24 and 25. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25.

Finally, Hebrews 13 and one, let brotherly love continue.

God has given us hope and brethren. But what must we do? First, we must nurture and strengthen our hope. Basically, we nurture our hope by staying in God's word.

The hope that we have, we nurture it by staying in God's word, not when we get the time to do it, not every now and then. I would suggest the Bible would encourage us to be in God's word daily. Read Joshua, chapter one, verse eight, and Psalms, chapter one. We need to be in God's word daily to buoy our hope.

We can prepare for the tribulation by our troubles or afflictions, by nurturing and strengthening our brothers and our sisters, how well we minister to them, we help them in times of need, we support them in time of need, and we assemble together.

We exhort one another, we encourage one another, and let us remember God's law. God's law says in Galatians six and verse seven, ye shall reap what you sow. In other words, I believe when we encourage and exhort other people, that same type of encouragement is more than likely to come back to us when we find ourselves needing encouragement, or hope. What conditions are your wells in today? That's the question.

If you were to face the judgment today, how would you fare? If you were to face temptations today, would you overcome those temptations? If you were to face tribulations pressures, persecutions, trials, whatever, would you endure them today? If you would stand faithful in the judgment, will you be the one to overcome your temptations? If you are one to endure your tribulations or your trials or the pressures of life, keep doing what you're doing, but if you would not stand in a judgment, if you are not able to overcome your temptations, if you're not one that's able to endure the tribulations that come or the troubles or the pressures that come in your life, you need to come back to the Father. If you are a member of the church, you need to repent, you need to confess and make sure your well is not dry.

I can’t say if there is anyone here today who is not a member of the church. If there's anyone here today who find themselves in need to respond to the invitation this morning, I would encourage you to come forward as we stand at this time to sing this song of invitation.

CSI Jerusalem - Eyewitness Testimony

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

What does living by faith mean today? It means deciding what is the controlling principle in our lives. Is it luck or chance? A man had just parked his car at the office when a lady came up to him and said, "That’s a nice car but I wouldn’t want to drive it!" He was rather puzzled and asked "Why not?" "Well" she said, "it’s green, and what’s more the registration number adds up to 13!"
Fancy life being governed by superstition! It begs the question - what influences us? Is it fate or faith?
About 10 years ago, during a Homicide trial in Nassau County in the state of New York, the prosecution was examining their witness on the stand. In his testimony, the witness stated that he saw the victim lying on the ground, obviously dead.
When the prosecution had finished, the defense lawyer rose to his feet intent on undermining the credibility of the witness. and conducted the following cross-examination:
"Sir, are you a doctor?"
"No," replied the witness.
"Well, are you a paramedic?"
"No, I’m not," the witness stated.
"Have you ever gone to medical school?"
"Never," was the answer.
"Then tell me, sir, how do you know that the victim was indeed dead?"
"Well," responded the witness, "I went to his funeral."

APPLY: In every Crime Scene Investigation, it’s hard to beat the value of eyewitnesses
Now, it is a fact that witnesses can often disagree on some significant details of a crime, but when large numbers of eyewitnesses tell you the same thing over and over it’s a pretty good indication that what they say they’ve seen is true.
The Bible recognizes this fact.
In Deuteronomy 19 we’re told: “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Deuteronomy 19:15
This concept was so central to Biblical reasoning that, when Paul confronted the church at Corinth about problems they had there, he told them:
"Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." 2 Corinthians 13:1
And so it’s not surprising to find that Jesus built His church upon the foundation of a multitude of witnesses.
After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the Apostles sensed a need to find a replacement for Judas. Peter cited references from the Old Testament explaining why they should do this & then said: “… it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a WITNESS with us of his resurrection." Acts 1:21-22
In other words whoever was going to replace Judas as one of the 12 had to be an eyewitness – not just of His resurrection - but of every thing Jesus had done from His baptism by John ALL THE WAY thru His ministry until His death, burial and resurrection. Only two men met that criteria. What that reveals to us is the significance the apostles placed on the importance of eyewitness accounts.
When Luke wrote his gospel he stressed how important he felt 1st hand accounts were for his book::
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who were from the first EYEWITNESSES and servants of the word.” Luke 1:1-2
Later, when he composed his story about the church (the Book of Acts) Luke wrote these words:
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3
Very subtly, Luke is telling his friend Theophilus that the eyewitnesses he’s used for his book didn’t just see the risen Jesus once… they saw him several times over a period of 40 days.
So, when Paul writes about the story of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, you can sense that he is telling of witnesses of the resurrection that he’s already spoken to himself.
He says that Jesus “appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
Essentially, Paul is saying:
“Hey, there are over 500 witnesses who saw the risen Christ. If you don’t believe me… if you have any doubts… if you have any questions… go talk to one of them.”
How do we know what these witnesses saw?
Well, a few of them wrote books.
One of those witnesses had once been a tax collector before he met Jesus.
He was an educated man who wrote down the things that he’d heard and observed, and he wrote a book we call the Gospel of Matthew.
Then there was the man who once made his living working for his father. He apparently came from a fairly wealthy family because his dad owned the boat and he had servants. This man was one of Jesus’ closest disciples and he was privy to conversations and miracles the others never saw nor heard. His was the last Gospel that was written and he told things that aren’t in the other three. His name was John… and he wrote the Gospel that bears his name.
Then there is The Gospel of Mark was written by a young man who was a friend and companion of the Apostle Peter. Because of close connection to this early leader of the church, Mark was able to write down the remembrances of that great Apostle and preacher.
And of course the Gospel of Luke (which we’ve talked about earlier) was written by a Doctor who was also a companion of the Apostle Paul. And Luke… as we’ve noticed earlier, worked very hard to interview people like…
· Mary the mother of Jesus
· Lazarus
· Zacchaeus
· Joseph of Arimathea
· And many of the original apostles.
The Gospels are all first hand accounts by eyewitnesses who actually saw and heard Jesus
Now, of late, people have tried to tell us that there were “OTHER” Gospels
Many religions have their own individual “creed book” they use as the FOUNDATION of their particular beliefs, such as
the Quran, the Book of Mormon, Sutras, Vedas, the Torah,
and some even have created “The Gospel of Judas”.

Many so-called scholars claim that this newly referred to “Gospel of Judas” gives us “new” information about Jesus that we didn’t have before, but most Christians have simply scoffed at this “great” discovery.

The early church knew (and we know as well) that this so-called Gospel was NOT an eye-witness account. It was written long after Judas had died. In fact, it was written long after anyone who had ever seen Jesus had died. In all likelihood, it had been written long after anyone who KNEW anyone who had seen Jesus had died.
Then there is the recent best seller by Dan Brown called “The DaVinci Code”. Mr. Brown has touted his novel as a “historical” fiction. In other words, he is trying to convince people that his fiction is built on truth.
In his book, Mr. Brown has declared that “Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.”
Brown went on to say that “More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them.”
Dan Brown was being “untruthful” and/or “deceptive.”

All of these documents were all rejected principally because they weren’t even close to being the writings of eye-witnesses… or of anyone who knew an eye-witness.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ – His death, burial and resurrection - are build the foundation of a multitude of RELIABLE witnesses. The Gospel of Judas… and the DaVinci Code… are not.

ILLUS: Years ago, two men were riding on a railroad train discussing the Gospel story of Jesus.
The first man said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about (Jesus).”
The other replied, “You are just the man to write it. Set forth the correct view of His life and character. Tear down the prevailing sentiment as to His divineness and paint Him as He was - a man among men.”
The man who made that suggestion was Colonel Robert Ingersoll - a renowned agnostic and enemy of the church.
The other man was a General by the name of Lew Wallace.
Wallace began investigating the stories of the Gospels, and the more he investigated, the more convinced he became that the eyewitness accounts were extremely truthful, and that the Jesus presented by them was indeed the resurrected Son of God.

Down thru history… many others have come to the same conclusion. Doctors, scientists, lawyers, historians all have seen the Bible as an unshakable base for their faith.
Now, as reliable as those witnesses are we need to understand something – they’re all dead now!

Granted we have their written stories, but there are many people who aren’t interested in the stories of dead men. In their minds, the witness of men and women from the past are interesting, but they don’t want to know the stories of the dead… they want to hear the stories of the living.
In other words, they don’t want a dead religion - they want a living faith.
They don’t want a history lesson… they want to know if Jesus STILL changes lives today.
They want to know if Jesus works for you.

The famous atheist Friedrick Nietzsche once said: “Show me that YOU are redeemed, and I will believe in your Redeemer.”
Now, Christians can fall into a trap when it comes to talking to others about their faith. I’ve done it myself. We’ll often focus on inviting people to our church because we have a loving congregation.
Or you might talk about how much you like your preacher. 😊
Or you might talk about how great our worship service is.
And those things are ok… but we can often allow those surface realities to overshadow the really important information. We can forget to talk about Jesus and what Jesus HAS done for us in our lives.
And then there are those who don’t share their faith in Jesus because they want to avoid being seen as a “fanatics.”

ILLUS: Bill Bright told of meeting with a leading American statesman who was supposedly a professing Christian.
Bright had just asked the man to become involved in a massive effort to share their faith with people around the world.
The man’s response shocked him: “I don’t wear my religion on my sleeve. My religion is personal and I don’t want to talk about it.”
Bright was startled and could only ask: “You are a Christian aren’t you?”
The other man replied “Yes, but I’m not a religious fanatic.”
Bill Bright thought about that for a moment… and then asked
“Did it ever occur to you that it cost Jesus Christ His life so you could call yourself a Christian?
Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
It cost the disciples their lives too, and millions of Christians throughout the centuries have suffered or died as martyrs in order to get the message of God’s love and forgiveness to you.
Song #222 Faith of Our Fathers
Now do you really believe that your faith in Christ is personal and private and that you shouldn’t talk about it?”
As quick as a flash the man replied, “No sir, I’m wrong. I’m sorry that I never looked at it that way before.”

CLOSE: Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.
It is by faith that the sinner is saved and escapes judgment (John 5:24).
It is by faith that Christ dwells in the heart (Ephesians 3:17).
It is by faith that we live (Galatians 2:20).
And, It is by faith that we stand (Romans 11:20).

Invitation:

Evidence of Jesus

Evidence of Jesus
Mark 15:33-39

 

A couple of weeks ago, in the last sermon I gave, I was trying to look at CSI’s view of evidence. Today I like to continue with that theme. I'd like to present evidence that Jesus did exist, evidence that there were factual incidences and even events that took place. There are many that try to disprove the Bible. They try to disprove that there's a God.

They try to disprove anything. In a science view, there was a big bang, we just created, and we go through life just by chance, I guess you would say by chance, and there is nothing to look forward to at the end of our lives. I like to start, first off, by looking at the centurion today. When I say THE centurion, I don't want to be misleading because there are many centurions and I'd like to reference a few of them this morning.

One, pay attention that there is more than one centurion and I'll try to describe who they are. Our text this morning is found in Mark 15:33-39 is the main text, but I will reference other verses also. In the days of Jesus, the most feared soldiers on the face of the earth were those of the legions of Rome. These men were practically invincible, from what I understand.

Obviously, I'm only going from historical accounts. I did not live during this time. I'm trying to go by what history says. It seemed that no nation of that day could stand against them. One of the reasons that they were so powerful and so feared was because of their armies which were led by men called centurions.

These centurions were seasoned veterans. They were commanders of units, approximately 100 men in force. In today's armies, they would be roughly equivalent to what I believe is a major. In Israel, two or three of these centurions would have been based in a fortress inside Jerusalem.

Most of them were stationed in a seaport called Caesarea because of the nature of the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Israel had no natural deep-water seaports for ships to enter and exit. Herod the Great built this one. It was an engineering masterpiece of the day, from what I understand. It became so important to sea trade that Rome took it over and made it their capital city.

It was the capital in Israel. The city became a jewel of the Mediterranean with a theater, an amphitheater, a hippodrome, are just a few of the attractions, from what I understand, were there. It was where most of the Roman force in the area was camped. This city was also, being the capital, the place where Pilot lived.

Now, it may shock you to learn that there are many people in this world who hate Christianity and hate our God and hate our Bible.

They want to believe their own thing, do their own thing. I remember growing up the saying, let's just do our own thing, you know, we don't have to listen to anybody else. That's how a lot of people, I think, live their religious life, doing our own thing. They hate when we try to teach the Bible.

Many of these individuals are so called scholars - scholars who challenge every aspect of Scripture. And for decades Pilate was like a gift for these critics. There was no record of Pontius Pilate ever being Jerusalem and the skeptics taught that Pilate was nothing more than a figment of the imagination of the Gospel writers who gave God's word to us. Then someone found this huge stone at Caesarea with Pilot's name on it. From what I understand, there's an actual physical stone, and it says, “Tiberium, Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea”

Now, why is Caesarea important in our story this morning? Well, because it's possible that the centurion at the cross came from Caesarea. You see, Pilot didn't live in Jerusalem, and he probably didn't want to live in Jerusalem. He was quite possibly about 70 miles, from what I understand, and in the suburbs, of Caesarea. The only reason he would have needed to travel to Jerusalem was during festivals such as Passover and Pentecost when many Israelites were gathered together there. The Jews hated the Romans. Rome soon learned that any time that many Jews gathered in one place, it was a recipe in their mind for disaster.

There was unrest, there were riots, and possibly even the potential for a major revolt. Pilot probably didn't like the Jews any more than they liked him, but his job was to keep the peace. That required him to display a show of force, I should say, on occasion. At these times, when Jews gathered, he would lead extra soldiers to Jerusalem. Probably more soldiers required more centurions. One of those centurions that came with Pilot could have been the one that was standing guard at the base of the cross of Christ.

Now, I'd like to focus. Who was this guy? Who was the centurion that we hear of in Scripture that was at the foot of Jesus? Well, he was part of an exclusive club. There were only 20 or 25 centurions in Israel, from what I understand, at that time. Several of the commentaries say that it was intriguing that even though the Jews hated the Romans, the New Testament writers treated centurions with respect. Examples in Matthew 8:6-13, when Jesus was ministering in Capernaum, a centurion approached him asking for help. What does he say?

Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. Jesus says to him…what? I will come and heal him. The centurion we talked about in our Bible class this morning was a person of position, had people underneath him. He could be one of those ones that say, “Do you know who I am?”

Yet he's seeking out Jesus, isn't he? He's seeking out Jesus and says, I need you to heal my servant. What does Jesus say? I'll come. What does the centurion reply?

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I am to a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, go, and he goes, to another, come, and he comes, and to my servant, do this, and he does it.

When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed him, truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. To the centurion, what does Jesus say? Go, let it be done for you because of your belief.

The servant was healed at that very moment. Acts 10:22 tells about a centurion named Cornelius, who God sent Peter to preach to. Cornelius lived in Caesarea. Acts describes Cornelius as upright and a God-fearing man who was well spoken from the Jewish nation. You would say he's well-spoken of by the whole Jewish nation.

He was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. Also in Acts 27, we're told of a centurion who had Paul as his prisoner, but in that passage, we're told that Julius the centurion treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and to be cared for, as we read Acts 27:3. Obviously, I'd just like to make a point that these centurions were highly regarded by the early Church. Why were these men viewed so favorably in scripture, you could ask.

Well, because centurions were not your common soldiers. They were a step above. They were chosen because of their level headedness and their ability to be good leaders. They were chosen because they were dependable, and they understood their men. A Greek historian said that in choosing their centurions, the Romans looked not so much for the daring or fire eating type, but rather for men who were natural leaders and possessed a stable and calm temperament. Not men who would start a battle and launch attacks, but those who would stand their ground even when outdone or hard pressed or will die in the defense of their post. These centurions were dependable, level headed leaders.

They could be cruel, though, when needed to be, and that was why the centurion was at the base of the cross. He was carrying out a common task for Roman soldiers—the crucifixion of guilty men. In that day, Rome was a nation. It was the only nation, from what I understand, that crucified people, and they did it often. One scholar noted that Romans practiced both random and intentional violence against populations that they had conquered, killing tens of thousands by crucifixion. Crucifixions were not jobs for the squeamish.

Centurions had to stand watch while men died slowly and painfully on the cross. When they crucified a man, it was a practiced that Romans would flog them first. They beat the prisoner until bones were broken and blood covered the ground. Then the prisoner's arms were tied to a crossbar, and he was paraded through the streets with a soldier walking out in front carrying a sign that indicated their crimes. At the place of execution, the prisoner's wrists were nailed to the cross bar. The bar was then lifted and placed on the stake, which was already driven into the ground, and the condemned man's ankles were then nailed to the stake.

Prisoners could remain conscious for a long period of time, struggling for breath as they hung by the nails driven through their wrist. As they hung there they experienced the pressure on their chest for having their arms suspended above them and that robbed them of the ability to inhale. They would have to push upward with their legs in order to breathe.

We know, or can't even imagine, I don't think, the invariable pain from the nails driven into their feet. They would sag and hang from their arms. Again, as they would just about lose all breath, they would struggle to reach up and inhale again. Sometimes the Roman soldiers would shorten the suffering by breaking the prisoner's legs. With their legs broken, they could no longer support the effort to push up and breathe, so they suffocated faster.

Because of the stress on their diaphragms, prisoners could take only short burst of air, which is why, as Jesus hung on the cross, some historians would say his statements were very short. It's reported that one soldier who observed the crucifixion wrote this. It is how he described it: Of all the sounds in hell, none is more pitiable than those terrible cries through the silence of midnight where crucified men hang in agony and cannot die while a breath of suffering remains in their lungs. Centurions had to oversee this entire process. They had to oversee prisoner after prisoner after prisoner. Watching men die was just part of their job description.

Jesus’ death was different. There was something different about Jesus that shook this centurion. The question is, what was there about Jesus that made His death different? We're not told exactly, but I'd like to address a few ideas. First, being a centurion made you part of a very select and exclusive club.

There are probably only about 25 of these commanders in Palestine and it's a pretty good guess that they knew each other well. When one centurion went to Jesus and begged for his servant to be healed, you can count on that the fact that story probably became known to the other centurions. Jesus spent His three years of ministry going throughout Israel, healing the sick and the lame, the blind, even bringing back to life an individual, also being feeding thousands with the small quantity of a few loaves and a few fish. This centurion had a front row seat to something that others didn't.

He was there, and I'm sure he heard the stories of what Jesus did. Then he watched as pilot tried to release Jesus, not just once, but twice. He listened as Pilot declared; I find no fault in this man. He watched as Pilate brought out the bowl of water and washed his hands, saying that you have made this conviction and trying in a symbolic sense of washing himself of the blood that they said, let it be upon us and our children. Then he watched as Pilot took Jesus and flogged him, as we see in John 19:1.

He watched as the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and how they placed Him in a purple robe, and they twisted that crown of thorns on His head, and they called out to Him, hail, King of the Jews. Again and again, they struck Him on the head with a staff and spit on Him, falling on their knees, paying a mocking homage to Him. After they mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put Him in His own clothes, and then they let Him out to crucify Him, as we see in Mark 15:16-20. This centurion, you could say, had seen all that, and at the cross he was in command. As these soldiers (I could picture him being the man in charge of the soldiers) as they are driving the nails through Jesus’ feet and through His hands.

He was there when they lifted the crossbar and dropped it into place and watched as Jesus’ body sagged against the nails that held Him in place. As the centurion watched all of this, I'm sure he had to ponder that he knew it wasn't fair, like Pilot. It was not fair. It wasn't right. It shouldn't have happened.

It shouldn't have happened to this normal, well in man's thinking, this innocent man, but we know Jesus is more than normal. This Jesus wasn't a normal man, was He? And I think the centurion knew it. The centurion had heard stories, as I mentioned, about Jesus.

He had been kind to the weak. He had healed. He had fed thousands. He even raised Lazarus, as we know, from the dead. He showed compassion. He even cried, as it says the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept” at the death of Lazarus.

Then we read the text that we have in Mark 16:33-39 and when the 6th hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour. At the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”. Which means my God, my God, why hath thou forsaken me? And Jesus uttered aloud cry and breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn into two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way, He breathed His last, he said truly, this was the Son of God.

That is a statement that we as Christians can have confidence in. This man is not a Christian, this man works with the Romans. This man oversaw those that put Jesus to death nailing Him to the cross. There was an observation that was also stated. I pictured back just a few hours before this when they were saying; crucify Him, crucify Him. They're yelling to Pilate, “let his blood be upon us and our children”.

Now this man says, truly, this was. Everything that Jesus was saying, everything that Jesus stood for, the innocence that He represented, for anybody that can say well, how can God send His own Son? The centurion is answering that question. He doesn't know why, but he knows it's out of love. He knows everything that Jesus did was for the love of mankind, for you and me. The centurion is making the final exclamation mark.

Somebody that is just observing everything that took place, didn't grow up in the temples, that I know of, didn't grow up listening to all things being taught, was not guided, but made observations in the presence of Jesus. He says truly this was the Son of God. A non-Christian observation to all of us as Christians today, truly this was the son of God. There was something about the way Jesus breathed his last that shook the centurion.

He had seen other men die, I'm sure, but no mortal man had ever died like this. The story of the centurion at the foot of the cross was mentioned in three of the Gospels. There was something about the story of a pagan Roman soldier's reaction that God specifically wanted us to see, as we talked about in our Bible study this morning. Remember, John tells us that thousands of things or millions, we don't know how many, but God recorded these events. These are the ones that were written.

We know that if they were to try to write everything that Jesus did, the whole world couldn't contain the books. This is the snippet; this is the account when God inspired the writers of His Word. He wants us to know this Roman's reaction. God wanted us to see that. God wanted us to see the impact Christ's death had on this centurion that would lead him to recognize the truth about Christ, that truly this was the Son of God.

I want to close with a story that I have heard. I heard it's a true story. Back in 1976, there was an eight-hour TV miniseries titled Jesus of Nazareth. Some of us may have seen it. It'll probably be coming up again about this time of year, just before Easter.

Usually, the world and the TV productions put it on. It was starred Robert Powell as Jesus, Olivia Hussey as his mother Mary and Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene. For the role of the centurion, they picked a seasoned actor named Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine was a highly respected actor at the time, having acted in both comedies and dramas, and he took this role very seriously from what is recorded. He said that the weather for filming that day was chilly and gray, and since the camera was to be focused on Borgnine at the foot of the cross, it wasn't necessary for Robert Powell, who betrayed Jesus, to even be there to help focus him for the role. The director placed an X on some scenery behind the cameraman and told Borgnine to focus on that as if he was looking at Jesus when he spoke.

Borgnine said that for some reason he was nervous and uneasy that day, and he asked for somebody to read from the Bible the words that Jesus said as he hung on the cross. The director found a Bible and opened it to the Book of Luke signal for the cameraman to start rolling. As he began to read the text, Borgnine said that he stared up stared up at that chalk mark, trying to think about what might have gone through the centurion's mind. That faithful day as he's playing that role, he said that as he heard the words of Jesus to the one thief, verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Borgnine said he visualized the centurion thinking, if Jesus can forgive that criminal, then he could also forgive me. I will lay down my sword and retire to my little farm outside of Rome might have been that centurion's thought. At this point, Borgnine wrote that it happened. As I stared upward, instead of the chalk mark, I suddenly saw or visualized in my mind the face of Jesus life-like and clear. It was not the face of Robert Powell, as I was used to seeing, but it was a pain, seared, sweat stained face with blood flowing down from thorns pressed deep into the brow.

His face was still filled with compassion. He looked down as though through tragic, sorrowful eyes, with an expression of love beyond description. Then his cries rose against the desert wind. Not to the voice of the director, but the voice, possibly a voice that we can each hear through God's word of saying, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He says that in awe as he watched Jesus’ head slump to one side.

He would have known, the centurion would have known that Jesus was dead, the terrible grief that would well up in him. Borgnine says he felt that he could picture in reality, if you play that role of the centurion that is what you would see. The director yelled cut. As Borgnine was seen sobbing uncontrollably. Borgnine looked over to see that the two actresses, Olivia, and Anne, were also crying.

He looked up again to where Jesus would have been. Of course, he was gone because he was never really there. Borgnine closed his comment with these words I have not been quite the same person since. I believe that I take my faith more seriously. I like to think that I'm more forgiving than I used to be.

That centurion learned 2000 or some years ago what I too have found, that you simply cannot come close to Jesus without being changed. As we sit here this morning, we have an advantage that the centurion never had. We have God's words in our hands, in our Bible. We know things about Jesus and his sacrifice that the centurion would never have considered, but sometimes we have a problem.

Sometimes we don't see Jesus. We don't understand and feel what He went through on the cross for us. We realized this morning we have that advantage. Brother Doug brought out so eloquently the memorial that we look at when we remember Jesus on the cross, why we need to do it, how we look inside, we look back and we look forward, how we move both vertically and horizontally, and how we are to continually remember this. Again, I would just hopefully lay that out here, as a CSI detective, a non-Christian, a plain, ordinary man I shouldn't even say that he went through special things. He was almost the anti in what they did against Christianity, but how moved he was. “Truly this was the son of God.” Today we know, like in the words of the last song in our book, there is a God, he is alive. In him we live, and we survive. God calls us.

God is calling the prodigal, another song that we sing. Today we are that prodigal. May we make the choice to accept God's way to repent of our sin and be buried with Him in baptism, or ask, if need be, for the prayers of the congregation as together we stand and sing our song of invitation.

Why A Second Baptism?

Acts 19:1-7

INTRO: Good morning church. In Acts 18 we find the record of Paul’s second missionary journey and near the end of the chapter after some time at Antioch in Syria, he begins his third journey. Luke next records some background material on the work at Ephesus relating to the preaching of Apollos and the further instruction given him by Priscilla and Aquila. We learn that Apollos was a man mighty in the Scriptures. Although his information regarding the gospel was incomplete, Apollos knew enough to proclaim the kingdom of God, which John had declared to be "at hand," and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as John had done (Luke 3:3).

After receiving additional information from Priscilla and Aquila we learn at the end of chapter 18 Apollos “27. … when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28. for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”

Apollos was a devout man and a good teacher yet he inadequately taught people because he himself did not have full knowledge.

As we teach people, we often find that they have gaps in their knowledge. This is true even among Christians, for learning of God is a continual process. When we are teaching someone that maybe attended some religious group for years, we may find as they study the question arises; do I need to be baptized again?

Of course, that's a very important question, but it's a question that we only want to answer from the Bible. We certainly don't want to base it on traditions or opinions or anything else, because none of those are important. The only thing that's important is what God has said about it.

The critical point when that question comes up is simply, what was the understanding and what was the purpose of the one being baptized?

That's the critical, the really important question, what was the understanding, and what was the purpose of the one being baptized? We have an account that answers the question for us, found in Acts chapter 19, and that's going to be our text today.

I. Let's see what happens in Acts 19:1-7 – “1. And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2. he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.'' 3. And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?'' So they said, "Into John's baptism.'' 4. Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.'' 5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7. Now the men were about twelve in all.”

A. Luke calls these people disciples, which means “learners”, and then Paul indicates in his question that they were believers. The people here in Ephesus that Paul encounters, these twelve men, had experienced a baptism. There were lots of baptisms in the first century, and there were baptisms in the Old Testament. The Jews considered gentiles unclean and immersed proselytes to wash away their uncleanness. There have always been baptisms.
B. When Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus in Ephesians 4:4-6 he says, “4. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6. one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Paul says that under the New Covenant in Christ there is only one baptism, which is Christian baptism.
C. Paul encounters these twelve men, and he asked them about their baptism. Had they been baptized? Absolutely. Then Paul wanted to know if it was a valid, acceptable baptism that saved, because Paul said there was only one baptism that could save a person. It says in this text, these men had experienced a baptism that they called what? John's Baptism.
D. This event in Acts chapter 19 is years after the death of Christ. Peter's first sermon on Pentecost was years before. All these individuals were living in the same age that we're living in—the Gospel Age, under the new covenant; the one covenant that Paul said only had one baptism.

II. The baptism these twelve experienced was what kind of baptism?

A. We read about the coming of someone in Isaiah 40:3-5 described this way, “3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; 5. the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.''” In John 1:23 when he is asked who he is John said “… "I am `The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord,'' ' as the prophet Isaiah said.''” It had been prophesied about John that he was going to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
B. We read in Luke 1:13-17 what the angel Gabriel told Zacharias about the birth of John – “13. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14. "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15. "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16. "And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17. "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, `to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.''” We know who John was, the forerunner of Christ.
C. He did preach a baptism of repentance. In John 3:27-30 – “27. John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28. "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, `I am not the Christ,' but, `I have been sent before Him.' 29. "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30. "He must increase, but I must decrease.”
D. Remember that this is years before Acts 19. John was saying at that time that I'm decreasing, my role is being fulfilled. I'm not going to be around that much longer. John did practice a baptism of repentance. Now Christ was in the world, but Christ hadn't died on the cross when John was preaching this baptism. That's a critical point. Jesus was still alive when John was baptizing.
E. Back in Acts 19 these people we are reading about were sincere. There's nothing to indicate that they were not sincere. There was nothing to indicate that they had experienced this baptism in some sort of deceitful way.

1. Now obviously, there are people who don't want to know the truth. We know about the Pharisees and how they didn't experience baptism because they didn't want anything to do with it.
2. The Pharisees completely rejected the counsel of God, but there were people that the Bible talks about who needed teaching and guidance. Remember the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:30? He's reading from Isaiah, and Philip comes running along and He asked the eunuch, “"Do you understand what you are reading?'' And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?'' And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” Then we are told “… Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, (that’s the one the Eunuch was reading) preached Jesus to him.”
3. Cornelius was another very sincere, very faithful, very moral person. He needed some guidance. In Acts 10 we find how he got the guidance.

F. As I said there are people who don't want to know the truth, but there are also some people who just need guidance. That's what these people in Acts 19 needed. They just needed some guidance. They needed someone there to help them understand the full truth.

III. Their baptism was right in a lot of respects, wasn't it? When you look at their baptism, you can see that a lot of it was right. A lot of it was something God wanted them to do.

A. First, it was an immersion. In John 3:23, still talking about John's baptism, it says, “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.” Much water. John immersed people when they were baptized. The Bible indicates immersion. In fact, the word baptize comes to us straight from the original language and its meaning is to immerse, submerge, metaphorically to overwhelm. Thayer G907.
B. These people in Acts 19, they had been immersed. They had been completely buried in water. That was right, and that was good. That was something they were supposed to do. Baptism is a burial, right?

1. Romans 6:3-5 – “3. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4. Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,”
2. It is a burial. It's an entombment. You're entombed by water. Water is all around you.

C. What else about their baptism was right? They had been baptized as adults. In other words, they had been taught. The baptism that saves, the one baptism in Ephesians chapter four is only for adults. In other words, not for infants, not for babies, it's only for people who can be taught, can understand and assent to the grace being offered.

1. Today, if someone comes to you and while you're talking, you find out they were sprinkled or “baptized” as an infant; you know their baptism was not acceptable according to God’s word. It might be considered as a symbol, but it is not done in the faith of the person receiving it. It wasn't the baptism of Ephesians chapter 4, the one baptism of this covenant.
2. These men in Acts 19, had been immersed. They understood at least what John's baptism was, and they had understood repentance. It wasn't that they didn't know what repentance was.

D. If you will go to Mark 1:4 we're going to talk again about John's baptism. They knew about baptism and John's baptism was a special kind. “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” The literal translation would be “John came immersing in the wilderness, and proclaiming an immersion of conversion for forgiveness of sins,”[LSV] John's baptism was a heavenly device for gathering together out of the nation of Israel a prepared people to receive the Messiah. This baptism was of God, and those who rejected it rejected God's message. Luke 7:30 – “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”

IV. These followers in Acts 19 knew about repentance, they understood repentance. They understood what they had been taught. They had been immersed. All of those were right things.

A. The point is their baptism was correct those regards. They were immersed. They understood what was going on. They had repented. They understood repentance.

1. Paul, after talking with them, found out that even though they had undergone all those things, experienced those things, knew those things, understood those things, that their baptism still hadn't saved them. They did what they did in good conscience, yet they were still lost.
2. That's what Paul tells them. Because that baptism, John's baptism, was not valid anymore though it had been at one time for those being prepared for the coming of Christ. It had been valid and acceptable, but not after the crucifixion and the beginning of the gospel age.

B. These men were not saved. Yes, they'd been immersed. Yes, they had repented, yet they were still lost. Maybe the most important point today is that a baptism need not be totally wrong to be essentially wrong. By that I mean that baptism can be partially correct, but partially correct is still wrong.

1. Now we understand this.
2. Mark teaches math, and when someone turns in a problem, it can be partially right, but still have the wrong answer. Even though it's partially right, it's still wrong. That's what Paul is telling these people in Ephesus. Yes, your baptism was partially right, but it's still not acceptable because it does not have the power to save anymore.
3. What did Paul mean when he said that? Notice back in Acts 19, Paul asked them some questions. This is what we must do.
4. We must ask people questions when we're talking with them about their salvation. It's our responsibility to see if they understood their baptism, if they understood what they were being baptized for or why they were being baptized.

C. Here then is a valid example in the New Testament of what we need to do. Paul asked them a very important question. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' This was an important question for them because people did not receive the Holy Spirit when they were baptized with John's baptism. In God's plan of redemption, a new birth is the essential prerequisite. A birth of water and of the Spirit. Jesus says so in John 3:5 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
D. When they answered and said, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit”, Paul immediately knew they had not been baptized appropriately. Because if they had been baptized as they needed to be, they would have known about the Holy Spirit. Those baptized under this new system, the New Covenant, the Gospel age, would have known about the Holy Spirit. Since they didn't, Paul immediately knew they had not been baptized correctly.

V. Well something needed to be done. They were unaware of the Holy Spirit. Notice in verse three, he says, "Into what then were you baptized?'' They replied “into John's baptism.” Paul said, okay, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him”

A. There's a second thing Paul noted about their baptism. John's baptism looked forward, looked in the future to the coming of Christ. Now when these people were baptized, Christ had already come. Christ had already died on the cross. Their baptism, John's baptism, was not the same as the One baptism of Ephesians 4. This was a critical point.
B. John's work was completely in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, for Him coming into the world and dying on the cross. Once that was accomplished, John's baptism wasn't valid anymore, wasn't acceptable anymore, and didn’t have saving power. Paul needed to get that point across to these people—those former practices, and by the way when I say former practices I might include the Law of Moses, were not valid anymore and had been supplanted by the coming of Christ and the resurrection. John’s baptism no longer applied because baptism in the Gospel age, baptism of the New Covenant, is a baptism into Jesus’ death.
C. Please read with me Romans 6:3-4 – “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

1. Those who had experienced John's baptism after Jesus’ resurrection could not have been baptized into Jesus’ death. It was not the purpose of John's baptism. John baptized looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.
2. Verse 4 again – “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father…” Not possible with John's baptism. “Even so, we also should walk in newness of life.” They needed to be baptized into Jesus’ death and in the name of Christ.

D. This is another very, very important point. In Acts 19:5 we see their response. “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” John's baptism was never done in the name of Christ.

1. Why was that necessary? Luke 24 is Luke's account of the great commission. Luke 24:46-47 Jesus says, “… Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” The Christian baptism, the baptism that was valid, the baptism that washed away sins, the baptism that was a burial, the baptism that produced a new creature, was in the name of Christ, in Jesus’ name.
2. John's baptism was not in Jesus’ name. Therefore, after Christ died, was buried, and rose again, John's baptism was no longer acceptable to God. Its purpose had been fulfilled.
3. There was a new baptism, the one into Jesus’ death, the one in Jesus’ name. We see that of course, in Acts 2:38 – “…Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” That was the new baptism.
4. I’m remembering Matthew 28:18-20 – “18. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.''” If that was their baptism, they would have known of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

E. These people in Acts 19 had not heard about the new baptism, the baptism in the name of Christ. They had not heard about the baptism into Jesus’ death. Just because they had not heard and not been taught, did that make this baptism ok? No, it did not.
F. How important is that? Even though these people were sincere, even though they were teachable, even though they were honest, even though they were faithful and obedient, because they had not been baptized correctly, appropriately, they were still lost. That's a very important point. It teaches us that you can not be taught wrong and baptized right.

1. It was not completely wrong. It was sincere and right in some ways the Bible says, but it was still not acceptable. It was still wrong because it wasn't the baptism of the new covenant.
2. There in Acts 2:38 is a truth that is truly, and often deliberately, ignored; baptism must come before forgiveness. Acts 2:38 says that. “…Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…”
3. Our understanding and our reason for baptism is that it is done for the purpose of being cleansed or freed from sins by the blood of Jesus.
4. If we believe that what we have experienced is not a valid baptism, that's like experiencing John's baptism. If all we think is that it's some sort of ritual or right, that it's not explicitly for the remission of sins, the Bible says it's not a valid baptism.

CONCLUSION:
What things have we learned from these scriptures? I guess the first thing is that we can be taught wrong. The incorrect teaching may come from those who deliberately intend to deceive, or that do so for unscriptural reasons, perhaps personal gain, self- glory or financial. It may also come from those who have an incomplete understanding such as Apollo did yet are truly devout. Among those are also the ones who have been taught incorrectly themselves, often by religious groups with a human based agenda.

We want to follow the New Testament example and not our own opinion or human tradition. What the Bible says is the only thing that's important. Baptism must be for the right purpose, not just because people are sincere. These people were sincere in Acts 19, but they were sincerely wrong.

We also learned those who understand the truth should teach those who need instruction. Paul told them they were wrong, he taught them they needed to be baptized correctly, and then they were. It should go without saying then that a baptism that is done without understanding, without knowing why it's being done, and the scriptural purpose the Bible says, is not biblical baptism. A biblical baptism is done with understanding, with knowledge, and the realization of what baptism is. These people had to be baptized a second time, they had to experience biblical or Christian baptism.

What else? Today we have the fullness of scripture to refer to and we bare a responsibility to ourselves. We always must go to the Bible for our answers. We can't think about what other people say, or traditions, or human wisdom, or our feelings, or anything else. None of those things are important, only what the Bible says.

The Bible has our answers, and the Bible does tell us what biblical baptism is. It's one that's based on faith. Not that Christ is going to come, but that He's already come and that He died and that He rose again. That's the basis of our faith as we have been studying. Then our faith leads us to repent and obey, not for just the moment but as a way of life.

How important is that? Turning our lives over to the Lord, confessing that we truly believe, and then being immersed, buried, entombed in water, with the understanding that before we go into the water, we still have sins. It is understanding that it is God who washes away, remits, forgives those sins when we're buried in water for the express purpose of being baptized into Christ.

If you are here and need the prayers of your brothers and sisters or if you are in need of the New Covenant baptism, the Gospel Age baptism, come forward as we stand and sing.
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Taken from a sermon by: Bobby Stafford

Fundimentals Relating to Faith

Revelation 2:10

INTRO: Good morning church.
Please turn in your Bible to the Book of Revelation. I would like us to read Revelation 2:10 to introduce today’s lesson. “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

We're especially concerned with the final words found in this verse. According to what the Lord said to the church in Smyrna, God's people must be faithful unto death to receive a crown of life.

In the Book of Revelation, chapters two and three, the Lord sent a message to each of the congregations in the area known as Asia. The Lord informed the congregation in Smyrna that they were going to face tribulation. Indeed, they were already facing tribulation, and the Lord was aware of it, but He said, you will have more tribulation.

The Lord encouraged this congregation to remain faithful, and He said if it would, then the members would receive a crown of life. Much of the New Testament is written for the purpose of helping Christians accomplish that goal, that is, to remain faithful.

Now, let’s look at some things that are written in the Book of Hebrews. The writer of this book understood that those to whom he was writing were undergoing tribulation, their faith was being tested. The letter to the Hebrews was to help these Christians, and us, be faithful unto death. These people were undergoing tribulation and it was taking a toll. They were assured that if they would remain faithful, they would receive the crown of life that the Lord also mentioned in Revelation 2:10.

We should note in a general way, that Hebrews contains several admonitions given to God's people which involve faith. Let's look at Hebrews 6:11-12 – “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” We need to follow the example of those who received God's promises by holding to their faith with patience. From these and other scriptures we come to understand that faith is not just saying “I Believe”, it is a way of life. Not just our public life either but how we pray, handle trials, temptations and in our expression of thanksgiving to God.

From our lessons in Hebrews, we noticed how faith is involved in receiving the benefits of God's promises. The Lord told the church in Smyrna to be faithful unto death, and they would receive a crown of life. That same principle is addressed throughout the Book of Hebrews.

Next look at Hebrews 10:22 which says, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
The very next verse, verse 23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” This passage contains a very important admonition; we are to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.

Go down to Hebrews 10:35 and we will read through the end of the chapter. Notice the emphasis that is being placed on living by faith. “35. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36. for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37. "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.'' 39. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

God's people are to live by faith. I think it would be interesting to see how many times faith and patience are mentioned together. We just read at least two passages where those two subjects are linked. Without patience, faith is likely to falter. We understand from scripture that faith is not a one-and-done proposition, don’t we? In his second letter to those in Thessalonica Paul wrote, in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 – “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,”

The other day I was reading from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus talked to the disciples about their responsibility to forgive one another. After the Lord finished, the disciples responded by saying increase our faith. They knew that they needed some help in that regard. That's a good plea to make; Lord, increase our faith. Faith is linked to so many very important subjects.

The 11th chapter of Hebrews contains a detailed study of faith. It tells us about the faith demonstrated by several of the great men and women that we read about in the Old Testament. A couple weeks ago we examined five lessons from Noah's faith. Noah is just one of the great Old Testament characters mentioned in Hebrews eleven.

What I would like to do today is consider some fundamental principles that relate to faith that are dealt with in Hebrews. When the Lord said in Revelation 2:10, be faithful… do we know what the word faithful means? Of course, it means full of faith, but it also carries with it the idea of being dependable, being reliable, being trustworthy.

The Bible also says, and we've already read one verse that shows this to be the case, God is faithful. He's certainly dependable. He's trustworthy. He wants His children to be faithful as well. It's imperative that we be faithful unto death to receive the crown of life.

If faithfulness is such an important matter, and it is, we need to be aware of some fundamental principles that relate to faith.

I'm very much aware of the fact that most of you've already heard these things taught. But I'm reminded of what Peter said in 2 Peter chapter one and I paraphrase, I know that you know these things, but I'm going to remind you of them again. [para] In other words, there are certain things that are just so important that we need to be reminded of them on a regular basis, I know I do.

I. In the opening verse of Hebrews 11, we are supplied a description of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [NKJV]

A. I suggest a general definition of faith would go like this: faith may be defined as believing what God tells us in the Bible and following His instructions so that we can receive His promises. That's the classic definition of faith.
B. We notice that faith is described as substance. That word substance may also be translated assurance of things hoped for, or confidence of things hoped for. The word evidence may be translated conviction of things not seen…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. If we're concerned about being faithful, which certainly we are, we need to know what faith is and we have been looking at faith over the past few months. Faith is the evidence of things that you don't necessarily see or experience yourself, but you believe them, you assent to them. We believe, even in the absence of first-hand experience, that these things are true.
C. Let’s consider Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I wonder if perhaps… that's why there's such a lack of faith today. If people don't come in contact with the Word of God, how can they possibly have any faith?

1. It is amazing the statements that some people make about the Bible. When someone makes a negative comment about the Bible, that person needs to be challenged to identify the verse under consideration. Often they can't give it.
2. I’m sure many of us have experienced that the people who make these derogatory remarks are often just repeating what they've heard from someone else. Many of us have been taught to do some thinking for our selves and not to take anyone's word when it comes to the Scriptures, but search the Scriptures and determine if what was said is right, based on what God has revealed in His Word.
3. I wish those people making the derogatory remarks would take the time to do that, but it takes effort and unless they are challenged, they are not likely to make that effort.

II. Our faith is based on the Word of God.

A. Romans 10:17 says, as we read just a moment ago, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Since our faith is based on God's word, we can understand things from the past that we have not seen. The Book of Hebrew shows this to be the case.
B. Hebrews 11:3 – “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Our faith is based on Scripture, and Scriptures say in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, with details of the creation supplied for us.

1. In Genesis 1, there were six days of creation, and on the 7th day God rested. All those details concerning the creation are revealed in this chapter.
2. With our faith based on Scripture, we can understand things from the past that we have not seen. I certainly was not present at the creation, and you were not either. How do we know that the Bible record is accurate? How do we know that God created everything in six days? The scriptures are dependable for they are the inspired word of God.
3. When the Bible says that God created everything in six days, we believe that although we were not present to see what took place. Faith is described as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. With our faith based on the word of God, we can understand things from the past.

C. I was thinking the other day about how when people are ignorant of history; they often repeat its mistakes. It is true that sometimes history can be uncomfortable to remember, and we do not like to see reminders of unpleasant things that have happened. Monuments of past wars for example. Now it is true that some may want to glory in these things, yet they also serve to remind us of that horrible time in our history. If we are not aware of those events, I fear we're bound to repeat them.

1. We need to understand things from the past. How do we know that George Washington ever lived? He is called the father of our country. I never saw him, you didn't either. We have the historical record of his life just like we have the historical record of what happened at the creation.
2. Moses wrote it down and we're able to read it, so we could understand things from the past that we have not seen. Faith enables us to do that because our faith is based on God’s Word.

D. Now I want you to notice that faith allows us to look in a different direction as well. With our faith based on Scripture, we can understand things in the future that we have not seen. Let's look at how this is demonstrated by some of the great patriarchs in Hebrews 11.

1. Go to Hebrews 11:13-16 – “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
2. These great Bible people that all died in faith were looking for something. God had promised them… a city. They spent their lives looking forward to that city. Why did they do that? Because God said it, they believed it. They knew it was going to happen.
3. Faith when it's based on Scripture will enable us to know things in the future that we have not seen. That's illustrated by some of the great patriarchs.
4. Let's look at what Jesus said in John 14:2-3 where He talked about some things that we’ve never seen. He talked about things that will occur in the future. John 14:2-3 – “In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
5. Our Lord talked about His return, and He said that when He comes back, He's going to take His followers to His Father's house where there are many mansions. The Lord has gone there to prepare that wonderful place.

a. We have never seen the Father's house. How do we know that the Father's house exists? Because the Bible says so.
b. How do we know that Jesus is coming back? Because the Bible says so.
c. How do we know that the Lord is going to take His faithful followers to that wonderful place called heaven? It's because the Bible says so.
d. We've never seen heaven, but we believe with all of our hearts that it exists, because our faith is based on the word of God… on Scripture.

6. With our faith based on Scripture, we can understand things from the past that we have not seen. We can also understand things that will occur in the future that we haven't seen.

E. If we're going to be faithful, we need to be mindful of these principles that relate to faith. We need to know what faith is, and we need to realize that it has a profound effect upon our understanding. With our faith based on Scripture, we can look back in time and know certain things that we've never seen. We can also look forward in time and know about some things that no one's ever seen except the Lord.

III. Let's look at another fundamental principle revealed in Hebrews 11. Verse 6 contains this statement: “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.”

A. This verse shows us that faith is essential. How do we know that faith is essential? It's because this verse says that without it, it is impossible to please God. That's stating it in a negative way. The positive point to learn from that is, through faith we can please God.
B. As we look at what the Bible says about faith, we see that it's possible to possess different degrees of faith.

1. Consider what's written in Mark 4:40. This verse shows us that it's possible to have no faith. In this verse the Lord asked a question of the disciples, after He had calmed the great storm that arose on the Sea of Galilee.

a. Remember, they were frightened, they thought that their lives were about to be lost. They asked Jesus if He cared in verse 38.
b. After Jesus calmed the storm, He asked the questions. “… "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?''”

2. These are men who had left their livelihoods and their families to follow Christ. Did they have faith? Yes, but see how they reacted to that storm. Jesus said how is it that you have no faith? It's possible then to have no faith. That's one degree of faith.

C. We find that the Bible also mentions little faith. Matthew 6:30. In this portion of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was talking about being filled with anxiety over things such as the necessities of life. I imagine this is something we have all experienced.

1. In dealing with that issue, Jesus said, “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
2. We've already pointed out that it's possible to have no faith. Here, Jesus talked about having little faith.

D. Let's look now at James 2:17 – “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” This verse reveals another degree of faith. Here the Bible talks about dead faith. Of course, that kind of faith is not pleasing to God. We see from the Scriptures that there are different degrees of faith.

1. It's possible to have no faith.
2. It's possible to have little faith.
3. It's possible to have a dead faith.

E. I suggest that leaves one more. It's possible to have great faith. Let’s consider the backgrounds of two people who had great faith.
F. We are now looking at Matthew 8:10. Jesus made this statement about a centurion, an officer in the Roman army. He would have been a Gentile. His servant was ill. The Lord healed the servant. Notice what Jesus said.

1. Matthew 8:10 – “When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” That's quite a statement to be made about a man who was a Gentile.
2. Look also at Matthew 15:28 in reference to a Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus healed. She was determined to have her daughter healed. Notice what is said in Matthew 15:28 – “Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.'' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” This was a woman of Canaan, not from Israel. Jesus commended her for having great faith.

G. These verses indicate to us that it's possible to have different degrees of faith and we are concerned about pleasing God. We know that without faith it's impossible to please God, but with faith we can please God.

IV. The faith that pleases God includes believing that He is. Let's go back and look at that verse again. Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is… ” It's obviously imperative that we believe God exists. We have plenty of evidence available to us to convince us that there is a God in heaven.

A. Faith that pleases God also includes believing that He will reward those who seek Him. Once again, the verse says: “… for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” That includes obeying God's will, a point that is made very clear once again in James.
B. In James 2 again let's continue at verse 18. James 2:18 – “18. But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works.'' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble! 20. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'' And he was called the friend of God. 24. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only”

1. In this part of his letter, James is talking about the relationship that exists between faith and works. We've already seen from verse 17 that faith that's not backed up by works of obedience is dead. It's vain. It serves no good purpose.
2. The faith that pleases God, and that's what we're concerned about, believes that He is. The faith that pleases God also believes that God will reward those who diligently seek Him.
3. The faith that pleases God includes obeying His will, doing what He says in other words.

V. Faith is essential, but not just any faith. It is the kind of faith that God describes in His Word that pleases Him. I think God ought to know what pleases Him don’t you? He shows us very clearly in His Word the faith which is pleasing.

A. There's another sense in which we see that faith is essential. Go back to Hebrews 11:2 where it is talking about faith, “For by it (faith) the elders obtained a good testimony.” Faith will enable us to obtain a good report. That's referring to the great Bible characters from the Old Testament, and we're able to read about them.
B. This also applies to us as they are our example. We understand that faith is essential in that it will enable us to obtain a good report. That has reference to receiving that crown of life that Jesus mentioned in Revelation 2:10.

CONCLUSION: The source of our salvation is not our work or activity, but a work that has been done by someone else—Jesus. To be saved we must accept and rely upon what has been done for us. This act of relying on Jesus and His work is the very essence of faith. Salvation comes to us not through God’s law but through His promises. Romans 4:13 – “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
God offers salvation through His promise; the only way to respond to a promise is by believing it and trusting in it (and in the one who gave it).

Salvation is by grace, and faith is the natural and proper response to grace. Romans 4:16 - “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all”.

We have looked at some important fundamentals that relate to faith. We understand that it's essential that we be faithful unto death to receive that crown of life.

1. That being the case, we know what faith is.
2. We know that faith is based on Scripture.
3. We understand that there are different levels or different degrees of faith.
4. We understand we need the kind of faith that pleases God. That's the faith that we need to strive to have.
5. We also understand that faith is essential.
6. It will enable us to obtain a good report.

I love to study about these great men and women of faith in the book of Hebrews.
We can receive a tremendous amount of encouragement from studying about them.
Take the time to go back to the Old Testament as well. Read about these Bible characters and see how they faced some difficult circumstances. Yet, God blessed them abundantly.

When we go back to the Old Testament and examine these faithful people, let's remember these fundamental principles we just talked about that relate to faith.
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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; 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.

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: Raymond Sieg

Evidence That Demands A Verdict

Luke 24:1-35

I have always been intrigued by how investigators look for all evidence at a crime scene to prove who is guilty. This morning I would like to ask each of us to consider being a crime scene investigator.

The following story is true. And while it is somewhat morbid it serves to illustrate what I want to say this morning.
Several years ago there was an TV news account of the arrest and trial of a man who had been accused of murdering his family with a knife. Neighbors had heard screaming on the night of the murders, but they had not given it much thought until two weeks later, when it was reported that the bodies of the victims had been found in shallow graves in a field outside of town.

After hearing these reports the neighbors called the police.
When the police entered the home of the victims,
bear in mind that 2 or 3 weeks had already gone by.
They found it to be immaculate. The carpets had been shampooed. the curtains and drapes washed and ironed, the woodwork polished. Every window had been cleaned; every piece of furniture polished; even the bedrooms and hallways had been repainted.

The police found no fingerprints, no blood stains, no shredded clothing, and no signs of a struggle anywhere.
This alone would have made the husband a prime suspect. No man by himself would have had a such an immaculately taken care of home. The defendant’s story was that he and his wife HAD had an argument a month earlier, and she had taken the kids and left him. He said he had no idea of where they were until he’d been told their bodies had been found.
Understandably, the police doubted the man’s story. So they brought in a forensics team that sprayed the man’s bedroom, bathroom, hallway walls, and floors with a chemical known as Luminal.
Luminal is a compound that’s designed to interact with blood, and when it comes in contact with blood, it gives off a florescent color - even under paint. The police sprayed the Luminal, waited a few moments, and then - sure enough - the patterns of blood appeared throughout the house. Neither the soap, the polish, nor the fresh paint had prevented the police from seeing the blood, even though the blood had been covered and hidden from their view.
APPLY: When CSI Investigators examine a crime scene they often are looking for evidence that isn’t readily seen. Evidence they can use in a court of law. Evidence that will demand a verdict.
This morning we’re examining a crime scene: the cross of Christ. And while some of the evidence there IS obvious other things seem to be hidden from view.
The Bible portrays the death of Jesus as a crime of passion:
it was our crime of sin…
and God’s passion for our souls
But as we listen to the conversation between Jesus and the men on the road to Emmaus (found in Lk 24 which is our TEXT for today’s lesson) we find that these two men have heard the evidence of the cross. In fact, they tell Jesus all about it. And they’ve heard the evidence of risen Christ…
Luke 24:22-23 “…some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.”
They’ve heard all this… but they don’t believe it! It’s as if there is certain evidence that has remained hidden from their sight, and this missing evidence has totally destroyed the hope these men should have had when they heard Jesus had risen from the dead.
Because these men have not understood this missing information they have come to believe that Jesus’ death was an accident. A great tragedy.
LOOK WITH ME AGAIN at Luke 24:17-21
He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces DOWNCAST.
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
"What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but WE HAD HOPED that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
Notice… in vs. 21 they say “WE HAD HOPED” that Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel.
… but He’d been executed
… He’d been murdered
… He was dead
And this belief so demoralized them that Luke tells us their faces were “downcast” (Luke 24:17)
(pause…) Jesus lets them tell their story… and then He rebukes them. “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” Luke 24:25
It’s then that Jesus does the most unusual thing…
Luke tells us that Jesus deliberately hid who He was from them. Luke 24:16 says “…they were kept from recognizing him.”
Instead of doing what I’d have done, Luke tells us that “… beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:27
Jesus went back into the Old Testament and He began with the book of Genesis and He worked His way all the way up through the prophets like Daniel and Isaiah to help these men see that God had planned this all out long before they had ever been born.
As Peter said when He told the crowd who heard his sermon on the day of Pentecost: Acts 2:23 “(Jesus was) was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge…”
What prophecies would Jesus have shared with these men? I’m not sure. There are at least 48 major prophecies dealing with the coming Messiah in the Old Testament and He may have covered every one of them that afternoon… but as I only preach for about a half an hour every Sunday morning, I’m going to give you the Reader’s Digest version of what I think He might have shared with them that day.

1. I believe Jesus probably started out telling these men the story of Adam and Eve
He would have told them about how Adam and Eve had been created by God, had enjoyed the blessings of God, and walked closely beside Him every day.
But then one day… all that changed. Adam and Eve had allowed themselves to be tempted by Satan to sin and disobey.
As a result Adam and Eve lost practically everything. They became separated from God. They died spiritually and began to die physically.
But in the midst of all this tragedy, God pronounced a curse upon Satan that goes this way:
…I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (the offspring of a woman) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15
NOTICE, the prophecy was that it would be the male offspring of a woman (not a MAN and a woman) who would destroy the power of Satan.

2. THEN I believe Jesus could have turned them to Deuteronomy 18:15 where Moses declared:
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”
Now there are many great prophets listed throughout the Old Testament. Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others. Many of them gave powerful prophecies and performed magnificent miracles. And yet, none of them quite measured up to what Moses did in his lifetime.

1. Moses came for the specific purpose of freeing his people from slavery

2. And Moses was sent by God to give His people a new and special covenant that would set them apart to be His Holy people.
No other prophet in the Old Testament accomplished anything like that. No matter how powerful their miracles and prophecies may have been, none had freed their people from slavery or introduced a new relationship with God to their nation. In fact no one ever did… until Jesus came.

BUT WHEN Jesus CAME
1. He freed His people from the slavery of sin
2. And He gave His people a new covenant… and set them apart to be God’s Holy people
3. Then I believe Jesus could have reminded the men on the road to Emmaus of a powerful prophecy out of Daniel 9
An angel told Daniel that “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness …. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’” Daniel 9:24-25
Most Bible scholars will tell you that these “70” sevens represent years… 490 years to be precise. Daniel also tells us that the prophecy was set in motion with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. When the edict to rebuild Jerusalem – the clock started ticking.
And according to the timetable set forth in Daniel 9 the Messiah was to be revealed around… 30 A.D.. Tell me, when did Jesus begin His ministry???
30 A.D.
4. Lastly, I think Jesus would have taken them to the last few chapters of Isaiah.
Now, until Jesus came, there were Jews who believed these chapters spoke of a coming messiah.

In Isaiah 52:13-14 God tells us
“See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness”
Then Isaiah goes on tell us more about this “messiah”/ servant – sent by God.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5

Isaiah explicitly describes the Messiah as being wounded and pierced… sent for the specific purpose of taking on the sins of mankind.
In the next few verses Isaiah speaks of messiah dying. Being cut off from the land of the living.
Isaiah 53:12 “…he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
So, in other words… throughout the whole Old Testament we’re repeatedly told that a Messiah was coming.

1. And He would “arrive” at approximately the year 30 A.D.
2. He would be the offspring of a woman (not a MAN and a woman)
3. He would be like Moses – freeing His people from slavery and creating for them a new relationship with God.
4. He would suffer wounds and piercings
5. And would die for the sins of mankind.

ILLUS: Someone has gone to the trouble of counting up all the prophecies in the Old Testament that told about this coming Messiah. They discovered at least 333 details concerning the person and career of the Messiah. These details described
· Where He’d be born
· What He’d look like
· And how He’d die

One person noted that there are 48 Major prophecies that predicted details of the Messiah’s life, and that the odds of one person fulfilling those 48 major prophecies would be astronomical.
The odds of one person fulfilling all those Biblical predictions in their life would be akin to trying to find a diamond ring SOMEWHERE in the world’s oceans that someone had dropped overboard during a storm. We’re not told which body of water it fell into we just are informed that we are to search all 197,000 square miles of the world’s oceans until we find it.
The odds of your finding that ring, are like the odds of anyone ACCIDENTALLY fulfilling the 48 major prophecies about the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament.
But Jesus did it… and it WASN’T an accident.

A minister was once asked what the major difference was between Christianity and the other world’s religions. Now, many great scholars have given valuable answers to that question. But as he pondered on this question… something occurred to him.

About 500 years before Jesus was born, a man popped up in history who we know as Buddha. Buddha developed a powerful teaching that changed his life, and the lives of others. A lot of people gathered around this man and they liked what he taught. As a result, a major religion developed around this man and his teachings.

About 500 years after the birth of Christ, another man came along named Mohammed. Mohammed developed a powerful teaching that changed his life and the lives of others. A lot of people gathered around this man and they liked what he taught. As a result, a major religion developed around this man and his teachings.

And yet… nobody predicted that a man like Buddha was going to come along and live like he lived, and teach like he taught and die like he died.
And nobody predicted that a man like Mohammed was going to come along and live like he lived, and teach like he taught and die like he died.
But 1000s of years before Jesus was born, the major theme of the Old Testament was…
Somebody’s coming
Somebody’s coming
… and when He comes… this is what He’ll do, and this is how He’ll teach and this is how He’ll die.

This was the evidence that the men on the road to Emmaus had failed to understand. It was evidence that demanded a verdict. A verdict that Jesus’ death on the cross was the deliberate plan of God and that He had come to “redeem Israel” - and everyone else who would come to Him - from their sins.
But knowing the evidence was not enough. They needed to believe it, to accept it… and to build their lives around it.

CLOSE: A great artist by the name of Steinberg had taken in a beautiful gypsy girl to pose for his paintings. At the time he was working on his masterpiece "Christ on the Cross." The girl used to watch him work on this painting.
One day she said to him "He must have been a very wicked man to be nailed to the cross like that."
"No," he replied, "on the contrary, he was a very good man, perhaps the best man that ever lived. He died for others."
The girl looked up at him and asked. "Did he die for you?"
Steinberg was not a Christian at the time, but the gypsy girl’s question touched his heart and awakened his conscience and he became a believer in Jesus.
This morning, each of us is asked to ponder ALL the EVIDENCE we are given from God’s Word and then CHOOSE for OURSELVES whom we will SERVE….
Knowing the fact that Jesus was promised to come, he lived His life as a pattern for each of us to follow, and that he willingly died on the cross for each and every one of us!
The choice is yours as we stand and sing….

 

 

Sermon Contributor: Jeff Strite

The Faith of Noah

The Faith of Noah
Hebrews 11:7

INTRO: Good morning church. As we studied the Book of Hebrews in class we have found much to think about, and it has led us to some very fruitful discussions where we gained greater understanding of the Lord’s word. I would like to continue a bit in that book this morning and discuss some things about the faith shown by Noah.

Please turn to Hebrews 11:7 and I will read from the NKJV – “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

The event of the flood, Noah and the ark, is one of the great miracles that people often ridicule and mock. They have trouble wrapping their heads around this event and all that took place, so they want to dismiss it. Jesus, when talking about the coming of the ‘son of man’, said in Matthew 24:37-39 – “37. "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39. "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Jesus referred to Noah and the flood. If our Lord believed it, that ought to settle it.

Let’s look at our text from Hebrews in detail. As we do, we will see that Hebrews 11:7 can be divided into 5 statements related to Noah’s faith.

I. The first statement and this is the first point we want to make, the first lesson we want to learn. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen”

A. To fully appreciate and understand that statement we need to consider a few verses in Genesis 6. I wondered what exactly is involved in this statement Noah was warned of God of things not seen yet.

1. We see in Genesis 6:5 that in Noah's time people had become very wicked. “… the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

a. God did not make man in a corrupt state. They were created in a state of innocence. They decided (made the decision) to transgress the will of God.
b. We were told what happened, Adam was instructed – “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.” If they transgressed the will of God, they would die. You know how the serpent came along and tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She gave in to the temptation and ate of the fruit, giving it to Adam and he ate it as well. At that point, sin and death entered the world and things changed.
c. By the time Noah came on the scene several generations have passed. The population on the Earth had grown since the days of Adam and Eve. Genesis 6:5 sums up just how wicked man had become.
d. We notice that God did not make people in that state. People got into that state because they wanted to. They made the decision to transgress the will of God.

2. Man's wickedness affected God to the point that God decided to destroy mankind as well as the creatures He had created. Genesis 6:6-7 – “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.''” What we see here is the total corruption of humanity. The very citadel of human life, the heart, which in Hebrew thought meant the mind, was devoted exclusively to the contemplation of evil.

a. It would be difficult to devise a sentence that would more effectively portray the corruption of humanity than does Genesis 6:5.
b. This is the result of the judicial hardening of humanity prophesied by Genesis 6:3 where is foretold the withdrawal of the Spirit of God from "striving with" mankind. The entire Bible deals with the phenomenon of Judicial Hardening—disobedience.

3. We need to appreciate the very next verse, verse 8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” We know how wicked man had become and how God felt about it. Yet, there was one righteous man on the face of the Earth – Noah.

a. Why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the Lord? Verse 9 “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” This explains to us why Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
b. Consequently, God decided to spare Noah from the destruction that He was going to bring upon the earth.

4. Remember, we're looking at these verses for the purpose of helping us understand that Noah was warned of God, of things not seen yet. Look at verse 13 “And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” This verse shows us that God informed Noah He was going to destroy the Earth.
5. To see how, we look next at verse 17 “And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.”. God decided to destroy the Earth with a flood of waters.

B. That was something new—no one had ever seen a flood like that. Note we're illustrating from the book of Genesis what the writer of Hebrews was teaching when he said that Noah was warned of God of things not seen yet. No one, including Noah, had ever seen so great a flood. How did Noah react?
C. Through his faith, Noah believed what God had said. Noah did not stand there and argue with God and say, I don't believe that I've never seen a flood like that. God said it. Noah believed it. That settled it. Through his faith, Noah believed what God had said. Reminds us of Hebrews 11:1, doesn’t it? – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
D. What exactly caused Noah to listen when God warned him about something that had never been seen before? That brings us to the second statement that we want to consider.

II. In Hebrews 11:7 – “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear…” I’ll stop right there. Noah was moved with fear. I don't know about you, but when I hear the word fear, I think about being afraid of something. That's the way we use the word.

A. The Bible uses the word fear in that sense as well, but often the Bible uses the word fear to refer to reverence or respect for God. In the Bible, fear and obeying God are often joined together.
B. For example, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, Solomon said this is the conclusion of the whole matter—“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
C. Noah's fear moved him or motivated him to do something.
D. What did Noah's fear move him to do? That brings us to the third statement that we want to look at.

III. In Hebrews 11:7 again, Noah “…prepared an ark for the saving of his household…” Noah was warned of God, of things not seen yet. Noah was moved with fear. What did his fear move him to do? He prepared that ark.

A. As we examine what's written in the book of Genesis, we see that God gave specific instructions for building the ark and placing the animals inside. God even specified the type of wood that was to be used. He specified gopher wood. Today we do not know exactly what this wood was. We do know some things from the text though…it was available in sufficient quantities for the work, and the important thing is, Noah understood.
B. God not only specified the kind of wood that was to be used, He gave specific dimensions for building the ark.

1. If God had just said, Noah, I want you to build this great big ark and left it at that, Noah would have been free to make some decisions about the kind of wood he would use, the dimensions and so on, but when God specified what He wanted, that eliminated everything else.
2. God also didn't have to go down a list and say, Noah; I don't want you to use this kind of wood or that kind of wood. When He specified gopher wood that eliminated everything else.

a. A lot of people don't understand this principle when it comes to studying the Bible. When God specifies in His word what He wants, that eliminates everything else.
b. Some people take the approach: if God hasn't specifically condemned something, then we're free to do it. That's not the case, is it?
c. The Bible teaches us whatever we “…do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…” [para], Colossians 3:17. That means we're to do those things that the Lord has authorized us to do in His Word. When He authorizes a particular matter… that eliminates everything else.

3. I think I've used this illustration many times, but it makes the point. Years and years and years ago, before Johnny was old enough to drive, he went everywhere on his bicycle. In the neighborhood where Johnny lived there was a mom-and-pop store that sold groceries. Sometimes Johnny’s mother would need a few things that were available at that store. She would say, “Johnny, I want you to get on your bicycle and go to the store and buy”… whatever it was a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or a dozen eggs, whatever.

a. When his mother specified, get on his bicycle that meant, don't walk. He was certainly not old enough to take the car and he didn’t have a driver's license. She didn't have to go through all that. When she said, get on your bicycle that specified what she wanted Johnny to do.
b. Johnny did have a choice to make though. Would he do what she wanted him to do or not? Johnny was pretty sharp, and he learned early on, years before, that when Mama said something, you do what she says, or there were consequences.
c. When she told him exactly what to go buy, she didn't have to go down a list and say, now Johnny, don't buy a Snickers candy bar. He may have loved them, but she did not have to tell him not to buy one. She didn't have to say, now, Johnny, don't buy one of those Pepsi flavored ices that you love. She didn't have to go down the list and tell him what not to get. When she told him what to get, that eliminated everything else.
d. Besides that, she gave him the exact amount of money to buy what she wanted, so there was no extra anyway. Mothers are smart like that, and she removed the temptation for him to try to go beyond what she said.

4. When God specified to Noah how to build the ark, He did not have to go down the list and tell Noah what not to do, because when He told Noah what to do, that eliminated everything else. Noah understood that. You would think that people living today ought to be able to understand the same thing.

C. God gave specific instructions for building the ark and placing the animals inside. We notice in Genesis 6 that Noah did exactly what God told him to do. Genesis 6:22 says, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” Next look at chapter 7 in verse 5. “And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.” The verses are very explicit, aren't they? Noah did exactly what God told him to do.
D. At this point I would like us to tie in a statement in James 2:18 concerning faith. James says, “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Let's apply that to Noah. By obeying God's instructions, Noah was showing, demonstrating his faith.
E. Do you recall the miracle of Jesus when He healed the paralyzed man? Jesus was teaching in a home, and it was packed with people. Some men had a friend who couldn't walk, and they wanted to bring him to the Lord so that the Lord would heal him. But when they got to the place where Jesus was, they could not go inside because there were so many people. I love how industrious these men were. They went up on the roof of the house, took back some of the roofing and let the man down. Look at what Jesus says. First Matthew’s account in Matthew 9:2 – “… And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”” Next Mark 2:5 – “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”” Finally Luke 5:20 – “So when He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.””

1. Is faith something that you can put in a container and see? No, but it is active. When Jesus saw the actions of these men who brought their friend to be healed, He observed their faith.
2. I think we can say that about Noah. Noah did what God told him to do. Consequently, he demonstrated his faith. That brings us to the fourth statement made about Noah and his faith.

IV. In Hebrews 11:7 again – “…by which he condemned the world…” We need to be sure that we understand what that means.

A. Did Noah condemn the world in the sense that he destroyed it? No. That was beyond his power. God is the one who destroyed the earth in the flood.

1. Yet, Noah did condemn the world. How did he do that? Noah condemned the world by refusing to be like the world. We are told how wicked men had become. Noah did not go along with everyone else.
2. There's an interesting statement found in 2 Peter 2:4-5 – “… God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;” Noah was a preacher of righteousness. The implication is clear that Noah attempted to persuade his contemporaries to renounce their evil ways and turn to God. There were eight souls saved in the ark—Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives.
3. Noah didn't build that ark in a day or two. It took him a long time. I'm assuming, from what the Bible says, that while he was building the ark, he was trying to get people to repent, but no one other then his family listened.

B. Noah refused to be condemned with the rest of the world. He knew that he had to obey God, even if no one else in the whole world did. We would do well to keep that in mind today. We must be faithful to God and His Word, even if no one else is. There is always pressure on people to compromise with the world, and when we do that, we transgress the will of God. Noah understood that he had to obey God, even if no one else on the face of the earth did. Yes, Noah refused to be condemned with the rest of the world, and in that sense, he did condemn the world. That brings us to the fifth statement that we want to point out concerning Noah and his faith.

V. From Hebrews 11:7 – “… became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Noah received the reward that God had reserved for him.

A. This means that even godly Noah was not saved by his own works or merit. His faithful obedience pleased God who made him an heir of the righteousness yet to be revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ who, in the fullness of time, would appear and fulfill all righteousness. Noah was the very first man in the Bible to be designated "righteous"; and even then, it was not righteousness from within but from above.
B. Westcott put it this way. “The righteousness was something which came to him as having its source without, and yet according to a certain law. It was his by an unquestionable right: it corresponded with the position of a son; and this position Noah showed by his conduct to be his.”

 

CONCLUSION:
Let's make a few points of application. We certainly need to correctly understand what the Bible has to say concerning Noah's faith. Then we need to make proper application. There are so many things we could talk about concerning Noah and the ark. However, I suggest that we apply what we've just talked about in reference to Noah's faith.

God warned Noah about things that have never been seen. God has done the same thing for us. Let's look at a few scriptures. 2 Peter 3:10-12 - “10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12. looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”

Peter is very explicit in showing us that when Jesus comes back, everything will be burned up. It can't be made any clearer than what Peter made it. Have you ever seen any destruction like that? We're familiar with forest fires and the damage they can cause. I think about what happened on 9-11 and there's an image that's burned into my mind. I can't get rid of it. I see the smoke rising over New York City and it seemed to just burn for days and days.

Think about everything, the earth, the elements, everything in the universe being burned up. Have we ever seen anything like that? We haven't. Do we believe that that's going to happen? I do. Why? Because God said so.

Just as God warned Noah about coming destruction, things that had never been seen, He's also warned us of things that have never been seen. I've never seen that type of destruction, but I believe it's going to occur because God has said so.

Let's consider another warning. Those who do not obey the Gospel will be punished. I’m in Second Thessalonians 1 starting in verse 7. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 – “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” I've never seen everlasting destruction, have you? The Bible says it's going to occur. How do we know that these things are going to occur? By the same way Noah knew that the earth would be destroyed by a flood, faith.

We have read what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” That is what Rahab did, remember? That's also what Noah did. He set a wonderful example before us. Noah was warned about things that had never been seen, and he acted on God's warnings.

The Bible gives us some warnings about things that have never been seen and we ought to follow Noah's example and be prepared. Just as fear moved Noah to obey God, fear ought to motivate us to do what God wants us to do.

What does God want us to do to be prepared for that coming destruction? Let’s let Peter tell us about this in 1 Peter 3:20-21 “20. 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. 21. 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,”

When the Lord gave the great commission, He told His apostles to preach the gospel to every creature. He then said, he who believes and is baptize shall be saved. That's what Peter's writing about here, and he's using an illustration from what happened to Noah and his family. There were eight souls prepared for that coming flood. They were in the ark, and they were spared.

To be prepared, we need to follow the Lord's instructions. Noah refused to be like the rest of the world. We emphasized this earlier, and in that sense, he condemned the world. The Bible teaches us that we must not be conformed to the world.

Let's look at Romans 12:1-2 This is the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Rome. “1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Noah refused to be like the rest of the world. The Bible teaches us that we also are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed. Then if we remain faithful unto God, we will receive a very special reward. That's the way that Hebrews 11:7 concludes. “Noah received what he was promised as a reward.” Revelation 2:10 says, “… Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Now let's look at Hebrews 12:1. Throughout Hebrews 11 we read about the faith that was demonstrated by the great men and women of the Old Testament. Noah was just one of them. When we think about Noah's example and the example set by these other great Bible people, we ought to be encouraged to do what this next verse tells us. You see all the information in chapter eleven is leading up to this concluding statement in verse one of chapter twelve which starts with the word “therefore”.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” Noah’s faith ought to encourage us to do what this verse teaches us to do, run with patience the race that is set before us.

These witnesses we have read about interpret to us the meaning of our struggle, and they bear testimony to the certainty of our success if we are faithful to the end of the race.
The weight we carry in our race is anything that slows us down. It is any hindrance which can get in the way, or impede the Christian’s progress. Just as the runner in a race travels as lightly as possible, the Christian must avoid being weighted down with all kinds of worldly duties and commitments. Many of them no doubt worthy – yet one fact is certain, no one can do all that the world wants and be a good Christian too. Far too many children of the King allow their time, talent, and money to be consumed by secondary things. Those things are called "weights," when we understand the effect they have on our dedication to Christ and His cause on earth. This is also true of congregations who let worldly activities take up their resources.

The sin that ensnares us, to halt our running of the race, refers to conduct inherently unrighteous, which is always a mortal enemy of faith.
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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; 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.

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: Raymond Sieg

Thanking Your Way To A Strong Family

Thanking Your Way To A Strong Family
Text Colossians 3:12 – 17

OPEN: Back in the 70’s, a woman wrote an article I found interesting. She said that her cousin had invited them to “Come for a thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, March 20th.”
She stated that: “She was not celebrating an early Thanksgiving. She was saying that all was well with her husband, who had finished a battery of hospital tests.
“In our family,” she said “we sometimes have as many as ten thanksgivings in one year.
Each Thanksgiving marks a happy event such as:
a job promotion,
a graduate degree,
a good medical report.
Sometimes we celebrate with a dinner party,
sometimes with a picnic or outing,
but always with as many members of our clan as we can round up.”
10 Thanksgivings a year… can you imagine what that would do to your diet???
And yet here in Colossians 3:17 we’re told that 10 Thanksgivings a year would NOT be enough for a Christian that tried to follow Paul’s advice: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
In WHATEVER we do… every day of every year… we should be giving thanks. We should be known as a “thankful people”.
In fact, Colossians 2:7 declares “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, OVERFLOWING with thanksgiving.”
And in Ephesians 5:20 we’re told that we should be “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,.”

I. We - as Christians - should be known as a thankful and grateful people.
And that should be true of us in EVERY aspect of our lives. Especially – it should be true in our homes and in how we deal with our families.

ILLUS:A few years ago Dr. Nick Stinnett of the Univ. of Nebraska conducted a series of studies in an attempt to discover what characteristics were common in strong families. He and his researchers discovered SIX qualities.
And the first quality and one of the most important to be found in strong families was that of appreciation. They concluded that families which were strong…
were strong because family members expressed appreciation for what each member DID and for who they WERE.
In a similar study another researcher looked into the effect of praise in the workplace.
His study showed that the ratio of praise to criticism in the workplace needed to be 4 to 1 before employees felt that there is a balance…
that there had be 4 times as much praise as there was criticism before those employees felt good about their work and about the environment they worked in.
This tells us that people need appreciation. They need praise. And they need these things 4 times as often as they receive criticism to have a healthy environment at work or home.
Many families just don’t understand this basic reality

ILLUS: A few years back I read about a man who always teased his wife about her lack of interest in household chores. One day he came home with a gag gift – a refrigerator magnet that read: “Martha Stewart doesn’t live here.”
The next day he came home to find the magnet holding up a slip of paper. The note read: “Neither does Bob Vila.”
Now that was meant as good-humored fun, but there are homes where those kind of comments are not meant to be funny.
They are intended to be offensive.
They are meant to hurt… to cause pain.
Even in the best of homes, there are harsh words and occasional hard feelings.
(pause…) WHY does that happen?
Well, there are a number of reasons why it might… but one of the most basic reasons there are harsh words and hard feelings in a home is when there is a lack of thankfulness. When parents or children forget the blessing that their wife/ husband/ child/ parent actually is to them.

ILLUS: Sometimes it’s only a matter of perspective. One young college woman supposedly wrote home to her mother:
“Dear Mom:
Sorry I haven’t written sooner.
My arm really has been broken.
I broke it,
and my left leg,
when I jumped from the second floor of my dormitory...
when we had the fire. We were lucky.
A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days.
Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory livable again, I moved in with him.
He has been so nice. I must admit that I am pregnant.
Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he breaks up with his current fiancée.
I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance.
Love, Your daughter, Susie
P.S. None of the above is true.
But I did get a “C” in Sociology and flunked Chemistry.
I just wanted you to receive this news in its “Proper Perspective!”

ILLUS: I personally received a lesson in this from my wife.
Back when our grandson Dillon was about 10 years old, we had a dark blue Dodge Caravan. I was proud of it.
But then, one day Dillon wanted to help with the grocery shopping and as we were leaving the store he lost control of the shopping cart and rammed into the right side of the car leaving an inch long scar in the paint.
I was very upset and started yelling at him for the damage he’d done.
Debbie stopped me with these words: “Which is more valuable? Dillon or this van?”
(long pause…) I had to think about that for awhile… but she was right.
You see… thankfulness for my family is often a matter of having the right perspective as to what or who is most important

III. But too often we’re not thankful

ILLUS: Not long ago I overheard a woman telling a friend about her husband - and that wife was not happy.
According to her, her husband was hard to get along with.
He was unreasonable.
He was irresponsible.
From her description it appeared that he was somewhere between being Hagar the Horrible and Dennis the Menace.
It was fairly obvious, from hearing her talk, that she was not thankful for her husband.
Now, I know this woman, and I’m convinced that in her home - for every good comment she made about her husband there would be at least 4 criticisms. She is not a thankful kind of woman.
Why are people so negative?
1st, negative comments are often the way people try to modify someone else’s behavior.
Parents put down their kids
Wives insult their husbands
Husbands criticize their wives…
because they believe that this is the best way to make their displeasure known
and to change the behavior of those they are upset from

And when we “complain” to others –
that is simply our way of trying to enlist support.
It’s our way of trying to get other people onto our bandwagon so that we have extra help in bringing about the change we desire.
2ndly, most of us are just naturally critical by nature. In fact, James comments in chapter 3 verses 9 and 10
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”
In other words, God knows we have unconsciously make critical comments. He knows we tend to have a critical spirit… and so God commands us:
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17)
God knows that we tend to be UNCONSCIOUSLY critical of those around us…
and so He commands us to be consciously thankful for ALL THINGS
This is especially important in our homes… BECAUSE , AS WE STATED EARLIER … a healthy home has an atmosphere where we compliment 4 times more than we criticize

IV. So how do I do develop a thankful spirit in my home?
I mean… what if they don’t deserve my being grateful for them? What if my husband/ wife/ child aren’t as perfect as I’d like them to be?

ILLUS: a man by the name of Frank Fried had an excellent piece of advise:
“Folks, the grass is not greener on that side of the fence.
And the grass is not greener on this side of the fence.
The grass is greener where you water it.”
The way to grow a thankful heart is to turn my heart into a garden of thanksgiving. My heart needs to be a place where I plant the seeds of thankfulness and fertilize and water that garden with constant tending.
In short… you and I need to practice thankfulness. And God says: the best place to start practicing thanksgiving is in His presence.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks TO GOD the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
We need to pray to God and focus on the things we are thankful for about our spouse/ child. So, let’s do that right now. I want all of you to bow and focus on the most difficult person you can think of in your home. And I want you to start today to find something about that individual that you can be thankful for. (PRAY)

V. Now… if I do that on a regular basis… what will change?
Will it change the behavior of my spouse?
Will it change the behavior of my child?
Etc.
I don’t know… but, I do know that using criticism is not the best way to modify people’s behavior.
It is a truism in our society that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. You can change things in this world by being critical and “in your face.” However, if you do that often enough, people begin to find ways of avoiding you. The critical people in this world aren’t much fun to be around.

ILLUS: One pharmacy posted this sign by their service bell:
“Ring once for service,
ring twice for poor service,
ring 3 times for no service at all.”
It is just a truth of life that if I want to want someone to respond kindly to me it helps to express an attitude of gratitude.

ILLUS: I remember one preacher of telling of encountering a woman who worked at the post office who was hard to get along with. She was bossy and somewhat rude and even if he was nice to her, she was still short with him.
At first he was tempted to complain about her treatment of him – both to her and to her superiors but he realized he was God’s servant and that might not come across very well. And so he made up his mind to do a full court press to win her with his charm.
From that day forward, he repeatedly complimented her and thanked her for anything he could think of… and after a few weeks – sure enough - she began to change. She’d smile. She’d find ways of helping him to get around some of the more obscure rules in her department.
His attitude of gratitude changed her heart… and changed her behavior.
But what if that other person doesn’t change? What if they still behave badly and irritate you? Do you get a pass on God’s command to be thankful?
Nope.
It doesn’t matter what the results may be in the lives of those around you. God still commands that you and I be people of thanksgiving.
It’s worth noting that even if we can’t alter the behavior of others by our gratitude… this attitude can still have a powerful benefit in our lives. That benefit? While it may not change other around us… it will change us.

ILLUS: Missionary Benjamin Weir was held hostage in Lebanon and imprisoned under miserable conditions for 16 months. In his first interview after his release,
he was asked how he spent his time and how he dealt with the boredom and despair. His answer stunned the reporters. He simply said, “Counting my blessings.”
“Blessings?” they responded.
“Yes,” he explained. “Some days I got to take a shower. Sometimes there were some vegetables in my food. And I could always be thankful for the love of my family.”
Benjamin Weir discovered the power to overcome his circumstances by learning thankfulness
He was physically in bondage… but spiritually and mentally he was free. Why? Because he had learned to “give thanks to the Father” even in the harshest of circumstances.

CLOSE: The point is this:
We need to be a people who are known for our thankfulness…
· especially in our homes
especially with our wives/ husbands/ children/ parents
Partly because of the change it can bring about in our families, but more importantly because of the change it can bring to our own lives and hearts.

Stand Firm

STAND FIRM
2Thessalonians 2:15 – 17

OPEN: The story is told of a man who was on his way to a costume ball on a Sunday evening. He’d rented a fairly realistic Satan Costume. It was a red suit with a tail and a skintight mask with horns. It was a quality outfit, and … he kind of looked like Satan.
In order to get to the party, he had to walk a fair distance, and was caught in a sudden rainstorm, so he sought shelter in a church building where the service was just ending. Just as he ran into the building, there was a loud clap of thunder, and as the crowd turned to look, a flash of lightening lit up the doorframe.
It was so sudden, and so shocking that the people thought THIS was really Satan, and they panicked and rushed for the exits. But the intruder didn’t realize what was frightening them and thought that maybe the church had been struck with lightning and was on fire… so he raced after them.
Everybody got out… except for one elderly lady. Turning in fear, she stretched out her hands, “Oh devil, please don’t hurt me. I know I’ve been a member of this church for 30 years, but I’ve really been on your side all the time!”
Now… what was that lady saying? She was saying: I surrender, I give up - You WIN! She was afraid that he would hurt her, so she abandoned her faith… and yielded to the enemy.
Now, maybe that’s meant to be a humorous story – it never happened. But too often, there are Christians who literally surrender to Satan. They give up and refuse to stand firm in their faith.
That’s why the Bible repeatedly tells us to stand firm.

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain”;
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong”;
Ephesians 6:13 “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

And, of course our text today says: “Stand firm and hold to the traditions (the teachings) that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15
The Bible is very clear on this - God calls us to stand firm. What’s interesting is that God repeatedly tells us stories of men and women who stood firm.

Moses STOOD before Pharaoh and ultimately led the people of God out of slavery.
The people of Israel STOOD before the walls of Jericho… and the walls fell down.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego STOOD before Nebuchadnezzar’s idol and refused to bow and God delivered them from the fire.

Esther STOOD before the throne of Xerxes and saved the Jews from destruction.
Now, what’s interesting about all those stories is that… that's about all these folks did - they STOOD! Their victory didn’t come by their force of arms (swords/spears, etc.);
Their triumph wasn’t accomplished because of their personal power;
They didn’t win the day because they were influential people. They overcame evil because they trusted in God and they STOOD FIRM.

Edmund Burke said “The only thing necessary for triumph of evil - is for good men to do nothing.” But when Godly people stand firm in the face of evil, evil is frustrated, and evil is defeated.
And so God tells us to stand - stand firm. YOU may be the only person who is able to stand up FOR God in the face of a bad situation so… stand firm.
And oft times – people who stand for God have to stand ALONE. Many of the great heroes and heroines of Scripture faced danger all by themselves.  But it was their courage - in those times of danger - that turned the tide.

ILLUS: I’ve read that in WWII, the Germans nearly won the Battle Of The Bulge. All they needed was just enough time to reach their objectives… but they never got to their destinations quickly enough. The Germans didn’t lose Battle of the Bulge because they faced a huge Allied army. No!
They lost because they kept running into small groups of soldiers who refused to yield. Small companies of men who stood firm because they knew that they were the only ones who could stand against the might of the German war machine. They STOOD FIRM and they STOOD ALONE, and they turned the tide of the battle.
That is what God calls you and I to be willing to do. God calls us to STAND FIRM, even if you have to stand alone. Because everything may depend upon you.

ILLUS: In the book of Esther, an evil man named Haman who hated the Jews so much that he talked the King into passing a Law calling for them to be destroyed.
Esther was approached by her uncle Mordecai to appeal to the King to save her people… but she was afraid.
And Mordecai rebukes her with these words: “If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish.” Esther 4:14
Esther listened to her uncle, and she stood firm before the King and saved her people from destruction.
Many ask the question, “why would a Christian NOT stand firm?”  Why would they back down in the face of opposition?

One reason is that a lot of folks are afraid of standing alone. In fact, there’s actually a name for that kind of fear: Band wagon effect. In sports, the Bandwagon effect describes “fair weather fans”.
Those folks only get on the “bandwagon” and support the team when they are winning.
But amongst psychologists, the Bandwagon effect is described as: “The tendency for people in social and sometimes political situations to align themselves with the majority opinion and do or believe things because many other people appear to be doing or believing the same. I am sure we have ALL heard the phrase: “If EVERYONE else JUMPED off the bridge… would YOU JUMP ALSO?”
Hubie Brown, at a basketball clinic I attended many years ago, gave this advice to all the coaches in attendance that day:
Believe in yourselves and your coaching program and always remember this one thing …
“The dogs may bark, BUT the caravan moves on.” (EXPLAIN)

ILLUS: Abraham Lincoln “Be sure you put your feet in the right place. Then stand firm.”
Back in the day when I would travel with the 8th grade students from Perry Middle School to Washington D.C. we would often play “King Of The POOL!” at our hotel.
One person would stand at the edge of the pool and another kid would try to push them in without falling into the water themselves.
I had learned that – when I placed my feet just so, nobody could push me off the edge w/o going in with me. I put my feet in the right place… and I stood firm.
But (as a Christian) how do I do that? How do I make sure my feet are in the right place so that I can stand firm for God?
Well… our text today says We do that by “holding to the traditions that (we) were taught... in Scripture." 2 Thessalonians 2:15

You see, the Bible is the foundation of our faith. It’s in the Bible that we discover what is right, and what is wrong. God’s not interested in my opinion or yours.
He’s not influenced by churches who ignore sin. He’s not interested in the editorials of a newspaper or in a government law that tries to legalize immorality.
HE IS NOT A GOD WHO CHANGES WITH THE TIMES! You either line up with Scripture… or you’re wrong.  Whatever the Bible says - that’s where we put our feet.

Peter and John were once commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus and do you know what they said? “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20
They refused to back down. They made sure their feet were in the right place and they STOOD FIRM. But notice - Peter and John were respectful.
They didn’t insult the Sanhedrin; They didn’t mobilize a protest. They just said this is where we stand, and we’re not backing down.

Jesus drew a line on where to stand in Matthew 8:3-11
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

This brings us to the final way Christians should STAND FIRM. Earlier in the sermon I quoted I Corinthians 16:13 that said: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
But I didn’t include the next verse which says: “Let all that you do be done in love.” I Corinthians 16:14
When I was younger I was frustrated that there didn’t seem to be any action shows in Movies or on TV that showed Christians beating up on criminals.
In the movies, Steven Seagal played a Buddhist who would literally destroyed gangs of bad guys by himself.
But I don’t remember ONE single CHRISTIAN doing stuff like that. I mean, if we Christians are all about righteousness, you’d think we’d get a TV hero who’d punch somebody in the nose once in a while. But that just didn’t seem to happen!
(PAUSE) And there’s a reason for that. Christianity wasn’t built on violence. There was no school of marital arts ever created by Christians because Jesus didn’t teach us to behave that way.

Now, I’m not trying to say a Christian shouldn’t defend their family, their country, or even themselves. But, by our very nature we should not be violent, cruel or nasty folk. Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) And here in I Corinthians Paul reminds Christians to stand firm - but do it in love. Be respectful. Set your feet and don’t move but don’t even get into arguments

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

The fact of the matter is… God has called us to STAND. To not back off our faith for anyone or anything. To do this gently… but without apologizing for what we believe in.
The world will fight you and evil will oppose you. But when the dust clears you’ll know it was worth the cost.
I want to close with this observation by a writer from America’s Revolutionary times ---Thomas Paine

“The harder the conflict,
the more glorious the triumph.
What we obtain too cheap,
we esteem too lightly;

it is dearness only
that gives everything its value.
I love the man that can smile in trouble,
that can gather strength from distress
and grow brave by reflection.

‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink;
but he whose heart is firm,
and whose conscience approves his conduct,
will pursue his principles unto death.”

CLOSE: So the question you need to think about this morning is this: DO YOU STAND WITH JESUS?
INVITATION