12/27/22 12/27/22

BEHOLDERS OF CHRIST

#093 BEHOLDERS OF CHRIST

Scripture Mark 16:12-13 NIV Orig. 3-29-64

Rewr. 1-78, 10-2-87

Passage: ¹²Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

Purpose: To provide occasion for my people to examine their own lives as beholders of Christ

Keywords: Christ the Lord Hope Renewal Resurrection

Introduction

All that is established by this brief text is that then as now, there are variances in the ways that we respond to Jesus. Then as now, we observe some who were believers, some who weren’t.

Luke gives a larger treatment to this event. In his concluding chapter, he tells the story of the two Emmaus-bound disciples. Recall, please, that the hour was late, they were on their way to their home from Jerusalem. They were joined by a man not known to them. They were so impressed by what he said, when arriving in Emmaus, they invited him to spend the night. He then took bread, blessed and broke it, and in his praying they suddenly realized who it was. Instantly, he was, as it were, spirited away. It was a deeply moving moment for them. They would discuss it together, then immediately return to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what had happened. That’s the way it is in the discovery of Jesus alive.

Perhaps that’s the problem when our spirit sags. We’ve left Jesus on the cross, or in a tomb. And if that’s where we’ve left him, we’re looking in vain for his help. What kind of “beholder” of Christ are you this morning?

My wife and I wished two weeks ago that we had you all sitting around our table. The Mesias had gone to our home after the evening service. She began to tell of her conversion. Her English failed, and her husband began to translate for the two of us. Oh, how we felt the presence of the Lord as she testified of Jesus coming alive in her life. She “beheld” Him, and that made all the difference.

I. There Are Beholders Who Cannot See Past His Humanity. V 12 “He appeared in another form unto two of them.” I’ve never known anyone incapable of recognizing Jesus’ admirable character. The world still finds “no fault” with him. In Luke 23:4 Pilate says “I find no fault.” Most of the fault found early was with those around Jesus. Mark 7:2 “And when they saw . . . disciples eat bread with . . . unwashed hands, they found fault.”

It is still that way. Those who would rebuke Him, are really rebuking us. Gandhi for example—those who knew him said that his appreciation for Jesus was so great, if it only weren’t for His followers.

We note here that some were incapable of grasping this reality of Jesus. Luke 24:16 (disciples) “. . . their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” But wait, it was not some blinding spiritual power keeping them in the dark. The Greek is “khateo”—used by those who were bound by what they learned in error. They had only known the flesh and blood Jesus. They did not recognize Him as He now appeared as crucified, risen Lord. How do WE “behold” Him? Paul plants the seed in I Corinthians 15.

We must also attempt to understand their mental state. They had talked freely of the day’s events, that Jesus was dead, perhaps even because of sin—theirs or others. Maybe they were even asking what it all meant. Luke 24:21 “. . . we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel.” They were writing the New Testament, but they had it not for counsel.

II Corinthians 5:21 “He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” They SAW Him, but they did not “behold” Him.

Don’t let your humanity, or His humanity, limit your vision of Him. If for all His worth, He was defeated by those who killed Him, then why should I try to change them? If Jesus’ life, and death, has no relation to my sin, then I can do as I please, as others are doing. But these two postulates fail miserably before a Jesus “beheld” as Saviour and Lord.

In the “holden” state, remember their hopelessness and remorse. Ephesians 2:12 “At that time you were without Christ, . . . having no hope.” To “behold” Him is to face Him in personal accountability for our sin, but discovering that He died for us. Hebrews 2:3 “. . . How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”

Now don’t forget that a strong case can be made that these two were, in fact, Jesus’ own aunt and uncle, Mary’s sister and her husband, Cleopas. (See Luke 24:18 and John 19:25.) They did not recognize their own nephew. As long as sin is allowed to restrict our view, we will see only what we want to see. And we want to see ourselves as alright in God’s eyes. He sees us as absolved of sin, only in Jesus.

II. We Must, Then, Become People of Faith, Beholding Jesus as Lord. V12f “. . . He appeared . . . unto them. And they went and told it unto the [others]: neither believed they them.” The two experienced the happy miracle of recognition. Note that it did not happen as they listened to the wise assertions of a stranger. It happened when they in grief and consternation invited the Son of God to share in their meager lives. Perhaps that’s it. We are embarrassed to invite Jesus to share our bounty. Their eyes were opened, while their eyes were closed. They discover Him willing to respond to whatever they offer.

It is important to see what this recognition accomplishes. V13 “. . . they went and told it to the other(s).” It worked a work of transformation for them. Grief, doubt, dread, anguish are quickly vanquished. Sharing what they have experienced becomes the first order of business. It has nothing to do with some kind of super faith. Not even a fulfilled belief. It is a joy that becomes something less, unless shared.

But most of all, obedience is suddenly involved. They had seen a stranger Jesus. As they spoke with this stranger, they spoke of a man Jesus. Returning as they did to the disciples, they spoke of Him as Lord. Luke 24:33f “The same hour they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven. . . . The Lord is risen indeed . . . . V35 and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.”

III. We Must Not Be Slow to Behold Him. V12 “. . . He appeared in another form unto . . . them.” He comes in our quiet times, or in the noise of our desperation. He stays, unless we drive Him away by our faithlessness, even then staying within range of our repentance, within reach of our cry of faith. To respond in faith is to discover who He really is. He comes not because of who, or what, we are. He comes, not even because of what we are capable of becoming. He comes, because of what He is, because of His all-sufficiency.

He comes, and we must behold who He is.

Conclusion

The poet, John Masefield, wrote winsomely of matters that should be close to the heart of every believer in Christ, every beholder of Him. In one such poem, he tells of the conversion of a mean and wicked man by the name of Saul Kane. The name itself speak volumes. There was a saintly Miss Bourne, whose goal in life was in helping the families of men like Saul Kane. Saul sees her and drives her away. But she responds as leaving:

“Saul Kane,” she said, “When next you drink,

Do me the gentleness to think

That every drop of drink accurst

Makes Christ within you die of thirst,

That every dirty word you say

Is one more flint upon His way,

Another thorn about His head,

Another mock by where He tread,

Another nail, another cross.

All that you are is that Christ’s loss.”

As she leaves, the words begin to have an effect upon him. Masefield next pictures him standing at the window, looking at the rainstorm he has driven Miss Bourne out into. He speaks:

“The wet was pelting on the pane

And something broke inside my brain.”

He also leaves the warmth of the room and goes into the rain. And he continues to speak:

“I did not think, I did not strive.

The deep peace burned my me alive.

The bolted door had broken in.

I knew that I had done with sin.

I knew that Christ had given me birth

To brother all the souls on earth.

O glory of the lighted mind.

How dead I’d been, how dumb, how blind.

The station brook to my new eyes

Was babbling out of paradise.

The waters rushing from the rain

Were singing, Christ has risen again.”

12/27/22 12/27/22

GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION

#089 GOD’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION

Scripture II Peter 2:4-9 NIV Orig. 12-16-62

Rewr. 8-3-77

Passage: ⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[^a^] putting them in chains of darkness^[^b^] to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

Purpose: To remind men that God’s Word establishes the reality of His judgment, but that out of that judgment are the first rays of hope and salvation.

Keywords: Salvation Judgment

Introduction

Most of us who have spent any time at all singing in Baptist churches are familiar with the music of John Newton. We have enjoyed such favorites as “How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours” and “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.” We may know very little, however, about his own Christian experience.

When he was still only a boy, he left his native England to go to sea. The day he left home, his mother hold him that she would pray every day that he would become a Christian. (Has it ever occurred to you what might happen in the lives of your children if they knew your spiritual concern for them?) Many years passed, and that prayer went unanswered. As if to aggravate the sorrow that his mother knew, the life of John Newton turned to depravity and decay. He became, eventually, a slave trader, plying the waters between West Africa and the American South. He had come finally to moral and spiritual ruin.

It was in that depravity, however, that God convicted him of his sin. After his experience of repentance, at which time he turned to Christ in faith to save him, John Newton wrote, as an expression of his own life and transformation, a song that became one of the best-loved songs in Christendom, “Amazing Grace.”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come,

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

I. The Condemnation. V9 “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and . . . to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”

CONDEMNATION IS DESERVED. The examples of our text show that the angels were not spared, but were cast into mystical “Tartarus,” a holding area awaiting judgment: not gehenna (hell), mentioned at least 11 times by Jesus; not sheol (Old Testament), a region of departed spirits. Revelation 6:8 “. . . a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”

There was a prior world judgment by flood upon the ungodly. Deliverance was through the preaching of righteousness.

There was a judgment of limited scope upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was to serve as a warning to others. As the judgment was limited, even so there would be the righteous “living among them” who would be delivered.

There is also the evident displeasure of God with contemporary humanity. Our age is an age of indulgence. Judges 17:6 “In those days . . . every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Did you catch the article in the paper this week? A St. Bernard parish political figure reminded a reporter that questionable funds were not a kick-back, but a campaign contribution.

Paul found it necessary to remind believers in Ephesians 5:18 “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the spirit.” Proverbs 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin.” Luke 18:11 “I thank Thee, that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers.”

God’s truth concerning condemnation covers all the ages of man. Genesis 3:17 “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of the life.” I Kings 21:21, Elijah said to Ahab “I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.”

I looked with dismay at a Times Picayune article, June 7, 1977, about a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old facing indictment on 4 counts of murder. One said, “I’d rather be sailing.” Those two boys lived in somebody’s community with the gospel. Are there any like them in our community? What to do? As a member of Riverside Baptist Church, what do you do? Leave it to the staff! As a Christian, a Baptist, live in indifference? It’s just temporary.

II. The Judge. V4 “For if God spared not the angels that sinned . . . , to be reserved unto judgment.”

He is the judge who cannot be mocked. Have you ever thought to consider what you taught your small children about Santa Claus, and later about God?

You’d better not pout, you’d better not cry

You’d better be good I’m telling you why…

You used a fairy tale to bargain your child into better behavior, getting them committed to a myth. That is not wrong in itself, but when you fail to teach them the true meaning of Christmas and their ultimate responsibility to God, then you are mocking God.

To live in atheistic disbelief is not to mock God. Martin Luther tells of the time when “I hated God and was angry with him.” But by his own reckoning that state of mind and heart spoke badly for himself and not of God.

Even Madeleine Murray O’Hare claims to believe in a god of nature. But, you see, she wants a quiet god who makes no claims or demands. One who sits around like the three monkeys with eyes, ears, and mouth covered.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

He is the judge who cannot be other than just. He will not turn his back to ignore sin. Psalm 90:8 “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of the count.” Jeremiah 32:19 “. . . Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

In the Orleans Parish Criminal Court record of one Richard Norman Glover, self-accused rapist and murderer of 17-year-old Cynthia LeBoeuf, confessed in June 1972. In October 1972 he was ruled insane and unable to stand trial. He was committed to East Louisiana State Hospital. In March 1975 he was ruled synthetically sane, and able to stand trial. In February 1976 his admission of guilt was allowed (5 to 2) by State Superior Court. Eleven months later they reversed themselves and Glover was free.

III. The Promise. V9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.”

It is a promise which cannot be earned. Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ.” Understand, please, that we may stand convicted of sin, and sincerely want to change our ways. But the power for justification is not in ourselves, but in Christ. Satan’s last foothold occurs when God convicts us of sin and he, Satan, tries to make us think that we can change ourselves.

It is a promise which can only be believed and received. It is more than a mere fresh veneer. Matthew 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men’s bones.”

It is the new birth, an inner change, wrought by God alone. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

NOTE by Rev. Skinner: Verse 4 contains a reference to God in judgment. Verse 9 completes this in reference to the Lord in that through Him there is the promise of deliverance.

***THE CONCLUSION OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***

12/27/22 12/27/22

WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

#476LS WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

Scripture Luke 14:1-14, NIV Orig. 3/13/68

Rewr. 1/30/85

Passage: One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ²There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. ⁵Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[^a^] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶And they had nothing to say. ⁷When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ¹²Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Purpose: Using the occasion of the Lord’s Supper for a brief message relative to the interrelationships of Jesus at a supper.

Timeline/Series: LORD’S SUPPER

Introduction

Take note please that on a Sabbath, the Holy Day to a Jew, Jesus went into the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to share in a festive meal. It is said that the Jews normally ate two meals a day; but on the Sabbath a festive meal was added to the middle of the day. It is a joyful occasion.

Some people have a forlorn and complex view of Jesus as a man who never was other than serious. John Wesley founded a school near Bristol, England, where no games were allowed because “He who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man.”

William Barclay (G30p201) gives us some examples of this short-sighted view of the happy Christ. He quotes Swinburne, “Thou has conquered, O pale Galilean. The world has grown gray at the breath.” Julian spoke of “pale-faced, flat-breasted Christians for whom the sun shone and they never saw it.” And it was A.B. Bruce who said one “could not conceive of the child Jesus playing games when he was a boy, or smiling when he was a man.”

There were those present who were “watching Jesus closely.” Let’s join them and see what we can learn of our Lord’s disposition.

Observe Jesus’ Presence at the Supper. Jesus never refused any man’s hospitality. V1 “He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath.” Jesus went in response to a supposed kindness. It was a large gathering including lawyers and Pharisees. It included also an infirm man, either a plant or someone who happened in off the street. Jesus was not ill-at-ease in the surroundings. V1: “They watched Him closely.” Paratereo means “to watch with sinister intent.”

Note, please, that at such a supper given in His honor, Jesus is present.

Observe Jesus’ Activity at the Supper. He was there as a Pharisee’s guest. The lack of sincerity on the part of some would not change Him. He was there as a guest. However, one was present for whom something must be done. V4: “And He took him and healed him and let him go.”

Attention is called to the Pharisees’ lack of value judgment. It was the Sabbath. That was their excuse to do nothing. Jesus not only does what is right, he rebukes their do-nothing attitude.

At this supper given in honor of our Lord is the appropriate time to check our own values.

Observe Jesus’ Teaching about a Supper. V7: “So He told a parable” about being invited . . . to a wedding feast.” There is always relevancy in Jesus’ teaching. They were at a supper as guests. Some were not acting accordingly.

V7 “He noted how they chose the best places.” Thus, His teaching to them was a lesson in humility. V10 “When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”

Note that it is a rare thing for us to think of ourselves as humble. What place would you want at the table where Jesus sat?

Observe Jesus’ Advice to His Host. He encourages him to examine his motives. Why do we do the things we do? Duty? Self-interest? To befriend? He had invited Jesus and perhaps the infirm man. Fearing what his friends would say, he invited them.

Do the right thing and let God provide the blessing. What better advice or higher goal could we accord than this? I will do the right thing, and I will wait for God to bless as he will.

***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***

12/27/22 12/27/22

LIFE BEGINS WITH DEATH

#049a LIFE BEGINS WITH DEATH

Scripture Romans 6:17-23, NIV Orig. Date 5/20/62

Rewr. Dates 2/1/85 (6-77)

Passage: ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[^a^] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Purpose: To call attention to the new “life” that is in Christ which begins with the believer’s “death.”

Keywords: Christ the Saviour New Birth Revival Salvation

Introduction

“Life after death” is enjoying some popularity these days. Walk in any supermarket and look for the sensationalist newspapers and you will see what I mean. Most of the time there will be some outlandish article such as one I saw recently, “Five Psychics Tell Why They Believe in Life After Death.” You will even hear some of the people on talk shows discuss it usually in some metaphysical way.

I heard Paul Harvey quote Elisabeth Kübler-Ross a while back. She is a social scientist, and probably the world’s leading authority from a scientific standpoint of the death experience. “Although I do not consider myself a particularly religious woman, I find no conflict between the Christian concept of an afterlife, and my own careful studies on death.”

Perhaps, since we have access to the sensation mongers, over-zealous superstars, and sectarian scientists, we ought to see what insights God’s Word can give us. But if you really want to know about death and its implications, the only safe place to go is to God’s Word.

I. The Death that We Best Understand is the “Wages of Sin.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.” There is, of course, the death of body function. Karen Ann Quinlan is the sad textbook example of a serious problem: When is a person biologically dead? After ten years, she is still alive.

Let me remind you that God didn’t will death. Its source, as this verse attests, is in man’s will to sin. Sin and its punishment are the result of man’s free will. Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.” I Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto Him.”

The text speaks of moral and spiritual death as well as physical. Who would choose life without regard to circumstances? Why are there thousands of suicides? Who would choose Ethiopia?

Someone reports an on-the-spot interview by a war correspondent with a crusty Marine sergeant. He was eating cold beans from a can with his bayonet. “If I could grant one request for you right now, what would it be?” Without hesitation, the sergeant said, “Give me tomorrow!”

There’s a joke going around about a guy who asked a genie to make him owner of a new-car franchise in a major metropolitan area and wound up a Chrysler dealer in Tokyo right before an earthquake hit.

There is more to life than just living. There is a lot of difference between driving a truck, and trucking.

Thus, we are reminded that life is to sin as death is to righteousness. The human life is marked by sin. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned.” Believers sin repeatedly. There are sins of circumstance and diversion, and there are sins of will and purpose. Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound?” Romans 6:15, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”

We won’t lose salvation, but can lose direction, joy, and perspective, and can find shame. The unbeliever is dead before God. Ecclesiastes 3:19, “That which befalleth the sons of man befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: As the one dieth, so dieth the other.”

II. The Corollary to This Death Is Life that Is a Free Gift from God. Clearly, there is more to death than the cessation of life. Even so, there is more to quality life than breath, blood flow, and brain function. The January 1977 National Geographic contains an article, “Planet Mars,” to show the possibility of life; Dr. Michael McElroy writes: “The elements of the chemistry set are there. We have carbon. . . , nitrogen. . . , sunshine. The only real thing remaining is whether the Great Chemist was there putting the elements together in the right way.”

The life in particular here, beyond physical, is the life of faith. The scripture declares man’s uniqueness is his relationship with God. Man is unique in creation. Genesis 2:7, “. . . and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” Evolution would discount man’s fall, therefore there is his need of Christ.

There is uniqueness in his destiny. Romans 6:6f, “. . . our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Now if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."

We know of what this life consists. It is, first, purposeful living. Romans 6:4 “. . . even so, we also should walk in newness of life.” John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly.”

Secondly, it is life after death. It is not sensationalism. It is not metaphysical gibberish. It is not science by default. It is God’s promise to believers. Aionios is the Greek word meaning “endlessness.” It appears that way in 67 of 70 usages. II Corinthians 4:18, “For the things which are seen are temporary; things not seen are permanent.”

III. This Life that Comes Through Death Is by Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23, “. . . The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There are those who claim that being sincere is religion enough. Judas probably thought he was right when he betrayed Jesus. The Jews surely thought they were doing God a favor when Jesus was crucified. Millions of Germans were sincere when they stood by as 6 million Jews went to gas chambers.

There are some who suggest that this life depends on church relationship. There is Baptist truth, then there is Catholic truth. While pastoring in Oakdale, I had a 15-minute radio program. Prior was West Baptist Church; after was First Presbyterian Church; then West Baptist Church to counter any opposite points.

But the scripture points us to Jesus only as the instrument of salvation. The Bible message is still John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It is clearly this message that Jesus taught, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). This is what every born-again believer stakes his or her life on. II Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”

Conclusion

Elton Trueblood wrote in “New Life in the Church”: “There are two insights which can illumine our understanding of the Christian case. The first is the conversion which is important is not conversion from sheer paganism to nominal Christianity; not conversion from cold to warm, but from lukewarm to hot, from a mild religion to one in which a person’s whole life is taken up and filled and compelled. The second is that the most common situation in which this kind of conversion can occur is the situation of middle age.”

12/26/22 12/26/22

PUMPING IN PERFECTION

#053b PUMPING IN PERFECTION

Scripture II Timothy 3:12-17 Orig. Date 10-22-61

Rewr. Dates 4-19-75

Passage: ¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God^[^a^] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Purpose: To speak to my people early in the year encouraging them to give stronger consideration to the need to study God’s Word with a renewed intensity.

Keywords: Bible Christian Responsibility Baptist Belief

Introduction

I stood there that day talking with a lady about a need for a music worker. She shared some reluctance, but I felt that she was almost convinced. I moved in like a fisherman at his favorite fishing hole. I reminded her that we simply wanted to see her talent invested in this important “kingdom” cause. Her response was sincere. “Brother Skinner, I love to sing, but there’s a lot I don’t know about music.” I felt like a chess payer moving in to checkmate. Said I, “I love to preach, but there’s a lot I don’t know about preaching and sermons.” I was just getting ready to pat myself on the back when she took the wind out of my sails. She responded, “Yeah, but YOU can fool people, and you can’t when you don’t know music.”

People as a rule have capabilities to master just about anything. There are musicians who have dedicated their lives to mastering music. There are theologians and preachers who have mastered the art of sermon and rhetoric.

As difficult as it is to believe, there are people who understand, and who have mastered, American foreign policy. To most of us it is beyond the scope of comprehension. One of the nemeses of the school years is always testing time. It’s bad enough to spend hours preparing for the subject, and then leave the classroom wondering if we even passed. Then we look at the posted grades and see the names of those who not only passed, they had perfect scores.

One of the most significant doctrinal emphases of Baptists over the centuries has been our regard for the Bible. I do not know of anyone who has claimed to master this book. None of us will ever be able to exceed in understanding what the Word of God proclaims in revelation. But, oh how we need to set ourselves to the task.

We will never know all that we would like to know about our chosen vocations, but we work at improvement. Knowledge abounds in the avocational areas of sports, arts and crafts, travel, history, and a thousand other subjects. That we can not know everything does not hinder our determination.

“Pumping in Perfection” is an apt title because the only way that we will ever get close to what we ought to be is by the embrace of the assimilation of God’s Word creatively applied.

I. We Discover that This Book was Written By Men Inspired. II Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

There are a lot of different reasons that people write: Some to share knowledge; some to entertain; some to express their prurient thoughts. Others write simply because it is easier than working. The Bible was written as a storehouse of redemptive knowledge. Its purpose was not science, not astronomy, not even history. God is at work redemptively.

Psalm 110:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Luke 24:32 “Did not our hearts burn within us as he opened to us the Scriptures?” Romans 15:4 “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

Patrick Henry referred to the Bible as “a book worth all other books which were ever printed.”

II. Written By Inspired Men, It Had God for Its Author, Salvation for Its End. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” God is then eternally responsible for His Word. In man’s beginning, he struggled to communicate with other men, and language was born, a language capable of expressing the deepest of thoughts. In man’s entrapment in the nuclear age, communication has been replaced by détente. God’s Word is now more than ever man’s only surviving means of brotherhood.

God’s purpose according to His Word will not and cannot be averted. The writing of the Bible as we know it today covers about 1600 years of man’s history. The Old Testament was born and woven in three fragments—Law, Prophets, and Writings. By 150 A.D. a complete New Testament canon was in circulation. Many translations preceded the ones we know: Jerome, mid 4^th century; Wycliffe 1380; Tyndale 1611; King James 1611. The TEXTUS RECEPTUS was the basic King James text. Though some 5,000 manuscripts have been found since, there is a total alteration of less than one percent.

III. God’s Word has Truth without Any Mixture of Error for its Matter. Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every work of God is pure. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar.” There is not to be found any book with the integrity, credibility, and authenticity of the Bible. Why do people waste time on the trashy books that offer only a fleshy sensation at best? They may do worse. This is the real evil of pornography: What it does to us, and what it keeps from us.

The truth of man’s gravest need is found and continued in the book we know as the Bible. We were concerned with Watergate. We are concerned with Southeast Asia. We wonder about ecology and energy supplies. There is an answer to “Why am I here?” and “Where is it all going?”

Psalm 43:3 “Send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me.” John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” II Corinthians 13:8 “We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”

IV. The Bible Goes on to Reveal the Principles by Which God Will Judge Us. Romans 2:12 “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." John 12:47-48 “If any man hear my words. . . . the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

The most significant aspect of that judgment is faith in Jesus. Whatever good there is, or merit, in any human life comes about as a result of faith.

Aristotle said of his own writings that they “were given for action and not for discussion.” Even so, with the Bible, it is easier to get people to talk about the Bible, even to study, than to get us to do what it says. We marvel that Codex Sinaiticus sold for ½ million dollars. Vaticanus was so closely guarded that it was not known until Napoleon conquered Rome.

V. The Bible Is and Will Remain to the End of the World the True Center of Christian Union. Philippians 3:16 “Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” We have learned some things worthy of keeping: We are judged by the same standards. We are forgiven alike through Jesus. We are saved for equal purposes.

It will do us well to remember that the totalitarian state is enemy to the purpose of sharing this Word from God. One is reminded of a Hitler quote to youth-oriented groups, “Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, or the sayings of Jesus, it is all the same old swindle. . . . One is either a German or a Christian. You can not be both.” A Hitler mouthpiece was head of the German people’s church. National socialism must not be judged from a biblical or ecclesiastical standpoint.

VI. The Bible is the Supreme Standard by Which All Human Conduct, Creeds, and Opinions Should be Tried. I John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

CLOSING

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,

and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.

Then looking in I saw upon the floor

old hammers worn with beating years of time.

“How MANY anvils have you had,” said I,

“to wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out you know!”

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,

for ages skeptic blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

the anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.

Attributed to John Clifford

Don’t you think it’s time for a little of God’s perfection to be pumped?

12/26/22 12/26/22

THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

#055a THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

Scripture John 8:21-36, NIV Orig. Date 10-2-61

Rewr. Dates 4-18-85 (7-77)

Passage: 21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Purpose: To introduce a doctrinal study called The Doctrine of Christ so that my people will better understand their need of Christ, the sin-bearer.

Keywords: Christ the Saviour The Christian Life Sin Power

Introduction

It has been several years ago, but the news services told the story all around the country. The streets of the city of New York were electrically dark, but were aflame with human passion. Different reports gave different accounts. 1,700, 1,800, as many as 2,000 arrested for looting and arson. An old jail, long out of service, had to be reactivated to hold the mobs.

It started with a power failure and turned into a night of terror. Untold numbers of people were caught up in a wild melee in the streets that suddenly engulfed them. Some of them found themselves doing things that they would never have done under other circumstances.

Nevertheless, their weakness violated the law, caused pain and suffering; they would have to pay for their crimes. In other places, those more detached from the human scene were scoffing at the evangelical concept of sin. Is there sin? Can there be a God who judges sin? Are we accountable for the wrongs we do?

Sin comes to us in all shapes and colors. It waltzes through one’s life with the whisper of a gentle breeze, or it destroys everything in its path like a late Summer storm. It registers every degree of intensity from anguish to zeal (misguided). It is real! There are different kinds. These are difficult to categorize. One sin exceeds all others in total effect upon our lives. It is the Sin of Sonlessness. It is the sin unto death. It spells death for people, for cultures, for nations, for churches.

I. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in Minimized Human Potential. John 8:34-36 “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

You see, creation included Christ. God created a being capable of self-will and therefore of response. Genesis 3:5 “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 “God has made man upright, but they have sought many inventions.” They were seeking not what God’s will provides but what their will tolerates.

From the first it was His intention to redeem man through Christ. One of the things remembered with fondness from New Orleans is the trips to Women’s Hospital and the magnificent walks by the nursery window. There were dozens of babies. The spark of life is God’s gift. Spiritual life also. John 1:16f “of His fullness have we all received . . . . The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Any of us may achieve material success apart from Christ, but it has no redeeming effect. Some unnamed author of Profit and Loss wrote:

I counted dollars while God counted crosses,

I counted gains while He counted losses.

I counted my worth, my things gained in store;

And he sized me up by the scars that I bore.

I counted honors and sought degrees,

He counted the hours I spent on my knees.

I never knew until one day by the grave

How vain are the things that we spend life to save.

I did not know till a friend went above

That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.

Dr. Arthur Burden, Christian psychiatrist in New Orleans, served on the Foreign Mission Board screening committee. He recovered from a heart attack in 1974. “God spared my life. I am sure of that. I am not completely sure for what reasons. The things that are important to me now are the little every day things: a blue sky; time spent with my family; the touch of a friend’s hand.”

We reach our fullest potential by the measure of our attachment to Christ.

II. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in a Life Turned Inward. John 8:26 “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard from Him.”

The first concern of the life turned inward is that it contradicts God’s will. What if Jesus had allowed Himself to get side-tracked? What if He had been satisfied to turn Israel around? V26 “I see so much to judge.”

For the reformer, what if the goal becomes an end in itself, and the source of the goal is lost from view? “He who sent me is true.”

You see, Israel was to be the agent through whom others came to believe. “And I speak to the world.” Isaiah 42:6 “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, . . . and give thee . . . for a light to the Gentiles.”

Though Jesus didn’t get side-tracked, we can. The question is not just the expending of spiritual energy. It is primarily openness of life to the will of God. I Corinthians 3:11f “No other foundation can any person lay than what is laid, which is Jesus. Whatever is built . . . gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. Fire shall try everyone’s work of what sort it is.”

This life turned inward becomes a barrier to the way rather than a guidepost. Parents can stand in the way of children. Failing to be a consistent witness, we stand in the way of others. G.K. Chesterton wrote: “We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

III. The Sin of Sonlessness Separates One from God. John 8:34 “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” It is to know God through His Son. Gladstone “All that I think, all that I hope, all that I write, all that I live for, is based on the divinity of Jesus Christ, the central joy of my poor wayward life.” Phillips Brooks “The only way to realize that we are God’s children is to allow Jesus to lead us to our Father.”

But to be without Christ is to be without dependable hope. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on Him.”

Conclusion

He held the lamp each livelong day

So low that none could miss the way,

And yet so high to bring in sight

That picture fair of Christ, the light,

That gazing up--the lamp between—

The hand that held it was not seen.

He held the pitcher, stooping low,

To lips of little ones below,

Then raised it to the weary saint

And bade him drink when sick and faint;

They drank--the pitcher thus between—

The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He blew the trumpet, soft and clear,

That cringing sinners need not fear,

And then with louder note and bold

To storm the walls of Satan’s hold:

The trumpet coming thus between,

The hand that held it was not seen.

But when our captain says, “Well done

Thou good and faithful servant, come.

Lay down the lamp, lay down the cup,

Lay down the trumpet, leave the camp.”

Thy weary hands will then be seen,

Clasped in his pierced ones, naught between.

Author unknown

12/26/22 12/26/22

THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS, reflections on 9/11

#055b reflections on 9/11 THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS

Scripture John 8:21-36, NIV Orig. Date 10-2-61

Rewr. Dates 9/14/2001; 4-18-85 (7-77)

Passage: 21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Purpose: Post 9-11, to introduce a doctrinal study called The Doctrine of Christ so that my people will better understand their need of Christ, the sin-bearer.

Keywords: Christ, Saviour Christian Life Sin Power

Introduction

The study brought us today to John 8:24. The horrors of the week do not necessitate a change. The gospel is still the hope of our world. We must be faithful, but careful in exploiting what we possess. Commitment is the exercise of the day.

We have watched, for three days now, as a brigade of men and women have hauled away the debris of the World Trade Center. Hundreds of thousands of tons of the by-product of the hate of a small group of people. A vast commitment of principal because one person may still be alive under it. Such effort is simply a by-product of love.

So, the text has not been changed, though some remarks will bear on the depth of the outcome of such a week.

Significantly, the controversial remarks of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell must be brought into such a text. Has God taken a protective hand away? It is impossible to argue the point that we Americans have enjoyed that protection. Now, is it gone? Are we without it? They are honorable men, and men of vision, but they are wrong. His hand is extended to all people of “good will,” whatever their religion or life principle. And, so must our hand. In the crisis of that hour, and the days since, there have been tens of thousands of those responses.

The tragedy happened. It was not willed by deity to happen. Nor was it a chance event. It was humanly engineered. So must be the conditions of recovery.

Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Jeremiah 31:29 “In those days . . . say no more ‘the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ . . . Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.”

Even if Robertson and Falwell could prove their contention, I would lay claim to that concluding prayer of Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds’ feet and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.”

Any of us may achieve material success apart from Christ, but it has no redeeming effect. Some unnamed author of Profit and Loss wrote:

I counted dollars while God counted crosses,

I counted gains while He counted losses.

I counted my worth, my things gained in store;

And he sized me up by the scars that I bore.

I counted honors and sought degrees,

He counted the hours I spent on my knees.

I never knew until one day by the grave

How vain are the things that we spend life to save.

I did not know till a friend went above

That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.

Dr. Arthur Burden, Christian psychiatrist in New Orleans, served on the Foreign Mission Board screening committee. He recovered from a heart attack in 1974. “God spared my life. I am sure of that. I am not completely sure for what reasons. The things that are important to me now are the little everyday things: a blue sky; time spent with my family; the touch of a friend’s hand.”

We reach our fullest potential by the measure of our attachment to Christ.

For the reformer, what if the goal becomes an end in itself, and the source of the goal is lost from view? “He who sent me is true.”

Conclusion

He held the lamp each livelong day

So low that none could miss the way,

And yet so high to bring in sight

That picture fair of Christ, the light,

That gazing up--the lamp between—

The hand that held it was not seen.

He held the pitcher, stooping low,

To lips of little ones below,

Then raised it to the weary saint

And bade him drink when sick and faint;

They drank--the pitcher thus between—

The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He blew the trumpet, soft and clear,

That cringing sinners need not fear,

And then with louder note and bold

To storm the walls of Satan’s hold:

The trumpet coming thus between,

The hand that held it was not seen.

But when our captain says, “Well done

Thou good and faithful servant, come.

Lay down the lamp, lay down the cup,

Lay down the trumpet, leave the camp.”

Thy weary hands will then be seen,

Clasped in his pierced ones, naught between.

Author unknown

12/25/22 12/25/22

THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

#077 THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

Scripture Matthew 16:13-19 NIV Orig. 8-30-64

Rewr. 3-1-88

Passage: ¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter,^[^a^] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[^b^] will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[^c^] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[^d^] loosed in heaven.”

Purpose: To call my people to a renewed awareness of commitment. An attention to some topics of concern is required.

Keywords: Christ, Lord Duty Commitment

Introduction

We regularly talk about commitment. We give only rudimentary attention to the place it should have in our lives.

My dictionary translates it variously: “consigning for safe-keeping,” “an act of engagement or pledging,” “liability incurred,” “the act of doing,” “perpetration.” Its Biblical use is almost always as a verb. Paul admonishes Timothy to “keep that which is committed to Thy trust” (I Timothy 6:20). And, of himself, in the following treatise he writes his young friend “I . . . am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him” (II Timothy 1:12).

It is from a Greek verb, paratithēmi, meaning “guarding what is held in trust.” It is from this word that our word “tithe” comes, suggesting “to put,” or “to deposit.” But this is not a “tithing” message, so let’s get back to other forms of commitment.

You may have heard the story about the cow and the chicken that were serving as co-hostesses for a barnyard bash. They decided to prepare the largest breakfast in history. There would be eggs, and milk, grits, biscuits, ham and bacon, the works. Everybody should be excited about doing their part. Everybody, that is, but the hog. He interrupted the proceedings, reminding the committee, “What you are offering to give is a token offering, but what you require of me is total commitment.” Someone else ventures, “When a dog chases a rabbit, for the dog it’s fun and games, but for the rabbit, it’s a life and death situation.”

We must remember that commitment requires a subject as well as an object. We are not going to come to terms with this kind of dedication until we possess full knowledge about the ONE to whom we are committing ourselves.

I. The First Key to the Kingdom Is the Key of Devotion. V13 “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” First off, let me remind you that a key is not idle curiosity. My seminary days were spent working for the US Post Office. Working nights, I was often called upon to fill in for absent, regular employees. One of those functions involved Registered Mail. I would find out, after the fact, that I had handled tens of thousands of dollars, for which I, alone, was responsible, once I signed as having received it.

The more we know Christ, the more our devotion to him must grow. There have been people we liked until we got to know them. But the special people in our lives are people we grow more and more appreciative of as we know them better.

Christ, Himself, attests to this need in our lives. Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother (son or daughter) more than me is not worthy of me.” How many things do you love? Which of them do you love more than you love Christ? Simon Peter had a face-to-face confrontation with devotion during the trial of Jesus. Later, Jesus said, “Simon, lovest thou me?”

Paul’s epistles form the basis of our theology. It is based on love for Christ. I Corinthians 2:2 “I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” He seeks to lead people to Jesus not to draw them unto himself. Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” to therein be open to the people around us.

It is to minimize self. It is to accept others and sometimes their odd ways. A little boy’s grandmother had come for a visit. It was August, and she was sharing his bedroom. She wanted the window down, he up. About the fourth night he prayed, “Lord, bless mother and daddy, and make it hot for grandmother.”

II. The Second Key Is That of Demonstration. V16 Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” V18 Jesus’ response: “on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Our only connotation for demonstration is often only negative. We read of sit-ins, and lay-ins, and marches that seem not pointless, but counterproductive. We dispel any responsibility to react in this unacceptable manner. But brethren, to be Christians, is to be on cross-course with our culture.

Uppermost in our daily lives, should be our determination to demonstrate love for Christ. As a clear example to lost people, understanding that the drift of society is away from God, not to Him. The convention average of church members to baptisms is 1 to 30. Last couple of years, we have been 1 to 17. But frontier mission churches, and overseas work, often reveal a much higher proportion (1 to 10), because the people come to grips with this need.

We cannot assume the emphases are going to reach these unreached people. We must promote these programs. In a revival with a nationally prominent evangelist, a worker said, “I enjoyed the singer more.” Was he more entertaining? I Corinthians 1:18: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.”

That demonstration of love must be kept current. It is the local church that is the gathering (focal point) of believers. We must keep abreast of contemporary influences. It is said that the Great Awakening of the 1730’s was born on preaching such as that of Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. People clutched the back of the pew to keep from falling into hell.

Sin has not changed. Its form may have. Hell has not changed. We hear less. The church has not changed. We still must point the way. Jesus has not changed. He died to save. God has not changed. We may not perceive of Him as angry, but He is just, and that should cause fear.

III. The Final Key to the Kingdom Is an Assessment of Duty. V19 “I will give unto you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

So the keys are three: That of devotion, knowing Christ; that of demonstration, revealing His presence; and that of duty, being knowledgeable about the way we live and serve Him. This third key is so important. We have a duty to perform. An article in the Baptist Message (March 1, 1988) tells of a volunteer couple from Texas who spent nine years in Minnesota. (context lost) You see, God does have a plan for each of us. What He has for us may go undone if we withhold our commitment.

Conclusion

Phillip P. Bliss was a music evangelist in meetings often with D.L. Moody. Mr. Moody had told of a ship captain trying to bring his ship through a storm. The lighthouse guided him safely into the harbor, but the channel lights were not burning, and inevitably they were swept into the rocks and many drowned. The singer, moved by the illustration, wrote a song still in use over 100 years.

“Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From his Lighthouse evermore.

But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled, Loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother: Some poor sailor tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor, In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save.”

12/25/22 12/25/22

A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE

#066 A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE

Scripture Romans 14:1-23, NIV Orig. Date 11/25/62

Rewr. Dates 8/31/85

Passage: Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ²One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. ³The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[^a^]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”^[^b^]

¹²So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. ¹⁴I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. ¹⁵If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

¹⁹Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. ²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. ²¹It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

²²So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. ²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[^c^]

Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, showing that true liberty is that that is based in love.

Keywords: Bible Study Law Liberty

Timeline/Series: Romans

Introduction

We today assume so much liberty from the dictates of others that we fail to realize what an issue this has been historically. Huldrych Zwingli, pre-reformation theologian of central Europe, left a thirty-page treatise (2 hours) on choice and free use of foods. He concluded with sixteen points of concern.

The general gathering of Christians may accept for themselves fasts and abstinence from foods, but not set these up as a common and everlasting law.

For God says, Deuteronomy 4:2, “You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish aught from it.”

V. This is shown by the sanctification of both Testaments. The Old is sprinkled and sanctified by the blood of animals, but the New with the blood of the Everlasting God, for Christ thus spake: This is the cup of my blood of a new and everlasting [covenant]

VII. How dare a man add to the testament, to the covenant of God as though he would better it?

IX. Paul says, Romans 8:8: “Owe no man anything but to love one another.”

X. Again, Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

XI. If he is to be cursed who preaches beyond what Paul preached and if Paul nowhere preached the choice of food, then he who dares command this is worthy of a curse.

XII. If we are not bound by any law but the law of love, and if freedom as to food injures not the love of one’s neighbor, in case this freedom is rightly taught and understood, then we are not subject to this commandment or law.

These points have forced me to think that the church officers have not only no power to command such things, but if they command them, they sin greatly; for whoever is in office and does more than he is commanded, is liable to punishment (20 Cen. IIp123).

Sadly, five years later Zwingli helped to find Felix Manz guilty, under penalty of death by drowning, for preaching against infant baptism and rebaptizing.

I. The Law of Liberty. V10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” The Law of Liberty addresses various themes.

Substance—about food and drink. V2 “For one believes that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.” It is wrong to judge those who do more than we, or to hold contempt for those who do less. Matthew 15:17, “What goes in at the mouth defileth not the man.” I Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.”

Servants—To what degree do we deride other believers for being different?—the Amish for their clothing and buggies; Adventists for their understanding of the 7^th day. Such considerations are extended to believers only. We don’t compromise belief.

Seasons—On what basis do we decide what days are special? Holidays, we sanctify. Special family days, we honor. Many disdain religious days. Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths.” Don’t worship a day, but don’t fail to exercise its worth.

The Law of Liberty reminds us that our first consideration is in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:6, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Eat out of regard for the Lord. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Use every day, Sabbath and otherwise, as an obedient servant. V8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”

If preaching, do so with the Lord in view. If helping to rear a family; if cutting grass; if presiding over a Senate committee; or if canning a jar of preserves: Do all these things with the Lord in view.

The Law of Liberty reminds us that we will not be judged on the basis of substance, servants, and seasons. V10, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” I45.

II. The Law of Love. V15, “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.”

It testifies of relationship to those who behave differently. But from a Christian perspective, their difference is not a moral defect. In Paul’s day the issue centered around food (offered to idols). Today it is more around alcohol. The real issue is concern. The object of relationship issues more from love than belief. Paul advocates liberty, but only love can interpret it with meaning.

It testifies of resolution. V17, “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The kingdom is spiritual, such pronouncements issued should be also. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” It is a defined kingdom. Of righteousness, it is a kingdom with not just moral direction but with deliverance from sin, overt and covert. Of peace, it is a kingdom of peace with God; Romans 5:1, “. . . having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Carlyle Marney, in his book, Peace! Peace!, says: “The claims of our Lord set a man against himself, I discover. They split him down the middle. They make him schizoid. Once he faces up to the claims of Christ he is divided, he is at war, until surrender. He can never be justified by what he does: his new gadgets, his nursery rhyme creeds, his one-eyed philosophies, his mudpie civilization, his kindergarten councils. He can be justified only in himself, and his justification begins only when he is a man of peace, and his peace comes only when he surrenders to the Source of peace against which he fights.”

It testifies of responsibility. V19, “. . . let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” The “things” were already mentioned in verse 17. The Christian life is to be conditioned on such assertions. Those who are strong in faith are to give ground, in spite of their liberty.

V22, “Do you have faith?” Is your faith in Christ sufficient for this kind of ordering? The word “damned” is misleading. The Greek word kekritai means “condemned” and implies faith was not a factor in decision. Thus, liberty will limit itself by love.

Conclusion

The simplest way to define sin is to explain it as any act that is contrary to the will of God. God said to Adam, “Thou shalt not eat of it.” The moment he did, he sinned. It was an act in direct contradiction to God’s revealed will. Jesus taught of sins of the heart: hate, adultery, etc. He taught that intention to sin is the same as the sin itself. Anything that hurts other people is sin. James wrote of it this way, “. . . to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” As a Christian, all we do is before the face of God. To act without consideration of his presence is sin. If the Lord would not give His approval to my conduct, then my action or my attitude is wrong.

12/25/22 12/25/22

THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

#065 THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

Scripture Luke 2:1-20 NIV Orig. 12/24/61

Rewr. 12/18/75, 12/9/76

Passage: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while^[^a^] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Keywords: Christ Birth Christmas

Timeline/Series: Christmas

Introduction

One of the most beautiful of all of the stories that have to do with Christmas, is a story that many people have never heard. It is the story of The Shepherd Who Stayed. I don’t remember who wrote the story, or even where it can be found.

There was simply another shepherd who fell to his knees that night on the Judean hillside. A man who was moved with the glory of the moment. A man who, like other men, was overwhelmed at what he saw and heard. This shepherd, however, rejected the angels’ invitation to see. “You will find the babe,” the angel had said.

Our shepherd friend was keeper there in the Judean hills to only a hundred sheep, but they were his responsibility, and he intended to stay at his post. I hear more than words when he gives his reason for not going to “the City of David.” God is at work in Bethlehem, he reasoned, and one shepherd less would not make a difference. But a shepherd in the hills could make a great deal of difference before this magnificent night is over.

I. The Message of Christmas is One of Fearsome Revelation. 2:15 Let us . . . see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. It is beyond everything else, God’s message to his people. You remember that it was the Word of God that brought this universe into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.”

You also remember that it was the same Word of God that adjudged the world. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”

It was God’s Word which introduced man to taint an otherwise perfect place. But this perfection meant nothing without someone being capable of comprehending it. It would have to be a being capable of destroying it. Now it is God’s Word seeking to redeem the earth’s most irredeemable subject. V11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

The Revelation becomes more fearsome when we discover that it is from the Sovereign. There is the evidence of authority. “The angel of the Lord came upon them.” “A multitude of the heavenly host praising God.” “The babe lying in the manger.”

There is the signature of design:

“There is no art without an artist, no building without a builder,

no history without a patriot and his dream.

“Nor can there be a planet without a planner, a plant without a planter,

nor even yet a man without a Maker of this scene.”

The revelation becomes burdensome if we acknowledge man’s accountability without God’s trustworthiness. Every individual capable of self-comprehension is responsible for his choices and his actions. One of the critiques of our age is upon the misuse of alcohol, drugs—prescription and otherwise, tobacco, sex, and the health burdens that are left in the wake of their use.

You may have heard about the emaciated man who went to his doctor about his general health. The only thing the doctor turned up was that he smoked too much. “You must follow my advice. Your trouble is your smoking. Cut out all cigarettes except after meals.” Two months later he was back for a checkup. He looked better. He had gained weight. “I don’t know how long I can eat 15 meals a day.”

This self-responsibility passes over into even those areas of stress that we do not control. There were reasons why the shepherds could be reassured by the angel: The teachings of their fathers; the physical accommodations of the evening; conversations that such a night invoked; a star like no other star. While they were stricken with fear, their stress was abated by what these men were before the angel appeared.

II. The Message of Christmas is One of Joyful Exultation. There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Joyful exultation is the result of faith. They believed in a God of love whose purpose was to be known by his creation. It was in the disciples’ fear of the unknown that Jesus said in Matthew 10:26 “Fear not, therefore, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nothing hid that shall not be made known.”

It was acknowledging God’s sovereignty over the unknown which caused Paul to write in Ephesians 1:9 “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”

Joyful exultation in faith culminates in understanding. The story is told of Heinrich von Dannecker, great German sculptor of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. In his early years he won a name for himself in sculpting Ariadne and other Greek goddesses. As he felt he was in his prime, he committed himself to what would be his major work. It would be a colossal piece featuring the Christ. He twice failed, but held to his purpose. Finally, the work of a lifetime was complete. It was all that he wanted it to be. He later was approached by Napoleon to do a statue of Venus for the Louvre. His answer was simple, “Sire, the hands that have carved the Christ can never again carve a heathen goddess.”

Similarly, Lew Wallace, Civil War general, later governor of New Mexico, began work on a novel. It was to contain an atheist’s view of Christ. The novel was Ben Hur. The author became a Christian in his efforts to write such a novel.

And understanding, when it is finished, brings fulfillment to the Christian life. V20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

The shepherds believed a believable word and acting on such faith were rewarded for it. They came to comprehend the involvement of God in the sameness of their lives. They knew that God had appropriated to Himself, a message that would change their lives. While they went back to the same sheep on the same hillside, their lives would never know sameness again.

There is likewise given to us a believable word, but the reward of faith awaits the believer’s response. How many of us have the gift of eternal life because we have believed? Romans 6:23 The gift of God is eternal life. John 1:12 As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Matthew 7:11 If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Though near to faith, how many are there who are yet victims of self-condemnation because they have refused the believable WORD? John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

We have been given life that we might find the Saviour. The angelic light penetrates the blackness of our somber nights announcing, “Christ is born . . . go ye . . . and ye shall find . . . Glory to God. When they had seen it . . . they returned, glorifying and praising God.”

Closing

I was reminded a few days ago of the testimony of a young Japanese student who was at Southwestern when I was there. The war years had been tragic. His brother-in-law dead in a kamikaze (divine wind) raid. His sister takes her own life. His parents had been in diplomatic service in Europe, but would not survive the war. His conversion came as a student in Germany after the war, when he was given a portion of a German New Testament. He tells of the time, at the start of the war, when they were given one hour to pack one suitcase, to then be extradited to their homeland. He remembered watching his mother trying to make the decision about what to put in that suitcase. She would put in objects of gold and silver, then ancestor-honoring porcelain, of great worth. Finally she loaded the suitcase with woolens and foodstuffs.

*THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST*

REFLECTION, attached to this sermon in Rev. Skinner’s file

Henry W. Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th’unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!