BE STILL AND KNOW (Psalms series)
#048a(s) BE STILL AND KNOW
Scripture Psalm 46:1-11 NIV Orig. 10-9-83 (Psalms series)
Passage: God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Timeline/Series: Psalms
Introduction
In North Carolina once, we were hiking and became confused about our location. It was noon, with no help from the sun. Planes were flying and making a lot of noise. Not only were we lost. But I became aware that we were walking in a circle.
As we took a rest to try to figure out the best course of action to follow, the planes suddenly flew off to some other place. After a moment, the sound of trucks on the highway some miles off were heard, and we had our bearings.
I. Consider the Pace. V2 “Though the earth be removed.”
What terrible things we do to ourselves when we continue without recourse in the never-ending cataclysm of activity. The Psalmist moves from dismay to disillusion, through despair to discovery. As the Psalmist views his troubled mountain, we need to view our troubled world.
II. Consider the Pause. V10 “Be still and know.” The word “be still” means “to relax.” It is not surrender, giving up. It reminds us of the sabbath rest. Worship is the best place and sphere for this to take place. Vance Havner, preacher from the Blue Ridge Mountains, wrote that “the trouble with the church today is that we have too much ‘supper room’ and not enough ‘upper room.’”
III. Consider the Peace. V11 “The Lord God of Hosts is with us.”
- Mark 4:36, still of storm, “Peach be still. . . . Have ye not yet faith?”
- Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
- Luke 19:37f Dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. They wanted Him to rebuke the disciples for believing that peace followed Jesus.
- Paul “I have learned in whatever state I am therein to be content.”
IV. Concluding Thought.
- Verses 1-3 Picture God holding the reigns in a struggle through creation’s cataclysm. Selah
- Verses 4-7 Picture man struggling in social relationship, and vainly, apart from God, living happily. Selah
- Verses 8-11 Picture the perfect peace to come that clearly is the accomplishment of God alone, for His people alone.
Closing
St. Francis of Assisi, “Christ and the City,” p 104.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in the giving that we receive,
It is in the pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in the dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Ephesians 6:20, ”[The gospel], for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
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
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’?”
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: 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.”
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 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.
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
SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
#086 SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
Scripture Jeremiah 33:1-7 NIV Orig. 1-7-62
Rewr. 9-12-89
Passage: 1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: 2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ 4 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword 5 in the fight with the Babylonians : ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. 6 ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.’”
Purpose: Continuing a study emphasis from the prophets, here concluding a brief synopsis of some of the teaching of this book.
Keywords: Bible Study Series, Jeremiah
Series, Old Testament Prophets
Timeline: Sequential
Introduction
The Biblical text writers are not strangers to persecution. The path woven through the Old Testament prophets reveals to us again and again the hatred of those who protested against what the prophet had to say. Not only did Jeremiah, as almost the last of the line, know about the others, he experienced it himself under the most adverse of circumstances.
Jeremiah has been accused of capitulation to the enemy (Jeremiah 37:13), and summarily taken away to prison. The immediate event seems to have taken place at about the time Jehoiakim was relieved of the throne and taken to Babylon. According to 37:1, Zedekiah has come to the throne, the third son of Josiah.
The political leaders were among the arch enemies of the prophet and his message from God. Jehoiakim, you remember, after the second Temple sermon had cut the segments from the scroll and burned them.
The message of Jeremiah (36:32) seems, however, to have been written before the time spent in prison. Jeremiah’s emotional warfare had been going on all the time in his own spirit.
Paul, we know, wrote some of his letters from prison. Consider Ephesians 6:12:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
John Bunyan, also, in Pilgrim’s Progress:
“If you will go with us, you must go against wind and tide; you must own religion in his rags as well as in his silver slippers; and stand by him, too, when bound in irons; as well as when he walketh the streets with applause.”
Interestingly, Jeremiah came to write perhaps the single most significant statement of hope to Judah from this prison cell. Chapter 33 is headed, “Prosperity will return to Jerusalem.”
V14f “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up into David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness.”
I. This chapter gives us a glorious view of what the prophet perceived of God. He saw one who was absolute. V2, “maker,” suggests first cause; “formed it” is utilitarian; “to establish it” may mean to keep it on target.
He saw unlimited intercession. V3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”
He saw the extent of their blessing. V6-9: v6 Health and cure; v6 peace and truth; v7 restoration.
V8 is about forgiveness—“cleanse,” “pardon;” it means to purify for ritual participation, the nearest Old Testament concept to forgiveness. This last is the same used Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
V9 is about blessing, the opposite of what they were. Others will know. Jeremiah would be appointed prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 (“I have appointed you a prophet to the nations”); 10: “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms.”
In vs 10-11 he saw future joy, praise, and mercy. V11 “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For his lovingkindness is everlasting.’”
He saw the promised Messiah in v14-16. “I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth.”
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
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. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The 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. 4 Who 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.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever 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. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If 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. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, 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. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
13 Therefore 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. 14 I 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. 15 If 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. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do 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. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But 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 7th 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.
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.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and 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. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly 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.”
15 When 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.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The 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 18th and early 19th 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!
THE TONGUE OF LOVE
#060 THE TONGUE OF LOVE
Scripture I Corinthians 13:1-13, NIV Orig. Date 12-10-61
Rewr. Dates 1-22-89
Passage: If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Purpose: Continuing a series for Prayer Meeting emphasizing the Book of First Corinthians.
Keywords: Bible Study Great Texts Love
Series: I Corinthians
Introduction
At a family gathering in Transylvania on a Sunday afternoon, the unmarried son and his steady were present. He was in no hurry to get married, but wanted the security of a regular girlfriend. His main interests were hunting, fishing, etc.
As the family sat in the yard, Mark stood and said, “Let’s go!” The girl, assuming he was talking to her, stood. But at the same time she arose, the old family dog got up. She, recognizing how ridiculous this was, said, “Are you talking to me or the dog?”
The people we love ought to be able to tell by the way we talk, and by what we say, what are our feelings for them. Paul admonished us to love in word and deed.
I. First, We Need an Overview of Biblical Love. V1 “Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.”
English has only one word to express love. A Cajun may use it in reference to the nutria he has taken from his trap. An addict may use it in in regard to drugs. A faithful grandfather uses it about a Christmas necktie. It may be used by a man arrested for abusing his spouse.
But Greek has four interesting words. The noun eros/verb ethan is used for sensual or spousal love, for ambition, or for patriotism; it is not used in the New Testament. The noun storge/verb stergein means family affection or group interaction or devotion; Romans 12:10 uses the word: “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” The noun philia/verb philien is the most-used in Classical Greek; it applies to close family (parent/child, husband/wife). The noun agapa/verb agapan is used over 250 times in the New Testament; classical scholars saw this as meaning “benefactor,” thus is its Victorian use as “charity.”
II. Now a Brief Grasp of the Passage. V2 “Though I have the gift of prophecy, understand mysteries, have knowledge, have faith sufficient to move mountains, but do not do so out of love, it means nothing.” Love is greater than understanding, be it natural or acquired: Love is greater than a college education. Knowledge did not set Paul’s heart on fire. Nor did it inspire such men as Luther and Wesley. Love is greater than prophecy—Hosea became a parable to Israel. Love is greater than works—than self-sacrifice, for instance; “Though I give my body to be burned” v3. Morality is not morality without love.
Love is greater than all other gifts. I Corinthians 12:28 calls attention to the gifts. Not all have every gift. It doesn’t matter. But all should covet what is best, and better than all is love.
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
A RADICAL CHANGE
#049 A RADICAL CHANGE
Scripture Romans 6:1-23 NIV Orig. 5-20-62 (6-77)
Rewr. 11-9-88 (1-85)
Passage: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But 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. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I 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. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But 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. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series from the Book of Romans, here drawing the contrast between sin’s death and Christ’s life.
Keywords: Death God Grace Life Sin
Series Romans Revival
Introduction
Finally, the truth has been revealed relative to the “Shroud of Turin.” For hundreds of years there has been speculation about this simple linen shroud. It was claimed to be the burial shroud in which Jesus was buried, and was for centuries, Christendom’s most baffling relic.
The relic is controlled by the Catholic bishop of Turin, and thus its name, although it is owned by Umberto II, a deposed king of Italy who, at last report, lived in Portugal.
It is just over 4-1/2 meters long, and just under one meter wide. It has been submitted to extensive scientific analysis, including carbon 14 dating, and computer technology. Even pollen samples were evaluated.
The shawl had blood in all the right places. Even the imprint of a human face. But the computers could not confirm its validity, and said absolutely nothing about life after death. It was determined that should this be proved to be the right cloth, then Jesus was 5’10-1/2”, and weighed 175 pounds.
Well, in fact now we know that it was not the burial shroud of Jesus. Even the Catholic Church admits that the early history of the cloth cannot be ascertained.
What if? What if it were the cloth? Suppose that these tests authenticated the shroud. We Christians would have a miracle to flaunt. One of the scientific team members said,
“If Christ was resurrected from the dead, then the gospels are truth, and eternal life—immortality—is offered.” (Ray Rogers—Omni p.95)
But the possibility of a miracle no longer exists. We are not yet without hope, however. The Bible has much to say on the subject, and the apostle here affirms that death, for the believer, will be swallowed up in life. He speaks of a most “radical change,” and it is that death “hath no more dominion.”
I. So Radical a Change Acknowledges Death to Sin. V2 “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” V6 “…Our old man is crucified with him.”
To begin with, Paul has much to say on the subject of death. Beside this note of being “crucified” with Christ, death is alluded to fourteen times in these first eleven verses. It is a subject not given wide circulation in our sophisticated culture. Tabloids on display at check-out lines sensationalize it: “Five Psychics Tell Why They Believe in Life after Death.” The scientific community offers us the name of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross as the most knowledgeable: “Although I do not consider myself a particularly religious woman, I find no conflict between the Christian concept of an after-life, and my own careful studies on death.”
But the death here is not just the cessation of bodily function. Remember the legal ramifications invoked in the Karen Ann Quinlan case. Who could throw the switch? Someone finally did, and she survived on a tube feeding for nine years.
Biblically, death is the soulmate of sin, and is viewed judgmentally. But is God death’s source? The answer is a resounding “No!” We are emphatically told that the “wages of sin is death.” Thus, sin, and its corollary, resulted from acts of will.
So, as death is more than cessation, life is more than breathing and bodily function. A war correspondent in Vietnam told of interviewing a crusty Marine sergeant. He was eating cold beans with his bayonet. “If I could grant one request right now for you what would it be?” “Give me tomorrow!”
A TV special on “Violence in America” concluded with this evaluation, “Biological life alone is not enough for a rational being. He, or she, wants participation in the social process.”
For the believer, death dispels the power of sin to rule and distort lives. Chapter five dealt with sin and grace. Sin and death are personified in Adam. Grace and life are personified in Christ.
The present chapter moves more to the drum beat of faith (sanctification). V14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Having received Christ as Saviour is being perceived of God as following a new leader. Satan has lost the battle for your soul. But he has not lost your address. Depending totally on the carnality of our faith, he exercises influence.
II. So Radical a Change Acknowledges that a New Life is Given. V11. “Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is not mentality that separates man from the beasts of the field. Within limits they have intellect. Consider pets, zoo animals.
Nor is it our ability to communicate. The great whales are said to communicate over hundreds, thousands of miles of ocean. Diane Fosse studied the great apes. Her death may be attributed to her affinity. Brahmans, Hindus, see animals as “brothers with them before God.” (National Geographic, November 1988)
What separates man from beast is his potential to faith-relationship with God. Scriptures declare this uniqueness. Genesis 2:7 “God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is that “breath of God” that we know as faith. It is here that “baptism” enters into Paul’s discussion. Baptism is the “sign” of that faith. Not salvation by legalist “rite,” but that baptism is expressive of that faith. Faith shows itself in many ways. Baptism is one.
We also have a fairly complete criteria of what that faith-relationship consists of. First it is dependable. In V11 we read “reckon”—to us often meaning no more than “suppose.” Then, it was an accounting term reflecting absolute accuracy. Secondly, it is free. V20 Enslaved to sin, we are set free to righteousness. V18, 23. Such faith knows no class distinction. Lastly, it is eternal. The word aionios means “eternal,” “endless.”
III. So Radical a Change Comes Through Jesus Christ. V23 “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The place of Christ in the equation of salvation is without equal. We were “baptized” (v3) into Christ Jesus. Our fleshly being was “crucified”(v6) with Jesus. “Death” in Christ Jesus is what frees us from sin (v7). Thus, we come to “live” (v11) through Jesus. And ultimately, eternal life (v23) comes through Him.
Lay to rest any thought that religion is nothing more than a person’s sincerity. There are waves of people who are sincerely wrong. At the abortion clinic, the young pregnant woman advises opponents to keep their “morals off of her body.” People around Louisiana think that devil worship by teenagers is idle (sic) curiosity. Sincere people say “God wouldn’t send anyone to hell.” Satan would, and he would gladly use our being “sincerely wrong” to accomplish it.
Conclusion
An unknown author left a couplet on death.
Some men die by shrapnel, some go down in flames.
But most men perish inch by inch, in play at little games.
Death comes to all alike. The method, manner may change, but only Christ makes a difference in dying. As there is more to life than blood flow, breath, body function, there is more to death than dying.
SEEKING BETTER THINGS
#045 SEEKING BETTER THINGS
Scripture Colossians 3:1-4 NIV Orig. 4-14-63
Rewr. 1-6-74/4-8-79
Passage: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Purpose: To speak to my people on the occasion of Easter celebration to call to their minds the need to lift our horizons in the Lord Jesus, and commitment to Him.
Keywords: New Birth Easter Resurrection Christian Living
Introduction
A BAG OF TOOLS
Isn’t it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, a book of rules:
And each must make—before life is gone—
A stumbling block or a steppingstone.
--R.L. Sharpe--
We do not have to look very far to discover people who have committed themselves absolutely to their life priorities. Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist, considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Mary Leakey, paleontologist and contributor to National Geographic, was committed to the task of discovering man’s beginnings. Ralph Nader was a consumer who made news about the dangers of the Corvair and Pinto; a young college student had died. Nuclear scientists are convinced that one of man’s energy sources is in their field, and they are committed to efficient and safe nuclear power plants; it is too late to turn back because there are already 500 of these plants in the world, either in operation, or in some stage of planning or construction.
We Christians must come to terms with the need for commitment to our Lord, and to His church, in order that we might be known as people whose energy resources and reserves are given over unconditionally to our Lord to bring glory to His name.
Seeking better things is as immanent in the spiritual world as in the material world.
I. The Natural Beginning Place for Any Improvement is to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.“
Apparently, most of us are looking for some good out of life. For Adam, it was a rather arrogant goal, to be like God, all wise and eternal. For Job, it was for an answer to a philosophical question, albeit a very important one (Job 14:14) “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Thomas, who walked part of life’s trail with Jesus, was one who could not settle for faith, He had to have fact. “I will believe that He is alive, only under the circumstances of touching the nail holes, and feeling the torn flesh on His side.”
But regrettably, the goal for most of us is not changed from that day long ago in Babel (Genesis 11:4), “Let us build us a city and a tower. . . , whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
We are compelled here as Christians to remember that life has a higher, nobler goal. It begins with the certitude that Christ is alive. Luke 24:3 “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.”
It takes on its deepest meaning when we discover through faith that we are alive with Christ. A.A. Ketchum wrote the hymn on p. 429 in our hymnal, Why Do I Sing About Jesus?
Deep in my heart there’s a gladness; Jesus has saved me from sin!
Praise to His name, what a Saviour! Cleansing without and within!
Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me?
He is my Lord and my Saviour; Dying, He set me free!
Paul is not here appealing for a sham other worldliness where we only contemplate eternity. He is clearly acknowledging that for the Christian, his new standard of value will be God’s standard of value: Giving more than getting; serving more than ruling; forgiving more than avenging.
Vance Havner, the contemporary Baptist evangelist, gives practical advice to all of us: “I would say to today’s young minister, ‘Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation. You can well afford to dispense with many other activities some may think indispensable. You will be returning to a way of life almost forgotten now, and you may be eyed askance by all runners in the Great Rat Race. But your chance may come one day to speak your piece on some strategic occasion, when weary humanity has reached saturation and boredom listening to everything else. On that day, your quiet walks and lonely vigils will pay off. If that chance never comes, they will have paid off anyway.’”
II. Then, Let this Seeking Continue in the Positive Thrust of Christ-Like Living. V3:2-3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” The Gnostics believed in hidden wisdom. The meaning here is obvious. The believer does not automatically lose worldly desire. One never loses the potential to sin.
Something else did happen, and still does. Their lives are wrapped up in Christ. The Greeks commonly spoke of a dead relative as being hidden in the earth. The believer dies a spiritual death in baptism, and is hidden in Christ. Baptism literally engulfed the early believers in the Lord. It should be so with us.
There is another reason why the believer should be so wrapped up in the Lord. Satan rarely, if ever, gives up on bringing disruptive influences to bear in our lives.
Paganini, the great violinist, was in the middle of an important concert when one of the strings on his violin snapped. He continued to play as if nothing had happened. Then, a second broke! He played yet on without hesitation. Then, unbelievably, a third gave way with a sharp crack! For a brief moment, he paused. The audience assumed he would quit. But he calmly raised his famous Stradivarius with one hand and announced, “One string . . . and Paganini!”
With a tremendous, furious skill and matchless discipline, he finished the selection on a single string. The audience arose and gave him a thunderous ovation.
There are times in our lives when things go wrong. Strings one after the other seem to snap. It becomes increasingly easier to quit. But when we are wrapped up in Jesus, going on is the thing to do. Nothing pleases the prince of darkness more than for the children of the Father to forget who we are and WHOSE we are. Nothing robs him of power and pleasure in our lives like trusting the Lord the more in difficult times than in good times.
You see, the Christian life has a final goal of Christlikeness. The Christian’s life is never more than when it is in the process of becoming.
There is the new consumer advocacy. There is genetic engineering. For the believer, there is that priority that establishes the Lordship of Christ, and my only solution to the sin problem in my life is through Him.
CLOSING
The three Hebrew children, young men actually, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were threatened with death if they did not accede to the demands of the Babylonians. They were to worship like Babylonians and act like Babylonians. “If it be so that our God is able to deliver us, well; but if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve thy gods or worship them” (Daniel 3).
When Paul arrived at Miletus, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17). He reminded them of the two essentials of the kingdom: repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus. He, Paul, was not going to be around to help them, but this was the essential message that they were to bear to the people of their city.
Repentance and faith. They still are the elemental functions of belief: Repentance—clearly, we are sinners, and only repentance toward God will ever change that; and Faith—faith that Christ died on a cross as the enabler of repentance and forgiveness, and the better, fuller life that is in Him.
JUSTIFIED FREELY
#044 JUSTIFIED FREELY
Scripture Romans 3:19-31 NIV Orig. 11-12-61 (11-85)
Rewr. 10-5-88
Passage 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, here defining the message of justification for all mankind.
Keywords: Bible Study God, Grace Man, Lost Justification Law
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
Although it has been a number of years, many of us will still remember news reports out of the city of Philadelphia, and the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. It was the summer of 1976. By some fateful choice, the American Legion was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia. Many of the legionnaires were staying at the Bellevue Stratford.
After the convention was over, and many of the conventioneers had returned home, a strange pall of illness invaded the lives of many of them. Although they were in hospitals in several parts of the country, their doctors read the symptoms the very same way. These people had an unknown illness. For that reason, it became known as “legionnaires” disease. In the weeks following at least 29 people died as a result of complications from the disease. These people had either stayed at The Bellevue Stratford Hotel, or had taken meals there.
Public censure of the hotel began immediately. Before the end of that year, a period of no more than six months, the hotel was closed. What had at one time been one of the proudest of the Philadelphia hotels, slowly sank into an undeserved oblivion. The hotel did not cause those deaths. But its association with them was such that a cautious public would no longer avail itself of these accommodations.
We have an aversion to that which seems to be a threat to our physical well-being. We are insisting on more and more safety in every mode of transportation. We spend huge amounts of money encouraging medical science to protract life.
We have no aversion, however, to sin. We seem willing to take our chances with it even when we know what a threat it is. Thus, Paul reminds his readers, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace through . . . Christ Jesus.”
I. First, then, Is the Need for Justification. V23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thomas Hobbes wrote, “whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin.” The first three chapters are an extension of this premise. God has revealed Himself to the gentiles through nature (Romans 1:19-20). He revealed Himself to the Jews through Law (Romans 2:14-15). All have rebelled against this revelation (Romans 1:29-32 and 2:1-5). All will be judged on the basis of truth rejected (Romans 2:9-11). All are equally guilty (Romans 3:21-23).
Here will begin (through chapter 8) the supreme workings of faith. Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, or angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things past, 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.
Man, whatever his cultural bias, is the fallen creation of God. We were created in, and for, holiness. Acts 17:26f “From one man made He every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth: and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him. . . reach out for Him and find Him, though . . . not far from any of us.”
The first man was created in holiness but voluntarily fallen. So, each one of us, though touched by that same life force of God, is fallen. Holiness implanted but not yielded to in our lives, is thus lost.
We were created to remain under the just law of God. The article was somber and sobering. “Last night while you slept: 15,000 arrests were made, more than 3,000 were committed to mental institutions, there were nearly 100 suicides and 30 murders.”
II. There is Purpose in This Justification. V22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Man had the choice of positive obedience, and of belief about trust in community, too. It was no impossible alternative. The only available example is Jesus. While we have the seed of sin, the choice is our own.
God chose man to dwell in fellowship. That purpose has never changed. It was witnessed by law and prophets. Isaiah’s “suffering servant” passage (Isaiah 52:13f) confirms. Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring thee back.”
The same truth pertains to Jew and Gentile, v22. “There is no difference.” V23 “Both have sinned,” or “miss the mark.” Hebrew v. Greek suggest bad aim or powerlessness.
“Justified freely” (v24) means a judicial decree. “Redemption” (v24) refers to a slave market, where a price had to be paid.
I Peter 1:18f “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish.” This brings us to the very heart of the gospel. It speaks of the measure of redemption—“freely” (v24). It speaks of the manner of redemption—"by His grace” (v24). It speaks of the means of redemption—“through . . . Christ Jesus” (v24).
It behooves us to recognize the choice that we are left to make. Human reason tells us to avoid the implication of guilt. Matthew Arnold, poet and author of Victorian England, pictured sin “not as a monster but as an infirmity.” Elsewhere: “an infirmity to get rid of.” He says not “How”!
The likely choice is the (word), not human reasoning. Romans 3:2 “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Guilt is a factor, and restitution is inevitable. The workable alternative is faith in Christ as redeemer and sin bearer.
III. Finally, We See the Example of Justification. V28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Paul’s argument here is not simply justification by faith. He has already settled that: V24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ.”
His argument is one for the exclusiveness of that faith justification. His point is clear. God does not opt to save some by faith and others by work. Such inconsistency is the spawn of infidelity. It is a human trait, not a sovereign one. If God’s mood allowed such swings, how would we know what is His contemporary exercise?
So the point is thoroughly made: He is God of both Jew and Gentile. Jeremiah 10:7 “Who would not fear you, O you king of the nations?” “Nations” is reference to non-Jews. Greek translates ethnos as “nations.”
Mark 12:29f “Hear O Israel, the Lord is one . . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” For the Jew, the law is the source through which faith flows. (Galatians 3:24, in the King James calls law a “schoolmaster.”) For the Gentile, grace is the instrument of faith. But for both, it is the act of believing faith that saves.
So, Paul reminds us that sin is the problem. We are without defense or excuse. Repentance is the key that activates this faith. Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian, said, “You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it will be too late.”
Closing
On our one trip abroad, we stopped briefly in Venice. On a ride through the canals, we saw the bridge called The Bridge of Sighs. It is said to lead from a courtroom to a dismal prison. “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”