Chardon church of Christ

A Godly Mother

Exodus 2:1-10

INTRO:
Good morning. For the past ten or so decades in the US we have celebrated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Mark will not be with us this morning and it has been sort of a tradition that he speak on holidays. I suppose I am going to break that tradition today and talk about a godly woman that all of us can learn from.

We're grateful for mothers. Where would we be without them? Well, we wouldn't be, and that is God's design. It was His wisdom, His plan for there to be mothers. We're so thankful for that.

We're going to talk about a lady by the name of Jochebed. She's only mentioned twice by name in the scriptures.

Can you think of anyone else in the world that has more potential for a positive influence on a child than a mother? Jochebed was a godly mother who by faith brought God into the life of her son Moses in a great way. I think we can safely say that behind every great man is a mother.

A mother creates a close bond with her children that will last for a lifetime. A mother's influence will be either positive or negative.

A mother has the opportunity, like Timothy's mother, to plant the seeds of faith in a child that can lead to that child living a life for the Lord and being a servant to others. One of life's greatest blessings is to be and to have a godly mother.

Abraham Lincoln declared, “No man is poor who has a godly mother.” Lincoln understood that it was never the money that made the man, but the character of the man that defined him. But where does that character come from? I submit that we often find that character developed from the nurturing, care, and love of our mother. All life begins with our mother, and it is from our mother that we first take in this world. One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a godly parent. That's what we should be striving for.

This morning. I want us to consider the example of a godly mother in the Old Testament taken from the pages of the book of Exodus… the mother of Moses, the human writer of that book. Her name was Jochebed. We're going to first talk about her identity as we look at who she was. She's mentioned in Exodus 2:1-10 but not by name. We learn her name in other places.

I. Read with me if you will, in the second chapter of Exodus, verses one through ten. Exodus 2:1-10 – “1. And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. And her maidens walked along the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children.'' 7. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?'' 8. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go.'' So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.'' So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water.''”[NKJV]

A. Here is the story of the birth of Moses. His mother’s name is not given but we do find her name elsewhere—Exodus 6:20 mentions her by name and also in Numbers 26:59. We don't know a whole lot about her. She's kind of played down, but I think what she did is remarkable. I’ll read Numbers 26:59 – “The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.”

1. In the Hebrew pronunciation, the J takes on a Y sound, yokobed. It means the glory of Jehovah. I think that is fitting, and as we look at her see why I think that.
2. Jochebed was an Israelite, one of God's chosen people, to bring a savior into the world. She was also a member of the tribe of Levi, which would become the priestly tribe that later would do the duties of the Tabernacle and eventually of the Temple.

B. The Scriptures in Genesis 15:13 had prophesied that the children of Israel would be in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. There's no evidence that Jochebed knew that her son would be the one who would lead his people. We don't have any record of God ever speaking to Jochebed like He did to Abraham and to others. She was not among the high and mighty, she was not among the rich and famous. She was just a poor Hebrew slave. What else can we say about her? Though her name is mentioned little, we'll never forget what she did and how God used her to accomplish a great purpose.

II. Nothing will have a more profound influence on the lives of our children than their having a good, godly example in their homes. Our children are bundles of potentiality. We need to develop that while the opportunity is there. It may escape us. It will become too late because children won't wait to grow up. We can't put them on hold. Children must be developed, and nobody born is born a great person. They need to be developed. They must be made persons, great persons,  prayer and instruction.

A. What does a Godly mother look like? She's certainly one who prays and she's one who teaches her children. We read in the Book of Deuteronomy 11:18-21 – “18. "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19. "You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20. "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21. "that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.”
B. A person sets an example by the life that they lead. We see that when Paul talks to Timothy in the Book of Second Timothy 1:5 – where he says, “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice [u-nus], and I am persuaded is in you also.” The influence of a mother and a grandmother cannot be exaggerated. Some one who has a compassionate heart, and stands firm in her faith.
C. Jochebed was a Godly woman who stood by her faith in some very difficult circumstances. Let’s look at what is going on with Jochebed. She faces a great dilemma. She was living in a hostile environment. Jochebed’s life was no bed of roses. She was born in Egypt of the tribe of Levi. She must face the difficulty of slavery, it is the life she is born into.

III. Let’s look at some verses that describe the situation she is in. First, in Exodus 1:8-14 – “8. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9. And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10. "come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.'' 11. Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.” ,

A. The Egyptians were very hard on them. Not only did they build, they also had to take care of the fields. In Exodus 3:7 – “And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” God was aware of what was going on with them. He mentions it again in verse nine where he says, “… behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”
B. Pharaoh was not satisfied with the results of this oppression and so he issued the edict we read about in Exodus 1:15-16 – “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.''”.

1. We know that every child is special in the eyes of God and made in the image of God. Pharaoh didn't have any respect for God's image, and thus he could give an order like he did for those children to be killed.
2. Scripture then tells us that the midwives feared God and did not obey the edict. God protected the midwives and the Hebrews increased.
3. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.'' Verse 22. The Egyptians dreaded the Israelites. They made their lives difficult, and they worked the people mercilessly for no good reason. In hatred and fear of the Hebrews, Pharaoh ordered the Midwives to kill the male babies. When the Midwives didn't do that, he ordered the male infants be cast into the Nile River that was infested with crocodiles.

C. There was great peril with Pharaoh's edict, great danger. Disobedience could easily cost one a life in prison, if not death itself. Jochebed did not allow herself to surrender to the hopelessness of life as a slave in Egypt. That would have been easy to do.

1. We live in a world that's hostile toward Christianity, biblical Christianity, and toward Christians. Though we don't have the overt persecution that the Israelites faced at the hands of the Egyptians. We used to say people were becoming more indifferent to Christianity. Now we find they're becoming more opposed, intolerant and antagonistic toward Christianity in our world and in our nation.
2. We observe that as we see them brazenly promoting the killing of infants in the womb. In their pride, they parade their sexual promiscuity, their perversion, before others.
3. In John 15:18, Jesus said, - “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”
4. Godly people must resist, and they must counter the ways of the world in its intolerance toward Christianity. We must teach against and resist evil.

IV. Let's now talk about Jochebed’s courage. She was a courageous woman. She refused to go with the flow, and she refused to consider her own life, her own comfort and her own convenience and safety. She refused to bow to Egypt's demands.

A. The Bible tells us about her courage. She refused to obey the evil command. She knew the decree that Pharaoh had made. It was a dangerous thing. She knew that her baby's life would be forfeited if she didn't do something… but if she refused and disobeyed she knew that her own life was on the line.
B. We read in Acts 5:29 – “… we’re to obey God rather than men”. What's she going to do? The decree went against everything that was humane and right and moral and good. It's something that she had to deal with, and it's just as repulsive today when we have to deal with things like that.

1. Jochebed fearing God more than she feared man, made a decision that put her life in jeopardy.
2. That decision resulted in saving a nation, and by the way, it gave the world a savior. This woman, who is little known, did something that affected the outcome of the world when she saved her son. She was just a slave, a nobody, but she accomplished great things.

C. Many wonder how a mother could make any other decision? How can a mother ever think of killing her child? We wonder about that, but today, the statistics of abortion rates in the USA alone are staggering.

1. By seeking to preserve Moses’ life, she saved the life of Israel's future lawgiver, leader and the writer of the Book of Exodus.
2. A historian, wrote about a man by the name of Isaac. In his book it says Isaac's birth took place on a cold winter day in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The son of a farmer who died three months before he was born.

a. He was born in 1642 prematurely, and not expected to live. His mother, Hannah, reportedly said that he could have fit inside a quart mug.
b. His mother was having a hard time running the farm and looking after her new baby. The first English Civil War had started in August of 1642 and war was raging around them.
c. Some people today would think it would have been easier for Isaac's mother if she had aborted him. His mother wouldn't consider it.
d. That’s just as well for the world. Isaac grew up to be a scientific genius. Isaac was the one who discovered the law of gravity. He revolutionized mathematics by developing calculus. He improved the telescope. He became famous for his work in physics and mathematics and astronomy. Isaac was the first person to receive knighthood for scientific achievement.
e. When he died in 1727 at the age of 84, the government honored him by burying him in London's famous Westminster Abbey.
f. Certainly it might have been easier for his mother to abort this child who became Sir Isaac Newton, a believer in God, but the world would never have known the greatest scientist who ever lived if she had done that. How many geniuses has the world lost through abortion? We will never know.

V. Well, we’ve talked a little about Jochebed, her identity, her dilemma, and her courage. Let's now talk about her sacrifice as we take a look at some more passages in Exodus. Exodus 2:3 – “But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.” Jochebed cared for Moses for the first 3 months she had him in her possession but the time came when discovery was likely imminent.

A. God's Providence came into play. When she realized she could no longer hide her infant son she made an ark platted with reeds. She placed that cradle with her treasured child in it secretly among the rushes at the river's bank, and told Marian, the young daughter, to stand and watch over the small craft.

1. I want to point out that it's probable that Jochebed thought she would never see her son again. She didn't have any promise she would, but she entrusted her child to God's hands.
2. When I think of Jochebed, I think of many expecting mothers who are pressured by the world to abort their unborn infants. I find that a sad thing. Like Jochebed, there are many mothers who have refused abortion and yet have no choice but to place their children up for adoption. Like Jochebed, they need to turn to God to find a loving home for their child.
3. I know their heart probably breaks at the thought of giving up their baby, but God is honored when they obey the command not to murder them.

B. Effectively Jochebed had put Moses up for adoption. She was not going to be able to raise him all the way, but she had him long enough to give him a start.

1. In Second Corinthians 5:7 we read, – “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” And in Proverbs 29:25 we read – “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”
2. We see this, in action in the life of Jochebed as we look at her sacrifice. We talk about her faith and her refusal to kill the baby. Jochebed had faith in God's protection for her baby. Jochebed fully entrusted her child to God's safekeeping, and God was able to work in that situation because of her faith.

C. She trusted God's Providence as children are being murdered all around her. Think about it. She is living in a society where it's a command of the King to murder all male babies. I wonder if it ever crossed her mind to say, “God, I don't understand why you're allowing this? But in what you have planned I trust you. Here is my son, I entrust him to you.”
D. I know we need to trust our children to God and do things His way. If we want God to work in our lives and in the lives of our families, then we need to place our faith in Him and put our faith into action. That's the kind of faith that God accepts and it pleases him. God will not and cannot work in our lives without us placing our trust in Him, which includes our actions based on what we believe.
E. In Hebrews 11:6 – “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.”

VI. Let's talk now about her reward. The Bible tells us she gave up what she could not keep, and she received back more than what she gave.

A. We see that in the book of Exodus 2:5-8 – “5. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. And her maidens walked along the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children.'' 7. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?'' 8. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go.'' So the maiden went and called the child's mother.”

1. It wasn't an accident that Pharaoh's daughter saw this beautiful baby boy and heard his cry and that she had compassion on him. She was touched by what she saw though she knew this was one of the Hebrew's children.
2. I like the fact that she had a tender heart, that she wasn't prejudiced. It was God's sovereign Providence that caused Pharaoh's daughter to save Moses and to even ask Jochebed to nurse him. She went against her father's will. She had a good streak.
3. I wish we knew more about her, but we know enough to know that she was the one who saved Moses and that God used her in that regard. Not only was Jochebed’s infant saved, but she was paid to take care of him. How about that? She got paid to nurse her own child.

B. The Bible tells us that God honored Jochebed’s faith by catapulting Moses into a position from a death sentence to a Royal place in the household of the King of Egypt. God always rewards an obedient faith, and certainly the measure of our faith is demonstrated by our obedience.

1. It was Jochebed’s love, her faith, and her courage that saved her child from a cruel death and preserved him so that he could bless the world.
2. She was a godly mother. She laid a foundation for Moses during the first years of his life. She was used by God during those early formative years in preparing Moses for the grand calling that he was going receive some 80 or so years in the future, to lead his people out of Egyptian bondage.
3. Living a godly life before him doubtlessly had a profound influence, as evidenced in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 has several verses about Moses but I note the first one Hebrews 11:23 – where it says, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command.” The next few verses talk about the faith of Moses and what he accomplished.

C. In those passages it says, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” That's talking about Christ. He saw Christ through the eye of faith many centuries into the future.

VII. We teach our children, and the Bible also says we are to train them Proverbs 22:6. There is a difference in teaching and training. We can teach a computer class in a classroom that doesn't have a computer in it. We can teach them through charts and books and lectures, but until you set a child down to a computer and you work with that child and you start giving them exercises, hands on training, they are not going to be fully educated in computers. Yes, it's possible to be taught without being trained, but we are also to train our children.

A. Moses could have accepted the position of Pharaoh's grandson. But when he grew up, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

1. Do you see how God is mocking Pharaoh? He raises up a deliverer, He raises up a savior right there under Pharaoh's nose, right in his own house.
2. On one side for Moses, there were the treasures of Egypt, which he could have had now in this life. On the other side were the glories of Jesus, which he could only see through the eye of faith, and which he could only have in the next life. He faces the decision between what he can have now or what he can have in the next life. He made the right choice. He esteemed Christ greater treasure than the wealth of Egypt.

B. We need to show our children the riches of Jesus. I want to point out that Moses’ parents were not afraid of the King's command, and they lived in perilous times, exceedingly fierce, and we live in perilous times. A lot of Americans have lost their faith in God. Satan has plenty of agents that are trying to influence us to help our children lose faith through the Godless views of humanism.

1. Even infiltrating churches, you see evidence of it. When churches ignore the Bible and encourage various forms of idolatry, and immorality is advocated in the humanist manifesto… by their fruit, you shall know them. These churches, which parade as Christianity, are dispensers of humanism with a little bit of Christianity thrown in here and there to confuse and deceive.
2. Humanism is camouflaged as something good. Prayer and Bible reading are under attack. Evolution is promoted… but not an intelligent designer. Amoral sex education is taught and promoted apart from biblical values. This only works to harm our children.
3. The alcohol industry spends millions on advertising every year aimed at our youth. TV sitcoms laugh at sexual perversion and drunkenness. The devil knows that what we laugh at, we cannot take seriously again. Movies and music are filled with messages of promiscuity and rebellion and drugs and alcohol.
4. Moses’ parents looked past the King of Egypt and to the King of Kings. That's what they were preparing for and so can we. God took that little Ark, and he made it a battleship to sink the mighty Kingdom of Pharaoh. I’d like to point out the irony that It was Pharaoh who wanted the babies drowned in the water but it was Pharaoh's Army that drowned in the Red Sea.

CONCLUSION:
Jochebed may have never realized the important role that she was playing in God's plan, but she changed the course of history. All honor to the women of all ages who fear the Lord. Mothers who love God, and raise their children in that love, can have a great effect on the world. Who had a more lasting and powerful influence? The Great Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut [haat•shuhp•soot], one of the most prolific builders of ancient Egypt, or Jochebed, the mother of Moses? As we study scripture and consider the life of Moses, we are also observing the influence of a godly mother.

Moses had an incredible value system. His value system was so great that when God wanted to destroy the Israelites, Moses volunteered to be destroyed and let the Israelites live. Where did he learn that kind of love and that kind of value system? I strongly suspect that Jochebed put something in his heart that all the teachers in Egypt could not take away.

Though he was instructed in all the ways of the Egyptians, all the wisdom of Egyptians, someone else taught and trained him in the ways of God… his mother.

Finally, when we think about Moses, we think about the hymn that says Trust and obey, there's no other way. Truly, God wants us to trust and obey. We've got to have that kind of faith, a faith that will act… faith with action. It's not trust if you're unwilling to obey. That's not trust if you just say, I believe it, but I'm not going to do it.

Are you trusting God and working things in His way today? Is He the Lord of your life? For Him to be your Savior, He must first be your Lord. A lot of people want Him as a Savior, but they don't want Him as Lord. Accepting Jesus as Lord means responsibilities and obedience and there are many who resist that fact.

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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.

# 644 – Trust and Obey

 

Reference Sermon: Richard Blackford

First Love

Revelation 2:1-7

INTRO:
Good morning. I thought I would take this opportunity for an aside from Acts and look at something from the book of Revelation. This actually came from a question that came up as we studied in Acts.

But first I’d like to start with a quick story. After worship service a wife patiently reminded her husband to put on his hat and coat before leaving. Overhearing the exchange, the preacher remarked to her; “Rather absent-minded, is he?” The wife replied; "Extremely so, the other night when we got home he knew there was something he wanted to do, but he couldn't remember what it was until he had spent over an hour trying to think." "And did he finally remember it?" asked the preacher. "Yes” she said, “He remembered that he wanted to go to bed early."

As we age, change happens, doesn’t it? Have you changed as you aged? We would all have to say yes – physically, emotionally, and maybe even spiritually. What about churches – do they change as they age?

Where can we go to find a description or evaluation of any of the churches of the first century (NT churches)? The book of Acts where we have been studying for sure, but those are mostly describing the beginnings of the churches. What about later? How did those churches do in the long run?

The seven churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation represent the types of churches that are generally present throughout the N.T. They, no doubt, had similar people, assets, and problems. Five of the seven churches (Smyrna and Philadelphia being the exceptions) were rebuked for tolerating sin in their midst, not an uncommon occurrence in churches ever since. The words we find here could be easily reproduced in our own time and addressed to many churches that we may know – even this one.

• Each of the seven addresses begins with, “I know your works.”
• Each contains a promise, “To him who overcomes.”
• Each end with “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Our focus today is on the oldest church of the 7. It was from the evangelistic efforts of the church in Ephesus that some of these other congregations came to be. It is only fitting that Jesus would evaluate them first. By the time of this letter, four decades had passed since the Ephesian church’s tumultuous birth. The apostle Paul was gone, as were many of the first generation of believers converted under his ministry. This church had experienced changes. How had these changes affected the body?

Read with me Revelation 2:1-7 – “1. "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, `These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2. "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3. "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. 4. "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5. "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. 6. "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'' '”

I. Who is speaking here? We will begin our study of these verses with the identification of the One who is speaking to the church in Ephesus. Revelation 2:1 says; `These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:’ Although He is not named directly here, we can easily recognize the speaker as the Christ.

A. Jesus’ self-description is taken from John’s vision in Revelation 1:13-18 – “13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14. His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18. "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

1. As Jesus walked among the lampstands (i.e. the churches) he held the stars (authority) of those churches in His right hand. He had every right to evaluate and bring judgment upon these congregations because they belong to Him.
2. There is also in this, a picture of Jesus’ love and concern for these churches. He walks among them to protect them – give them the oil they need to continue burning – trim the wick to make them brighter.

II. What He Commends: What did Jesus see at Ephesus that pleased Him? Revelation 2:2-3,6 – ‘2."I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3."and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary…. 6."But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

A. The Greek word for “know” here is eidō [ay-do] which indicates knowledge – Jesus does not have to come to see – He already knows everything about this church – and us!
B. When Jesus commends this church what did He see that was right about it?

1. “Works”, (ergon) – this indicates that this was a working church. The same word is used in Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
2. “Labor” (kopos) means labor to the point of sweat and exhaustion. They were willing to work hard for Christ. They were no doubt teaching the lost and edifying one another as Paul had done when he was among them.
3. “Patience” – (hypomonē) is patience in trying circumstances. Strong defines it as a hopeful, enduring patience. Thayer says it is “the characteristic of a man who is not deflected from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings”. This commendation indicates that, despite their difficult circumstances, the Ephesian believers remained faithful to their Lord.
4. “Can not bear those who are evil” – The Lord says that this church “could not tolerate evil men”. Following the example of Paul, they held a high standard of morality and doctrine. They were sensitive to sin in the lives of the members. In Ephesians 4:27 – “nor give place to the devil.” Paul had warned them not to give the devil a place or foot hold and they were practicing that effectively.
5. “You have tested” (peirazō) – They were willing to put their teachers to the test. They were aware of the danger of false teachers and false apostles. We noticed earlier that Paul warned the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20 about the coming influence of false teachers. Acts 20:29-31 - “29. "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30. "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31. "Therefore watch…”

i. In his second epistle, John warned that “many deceivers have gone out into the world” (2 John 7) and cautioned believers, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;” (2 John 10).
ii. The early church father Ignatius, writing not long after John penned the book of Revelation, also commended the Ephesians for their vigilance: “You heed nobody beyond what he has to say truthfully about Jesus Christ… I have heard that some strangers came your way with a wicked teaching. But you did not let them sow it among you. You stopped up your ears to prevent admitting what they disseminated” (on Ephesians 6.2; 9.1; cited in Richardson, Early Christian Fathers, 89, 90).

6. “Hate” (miseō) – in verse 6 Jesus adds the specific commendation for this church you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. It might surprise us to see hate being commended. First, we must note that they “hate the deeds”. God hates all sin and expects His people to hate it as well. We can not get comfortable with evil doctrine of immorality or become desensitized to the sin we see around us.

i. We know very little for certain about the Nicolaitans (they are mentioned later in the letter to the church in Pergamos). Beyond that there is nothing, and anything we find is outside scripture. From various writings it seems to refer to an apostate group who led others to commit immorality.
ii. Merrill C. Tenney, professor of New Testament and Greek studies says… “the teaching of the Nicolaitans was an exaggeration of the doctrine of Christian liberty which attempted an ethical compromise with heathenism”
iii. Irenaeus wrote of the Nicolaitans that they “lived lives of unrestrained indulgence”
iv. Clement of Alexandria added that the Nicolaitans “abandon themselves to pleasure like goats… leading a life of self-indulgence” (cited in Barclay, The Revelation of John, 1.67).

7. The Ephesian church was not taken in by this heresy.

C. Let’s recap then, all that was going right in this church at Ephesus:

1. They were a working church.
2. They were disciplined and discerning in doctrine.
3. They had endured hardship without growing weary.
4. They were persevering through troubles.

III. What Jesus Rebukes: Then in Revelation 2:4 – “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Despite the good things that Jesus has said about this church, this is a serious flaw. In the first chapter of his letter to this church, Paul says in Ephesians 1:15 – “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16. do not cease to give thanks for you… ”. That was years before. Things had changed in Ephesus. What does it mean for a church to leave its first love?

A. They had allowed their love for Jesus and each other to grow cold. What brought them to Christ no longer motivated their activities. Even though their works were right, and they were even willing to bear reproach to uphold the truth, they lacked the essential reason God had provided.

1. When we consider love, we cannot help but think of Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians about the primary place of love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – “1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”
2. It is possible to do the right things for the wrong reason or even without reason at all. Serving God has a necessary emotional component. WHY becomes a harder question for us to ask than WHAT or HOW.

i. Let me give an example: A person who begins teaching a Bible class or giving to a ministry out of a love and zeal for Christ, later only stays with this work because no one else will take the job.
ii. Another example, Christians who now attend worship out of an obligation to family, or because others would be upset – but they do not do it out of love anymore.
iii. How about at home? Marriages can continue to exist, even after the love has grown cold. The activities are mechanical and unfulfilling. Churches can prove to be sound in doctrinal matters, but dead and cold in their love for God and each other.

3. A loveless obedience is a real threat among those who strive to do the right things, and do not tolerate evil. One author offers this observation: “Every virtue carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. It may indeed be possible that desire for sound teaching and the resulting forthright action taken to exclude all imposters, can create a climate of suspicion in which brotherly love might no longer exist… Good works and pure doctrine are not adequate substitutes for that rich relationship of mutual love shared by persons who have just experienced the redemptive love of God.”

i. One must be careful with this sort of comment because it seems to imply that it was their very loyalty to the faith that resulted in their lapse. Their hatred of heresy "bred" their defection; and that cannot be true. God’s pure word produces pure faith and love.
ii. It was "their leaving their first love, who is Christ." A failure in the Christian's heart of their love for Christ results quickly in the other failures. Their actions, their defense of the faith, had become action for action’s sake rather then action born out of love for the One who first loved us and gave Himself for us.

4. We must stand against evil and desire sound teaching. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 - “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”
5. Of course, we must oppose a brother, who teaches error, yet our stand must be taken with care remembering that who we love first is Christ. Paul tells the Galatians in Galatians 6:1 – “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

IV. What Jesus Commands: Revelation 2:5 – “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.”

A. Remember is the first word here. It is noteworthy that Jesus’ solution starts with the command to remember. When the love goes out of a marriage, the counselor may ask the couple to remember why they married each other in the first place – recall the emotion, the commitment, the willing sacrifice. What was good about the other person?

1. What is good about Jesus? Why do we love Him? God wants us to remember, so we do not lose our love.
2. Repent: They needed to repent in a deliberate rejection of their sins, because to fail to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength is sin. Matthew 22:36-38 says – “36. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'' 37. Jesus said to him, " `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38. "This is the first and great commandment.” Without a willingness to humbly repent, there is not hope of recovery from such a critical error.
3. Speaking of what Jesus said in Matthew 22 what did He say next in verse 39? “And the second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”

B. Do the first works: Finally, they needed to demonstrate the genuineness of their repentance and do the deeds they did at first. They needed to recapture the richness of Bible study, devotion to prayer, and passion for worship that had once characterized them. The church’s cold love for God may have become evident in their disregard for each other. Start serving God in love and then you will start serving each other again. Put first things first.

V. What He Promises: Revelation 2:5 – “or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.” Revelation 2:7 – “… To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

A. As critical as their sin was, it was not too late. If they repent, God will forgive. If they do not repent, Jesus will come quickly and remove their candlestick.

1. This coming of Jesus is not His second coming, but a coming judgment on this church. The final coming of Christ in the Judgment to come will occur, irrespective of any group's repenting or not. Although we are accountable as individuals, a church can lose its lampstand. What does that mean?
2. First, we must recognize that this is something that only Jesus could do. The lampstand from the image in chapter 1, represents the place of the church in the mission to bring the light of God to the world. It represents the church’s place with Jesus.
3. A church can lose its lampstand while it yet exists. Burton Coffman puts it this way… “This does not refer to any total destruction of a church or of a city, but to the removal of the impenitent from any effective status as a lampstand of the truth in Jesus Christ. Many a church has continued to enjoy life on earth long after their utility as an effective instrument for spreading the gospel of Christ has perished. Such churches have indeed had their "lampstand" removed.”
4. This promise emphasizes again that it is Jesus who holds the sovereignty. Our life as a church exists in His mind, not ours. We may be listed in every directory, but missing from among the lampstands tended by Christ.

B. Then Verse 7 does indeed seem to point to the Judgment to come. Notice that this promise is personal and individual, not corporate. To each one who overcomes, he will be able to eat from the tree of life.

CONCLUSION:
We see from reading John’s last book - the status of the churches. I can not help but wonder, where will this church be in the years to come? Will we still be here? A few things are certain:
• We will experience change,
• Satan will not quit trying to destroy us
• If we do not abandon Him, God will see us through whatever comes.

He is our first love. We must not leave Him.
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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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Reference Sermon: Dave Schmidt – 4/15/2018

Decisions, Decisions!

Acts 26:1-32

INTRO: Good morning, Church. In our study of the Book of Acts we have been on an incredible journey, especially in these last few chapters following the apostle Paul’s trials and tribulations. He had been passed from pillar to post, but he never lost sight of the fact that God was in control of his life, if he remained faithful to the task of witnessing for Christ.

Last time in Acts, we saw God was helping Paul through many different people. Even when some Jewish leaders were bent on getting rid of Paul and plotted to take his life multiple times, God was protecting him. We left Paul before Festus and he made an appeal to speak to Caesar himself. He never gave up, even when he was being passed around from one courtroom to another.

I heard an old story about a small boy with his father, who were in an elevator going up in the Empire State Building. As they flashed by the 66th floor, the child, in considerable anxiety, clasped his father's hand, and in a whisper, said, "Does God know we are coming?" God certainly knows who’s going where and even though Caesar didn’t know the apostle Paul was coming to Rome, God assuredly did.

I. Before God gets Paul to Rome, he has some unfinished business in yet another courtroom. We pick up Paul’s story again in Acts 26 and it’s here we find Paul making his defense before King Agrippa. Acts 26:1-5 – “1. Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself.'' So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: 2. "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, 3. "especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. 4. "My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5. "They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”[NKJV]

A. You will recall that Festus is the representative of Rome and had the full authority of Rome behind him. But here Luke tells us that it was Agrippa who told Paul he was permitted to speak.

1. With an outstretched hand Paul began by saying he was happy to make his defense before the king, especially because King Agrippa would have been familiar with Jewish teachings and customs.
2. I suspect Paul must have had a long talk in mind since he begged the king to be patient.
3. Paul goes on and talks about his citizenship. He reminds the king that he was brought up in Jerusalem and was well known among the Jews. In fact, he was so well known among the Jews, Paul says; why not ask those who are accusing me today?
4. I suspect indeed some of his accusers may well have remembered the zealous young Pharisee in his youth. They would have remembered Saul, as he was known back then, during his time as a persecutor.

B. Isn’t it amazing what people choose to remember? Decisions, decisions, what do we select to remember?

1. I know all of us at some point in our lives have had bad experiences whether they are church related or not. I’ve heard it said that much of our memory is our choice. We select things to dwell on and then reinforce those memories by going over them again and again.
2. Yes, we may have had a bad experience in the past with some people, but not all our experiences were all bad. I’m sure there would have been some great times of friendship and love, perhaps even with those same people.
3. What I’m saying is we need to choose wisely, focus, and remember those good times. Because speaking from experience, if you dwell on the bad things, they can eat away at you and stop you from moving on.

C. Note the words of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 – “13. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul says forget what’s happened in the past and move forward.

II. Remember in Acts 24:21 we saw that Paul said he was being judged for his hope in the resurrection. Now let’s look at what Paul tells Agrippa he was being judged for. Acts 26:5-8 – “5. "They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6. "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7. "To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8. "Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?”

A. Have the charges been changed without anyone knowing about it? Is Paul changing his argument? Paul says, he was now being judged “for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.” Paul is referring to the hope of the resurrection of the dead as proved by the resurrection of Christ.

1. In fact Paul taught that the hope of Israel was to be found only in and through Jesus of Nazareth. This, of course, infuriated many of the Jews; but that seemed to Paul an incredible behavior on their part.
2. Imagine you live in the city and Sunday morning you are waiting at the stop for the Mayfield bus to come to take you for worship. You ask the elderly gentleman next to you ‘when does the Mayfield bus arrive?’ He says ‘in about five minutes.’

a. Seeing you have a few of minutes to spare you focus your attention on how you look, making sure your hair is nice, check your clothes haven’t got any wrinkles in them, and that your shoes are nice and clean.
b. When you have checked yourself repeatedly you ask the kind gentlemen next to you, ‘how long now before the Mayfield bus arrives?’ He says, “oh you just missed it.” The reason you missed the bus was because you were so focused on yourself, you forgot to look up for the bus.

3. That is a silly illustration of course, but as silly as that illustration sounds that’s exactly what the Jews did, they didn’t have a few minutes, they had hundreds of years to wait for the Messiah they were promised, and they missed Him because they were so focused on all the technicalities, they forgot to look up.

a. Paul says that this very hope was sought by all the tribes of Israel. In fact, he said their daily earnest service to God was based upon that very hope. Paul couldn’t understand the charge because the very essence of that hope was the basis of the Jews' accusations against him.
b. They had missed the Messiah, and they didn’t even understand their own argument.

B. Someone once gave this little piece of advice, if you ever get into a debate with anyone about any issue, always argue using scripture. It surprises me when people, even Christians, try and make a point about something and they throw Scripture at you but that same Scripture never seems to apply to them.

1. It never ceases to amaze me when people quote Scripture to you, yet it seems to have a different meaning when it is applied to them.
2. The Jews knew about the Messiah, they knew about the hope they had in the resurrection of dead, but they forgot the Scriptures applied to them too.
3. They seem to have forgotten the power of God. I suspect that’s why Paul asked King Agrippa, "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?”
4. Because Paul asked this specific question, it shows us that his accusers were primarily of the Sadducees, who if you remember, didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead which is a shame.

III. Paul now moves on to his time as a persecutor of the Lord’s church. Acts 26:9-11 – “9. "Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10. "This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11. "And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”

A. Paul says he took actions to stop the teaching about Jesus and His followers, because he was convinced that is what God wanted him to do. Just as Agrippa's family had pursued an end to the life of Jesus, Paul had pursued an end to the teachings of Jesus.

1. He says that many of those saints were shut up in prison in Jerusalem because of his actions.
2. When Paul says, "When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them." What he is saying here is that as a member of the Sanhedrin he voted to condemn them.
3. As we know he didn’t stop there. He punished them in every synagogue. He even went to cities outside of Jerusalem to get them to speak against the name of Jesus.
4. Paul is saying, don’t tell me what the Jewish beliefs are. I know them. You don’t need to tell me how zealous you should be against anyone who teaches anything against our forefather’s teachings. I was.

B. Paul describes himself in Philippians 3:5-6 – “5. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6. concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Paul says when it came to being a Jew, he was right at the top with the best of them.

IV. Agrippa must have been a patient man as Paul continues with his defense in Acts 26:12-18 – “12. "While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13. "at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14. "And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15. "So I said, `Who are You, Lord?' And He said, `I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16. `But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17. `I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18. `to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'”

A. We will not dwell too much on this because we have studied Paul’s road to Damascus experience a few times already in this study of the Acts. Here Paul shares the account of his conversion and his purpose for that conversion.

1. To further make his point to Agrippa, he tells him that on his way to Damascus in pursuit of even more Christians, He saw a great light, which was brighter than the sun coming out of heaven at midday and surrounding him and his companions.
2. After the group fell to the ground, a voice spoke to him in Hebrew, saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Naturally, Paul asked the Voice to identify Himself and the Voice identified Himself as Jesus of Nazareth.
3. This Jesus of Nazareth told him to stand up because He intended for him to minister and witness for Him both as to the things he had seen and would see. The Lord went on and promised to protect Paul from harm coming either from the Jews or the Gentiles, to whom he was being sent, and we have seen that very powerfully in our study.

B. Then in verse 18, just in case Agrippa wondered what Paul’s purpose was, Paul tells him his purpose was to open their eyes to their own sinfulness.

1. To show them the way of receiving forgiveness of sins and the great inheritance available to those set apart by their faith in Jesus.
2. Paul, as you can imagine is now in full flow sermon mode and like all good preachers, he knows when it’s time to get to the point.

V. Acts 26:19-21 – “19. "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20. "but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21. "For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.”

A. Paul could not disobey a voice from heaven, so he preached the gospel in Damascus and Jerusalem, both to the Jews and Gentiles. Paul raises an important point here, the necessity of repentance, a turning toward God and living a life showing the works of repentance.

1. We all know the importance of repentance before a person becomes a Christian.
2. Please don’t ever think that that is the one and only time you ever need to repent. Christians are a repentant people and when they sin they need to confess those sins to God, and repent.
3. We can tell each other that we have repented of a sin but we’re not fooling anyone except ourselves if our actions aren’t backing up our confession.

B. This is an important point and as Christians we need to be passionate about this. For one thing, I get a little frustrated when I get emails asking me to ‘say a little prayer and invite Jesus into my heart and I will be a Christian’. There is no mention of believing, confession, or baptism, never mind the word repent. I also get a little frustrated when people say they are sorry about this or that but their actions clearly tell me a different story.

1. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 – “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” In other words, repentance produces fruit. Repentance is proven by the actions which follow. Repentance is not sorrow for sin, it is a change of the will, with regard to sin.
2. It’s more than feeling sorry for ourselves. Worldly sorrow is the kind of sorrow and fretting that focuses on ourselves – what I did wrong, how bad I am, why I can’t stop. This kind of grief gets us nowhere. Through he was sorrowful for his actions, Judas committed suicide.
3. Repentance, the change of will, is a clear demonstration to God and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, that you are sorry for your sin.
4. When Paul was in Athens, he said in Acts 17:30 – “… these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,”
5. If that offends anyone we do not need to be sorry because Jesus Himself said in Luke 13:3 – “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

C. If repentance is a part of the gospel message, if repentance is a command which we are commanded to do every time we sin against God or our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we need to keep it in the gospel message. We need show our repentance in our actions.

In Scotland, six miles north-west of Dumfries and Galloway is Trailtrow Hill. On that hill is a watch tower named "Repentance" when it was built.
What gave the tower its name we are not told, but it is said that an English baronet, walking near the castle, saw a shepherd boy lying upon the ground, reading attentively.
"What are you reading, lad?"
"The Bible, sir."
"The Bible, indeed!" laughed the gentleman.
"Then you must be wiser than the parson. Can you tell me the way to heaven?"
"Yes, sir, I can," replied the boy, in no way embarrassed by the mocking tone of the other; "you must go by way of yonder tower."
The gentleman saw that the boy had learned right well the lesson of his book.
Being rebuked, he walked away in silence.

D. We all, every person on earth, has a decision to make, repent and live or don’t repent and die. That’s John’s point in 1 John when he talks about the sin that leads to death. Any sin which isn’t confessed and repented of will lead to death. I know that the word repent not only silences some people but it also upsets some, but that is nothing new, is it?

1. At the core of those Jewish people who were trying to get rid of Paul were those who could not tolerate the idea of the need for repentance and rejected the idea of the resurrection.
2. I find it of note that it is the Sadducees, those of secular Israel, who totally rejected Christ, leading the way.

E. Paul being the devote Christian that he was gave credit where credit was due. We are now at Acts 26:22-23 – “22. "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come, 23. "that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.''”
F. Paul said, it was only by God's help that he was still alive to tell Agrippa that Moses and the prophets had said the Christ would suffer, rise from the dead, and spread the good news among Jews and Gentiles.

1. He wasn’t alive speaking to Agrippa because he was an eloquent speaker, he was still alive because God had a purpose for him.
2. He gave credit where credit is due. We need to do the same. It is important to thank God today for the life He has given us.

VI. After a long time speaking with the king, Festus has heard enough. Acts 26:24-27 – “24. Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!'' 25. But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. 26. "For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. 27. "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.''”

A. Luke tells us that Festus interrupted with a loud declaration that Paul had gone crazy from too much learning. Festus showed the total lack of spiritual discernment which is always the mark of the carnal man. A typically cynical subaltern of Rome, he decided to break up the meeting. I wonder if he even noticed that his royal guests were getting the message.

1. Paul replied by simply and respectfully saying he was not crazy but spoke the truth.
2. Paul uses his opportunity to speak in his defense to focus more on trying to convert his judges. The apostle went on to note that the events surrounding and following Jesus' life were done in the open for all to see and had been well known to King Agrippa.
3. He then asked Agrippa if he believed the prophets. Paul answered for him, perhaps sensing, or through the Spirit knowing what the King was thinking, of course he believed the prophets.

CONCLUSION:
Agrippa recognized that Paul was using a concise argument intended to persuade him to follow Jesus as the Christ. Acts 26:28-29 – “28. Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian.'' 29. And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.''”

God gave us free will, the power of choice, and that implies the need to make decisions.
Luke tells us that Paul expressed his true desire that Agrippa, along with everyone else who heard his voice, would be converted to the point of zealously following the Lord just as he did. That should be the goal of every single Christian.

Yes, we have friendships. Yes, we have people we just say hi to, but underneath all of that there should be a desire within every one of us, for them to become what we are… Christians.

Every now and then people will realize this and do one of two things. They will either want to know more, or they will walk away. That was the choice which Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice had to make.
Acts 26:30-32 – “30. When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; 31. and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, "This man is doing nothing worthy of death or chains.'' 32. Then Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.''”

Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice left the room concluding that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or chains. In fact, King Agrippa stated that Paul could have been released had it not have been for his appeal for the case to be heard by Caesar.

Yes, they left the room, but Paul had seized the moment, and the seed was sown. The decision was theirs to make. These people knew where Paul was brought up, they knew what he was like as a young person, they knew what he was like as a Jew, and they knew what he was like before becoming a Christian.

There are many people in our lives who know certain things about our past just as Paul was known. Like with Paul they also need to see the transforming power of the gospel in our lives as Christians now. We’re not born Christians, we are born again Christians.

It should be the prayer of every single Christian that all of our friends, family, neighbors and enemies, that in the short time or long, they too will be become what we have become.

Remember we have already made our decision to follow Jesus, it’s our friends, family, neighbors, and enemies who need to decide for themselves who they want to follow.
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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.

If anybody needs to respond, either to dedicate themselves to Christ, be buried with Him in baptism, and become a part of the work He has for us; or if you need to ask for prayers on your behalf, won’t you come forward as we stand and sing our Invitational song.

 

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Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

Lessons From THe Tomb

Matthew 27: 57 – 66

A man was driving along the highway when saw a very large and very colorful rabbit hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the rabbit but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of the car and was struck by his car. The driver, being a sensitive man, as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to check out the situation. Much to his dismay, the colorful rabbit was dead. The driver felt so awful, he began to cry.

A woman driving down the highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong. 'I feel terrible', he explained, 'I accidentally hit this big, colorful rabbit and killed it. What should I do?'

The woman told the man not to worry. She knew what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the dead, limp rabbit, and sprayed the contents of the can onto the furry animal. Miraculously the rabbit came to life, jumped up, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped down the road. After traveling about 50 feet away the rabbit stopped turned around, waved and continued hopping down the road. After another 50 feet or so, he turned again, waved and hopped another 50 feet, again he waved.

The man was astonished. He couldn't figure out what substance could be in the woman's spray can. He ran over to the woman and asked, 'What is in your spray can?
The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said:
'Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.'

This morning I would like to look at the 27th chapter of Matthew and a few lessons we can learn from the tomb of Jesus.

The disciples must have been devastated. They had been inspired by Jesus’ teachings. And they had decided to follow Him. It had not been an easy road, but they had willingly left families, homes, & jobs to follow Jesus.

As they walked with Him they had seen amazing things. They had seen Him multiply a few loaves & fishes & feed the multitudes. They saw Him walk on water, & calm an angry storm.
They saw Him straighten crooked limbs & give sight to the blind. He even raised the dead back to life again. Truly, He was the Messiah that God had promised would come!

And a week prior, when He entered Jerusalem. People lined the streets and you could hear their jubilant “Hosannas” & watch as they waved palm branches & threw flowers before Him. Everything confirmed that THEY had followed the RIGHT man.

But now He is dead. How could they have been SO WRONG? What would they do now?
What do you do when your heart is filled with despair?
What do you do when your world falls apart?

Well, what did happen? And what lessons can we apply to our lives today? Our scripture text this morning is Matthew 27:57-66.
I. THE SCENE AT THE TOMB
A. To begin with, the Bible tells us that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus.
Listen to vs’s 57-58. “As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
“Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body,
and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.”
What do we know about this man named Joseph? We don’t know much, but we do know some things about him.

1. First of all, he was from Arimathea, a small town about 20 miles from Jerusalem. As towns go, Arimathea wasn’t very important, but Joseph himself evidently was.
In fact, Mark 15:43 tells us he was “...a prominent member of the Council...” (That’s the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial authority of Israel who had illegally condemned Jesus to death).
But Luke 23:51 says that he was “...a good & upright man, who had not consented to their decision & action.”

2. Secondly, Matthew tells us that he was rich. I don’t know about you, but sometimes we act as if we think that Jesus came to minister only to those who are poor & down & out.
But Jesus Himself said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.” (John 12:32) He came to minister not just to the poor but to the rich, also. TO ALL MEN!!!

3. Thirdly, Joseph had an acquaintance named Nicodemus who helped him bury Jesus. Listen to John 19:39, “He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh & aloes, about 75 pounds.”

Matthew 27:59-60 goes on to say, “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, & placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb & went away.”
So Joseph & Nicodemus together buried Jesus. They shared the cost. Joseph paid for the tomb, & Nicodemus paid for the burial spices. Why did they do this?

4. The apostle John gives a reason when he writes in John 19:38,
“Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.”
ILL. That reminds me of the little boy who had adopted a stray dog. Someone asked, “What kind of dog is that?” He answered, “He’s a police dog.” The man said, “He doesn’t look like a police dog.” The boy answered, “That’s because he’s in the secret service.”

There are some Christians who seem to be in the secret service, following Jesus at a distance. They want to be His disciples, but like Joseph of Arimathea, they’re not sure they want everyone else to know. So they keep their faith secret.
Maybe now, when it was too late, Joseph & Nicodemus were trying to make amends, by doing the only thing left to do - bury the body of Jesus.

B. But Joseph & Nicodemus weren’t the only ones at the tomb. Vs. 61 says, “Mary Magdalene & the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.”

Do you realize that Jesus acted differently toward women than the average Jewish man? He treated women with respect. He acknowledged the presence of women. He spoke to them in public. No rabbi or Pharisee would have done that!
So, two women were there. They had been with others at the cross, weeping as He died. And now they were there as He was being buried.

C. Enemies of Jesus came to the tomb also.
Vs’s 62-63 say, “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests & the Pharisees went to Pilate. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After 3 days I will rise again.’’

Now think about that.
The enemies of Jesus remembered that He had predicted His resurrection. And because His enemies remembered, they said to Pilate in vs’s 64-66,
“So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come & steal the body & tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. The last deception will be worse than the first.”

“‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So, they went & made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone & posting the guard.’”

ILL. James Stuart, the writer, says that the most pathetic sentence in human literature is that of Pilate to the priests, “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Stuart asks, “What would you say to a man who stands in the gray of dawn & says to the rising sun, ‘Stop! You cannot soar into the heavens today’?

“Or what would you say to a man who stands on the beach & draws a line in the sand & says to the tide, ‘Halt! You cannot cross this line’?
You would say to each of them, ‘You are mad!’
So what do you say to Roman soldiers who stand with spears in hand, guarding the tomb which holds the Lord of Life, trying to keep Him from rising from the dead? “

ILL. A hymn writer wrote:
See the tomb where death had laid Him, Empty now, its mouth declares; “Death & I could not contain Him, For the Throne of Life He shares.”
Come & worship, come & worship, Worship Christ, the Risen King!

 

And as we worship, there are 4 lessons we should learn. The first one is: “Be realistic. The Christian life can be an emotional roller coaster.”
For the disciples it was exactly that. For them, Palm Sunday was a mountain-top experience. Then came Friday & the cross. And then Sunday & the resurrection. Up & down, up & down, & up again.
There are some who believe that once we become a Christian our troubles will be over, & everything will be wonderful from then on. But as we mature in the faith, as we learn to be realistic about our lives, we can say with the apostle Paul,

“I have learned the secret of being content in any & every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” [Philippians 4:12-13].

B. Here’s a second lesson: “Be patient. Desperate circumstances sometimes can be quickly reversed.”
For the disciples it took only 3 days. On Friday they are in deep despair, but by Sunday night they’re on top of the mountain because of the resurrection. So sometimes things can be quickly reversed.

Sometimes we wonder: “Why does God allow us to find ourselves in desperate circumstances?” The answer ought to be clear: God allows us to experience desperate things in life so that we’ll turn to Him.
Oftentimes it is only when we’re desperate or in despair, that we really recognize our need of God.

ILL. Why did God allow Moses to reach the shore of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit? So that the people would turn to God for help.
Then God parted the waters of the Red Sea & the children of Israel walked across on dry ground.
Why did God permit Joseph to spend years in an Egyptian prison? So that he would depend completely on God. Then God gave him the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams & soon he is the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Why did God allow Jonah to be thrown overboard into a stormy sea? So that He could send His special fish to rescue him & vomit him up on the shore nearest Nineveh. Then he could preach the message of God to the people of Nineveh.

C. Here is the third lesson: “Be faithful, even when God doesn’t change your circumstances.”
I think the ultimate test of faith is not “What do we do when the problems are taken away?” The ultimate test of faith in our lives is “What do we do if the problems are not taken away?”

ILL. Maybe you’re dealing with cancer, & there’s no cure. And every day you experience the pain & face the uncertainty of the future.
Maybe you have a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s. You’ve been dealing with that now for months & it just goes on & on.
Maybe you have a home situation filled with stress & tension, & there seems to be no solution to it.

The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong & pure.”

D. And the fourth lesson is: “God’s plan may be better than all of our plans.”

 

ILL. Becky Pepper tells the familiar children’s story: “Once Upon A Mountaintop.” It’s about 3 little trees growing on the top of a mountain.
These trees were talking together one day. (Remember that In children’s stories trees can talk with one another.)
One tree said to the others, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
One answered, “Well, when I look up at the heavens & see the stars sparkling in the sky, I think to myself, ‘I’d like to be a treasure chest that holds diamonds & precious stones.’”

The other one said, “Well, when I grow up, I want to be part of a giant ship that sails across the sea carrying kings & queens to important destinations.”

Then the one who asked the question in the first place said, “When I grow up I just want to stay right here. I want to grow tall & straight, pointing to the heavens so that everyone who comes up on the mountain will look at me & think of God.”

Over the years the trees grew & grew. Finally, men came & cut the trees & took them down from the mountain.
The first one was delighted to find that he was being taken to a carpenter’s shop. But he was devastated when he discovered that he was not going to be made into a treasure chest, but rather, into a feeding trough.
And instead of holding precious stones, he would hold hay & feed for animals. And animals would come & slobber over him.

The second one was delighted to find that he was being taken to the seaside. But then he was devastated to discover that he was not going to be part of a giant ship, but just a tiny fishing boat. And his cargo would not be kings & queens taken to important places, but dead, smelly fish.
The third tree was disappointed that he was cut down. He had just wanted to stay on top of the mountain. He was even more disappointed when he was cut into beams that were placed in a stack of lumber & forgotten.

Years passed, & one day 2 people came into the stable where the young feeding trough had now grown old & worn through years of use.
The old feeding trough watched as the woman gave birth to a baby, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, & then laid him in the feeding trough. And he thought to himself, “I am a treasure chest, because now I hold the most precious thing that has ever come into this world.”

More years passed, & one day the second tree was sailing across the Sea of Galilee. On board were strangers, mostly fishermen.
Suddenly the winds came up & blew fiercely, & the waves began to beat against the little ship. Then one of the men stood up & said, “Peace, be still.” And the little ship suddenly realized that his task was not to carry kings, but the King of Kings & Lord of Lords.

A couple more years passed & one day the third tree was yanked from the lumber pile, & placed on the shoulders of a man who had to carry it through jeering crowds toward a hill called Calvary.
When they got there the beam was tossed to the ground, & the man was placed upon it. Then it felt the penetration of the nails driven through the man’s hands, & into its wood.
And as the people gathered around cursing & mocking the man, the poor tree felt ugly & hated, too.
But then the man was taken down & buried in a tomb, & on the third day raised from the dead. And the tree said, “Now I know that every time men look at ME they’ll think of God.”
INVITATION

 

Sermon Contributor Melvin Newland

God Is Helping You, But Who Will You Help?

Acts 24:22-25:12

INTRO: Good morning, Church. In Acts 24 last week, we saw the apostle Paul being charged with four counts of breaking Jewish Law and his accusers hired a very clever lawyer to bring a case against him.

Even though they wouldn’t admit it, Paul knew exactly what the real charge was.
He invited those Sadducean accusers who were present to step forward and show the error in his one statement before the Sanhedrin, "concerning the resurrection of the dead."

With the courtroom procedures under way, Luke continues and tells us in Acts 24:22-23 – “But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, "When Lysias [ly-se-us] the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.'' So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.” [NKJV]

An astronomer, on his way to give a lecture, discovered that his seatmate on the airplane was a preacher. Early in the conversation he assured the preacher that he knew everything about religion he needed to know. The preacher expressed delight and asked where the scientist had studied religion and how much he had read in the Bible. "Oh, no," the astronomer replied, "I've never studied theology, and I don't read the Bible, but I know the Golden Rule, and I figure that's enough religion for me."

"Well, on that basis," declared the preacher, "I guess I know all about astronomy." The scientist laughed and asked the preacher what he knew about the cosmos, to which the minister replied gravely, "Twinkle, twinkle little star; how I wonder what you are."

I. You have heard it said that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but in this case, we could safely say that a little knowledge can win the day.

A. Luke tells Theophilus that Felix had a good knowledge of the Way but I wondered, just how did he get that knowledge?

1. We are not told directly here, but scholars point out that Caesarea was the place where a prominent centurion, Cornelius, had been converted. It was also where Philip the evangelist and his four daughters lived, and where there were probably many Christians.
2. Felix may have known many of these, hence it is not unreasonable at all that he should have had a great deal of information about the Way.

B. Felix delayed judgment until Lysias would come to give his testimony. Certainly for any judge it is a good thing to have all the testimonies heard before making a decision.

1. We are told that Felix directed the centurion in charge of Paul to grant him basic freedom to be with his friends and have someone attend to his needs. This indicates the favorable impression made by Paul on Felix as seen in the unusually lenient treatment accorded the prisoner.
2. We may think that this was good of Felix to allow all the testimonies to be heard first before making any judgment, but as we are about to find out, there is a strong possibility that he was merely delaying the situation in the hope of receiving a bribe from the Christians.

C. Luke tells us next in Acts 24:24-27 – “24. And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.'' 26. Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. 27. But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.”
D. When Felix returned to Caesarea with his third wife Drusilla, who was one of the three daughters of Herod Agrippa l, he called for Paul to come tell him more about "the faith in Christ."

1. Like all of us should be able to do, Paul was ready to give the reason for the hope that he had in Christ Jesus. He presented the case for righteous living, along with consideration of the importance of self-control. Luke records that Paul also warned of the coming judgment, in which every man will be judged based upon his works. That discussion terrified Felix and moved him to send Paul away, saying he would call for him again at a more convenient time.
2. Historians do tell us that after Felix’ removal from office, Drusilla and their son, perished in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Jewish historians also tell us that Felix did call for Paul to come and converse with him often, secretly hoping to receive a bribe to release him. Here in verse 26 is revealed the real reason Paul was not set free when it was obvious he did nothing wrong.

E. In verse 27 it seems that after two years of waiting, Felix was relieved by Festus, but Felix left Paul in prison to earn some special favor from the Jews.

1. There is no record in scripture of Lysias ever coming to give his testimony. From history records, it seems Felix had been recalled from his post due to an outbreak of strife between the Jewish and Gentile elements of Caesarea, in which Felix' intervention with troops led to the slaughter of many Jews.
2. Through the intervention of his brother, Felix received no punishment beyond that of removal from office, which was then taken by Festus.

F. We find today that the widespread preaching on the subject of eternal judgment has subsided or disappeared altogether in many churches; but right here is seen the power that convicted sinners like those who heard Paul. If modern churches are to have any convicting power, then when the gospel is preached it needs to include the word of God on the judgment.

1. We should understand though, that nothing has changed today when it comes to people listening to the gospel. People are more than happy to set aside time in their lives to talk about how much God loves them. They are thrilled to contemplate all sorts of things they consider “spiritual”... But as soon as we begin to speak about judgment, their reaction is the same as Felix’. It terrifies them, and suddenly, it’s never a convenient time to speak to them.
2. The truth is the truth, folks, the gospel is the gospel and part of the gospel message is the return of Christ which will include… judgment.

II. 2 Corinthians 5:10 we read – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

A. “For we must all ...” This means everybody who ever lived, or ever will live, upon this earth. There are those who have difficulty with this verse. The problem does not lie in what Paul taught here, but in the theory of justification by "faith only". The blunt truth is that this verse is not merely "inconsistent" with the theory of justification by "faith alone"; it is a dogmatic contradiction of it. Hence some attempt to spin this as something different from the final judgment. Yet in the New Testament there is only one judgment.

1. In Matthew 12:36 Jesus says; “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”
2. In Matthew 12:41 we are told; “The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it,…”
3. Paul in Acts 17:30-32 says “30. "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31. "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.'' And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter.''” “He has appointed a day”
4. Romans 14:10 declares; “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” “All stand”
5. From these and other scriptures we may be absolutely certain that every person, including every Christian, shall in the last analysis be judged according to his deeds, whether good or bad. There will be no such thing in the judgment as a person of vile deeds being entered into heaven on the basis of "Well, after all, he was a believer!"

B. In this connection, however, it is appropriate to add that “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.” 1 John 1:7. Yes, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, “IF we walk in the light”.

III. Let’s look at what scripture tells us is going to happen when Christ returns. Turn in your Bible to Matthew 25:31-36.

A. This scene presented by Jesus is one of the most awesome revelations brought to mankind by the Savior. Those who hope to avoid the fate of the unrighteous and aspire to enter the home of the redeemed, should take deeply into their heart the words of Christ who said; “31. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33. "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34. "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. `for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36. `I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'”
B. The first thing which is going to happen when Christ returns is that He is going to take a seat. This is not teaching that Christ will sit upon the throne of His glory only upon the occasion of His second coming. He already sits at the right hand of God ruling over spiritual Israel, which is the church. The expression, "then" shall he sit, refers to a special sitting for the great judgment. He is already upon the throne of His glory; but on that day… He will be visibly so, and every eye shall see Him, and they shall look upon Him whom they pierced.

1. We are told He will come in His glory AND all the holy angels with Him. When the Son of Man comes, He will sit on His glorious throne. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
2. It’s then according to 1 John 3:2 that His deity will be clearly visible to all, “for we shall see Him as He is.”

C. The second thing which is going to happen when Christ returns is that all the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate… He will separate all nations.

1. Make no mistake about it, folks, when He comes it’s for judgment and no-one is going to escape because Jesus uses the word ‘All’.
2. All nations will be gathered, and separation will occur. All that are in the tombs will hear His voice, and ALL shall stand before His judgment seat. In other words, this great division will be universal and discriminating.

D. The third thing which is going to happen when Christ returns is that He will speak.

1. When the Son of Man comes, He will say to those on the right, “Come, you blessed of My Father” To be blessed by the Father means that the sheep are saved and it is upon them that grace and mercy are bestowed, through which they escape God’s wrath. He will also say to them, “ inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”
2. To the goats on the left, He will say according to Matthew 25:41 – “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:”

E. Folks, Christ is coming, and it’s not a question of when, as many people seem to want to make it. It’s a question of… are we ready?
Are we feeding the hungry?
Are we giving water to the thirsty?
Are we inviting strangers to come in?
Are we clothing people who need clothing?
Are we looking after the sick and visiting people?
Because if we’re not, then we too like Felix have lots of reasons to be terrified. By the way, those who think they find in these words of Jesus an excuse for making Christianity a mere matter of social charity, should look again.

IV. Meanwhile Paul is still in prison and Luke continues in Acts 25:1-5 – “1. Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2. Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, 3. asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. 4. But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly. 5. "Therefore,'' he said, "let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there is any fault in him.''”

A. After only three days in the province, Porcius Festus went to Jerusalem. It was there that the high priest and some of the members of the Sanhedrin approached him about bringing Paul up to Jerusalem for a trial. Again and again we have seen throughout these last couple of chapters in the Book of Acts, these so-called religious leaders intending to have Paul assassinated along the road.

1. Like we saw last time God protected Paul. We see this in the fact that Festus said Paul would remain in Caesarea, because Festus was going there anyway. Festus urged those in authority to come present their charges before him there.
2. We marvel at the lengths these leaders are going to, to have Paul killed. They plot and scheme, they lie and bring false accusations. You know if we didn’t know better, we would think they had an issue with Paul.

B. Paul once again is called upon to defend his case. We are now at verse 6. Acts 25:6-8 – “6. And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. 7. When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, 8. while he answered for himself, "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.''”

1. Luke says that in ten days or so, Festus went to Caesarea, sat on the judgment seat, and called for Paul to be brought before him.
2. The Jews who were on a mission to get rid of Paul once and for all, also appeared before the judgment seat and brought serious charges against him.
3. Once again Paul told them clearly that he had not committed offence against the Jews, the temple or Caesar.
4. What happens next is another part of the fulfillment of God’s plan to get Paul to preach the gospel in Rome.

C. Acts 25:9-12 – “9. But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?'' 10. Then Paul said, "I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. 11. "For if I am an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.'' 12. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, "You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!''”

1. Festus, to establish good relations with the Jews, asked Paul if he would appear before him in Jerusalem to be judged. Paul answered that he had done nothing wrong, as Festus well knew, and, as a Roman citizen, would remain before Caesar's judgment seat. You see, for all their cunning, the priests overreached themselves by alleging Paul's offence against Caesar; for Festus could hardly have let that charge be tried by the Jews.
2. Paul’s honesty and his clear conscience is heard when he says that he was willing to die if he was guilty of some offence worthy of death but would not be given up to the Jews if innocent. What did Paul do? He appealed to Caesar. I suspect Paul’s abrupt appeal to Caesar must have come as a surprise to Festus. Having his very first case appealed to Caesar was not exactly the way he would have hoped to begin his term as governor. Still, it did get him "off the hook" with regard to those whom he sought to please in Jerusalem; and he was probably pleased that Paul had appealed.
3. Festus consulted with his advisors and then said Paul would go before Caesar as requested. Every Roman citizen had a right of appeal from lower tribunals in the empire to the final court of the emperor; and once an appeal was registered, it had the effect of stopping all further litigation and transferring the case to Rome. God was working in the background all the way through this to get Paul where Paul really wanted to go.

D. If you recall it was earlier in Acts 23:11 that “… the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.''” The Lord gave Paul comfort and ratification of the witness Paul bore in Jerusalem. Then the Lord confirmed that Paul should also bear witness in Rome.

CONCLUSION:
In many ways we too are on a journey to a great city, but it’s not Rome, its heaven.
Hebrews 13:11-14 – “11. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”
Just as God was using many people to help Paul get to Rome, He is using His church today to help get us and others to heaven. The only way that is going to happen is for us to work together with God and with each other.

It’s a bit like the little boy who was flying a kite and we imagine an argument about who was actually doing the flying.
The sticks which made the frame of the kite said, "I am flying the kite.”
The paper around the frame said, "No I’m flying the kite.”
The tail said, “Without me the kite would not fly, I am flying the kite.”
The little boy insisted that he was flying the kite.
In the background the wind whispered, "No I’m flying the kite.”
The truth is folks, they all flew the kite together.
If the sticks had broken, or if the tail got caught in a tree, if the paper had torn or the wind stopped blowing, the kite would have come down.
Each had a part to play.

You don’t need to be a mastermind to understand the point. Each one of us has work to do, and if we are going to be successful in getting ourselves into that eternal city and take as many people with us as possible then we all have to work together to that goal.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 – “6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.”
They were one in mutual love and respect for each other, one in purpose, one in status as God's servants, and one in their reliance upon the Lord who would reward both.

Between us we have the work of visiting, giving, preaching, and countless other jobs to do to make sure the church and its work is successful. For that to happen we first must all work together and each do what we can to help.
You can’t do it all on your own.
I can’t do it all on my own.
It is a matter of teamwork.

God provided help for Paul to eventually get to Rome.
God is providing help for us all to get to heaven, but the question I will ask you is; who will you help today to get to heaven?
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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.

If anybody needs to respond, either to dedicate themselves to Christ, be buried with Him in baptism, and become a part of the work He has for us; or if you need to ask for prayers on your behalf, won’t you come forward as we stand and sing our Invitational song.

 

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Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

Courage

Acts 24:1-22

INTRO: Good morning church. In the book of Acts we have read about Paul’s journeys in the past few years. We also recently considered the subject of Worry and that of Patience. If you recall, in both of those lessons we turned to the example of Paul and what he has said. Today I want to look at what is described in Acts 24. Our text will be verses 1 through 22.

The Apostle Paul’s life was being threatened almost every single day, it seems. He’s been passed from pillar to post by the authorities. He had times in his life when he thought he would never fulfill his ambition to go to Rome to preach the gospel.

In spite of the difficulties he faced Paul never lost his grip on the truth. He understood that pain and suffering doesn’t mean that God has left you. Paul learned that God was one step ahead of the game concerning his life and when God said to him you’re going to Rome to preach, he knew that God stands by His promises.

I. In Acts, near the end of chapter 23, we had read about Paul being held in prison and the commander is warned by Paul’s nephew that there were more then 40 men who were waiting to kill Paul. Let’s quickly review that situation. Acts 23:20-21 – “And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. "But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”

A. Being warned, the commander called two of his officers and told them in verse 23ff; “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” The commander had a bit of a problem didn’t he? He could not let Paul, a Roman, be killed by a mob because it would reflect badly on his ability to protect citizens. Nor could he confront the mob directly lest a riot take place. The whole force was 470 men; and their departure at the third hour of the night (9:00 P.M.) was thus well ahead of any request the chief priests might send to him the next day. The size of the escort was so large as to quench any thought of the forty conspirators of following it, overtaking it, and murdering Paul anyway.
B. In verse 25 begins the letter the commander wrote to the governor; “Claudius Lysias, [ly-se-us] to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him worthy of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. farewell.”
C. Some interesting things to note here besides the fact we now know the commander’s name, Lysias [Ly-se-us]. This is a classic example of a distortion of truth to serve selfish and political ends. "Having learned that he was a Roman ..." implies that the rescue was made to prevent harm to a Roman citizen, whereas Lysias did not even know that Paul was a Roman until after he had illegally bound him, a fact left comfortably out of sight in his letter.

1. Looking at this report of the document I suspect it is genuine as is evident in every nuance of it. This was politics as it was played in the Roman Empire in those days. I strongly suspect that the same old game goes on in this age as well.
2. Significantly, Paul is sent to Felix, not as a criminal, but as a fellow citizen, rescued. I think that if an honorable man had held the office entrusted to Felix, Paul would have been released at once.

D. Next in verse 31-33; “Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. [anti-pat-rus] The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.” Antipatris is roughly 40 miles from Jerusalem and 26 miles south of Caesarea. The whole contingency of 470 men made the march to Antipatris then the next day part of them continued to Caesarea with Paul.
E. In verse 34 Felix reads the letter; “And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, [si-lis-ea] he said, "I will hear you when your accusers also have come.'' And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.” Some translations say Herod’s palace. Felix asked what province Paul was from to determine if Paul came under his authority. Paul’s accommodations are not those of a person accused of a vicious crime.

II. Now as chapter 24 starts, we find the apostle Paul in Governor Felix’s control and under guard until the Jews arrive to present their case against him. That’s what we are going to read next. The Jews didn’t come alone, they came fully prepared, and brought a very smart orator with them.

A. We going to read about that as we catch up with Luke’s report in Acts 24:1-4 – “Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. [ter-tull-us] These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: "Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, "we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. "Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.”[NKJ] Other translations use “advocate” or “lawyer” instead of “orator”. Strong defines “Tertullus” as “triple-hardened”.
B. Luke tells us after five days, the high priest, the elders and this smart lawyer, presented themselves before Governor Felix to bring a formal charge against Paul. I said this lawyer was smart and he is. Notice in the text the way Tertullus begins talking to Felix.
C. He uses flattery with Felix, he softens him up by telling him how wonderful he is. He refers to the peace that Felix had brought to the land under Roman authority. Like all smart lawyers who want people on their side he does not mention anything negative, such as the Jews resentment of Felix.
D. I don’t know about you but people like that make me queasy. I honestly have difficulty interacting with them because I know they are after something. It’s usually not until after you’ve listened to them for a few minutes, just praising you and telling you how wonderful you are that they finally get to the point. I wish they would just get to the point. What do they really want? Just like this lawyer, you know they want you on their side for something. I have difficulty trusting someone like that. I find their approach devious and deceitful.
E. I’m reminded of Psalm 5:9 says; “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.”
F. Tertullus is very clever in his words to get Felix on his side, even to the point where he tells Felix that he will state his case briefly. In other words he doesn’t want to take too much of Felix time.

III. Tertullus presents his case before Felix in Acts 24:5-9 – “"For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander Lysias [Ly-se-us] came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.'' And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so.”

A. They accused Paul of four things. Briefly stated: Paul was accused of being (1) a pest, (2) an insurrectionist, (3) a ringleader of the Nazarenes, and (4) one who had attempted to profane the temple. All these charges except No. 3 were unspecific, and even it was unsupported by any evidence.
B. After hearing all the accusations the lawyer urges Felix to "examine" Paul. What does that mean? I’m not certain, but in researching this I found several scholars suggesting that examining Paul meant scourging him. In other words they wanted Felix to “beat the truth out of him”.
C. Notice again how clever this lawyer is. He doesn’t even mention anything about Paul’s Roman citizenship. If the scholars are correct that scourging was intended, and if they had scourged Paul at this point, Felix would be guilty of breaking Roman law. The lawyer didn’t even mention that. The lawyer is very selective with the truth.

1. The onslaught against Paul continues. Isn’t it amazing how far people will go to get rid of someone they don’t like? Nothing has changed. There are still people today who are very selective with the truth and they will do anything and say anything to discredit someone. They will go to any lengths to get someone out of the way, especially if you say something against their traditions and practices.
2. Especially if you say something which effects their comfort zones. These people are happy with their traditions and practices. They are comfortable in their beliefs. This guy named Paul from Tarsus comes along and starts rocking their boat. Let me tell you, folks, the truth will always rock your boat, especially if you do not want to hear it.

D. Jimmy, age 10, and his sister Taylor, age 13, were always teasing each other. One day, Jimmy was getting "sensitive" about things his sister was saying to him. His grandmother reminded him that he had said the same sort of things many times in the past. With quiet reflection Jimmy said: "But it doesn't hurt as much coming out of my mouth as it does going into my ears."
E. These religious leaders didn’t want to hear the truth because the truth hurt them. While all these accusations were being presented to Felix our “friends” the high priest and elders affirmed the truthfulness of the case presented by their lawyer. Next, just like in any courtroom today, the judge needs to hear both sides of the story.

IV. Luke continues and tells us about Paul’s defense in Acts 24:10-13 – “Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: "Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.”

A. Even today in our courtrooms no one is allowed to speak unless the judge gives permission. Since Felix was the judge on this occasion, Paul waited to get permission to speak before he began his defense.
B. Paul began his defense by saying that it was a pleasure to be able to state his case before a person who had years of experience in judging matters involving the Jews. Note Paul's use of "judge" rather than " governor."
C. Remember that the first accusation against Paul was they accused him of being a troublemaker. In his defense Paul says, he had only been back in Judea for 12 days, with the last 5 of those being spent in jail. In other words Paul would be hard pressed to be a trouble maker in such a short space of time. Paul said they didn’t find him in the temple disputing with others or stirring up the crowd.
D. As for the accusation of being a rebel against Rome, Paul is saying, he wouldn’t have had time for that and there was absolutely no proof of it either. Paul's emphasis here is directed to the charge of creating an insurrection which is the only thing Felix would have been the slightest concerned about anyway. Paul also said they couldn’t prove their charge of trying to desecrate the temple. Paul was telling the truth and as we are about to read, he’s going continue to tell the truth, even though he knows his accusers won’t like it.

V. Acts 24:14-16 – Paul says; “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

A. When they accused Paul of being a ringleader of the Nazarenes, Paul didn’t hide the fact that he worshiped God according to the “Way”, which his Jewish accusers called a sect. Implicit in the name “Way” is the trueness and rightness of it. There are many ways of sin, but only one way of eternal life. If Paul was going to plead guilty to anything, he pleaded guilty to worshipping the God of the Jewish fathers. Paul's use of this expression, having the meaning of "our hereditary God," had the purpose of establishing the legality of Christianity under Roman law. Thus, Paul asserts that, according to Roman law which allowed all men to worship the gods of their own nation, he is not open to any charge of irreligion.
B. He pleaded guilty to believing all that was written in the Law of Moses and the prophets. He readily admitted that he based his hope in God, just as his accusers did. God who would raise both the righteous and wicked from the dead. Because of that belief, Paul said he tried to live with a clear conscience offending neither God or man. Throughout all of Paul's epistles, as here, Paul never failed to present Christianity as fully identified with all the types and shadows of the Old Testament, being in fact the fulfillment of all that was intended by everything in the old institution. Christians are the true Israel. Christ is the Prophet like unto Moses. Christ's teaching is the New Covenant. And yet the New is identified with the Old.

VI. Paul was practicing what Peter preached in 1 Peter 3:15-16 – “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” Paul gave them a reason for his hope. Paul did that in a gentle way. He showed them respect with his words, and he kept a clear conscience as these people were speaking maliciously against him. That’s what speaking the truth does. The truth has nothing to hide.

A. Truth exposes falsehood and some people don’t like that. Folks, one of the problems that people who fabricate the truth face… is their conscience.
B. For the life of me I don’t know how people who fabricate truth can sleep at night. How can they sleep knowing they have presented something as truth and knowing it is not? How can their conscious let them sleep knowing they have falsely accused someone of something?

1. A mother asked her son Jimmy if he knew the difference between "conscious" and "conscience." He said, "Sure, Mom. Conscious is when you're aware of something. Conscience is when you wish you weren't."
2. Someone once said that, "Conscience is the clearness of eternal light and the mirror of the majesty of God."
3. My point is this, our conscience does one of two things for us; it either helps us to live a life which is pleasing to God with a clear state of mind, or it convicts us of sin and makes us feel guilty. Paul’s conscience is clear. How about ours?

C. Maybe we’ve said something to someone which we knew wasn’t the entire truth and now that plays in the back of our mind. Maybe we’ve done something which we knew was sinful but haven’t confessed it to God or repented of it. Maybe we’ve said, ‘yes, I will go to a meeting’ but we know in our heart that we have no intention of going.

1. Maybe we’ve lied to someone about why we couldn’t come to worship and we feel bad for lying. Maybe there was someone who needed help and we know we could have helped them, but we gave some excuse and now we feel bad for letting them down in their time of need.
2. Folks, the list could go on and on. If this applies to us today then we have the need ask God to forgive us. And that’s the important part. We, as Christians, need to clear our conscience.

VII. Hebrews 10:19-23 – says “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

A. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us and spill His blood for us, so that we can be free from a guilty conscience. A person doesn’t feel guilty when they have done nothing wrong. It’s only when their conscience is pricked that guilt comes along. Paul did nothing wrong, that’s why he had a clear conscience.
B. He lived his life to please God. He’s didn’t rely on himself for it; he relied on the blood of Christ for that clear conscience. Paul also understood this important point, he knew that a clear conscience did not make him innocent of sin. He understood that.
C. In 1 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says, “For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” That is; “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” Folks, Paul was clear in his mind about who he was and what he was, and so he carries on his defense before Felix and says in Acts 24:17-18 - “Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a multitude nor with tumult.”
D. After some five years in other parts of the world, Paul had returned to Jerusalem with a gift for the needy of the Jewish nation. He says in his defense that he didn’t defile the temple. They found him there after he had completed his vow of purification which again we know as being true. That’s what he did.

VIII. Something else to think about. Some people are very good at getting others to do their dirty work, or providing the bullets, as we say, for someone else to use. People who provide the bullets can become experts at avoiding the conflict which they cause.

A. That’s because they haven’t got the courage to speak to you face to face. As we look at it in the religious sense, they don’t have the courage to obey the words of Jesus as we find them in Matthew 18:15 – “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” Some people simply do not have the courage to do that.
B. I think it is important for us to remember and understand this because of what Luke tells us next in Acts 24:19-21 – “They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, `Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.' ”
C. Paul suggested that there were some Asian Jews. (Acts 21:27), who brought the original charges against him, and stirred up the mob. He says those are the ones who provided the “bullets” in the first place; they should have been present for the case before Felix. They are long gone; they simply passed on the bullets for someone else to fire. Those who are shooting are far from innocent though.
D. Paul exposed what the real accusation was all about. He got to the point even when his accusers wouldn’t. He even invited those Sadducean accusers who were present to step forward and show the error in his statement. Paul said it’s "Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day."

CONCLUSION:
Paul knew exactly why he was there. I suspect he also knew they wouldn’t admit it. Paul brought to them something they did not want to hear and so they decided to blame the messenger and remove him. We have seen this many times in history and we experience it in life. It is the act of lashing out at the (blameless) bearer of bad news. Anytime we are given bad news we tend to suspect the motivation of the person bringing it. In ancient times, messages were delivered in person by a human envoy. An easily-provoked receiver of the message could more easily vent anger on the deliverer of that unpopular message than on its author, and would literally… kill the messenger.

Just before we finish up let’s turn over to Matthew 21:33-39 – Jesus says; “There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, `This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

God sent the prophets with a message to His people, but they beat some, killed some, and stoned others. They killed the messengers.

God sent His Son with a message for His people, but they killed Him. They stoned Stephen to death. They put James to death with the sword. They killed the messengers.

Tradition says Peter was crucified, upside-down in Rome. The Apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67.

Folks, we today are God’s messengers and we too should not be surprised if people want to come down on us. Before we give them a chance to do that, just remind them, ‘”Don’t shoot the messenger’, I’m only telling you what God wants you to hear and what you need to hear from God.”
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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 sermon by Mike Glover

For Times of Uncertainty

Ephesians 5:19-20 & Psalms 103:1-22

Thinking about his childhood, an old farmer wrote: "I recall, as a little barefoot boy…, standing straight up in my classroom & repeating the 'Pledge of Allegiance.' Our nation was at war & times were hard.

"My teacher had lost her husband on the blood-washed shores of Normandy. As we bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. I still remember her praying. She stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude & praise that ever emerged from a soul plunged in pain.

"Lost in sympathy & a boy’s pity for his teacher, I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country. . . my friends . . . my school . . . my church . . . my family.

"I swore before God that I would fight to the end to keep this land free from foes who would want to take away America’s distinctiveness & the joys of living in this good land. I have never forgotten my childhood promise. I never shall."

You know, there is so much in our lives as Americans that we take for granted. When I get up in the morning, I can step into my shower & enjoy the hot water.
Then I can get dressed, go out & get into my car & drive anywhere I want to go. When I get low on gas… I can pull into a gas station & fill up again…. for a small fortune nowadays … but we have that freedom.

Then when I go home, I can enter the house, flip a switch, & the lights come on. When I open my refrigerator … I’ll find all kinds of foods to eat. And like most Americans I tend to just take all these things for granted.

But that isn’t the way things have been in some of our cities. Riots have erupted, statues & memorials torn down, stores & businesses looted & burned, houses destroyed & people terrorized. Whether accidental or deliberate, people have been injured, & lives have been lost.
And the country that I, & millions of others, love & have pledged our allegiance to, is often under attack.

In the 103rd Psalm David starts out praising God & then says: “Praise the LORD, O my soul, & FORGET NOT all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2  If we forget God’s benefits - if we forget the blessings He’s given us - we can end up being ungrateful, taking what we have for granted.

We can become like the woman who walked into a grocery store a day before Thanksgiving & was very upset with the size of the turkeys that were left. She turned to the stock boy & asked snippishly, "Don't these turkeys get any bigger?" To which he calmly replied, "No ma'am. They're dead!”  That woman had more food in front of her than people in most 3rd world countries would ever see. And yet, she was angry because what she saw wasn’t BIG enough.

Back in 1988, a Polish worker named Jan Grzebski was hit by a train. He lived, but only barely. For the next 19 years he was in a coma.  He awoke in 2007 to a whole different world. 19 years earlier, Poland was a communist state. Grzebski noted that back then meat was rationed, grocery shelves were nearly empty, & there were huge lines at almost every gas station.  But 19 years later he awoke to a free nation where, he said, “There were people on the streets with cell phones, & so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin.”  These people had freedom & food & wealth greater than Poland had had in many years – and today we have over 2 million of Ukrainian citizens seeking refuge there.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days & nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.  On their return, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yes, I did," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.  The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog & they had four. We have a pool that fills half of our backyard, & they have a creek that stretches way past their property. We have lanterns in our yard & they have the stars at night.  "We have a small piece of land to live on & they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me just how poor we really are."

It makes you wonder what would happen if we gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.  If we don’t get into the habit of thanking God for what we DO have… we may soon become ungrateful because of what we DON’T have.   So the 103rd Psalm says: Get into the habit of being thankful - NOW! Get into the habit of NOT FORGETTING what God has given you.

Ephesians 5:19-20 tells us to " speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

And 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Several churches in North Dakota were being served by an old circuit-riding preacher. The people were amazed at his ability to pray, for no matter what the circumstances were, he could always find something for which to be thankful.
As he made his rounds one cold, gloomy winter morning, he was late in getting to the church because of excessive snow drifts. But when he did get there, as usual he began the service with prayer.
The parishioners were eager to see what the old preacher could come up with to be thankful for on this dismal & frigid morning. "Gracious Lord," his prayer began, "we thank you that most days are not like today."

So… as you spend time considering the blessings which God has showered upon you & your family, what do you thank Him for? How has God blessed you?
For most of us I imagine that we thank Him for family & friends, for those who love us & care about us. We thank him for our homes, for our jobs in a time when too many are homeless & are looking for the essentials needed to survive.

And probably many of us thank him for our country & the blessings He has showered upon our nation over the years. I hope, also, that you include this church, its worship & its work – that we might be faithful & true to God and his plan of salvation.

In the 103rd Psalm … David praises God for forgiving his sins, healing all his diseases, redeeming his life from the pit, and crowning him with love & compassion.
Jesus emphasizes exactly the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. In (Matthew 6:19-21) He says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy, & where thieves break in & steal.   “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth & rust do not destroy, & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

What are our treasures? Well, in our text this morning … Psalm 103 … David says that his greatest treasure is knowing of God’s love & compassion for each of us.
He writes in verses 13 and 14, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.”

Now David acknowledges that neither he – nor any of us – are worthy of God’s love. David goes on to say in vs’s 15-16 that “(our) days are like grass, (we) flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it & it is gone, & its place remembers it no more.”
We’re not all that impressive, are we? We’re fragile & easily forgotten. And God knows that. He was the one who formed us from the dust of the earth. But when God formed us from that dust He formed us in His likeness.

You see, the Bible tells us that you & I are a special creation by God. Yes, we are fragile & easily forgotten by this world - but God will never forget us!
He loves us so much that vs. 4 of our text tells us He “…redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love & compassion.”

As we read through the Bible we see stories of men & women who spent time in pits.
Jeremiah was thrown into a pit where he sank into the muck up to his armpits.
And Daniel was thrown into a pit that we know was a lion’s den.
Then there was Joseph, whose brothers threw him into a pit with the intention of killing him - but then changed their minds & sold him into slavery instead.
Those were literal pits that God rescued them from.
But there were other “pits” that weren’t so literal, but were equally depressing:
David spent several years hiding from King Saul.
Moses spent 40 years in exile from Egypt.
And Ruth spent a number of years in poverty.
Each story about these heroes & heroines of faith told how God reached down into the holes those people found themselves in, pulled them up & out of that pit, & placed them on solid ground.
And David says that what God did for those people – He’ll do for you & me.
We know that God meets our physical needs on this earth. But just like David we also know that’s not enough.

Jesus asked this ULTIMATE universal question in Mark 8:36: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, & lose his own soul?”
Unless our sins are dealt with we’ll be cut off from God. And unless our sins are forgiven, we’ll never know the blessings of living eternally in heaven.
Then David tells us “YES, God is willing to take care of that too.” In vs. 3 David says that God “forgives all your sin.” And in vs’s 10-12 David goes on to say, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
“As far as the east is from the west.” Now that is an interesting comment. Why not as far as the North is from the South?
Consider this: if we left here going West to CA, & continued West from there, we can go as far West as we like - & we would never start going East.
On the other hand, if we start going North, we would end up at the North Pole. From that point on every direction would be South.
Now, why didn’t God say He would remove our sins from us as far as the North is from the South? He could have. But if He’d said that - He would be telling us that there is a point at which He would stop forgiving us - where He’d stop wanting to forgive us.
But that’s not true. When He forgives us – He removes our sins as far from us as the East is from the West. He will remember them no more.

That is the kind of God we serve. A God who loves us SO much that He “gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Conclusion: It was the year 1822, & her name was Charlotte Elliott. She had been an invalid from her youth. Her handicap filled her with resentment & anger. And one day, when a preacher was visiting, she let loose on him about her bitterness at her condition.
The preacher listened, but instead of comforting her - he challenged her. He told her that what she needed to do was to give her life totally to God - to come to Him just as she was, with all her bitterness & anger.
As you can imagine, she didn’t like that. She resented what seemed to her to be an almost callous attitude on his part concerning her condition.
Through her life she had doubts & struggles.
Then in 1836, she decided to write a song about her faith in God. One of the verses goes this way:
“Just as I am, tho’ tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”
“Just As I Am” - That hymn has become one of the best known & most powerful invitation songs ever written.
May I … and us as a whole … remember to “Praise the LORD, O my soul, & FORGET NOT all his benefits.”
INVITATION

 

 

Sermon Contributor: Melvin Newland

The Aspects of Patience

Second Timothy 2:23-26

INTRO: Good morning. Today we're going to be looking at patience, some of the various aspects of patience. Our text for this morning is 2 Timothy 2:23-26, but I do not want to start there. Instead let’s first go to the Old Testament and take a look at the example we find in Job. Although we will not read the full story now, I will suggest you read or read again this powerful book on your own.

As we go through the arguments that were made in the book of Job we will find that Job understood, there's no arguing with God, the Creator of the universe.

I. In Job 9:1-4 it says, “1. Then Job answered and said: 2. "Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God? 3. If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. 4. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?”[NKJV] Job well understood that we can not argue our case before God.

A. As the book progresses, Job's friends are pressing him to say that he had sinned. They tell him that there must be something he had done to cause all this disaster which came upon him. Job kept insisting, no, I'm righteous, but they persisted that he had to have sinned.
B. He got to the point in his frustration to where he insisted that not only had he not sinned, but he now wanted to argue his case before God.

1. So we find in Job 23:1-7 - “1. Then Job answered and said: 2. "Even today my complaint is bitter; my hand is listless because of my groaning. 3. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat! 4. I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me. 6. Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me. 7. There the upright could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.” Job knew better, but he became so frustrated in arguing with his friends that he said these words. Does the world around us ever drive us to frustration?
2. Job messed up there. He reached a point where he thought that he should argue, even though he said earlier, you can't argue with God. He was so certain that he had not sinned, that he did not deserve such disaster, that there had to be something wrong, and so now he wanted to argue his case before the Lord.

C. God points out later in Job 40 that Job was mistaken. In Job 40:1-2 - “ Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said: "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.''”,

1. Job knows he was wrong and we find him declining to compound his error. Verses 3-4 “Then Job answered the Lord and said: "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.''”
2. Job understood, by the time God got to this point, I'm out of my League. I'm not in a position to argue with God, but God continues to press this case. Verses 6-8ff “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me: "Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?” God continues and you can read that.
3. Job knows he was wrong and answers the Lord in repentance in Job 42:1-6 – “1. Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2. "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' 5. "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. 6. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.''” We see that though Job was righteous, he was not perfect. Job was definitely pressed further than most men would ever be able stand being pressed. Yet, he held on to his trust in God. Even though he thought something had gone wrong, he still trusted God.

D. Now let’s go to the New Testament and James 5:11 – “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” Job displayed endurance, not perfection, yet He held on.

II. Endurance –

A. When we talk about endurance, we mean hardening yourself against suffering. It's the staying power to keep going until the end.

1. We in this society, are so used to immediate gratifications. Too many people quickly give up when things don't go the way they want them to go.
2. As we read through Job, we find that Job felt like giving up. He said several times that he wished he had never been born, but we see a man who continued anyway. He might have felt like it, but he never said, I'm going to take my own life. He held on.

B. In Hebrews10:36-39 it says, “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.”

1. We need endurance to gain the promise. We can't shrink back. We can't go back to the world where we came from. Life is going to get difficult at times. Things have been happening these last few years that have been quite difficult throughout this nation and sometimes in our own lives. We're going to feel like we've been given way too much. It's just too hard.
2. If we put in the effort though, then we'll gain the assurance of hope. Take a look at Hebrews 6:11 which is part of our current Bible study, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,” That means we must hang on to our confidence.
3. We have to hang on to what we know to be true. The Hebrew writer says that we need to go so far as to boast of our hope. Hebrews 3:6 is about Christ as a faithful Son “... over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” That's endurance.

C. Hope is important in this idea of being able to endure.

1. Let’s look at Romans 15:4-5 – “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,” The Scriptures, the comfort of them, the things that we find in there, and endurance... leads us to have hope. It's actually a cycle.
2. If we go back to Romans 5 we see that as we gain greater endurance, we gain greater hope. Romans 5:1-5 – “1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2. through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4. and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
3. We start out with hope. We go through trials, which our hope helps us get through, and in the end, our hope is greater. Then with that hope comes steadfastness. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul writes to those in Thessalonica that he is – “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,”

D. Fortitude - When we talk about someone who endures and does so with courage, we call that fortitude.

1. Fortitude is the strength or firmness of mind which enables a person to encounter danger with coolness and courage, or to bear pain or adversity without murmuring, depression or despondency. It is passive courage, resolute endurance. Yet courage doesn't mean being without fear.
2. Take a look at the example of Moses. Exodus 2:14-15 – “Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?'' So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!'' When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.”
3. Moses spends 40 years in Median and because of his fear, he did not want to go back to Egypt. When God appeared to him and said, you are going to go to Egypt and free your people. Moses answer was, send somebody else, please. We read this in Exodus 4:10-13 – “10. Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.'' 11. So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12. "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.'' 13. But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.''”
4. Moses didn't want to go back, but we all know he did go, and he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. He faced down Pharaoh. It was his faith in God that caused him to endure with courage...not that he didn't have fear. He had the fortitude to face those fears and so endured.
5. In Hebrews 11:27 it says, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” It was because of his faith in God, and knowing God was with him, that he was able to have the courage to face his own fears. God sees the result, not the momentary weaknesses, and that's what He's asking of us.
6. God emphasized that He would be with Moses. That's something we need to remember when we are afraid. Take a look at what the Psalmist said in Psalm 56:3-4 - “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” God is at our side, strengthening us, encouraging us. Why should I ever fear? Psalms 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid”
7. God holds our hands, and so we don't need to be dismayed by whatever comes in this world. God says in Isaiah 41:10-13 – “10. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' 11. "Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. 12. You shall seek them and not find them, those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. 13. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'”

E. If we understand that, then we can understand how Paul got through all the difficulties in his life. Look at Second Corinthians 4:8-11 – “8. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed 10. always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Did Paul have hard times? Sure he did. Did he give up? No, he endured with courage. He had the fortitude that came from knowing whom he trusted.

III. Submission - I want us to take a look at something else as well, because Paul also showed submission. Submission is the idea of yielding your will to the authority of somebody else.

A. In First Peter 2:13-14 – “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” We're to submit to those who are in government as best we can.
B. In James 4:17 – “Therefore submit to God...” He's the higher authority. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We yield our lives to God.
C. Jesus is our example of that. Jesus submitted His life to God's will. We read in John 5:30 – “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Jesus said this a number of times. I'm not here doing what I want. I'm here to do what the Father has sent Me to do.

1. One of the things He was sent to do was to die. Jesus knew this, and He was not looking forward to it. In John 12:27-28 Jesus says, “"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name.'' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.''”
2. Jesus was resigned to do what needed to be done. Resignation is another idea. It's submission, that is, the acceptance of something that's undesirable but inevitable.

D. Think about that. What good is getting angry at plants not producing when you would like them to. It's not in my power to ripen grain at my pleasure. If I got angry at those plants, it wouldn't affect the plants. It wouldn't improve the yield in any way. Therefore I have to be resigned to wait for the Earth to produce the yield in its own time. The Hebrew writer speaking of Jesus in Hebrews 5:7-9 says, “7. who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8. though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,” ,

1. Jesus prayed to the Father for the lifting of this burden and God heard His prayers, but He had to die in order for mankind to be saved.
2. Jesus prayed it might not happen, but Jesus was resigned to do the Father's will because this had to be done. That is another aspect we should think about. You don't always have to like something to do what's right.

IV. Patience -

A. Another aspect of patience is being uncomplaining and steadfast in an activity.

1. Patience is the opposite of despondency that attitude where you say, oh, what's the use?
2. Patience keeps going on and we need that when we want to teach the gospel.
3. Look at Second Timothy 4:1-5 – “1. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4. and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” When you are teaching people you're going to run into some that don't like it, and they're not going to want to hear it.
4. What do you do in response? You don't give up, you go on with great patience and you endure the hardships.

B. Patience is also the capacity to accept or tolerate inconveniences or sufferings without getting angry or upset.

1. Again, we need that to teach. Patience is needed in teaching both the lost and the saved. By that I mean when a young Christian is growing and learning they may have some baggage that is difficult for them to overcome and may interfere with their spiritual growth.
2. Lets look at our text now Second Timothy 2:23-26 – “23. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25. in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26. and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
3. Patience is the ability to remain kind in the face of annoying conduct.
4. One person said that insults are kind of like mud. When you get some mud on your clothes if you rush to get it off all you will do is smear it around. It's difficult to remove it. If you try dealing with insults right away, chances are all you're going to do is get quarrels, but if you wait for things to cool down, wait for that mud to dry up, it brushes right off. Wait for things to cool down, and those insults are easy to brush off.

C. Which leads us to another type of patience, which we call forbearance. Forbearance is the ability to abstain from retaliation or revenge.

1. We have Christ’s example for us as prophesied in Isaiah 53:7-9 – “7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9. And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”
2. Jesus’ life was unjustly taken. He was persecuted during most of His Ministry. People were trying to lay traps for Him. People sought to kill Him numerous times. Yet, Jesus didn't retaliate. Perhaps you have sung the beautiful hymn, Ten Thousand Angles—He could have called ten thousand Angels. He didn't call the angles, He showed forbearance.
3. People can irritate you. That's just the way things are. We're told not to strike back. Paul tells the Ephesians in Ephesians 4:1-2 – “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,” [NKJV] The ASV says “...forbearing one another in love;”
4. Have you ever had a boss that really annoys you? The best thing to do when that happens is take some deep breaths to calm down. There are times in my life I wish I had practiced this. Take a look at Proverbs 25:15 – “By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone.”

a. You can persuade somebody, even a ruler, with forbearance, by not taking revenge.
b. Take a look at Ecclesiastes 10:4 it says, “If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; for conciliation pacifies great offenses.” Or in another version, do not abandon your position because composure allays great offenses.

D. Don't give up. Be calm, take some deep breaths. You can get through this. It may take awhile and you may suffer in silence for a bit.

1. Long suffering is continued patience. Often we might have patience for a little while and then we run out of it. When scripture is talking about long suffering it is talking about continual patience. It's the opposite of anger in the face of provocation.
2. That's why you find in First Corinthians 13:4 – “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;” Love suffers long. An aspect of love is that we're willing to put up with hardships, difficulties, and irritating people, because we love them.
3. Look at Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9-12 – “9. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10. that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11. strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12. giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” Paul's prayer was that they be strengthened so that they might have patience and attain joy.
4. It's not a one time act. It's something that continues and it's demonstrated in God's patience with us.

CONCLUSION:
We're still here and sometimes we look at the world and we wonder why God's putting up with it. Kind of like when we look at the Israelites and wonder why God put up with them for all those years.

In Second Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

That's why God is patient. He wants us to be saved. He loves us.

God is merciful. In Psalms 86:15 – “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” It takes a lot to get God mad.

God says in Exodus 34:6-7 – “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty... ''”

God is slow to anger, but it does not mean that God will not punish. God is willing to wait in order for people to change, but there is a limit to God's patience with each one of us.

In Romans 2:4 – “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

So there is our question; What do we do with God's patience? Do we take advantage of it and say there is time enough yet? Or do we realize that this is our chance to change?

There's an opportunity here today. If there's anyone here who is not yet a child of God, there is no better time than right now to put on Christ and be baptized into His death, burial and resurrection to become a new person.

Does anyone here, as a child of God, need the prayers of their brethren on their behalf?

Perhaps you've had struggles with patience and would like prayers on your behalf for that... or for any other reason.

Why don't you come forward as we stand and sing the song selected.

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Reference Sermon:Jeffery W. Hamilton

Do Not Worry

TEXT: Matthew 6:25 – 34 ; Job 19:25

Once again we are shocked by the turmoil that has arisen, not just among individuals, but even between nations. Again & again we’ve witnessed how cruel people can be, & how cheaply human life is regarded by some.
Maybe it is time to pay attention to the words of Jesus where He challenges us to focus not on our worries & fears, but on the faithfulness of God.
ILL. Before 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, the common belief was that if a ship from Europe sailed too far west, they would either fall off the edge of the world or face terrible dangers.
In England, there is an ancient nautical map dating back to the time of King Henry IV. On it, the mapmakers wrote these words over the Atlantic Ocean: "Here be dragons; Here be demons; Here be danger." And based on such superstitions, sailors were afraid of sailing west.
But there was an English navigator named John Franklin who was a mighty man of God. He knew the Bible says that God “sits above the circle of the earth.” He took a copy of that map & crossed out those fearful warnings & added these 3 words: "HERE BE GOD!"
If you’re a servant of God, you need to know that as you sail toward your darkest fears & deepest worries, "Here Be God!" He is there to keep & sustain us.
Job discovered that. He was able to look through his tears & say: "I know that my Redeemer lives, & that in the end he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25)
Our Universe is so large scientists can't measure it. But the Bible says in Isaiah 40:12 that God measures the heavens with the span of His hand. So when your world is crumbling, the most important thing you can do is to place yourself in God's hands. The safest place in this Universe is in His hands.
I realize that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was not speaking on the subject of war. But His command to focus our attention on the power & faithfulness of God - instead of on whatever worries us the most - is just as valid today as it was then.
Listen to what He says in Matthew 6:25-34, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I. THE COMMAND - "DO NOT WORRY"
A. Three times in this passage Jesus commands us, "Do not worry." Or as the KJV puts it, "Do not be anxious." What does He mean by that?
By the way, the Greek word translated "worry" literally means “to be drawn or pulled in different directions.” Worry can tear us apart emotionally & destroy us.
I believe that worry is one of the Devil’s greatest weapons. It can steal your joy, your contentment & your happiness. And what is ridiculous is that most of the time we worry about things that haven’t taken place & often never do. Worry is pointless... it accomplishes nothing.
ILL. A story is told of an old-time minister who crossed paths with a homeless beggar. "God give you a good day, my friend." the minister said. To which the beggar answered, "I thank God I never had a bad one."
Then the minister said, "God give you a happy life, my friend." "I thank God," said the beggar, "I am never unhappy."
Amazed, the minister asked, "What do you mean?" "Well," said the beggar, "When the weather is fine, I thank God; when it rains, I thank God; when I have plenty, I thank God; when I’m hungry, I thank God; & since God’s will is my will, & what-ever pleases Him, pleases me, why should I say I’m unhappy when I’m not?"
The old minister looked at the man in astonishment. "Who are you?" he asked. "I am a king," said the beggar. "Where then is your kingdom?" asked the minister. And the beggar answered quietly: "In my heart."
Isaiah 26:3 says, You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
And that is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 6. He is telling the people not to let anxiety, worry, or fear take control of their lives. So how can we win over worry? There is no magic pill. But there are changes in attitude that can help us develop a spirit of calmness & peace.

II. THE CURE FOR WORRY
A. In Matthew 6:26 Jesus suggests that we should observe the birds & learn to trust God's providential care. He says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, & yet your heavenly Father feeds them."
Somewhere along the line we need to slow down & reflect on the promises of God. We need to review & remember these verses: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1)
(Eph. 3:20-21) 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Romans 8:28) “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.”
(1 John 4:4) 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Trusting God doesn't mean laziness or indifference. It means realizing that God is taking care of us.
That's what makes worry a serious sin. It is accusing God of being a liar. God says in Philippians 4:19, "I will meet all your needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus."
BUT ... Worry says to us , "I don't believe He'll supply my needs."
God says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, & He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5,6).
Worry says, "I don't believe God will direct my future."
Jesus promised, "I am with you always" (Matt. 28:20)
Worry says, “I'm all alone."
SUM. If we make a reasonable effort, God has promised to provide for our needs. It's a matter of believing His promises & being content with what He has supplied.
B. Secondly, we need to "Maintain Proper Priorities."
Since humans are more valuable than birds, we are to "Seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness" & then the things of this world will be added to us. The Christian's priorities are God, people (with an emphasis on family), job & self.
When one keeps these priorities ... in order, God promises to supply every need. But worry mixes up our priorities. The job may become more important than God; and self becomes more important than others.
As a result, our responsibilities seem greater than our resources & our energy is sapped by anxiety. But when we trust God, we keep our priorities in order.
We don't just say it; we do it, & God supplies what we need ... especially peace of mind.
It is interesting to discover that the word “peace” is used around 220 times in Scripture, & it is often linked with the word “righteousness”.
C. Thirdly, we must focus on that which is eternal, rather than that which is temporary ... on the unseen rather than that which is seen.
2 Kings 6 tells the story of the prophet Elisha & his servant as they were staying in the town of Dothan.
The King of Aram (that’s Syria today) was at war with Israel, but every time he planned a surprise attack God would tell Elisha to warn the King of Israel.
So the army of Israel would be there in force, waiting for the Syrians when they attacked. As a result, the Syrian army was blocked in everything it tried to do.
Vs’s 11-12 of 2 Kings 6 tell us, “This enraged the king of Aram.” He was convinced that one of his officers must be spying for Israel. So “He summoned his officers & demanded of them, ‘Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?
‘None of us, my Lord the king,’ said one of his officers, ‘but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.’”
Once they convinced him, the King of Aram sent a major portion of his army in an all-night march to surround Dothan & capture Elisha.
Early the next morning, when Elisha’s servant got up & looked out over the city wall, he saw the great enemy army surrounding the town. Terrified, he ran back to Elisha to tell him what he had seen.
You can almost hear him gasping for breath as he cries out, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15)
But Elisha is calm & says something his servant didn’t understand at all. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
The servant must have thought Elisha was hallucinating because even counting every man, woman, & child, there weren’t as many people in Dothan as there were in the huge army surrounding them.
But then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” And the Bible says, “Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, & he looked & saw the hills full of horses & chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17) Elisha’s servant was totally unaware that there was a heavenly army surrounding the people of God.
The Bible explains that what is unseen is more important than what is seen. It says, “Therefore we do not lose heart... For our light & momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
Jesus says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble enough of its own." (Matt. 6:34)
The Lord didn't say, "Don't worry about tomorrow because nothing bad will ever happen to you." He said that there will be troubles. But He also promised us spiritual resources to cope with them.
ILL. One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford suddenly darkened, & some of the representatives in the Connecticut legislature, glancing out the windows, feared the end of the world was at hand.
Calming the cries for immediate adjournment, Colonel Davenport, speaker of the House of Representatives, rose & said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.”
We spend so much time worrying about tomorrow, fearing for what may or may not happen, that we often forget that a Christian has nothing to fear as long as we remain faithful to the calling that God has given us.
Rather than fearing what is to come, we would be much better off taking comfort in the fact that nothing happens to a child of God without our Lord’s faithful hand guiding it first.
As Jesus said, “...do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt 6:34)

CONCL. Therefore, trust God to provide, & live one day at a time. Let the words of the psalmist be your motto. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice & be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
ILL. Said the robin to the sparrow, "I would really like to know
Why those anxious humans rush about & worry so."
Said the sparrow to the robin, "I think it must be,
That they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you & me."

Sermon Contributor: Melvin Newland

Coping With Worry and Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34

INTRO: It's good to be together again. Today we're going to be talking about “worry and anxiety”. Coping with worry and anxiety. And our text for this morning is Matthew 6:25-34. Usually when you mention worry, I think of the old Mad magazine and it’s character Alfred E. Newman, the boy with misaligned eyes, a gap-toothed smile, and the perennial motto "What, me worry?" Perhaps you remember that as well.

Let’s take a look at some things the Bible says about our topic. One of the first passages I want to call your attention to is found in the book of Philippians. It's a familiar passage, Philippians 4:6-7 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

We live in an age of anxiety, and a lot of people suffer from it. The world has faced a pandemic. The COVID 19 virus was highly contagious, and still is. Of course, more are being protected with the vaccine, and we are taking care to follow the guidelines to curb the spread as much as we can.

The virus has spread literally all over the world. I believe I read that every country has been affected. Many congregations have had to cancel assemblies or greatly limit the assemblies out of safety concerns, for the members. We've heard a lot about that. Businesses have failed. People have lost their jobs. Many lives have ended. I think the world now has had 3 million people that have perished. Not as bad as the Spanish flu back over 100 years ago, but still bad.

Black lives have ended at the hands of police. Law enforcement is in jeopardy. Officers have been ambushed and killed. These things ought not to be.

Yet, they're happening in our country almost every day and we are seeing it in the news. Irrational hatred exists, racism persists, road rage is everywhere it seems. Riots and violence and burnings have threatened many cities. Political unrest and hatred is very prevalent today, and seems to permeate society. And war is always on the horizon.

Fear is the fare of the news cycle. Anything that can cause you to fear is good for the news industry. If they can keep people afraid and keep them watching the news to see what's going to happen next, it fuels interest in their product. People buy into that, and they actually become addicted to it in some ways.

This can make for an atmosphere of pervasive worry. We worry and worry. One worrier said to another, “I have so many troubles. If anything happened to me today, it will take me two weeks to get around to worrying about it.” So how can Christians (that's who we're interested in) avoid anxiety and remain faithful and overcome the evil of this world?

Can it be done? The Bible says it can. The Bible is very optimistic about that. We tend to be pessimistic about things. When you include the Lord in the scenario that changes things a lot, it turns the situation around.

Maybe we don't include Him enough. Jesus offers hope for our doubts and fears and anxieties and discouragements. Let's notice some things that Jesus said in Matthew six. Now let’s look at our text which is part of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:25-34 - “25. "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26. "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27. "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28. "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29. "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30. "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? 31. "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32. "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

That's what the Lord had to say about worry. Kind of simple, easily said, hard to practice. Many times we find ourselves having problems doing this, but He says, take no thought, that's one translation, or do not worry in another.

I. We read in Chapter 6:25. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink...” Then in Verse 31, He says “Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?'” take no thought for what you shall eat. Be not anxious about that. God is not talking about meal planning here. Verse 34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow” Take no thought for tomorrow. Does that mean don't think about it? No. What it means is don't be anxious about it. Naturally we think about it. We have to plan our days and our meals. We have to know that we've got to get up at a certain time to go to work or school or whatever.

A. What He's talking about is being anxious in the sense of worrying about things that we can't control or if we can, then we'll do something about them. Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't plan tomorrow’s menu. It's okay to plan your menu. He's saying don't worry and fret over it.

1. Don't worry about winter clothes in the summer or purchase of homes or health insurance. Yes, those are things that we have to be concerned about. There's a difference in genuine concern and what we may call real worry in the book of Romans.
2. In chapter 12:11, the Apostle Paul said, “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;” We're to be diligent, willing to work.

B. We shouldn't be lazy, refusing to work. A man's to provide for his own household. Paul told Timothy in First Timothy 5:8 - “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

1. It means that we shouldn't be anxious about our food, winning it or putting it on the table. We shouldn't be worried about our clothes, choosing them or getting them to fit or affording them, or staying in fashion.
2. Don’t be worried about the things that the world is worried about, like keeping up with the neighbors, retirement, living long, those kinds of things, they're going to work themselves out.

C. What does the owner's manual say about the worry malfunction that we have? That's where we need to be looking. Look at verse 26 that we were reading a few moments ago.

1. “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
2. God thought so. He made us in His image. He thought we were more valuable than they. There are several things which prove that to us.
3. Jesus is telling us, that birds don't worry. Whoever said worrying is for the birds was off the mark, because they don't do that. Whoever heard of a bird taking ulcer medication or committing suicide or dying of a heart attack? Birds aren't concerned about tomorrow's meals.
4. They're not worried about tomorrow yet. They're not trying to figure it all out. God cares for them.
5. Someone has written: “Said the Robin to the Sparrow, I should really like to know, why these anxious human beings rush about and hurry so. Said the Sparrow to the Robin, Friend, I think that it must be, that they have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me.” I suspect the sparrow has a point.

D. I want us to notice something else. It’s senseless for us to think that God would care for the birds and neglect His children, because He doesn't do that. Any father would feed his boys and girls before he'd feed his parakeet or his chickens. God cares for the birds. He cares more for us.

1. Look what He said about birds in Matthew 10:29-31 - “29. "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. 30. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31. "Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
2. We shouldn't fear. God cares about them. There must be millions of sparrows. God is aware of every one of them and He cares about them.

E. We're told something in Romans 8:32 we should consider, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

1. God cares for the birds. He cares more for us. How do we know He cares more for us? Because of that right there—He sent Jesus, that's how much He cares for us. We shouldn't be worried.
2. That's how much He cares. He cares for the birds. They don't have immortal souls, and yet He's aware of every one of them. The Bible tells us that.
3. Maybe we underestimate Him, and maybe that's why we worry. We're not giving God credit for the power and the knowledge and the intelligence that He has, and we ought to be doing that.
4. Does worry pay bills? No, it doesn't. Worry is kind of like a rocking chair, it's something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.

Somebody wrote a piece that said it this way.

Worry never climbed a Hill.
Worry never paid a bill.
Worry never dried a tear.
Worry never calmed a fear.
Worry never darned a heel.
Worry never cooked a meal.
Worry never composed a song to sing.
Actually, worry never did a worthwhile thing.

Yet, we worry all the time.

F. So why worry? While various factors and components are important, the Bible cuts deeper because it says that worry is a deeper spiritual issue. This is not to say that the Bible ignores or disputes the mental, physiological, historical, social, or environmental aspects of worry, but the Bible shows it as a part of a spiritual issue.
G. Worry ultimately is a response to a life lived in God's world. God's world--don't ever forget that. Worry, therefore, is a response to God Himself. If you trust the Lord with your eternal life, why would you not trust Him with your temporary situation? I find that thought provoking.

1. If we're going to trust Him with our eternal destination, why won't we trust Him with the everyday things, those challenges that we're facing?
2. God teaches us to trust Him. The birds trust Him. Why can't we? That's to be considered.
3. I suggest that too much worry falls into three categories. Let’s take a look at that.

II. Reruns - Most worries are reruns, so why worry? Things didn't happen like we thought they would the first time. Why are we worrying about that same thing again?

A. Eggs can't be unscrambled, toothpaste can't be put back in the tube. I suppose you could, by adding glue, make sawdust into something resembling wood. What we are saying is that the past is the past; past deeds cannot be undone. Past words cannot be unsaid. If it involves sin, then we need to take care of that quickly. Obey God's conditions for pardon.

1. Saul of Tarsus was told to arise and be baptized and wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
2. Simon, the sorcerer, who had already been baptized, was told to repent and pray that the thought of his heart might be forgiven him and none of those things would fall upon him.

B. James 5:16 says “... The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” In First John 1:7 we read “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.” Why worry?
C. In the book of Isaiah, the Bible tells us that He will abundantly forgive. If we're worried about God forgiving don't think that God is going to have to ponder and think “Do I want to forgive them?” No. He is eager to forgive. He wants that to happen. He wants us to ask for His forgiveness, and He's more than willing to give it.

1. Look at Isaiah 55:6-7 - “ Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
2. He's not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. He doesn't want anybody to be lost, so He is eager to forgive.
3. We shouldn't think that we've got to twist His arm and persuade Him. He just wants us to ask. When we repent and ask for forgiveness God forgives, and then we need to forgive ourselves. We need to do that.
4. Paul put the past behind him. He said, “one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,” I can't change it, but I need to start looking to the future and quit dwelling on the past.
5. Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England in 1916, said, “I have made it a practice of my life always to close the gate behind me.”

III. Things that happen - There's a second category in which these things fall. Things that will inevitably happen, we probably can't keep them from happening. All the worry in the world can't change some things.

A. Why do we think that we've got to do all the worrying for the world in order to try to change it? Some worry that the wrong party is going to be elected. Maybe a favorite candidate won’t be put in, and they worry about that. Not our job! We are to just pray and vote and take a stand with Jesus our King, no matter who's selected for an office. Remember that God is the only potentate. He is the one that really matters.
B. Some worry whether their children are going to marry or who they're going to marry. Marriage is honorable. The Bible says, men and women were made for marriage. The Bible says that it's not good for man to be alone in Genesis 2:24. We are to teach our children how to select a mate who will help them go to heaven and pray about it. Then nature takes its course because you can't do everything.
C. Some people worry about growing old and they fear wrinkles and pounds and gray hair. You can't avoid those things. The Bible talks about that. It talks about the fact that all humans age.

1. You've probably read the passage in Ecclesiastes 12. We will not go there now, but Ecclesiastes 12 is a very poetic writing about something, that if you were to just talk about it without the poetry, is not so pleasant. It's about the things that are happening to your body as you age and things start falling apart. Solomon talks about that in a very eloquent way.
2. Also consider what Paul said in Second Corinthians 4:16ff where he talks about it in a different way. “16. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18. while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
3. We don't need to worry about losing our Tabernacle, not having a place to dwell. God has a place prepared for us. When we're through with this Tabernacle here on the Earth, then we have the promise of a better one.
4. Worrying doesn't slow down our aging. In fact worry may hasten it. It could bring on your death sooner. Each stage and year of our life has its beauty, and we ought to enjoy that. We ought to enjoy life as it comes to us.

D. Some people worry about dying. You're going to die. You can't prevent that by worrying about it. It's going to happen—all die.

1. The Bible says that in Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” Nobody's going to escape that. It was never reported that worrying lengthened the life. Nobody said I worried, and my life was extended as a result of me worrying. That doesn't happen.
2. We need to keep our faith strong. We need to keep our hope real, and we need to look forward to going home to glory with the Lord. That's what Paul did. That's how he coped with some of the things in his life. If some of the things that happened to Paul happened to us, how would we cope with them?

E. If you recall, the things that happened to him were mentioned in Second Corinthians, chapter eleven. “24. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26. in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27. in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness 28. besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”

1. Think about those things that happened to Paul. How did he cope? He remembered that Christ took the sting out of death, and Paul coped with those things exactly the way it ought to be done. We have his example, and as he said, in Philippians 4:9 – “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” We should follow Paul's example.
2. Somebody once said, Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles. We're paying interest. We shouldn't want to do that. Why pay interest on something that's not due? We shouldn't be doing that.

IV. Things that never happen - The third category of things that we worry about, are things that will never happen. There are things that have already happened and can't be undone. There are things that will happen that you can't prevent, and there are things that will never happen.

A. Certainly imagination creates all kinds of terrors. Things that we're fearful of that never exist. Mark Twain said, “I'm an old man and have had a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” He spent a lot of time worried about things that never happened.

1. One person said, “I always feel bad, even when I feel good, because I know that it will not be long before I feel bad again.” Sometimes we get in that kind of rut, don't we? We don't need to do that.
2. People get locked into constant worries, and they continually fret about all of the things that are going on in the world, and then the things never happen. Yet, they worry, and we don't need to do that. That does not mean we are not to be prudent about what we do. We look at a situation, take any precautions we need and then don’t worry about it. Shakespeare wrote something about, Cowards die many times before their deaths
3. I don't know who did the studies, but I read one that said that 8% of worries happen. Our energy spent worrying is better spent elsewhere. Invest time in working instead of worrying. It would be a good idea if we spent our time working for the Lord instead of worrying. Think about what we could accomplish—that will not be accomplished by worrying.

B. Proverbs 6:6 – “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.”

1. We can learn a lot from the ants. They just work and look at how much they accomplish. Sometimes they accomplish more than we want them to. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches us to redeem the time because the days are evil.
2. Abraham Lincoln visited Horace Greeley, the famous newspaper editor in New York, as the President elect traveled to his inauguration. Lincoln told Greeley an anecdote about the question many asked him, “will we have a civil war?” - In his circuit riding days, Lincoln crossed many swollen Rivers. On one of these trips somebody asked him, “if these small streams give us trouble, how shall we get over the Fox River?” They stayed one night at a log Tavern where they met a Methodist presiding elder. He said he came from the other direction. So they asked him about the Fox River. He said, I have crossed it often and understand it well, but I have one fixed rule about the Fox River. I never cross it ‘till I reach it.
3. I never cross it ‘till I reach it. You can cross it in your mind a thousand times, but he said, I never cross it until I reach it. Lincoln was saying that he would worry about the Civil War when the time came. There wasn't anything he could do about it.

C. Things happen or not - Somebody once said, there are only two things we worry about...things that happen and things that do not... That pretty well says everything, doesn't it? We worry about things that happen and things that don't.

1. Things that don't happen we don't have to worry about because they don't happen. Those things that do happen fall into two categories. Things we can change and things we cannot change.
2. That brings us to what is often called the serenity prayer. God, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. If we can't change things, we shouldn't worry about it. If we can change them, we ought not worry. There really is no reason to worry, yet we do.

V. We've already learned from the ant to be wise. A day of worrying is more exhausting than a day of work. Let’s look back at Matthew 6:28 - “28. So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29. and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30. 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?”

A. “O you of little faith.” That stings. Worry indicates a lack of faith. I know we find ourselves in worry at times and that's when we really need to check on our faith.

1. Is this something that God can help me with? Is this something that I can't do anything about? If it's something I can change, then maybe I need to change it and not fuss about it.
2. Worry—wants a solution right now! Faith—trust God's timing in these things. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. He's not saying everything is going to turn out like we want it to. He says “All things...” all sufferings, sorrows, infirmities, and everything else of a discouraging and calamitous nature which might happen to God's child on earth. "For good ..." does not mean earthly prosperity, success, bodily health, or any other purely mortal benefit, but is rather a reference to the eternal joy of the soul.
3. Worry focuses on problems and faith focuses on God. Too often we focus on our problems and worry about them instead of focusing on God. What does that say about us? Does God lie? Is God incapable of keeping His word?

B. We need to question our thinking because sometimes we act like we don't trust God. Romans 8:31 - “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” We know God is for us. We just read that in Isaiah. Faith believes promises despite the circumstances. Worry believes circumstances despite the promises.

1. Paul’s tells us - “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.
2. No circumstance, not cancer, not a terrible accident, not a physical disability, not employment loss, not theft, not bankruptcy, not the death of a child, not unbearable sorrow—can cause Christians to sorrow as those who have no hope.
3. Faith obeys God one step at a time, one day at a time. Worry wants to examine each step it takes. We've got to have all the answers or we're not going to go. We know we can't see around corners, but God can. That's all we need. “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Paul said in Philippians 2:13. If we know God and His promise, we need not fear the tomorrows because we know He is more than capable.

C. Worry kind of insults God because it says, I don't trust my father to care for me. That's really what we're saying when we worry, I don't trust God to take care of me. Problems become smaller when we're in God's shadow.

1. As a child I thought that a knotted shoe string was an unsolvable dilemma. It was the end of the world. I could not get the knot out of my shoestring and was so frustrated before taking it to my father, who quickly untied the knot. Suddenly... the problem was over. Our difficulties are but knotted shoestrings to God. He's our Father, He's unlimited, He's Almighty, and we can trust Him for everything.
2. In the book of Ephesians 3:20-21 – “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” That's telling us that God is more than capable.
3. It shouldn't be a matter of trust on our part, but it often is. Paul says in Philippians 4:19 – “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Why should we get upset?

CONCLUSION:
As we conclude, I want us to consider the three keys to happiness. The first one is God loves you. John 13:1 – “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

That's the kind of God we have. We should never fret whether God loves us or not. He loved them to the end. The cross shows how He loves us. Our coins say in God we trust. We put it on our coins but do we put that in our hearts? That is where it should be written.

In Proverbs 3:5-8 – “5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6. in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 7. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.”
In Proverbs 9:10 it says, “"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If we haven't started there, we need to go back there and start fearing the Lord like we should.

God loves us and another key to happiness is that we should not worry because God keeps us. It's in Jude verse 24 it says “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” He is more than able, and we need to trust him for that. We may not have much in this world, but we have the King, and we have His Kingdom, and our inheritance is yet to come.

God loves us, we are not to fear because God keeps us, and lastly we are not to lose heart because God holds us, He supports us. Second Corinthians 4:16 – “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” Our minds need to be on the things that are permanent, not the things that are temporary.

We dwell on those things above and are not anxious. The world has its problems, but Christians are not required to solve them all or to fix them on their own. Some of them we can't, and shouldn't even be worried about them because we can't fix them.

Sure whatever we can fix, we ought to fix, but if we can't, we need to quit worrying about it. It's God's world. He'll handle it. We are God's children and He will protect you in spite of what else may be going on. Why worry? We need to understand that the Lord doesn't want us to spend time doing that. When you're worrying, you're spinning your wheels. There are other activities that you could do that would be far more beneficial. If it's something you can change, get busy changing it. If you can't, quit worrying about it and go on to something else that you can do something about.

We have seen in this pandemic some people frozen by worry. Some do nothing to help themselves. God has provided help. Instead they do nothing for themselves and temp the Lord by saying to themselves I need to do nothing. God has provided for us but we need to obtain and provide for ourselves and others—not be frozen by worry.
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If anybody here needs to respond, either to dedicate themselves to Christ and be buried with Him in baptism, or to ask for prayers on their behalf, won’t you come forward as we stand and sing our Invitational song.

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Reference Sermon: Robert Blackford