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***

IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID

#054                                                              “IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID”                                                                                    

Scripture  II Corinthians 4:1-7                                                                                                 Orig. Date 4/19/64 (8/75)

                                                                                                                                                                     Rewr. Dates 7/22/87

Passage:  Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ² Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Purpose:  To remind my people of the need to be openly assertive of our faith in Christ as Lord of life.

Keywords:          Christian Life                      Gospel                  Revival                  Special                  Influence

Introduction

                Margaret Sangster, the social worker, writer, and editor, shared an all-too personal experience from one of the tenement areas where she worked.  The point of her life work had always been to reach out to the people around her and help them meet their own needs through private donations when government help was not available.

                She saw a need for a gymnasium for the youth of the district.  A place was secured, and because other help did not materialize, she began to supervise this activity.  A lad of about twelve came to the gym one day on crutches.  The leg was badly twisted, and Mrs. Sangster discovered that the boy had been run over, the leg badly broken, and no medical help was sought.

                She made arrangements to carry the boy to an orthopedic surgeon who had provided his services before.  She was told that the leg could be straightened, but it would take several operations.  A wealthy benefactor was found who would pay the hospital costs.  With parental approval, the transformation was begun.  As Mrs. Sangster tells the story, about eighteen months later she joyously looked up in  the gym one day to see the lad stroll in, pick up a basketball, dribble down the floor, and send it spinning through the hoop.  What a happy moment that was. 

                Years later, she  would tell the story, and ask, “Do you know what that boy is doing today?”  Of course, no one did.  “No, he’s not an attorney, or judge.  No, he didn’t become a preacher or professor.  No, he’s not in social work.”  She would hide the sob trying to surface.  “He is serving three concurrent life terms in the state penitentiary for murder and robbery.” After a pause, she continued, “I was so busy teaching him how to walk, I forgot to teach him where to walk.”

                How careful are we as Christians to teach the really important things about our faith in Christ?  What if “our gospel be hid”?

I.             What If the Gospel Be Hid Socially?  II Corinthians 4:3 “It is hid to them that are lost.”  How hard is it, today, to tell who the Christians around us really are?  Some estimates run as high as 90%. That would be all active church members, and all the 50% of church members who never attend. There are millions of others who happen to believe freedom to worship means freedom not to.

                I have seen too many of them coming out of the quick-order store with a cross around their neck, a six pack in their hand, a foul message on their tee shirt.  The answer is clearly not in one-day-a-week faith.  It is too easy to dress in religious togs and be satisfied we are convincing.  If I work, or work out, I wear something for sweating.  If I am playing golf, it certainly won’t be in my black suit.  I have a friend who occasionally wears overalls to prayer meeting; he has not time to change.

                Paul here reminds us that our faith is a “treasure” bound up “in earthen vessels.”  People take pride in their treasures.  They want their friends to share in their good fortune.  II Corinthians 5:17 “. . . if any be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, all things are become new.”  You see, the Vessel can be spoiled, the spirit within the vessel, never.

                And beyond this, God calls us to share in His vision.  Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary who served in India for 56 years without furlough, and died there.  II Corinthians 5:18 “. . . He hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  That means let your light shine socially.

II.            What If the Gospel Be Hid Politically?  II Corinthians 4:3-4 “. . . It is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”  We are watching the gospel being slowly divested from the arena of politics.  This week USA Today (July 22) reported “Over 50% of those interviewed would take all preachers off television.” 

                In our earlier history, politicians were considered statesmen.  They had an obligation to a higher law, God’s law.  Now, those who are men of faith often hope that it will not be used against them.  What had we really rather have, a character to entertain, or, with character to inspire? 

                It is a good way to judge our TV preachers, and others.  We are not out of line to want to know about the genuineness of a person’s religion.  Oliver North’s wife was presented as a born-again Christian.  Admiral Poindexter’s wife wore the frock of an Episcopal rector.

III.           What If the Gospel Be Hid Intellectually?  II Corinthians 4:3-4 “. . . it is hid to them that are lost: . . . lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, . . . should shine unto them.”  The genius of human intellect is clear.  Evidence of it appears in every age.  It is asserting itself in this 20^th Century as never before, through airplanes, atomic fission, electronic wizardry.  Many learned men and women exemplify a strong Christian witness in Congress, in the Statehouse, as University Presidents, as coaches and artisans and athletes and entertainers.

                What if we fail to make such faith clear?  Youth grow to physical adulthood, enter college, participate, graduate with honors, but face the future unsure about their faith.  With their own souls in jeopardy, their commitment to intellect may also be compromised.

                The need intellectually is to assert our faith.  We are creatures of intellect.  Our society would crumble without it.  Caesar came to the Rubicon with his armies.  He had the ships that transported them burned.   Retreat would not be an option open to them.

IV.          What If We Hide the Gospel Culturally?  II Corinthians 4:3,5 “. . . It is hid to them that are lost: . . . For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord: and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

                America has much to offer a needy world today.  There is intense physical hardship, in the third world and some even here at home.  We have the wherewithal to help.  Nothing lends itself to compassion like religious faith, particularly Christian faith.  It has the potential of worthy example.  Following the Civil War, the world saw a super power emerge.  Inclusion of ethnic groups has proven the worth of our culture.

                But our greatest treasure is our faith.  In the day when many are surrendering theirs, we who look to Christ must continue to share Him with a searching world.  Hosea 4:1 “Hear the word of the Lord, . . . for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.”

                It is incumbent upon us as believers to keep our gospel exposed to the light of day, to share our faith, to share our wealth to expedite missions, and to live obediently so that what we say matches the way we live.

Conclusion

                Albert McClellan tells us of the time when he and other convention personnel were having lunch at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville.  Soup was brought to the table, and one of the group was reminded of a story. 

                It seems that three men were having a meal together in London.  When the soup was served, all three noticed a bug swimming around on the surface of each of their portions.  The Englishman, acting discreetly, fastidiously pushed his bowl aside while claiming not to be hungry.  The American plunged his spoon under the still swimming bug and raked him into his plate, saying aloud, “I’ll take care of you!” 

                The third man was a Scot  He carefully slid the blade of his knife under the bug, balanced him carefully, then picked him off the knife blade with his fingers.  Next, he shook the soup gathered on the knife blade back in the bowl, then squeezed the bug, saying, “Spit it out, little laddie.”

                Dr. McClellan said that his group laughed so loudly at the story that others in the restaurant were attracted to their conversation just in time to hear one of the men say with a  laugh, “bugs in the soup.”  As you might expect, all over the restaurant, soup spoons were placed aside, but the real problem was for all of the people who  had finished theirs.

                We have a message to deliver, and it must be clear, because people are depending on us for the truth.

WISE UNTO SALVATION

#053                                                               WISE UNTO SALVATION                                                                                     

Scripture  II Timothy 3:12-17                                                                                                 Orig. Date 10-22-61 (4-75)

                                                                                                                                                                      Rewr. Dates 1-12-86 

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

                I never cease to be amazed at the capabilities that many people have.  There are few things in this world that are not within the scope of being mastered if one has the heart and the will, and some intellect thrown in for good measure.

                There are musicians who have dedicated their lives to mastering music.  There are theologians who likewise have mastered the art and craft of sermon and rhetoric.  Believe it or not, there are even people who understand American foreign policy.  They know what is going on in Nicaragua, even Libya, or South Africa.

                Make  no mistake about this then.  If one wants to understand the Bible, it is within our grasp.  We can, and must, see it as vital to the Christian life. We must perceive of God’s Word as the agent of His communication with His people.  Such a voice would not be shoddily handled when so much depends on it.

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 fleshly 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

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.”

CHANGES IN THE WIND

#023                                                               CHANGES IN THE WIND                                                                                      

Scripture  I Corinthians 15:35-58 NIV                                                                                                            Orig. 8-18-63

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 3-29-89 

Passage:  ³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”^[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we^[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[c]

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”^[d]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Purpose:   Continuing a study for Prayer Meeting out of the epistle to the Corinthians.

Keywords:          Bible study          Resurrection

Timeline/Series:               I Corinthians

Introduction

                Twice a year we notice instantly the changes taking place all around us.  Last Winter we observed the deterioration of nature.  Where there had been beautiful flowers, only spindly stalks remained.  Where vegetable gardens had produced food for our tables, only a few sparse weeds staked their claims under the diminishing sun.  Where trees had spontaneously graced our lives with shade, all that remained was leaf litter to be gathered and burned.  But change had occurred.

                Change has come once more.  From the lifelessness of Winter there is beginning to emerge the incandescent beauty of Spring.  Dogwood, azaleas, tulips abound, and share their joy all around.

                Change is natural.  But something beyond the natural is God’s gift to the redeemed.  Paul is determined to share the uplift of this victory.

I.             Raising Some Oft Asked Questions.  V35 “How are the dead raised? And with what manner of body do they come?”  The Jews deliberated such questions.  They are questions about the resurrection body.  The rabbis windily debated these.

                The  Greeks did not believe in a bodily resurrection.  They believed in the immortality of the soul.  The body of flesh was the house of sin. 

                The text exemplifies the resurrection body.  Such debating is foolish.  Death is the natural corridor through which such life begins.  Not speaking as a botanist, but a plant dies and produces seed, which germinates to form life.  There are variances throughout creation:  The flesh of man as beast leads to the glory of bodies terrestrial and celestial.

                Thus, resurrection is the ultimate hope. There are four antitheses:

a) The perishable vs. the imperishable—Romans 8:21 “The creature . . . shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

b) Humiliation vs. glory—Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. . . .”

c) Weakness vs. power—II Corinthians 12:9, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

d) Physical vs. spiritual—There are two supreme thoughts here:  that the physical body belongs to all, and that the spiritual body belongs to the redeemed.

II.            A  Vital Difference Between the Two Adams.  V45 “The first man Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit.” 

                The first Adam is a man of dust, destined to return to the ground, and with a nature that guarantees only a grave.  Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  PBS’s Nova ran a story about the concentration, highest in the world, of Huntington’s Disease in villages along the shores of Lake Maracaibo. This neurological disease is always fatal, and the program was called “The Killer Gene.”

                Christ is not a man of such nature, but a man of heaven.  Spiritual bodies are for those who share His nature.  Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” 

III.           The Mystery of the End-Time.  V51 “Behold I tell you a mystery.  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”  There is a mystery to be declared. It has a different connotation from I Corinthians 14:2, which is about the mystery of speaking in tongues.  There the idea is secretiveness.  Here one thinks of unveiling.

                Here it involves immortality. In Greek, athanasia means to deny death, euthanasia means “easy death.”  Man’s immortality is not natural, but by grace.  Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.”

                Christ is the One in whom is victory.

A HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL

#021                                                        A  HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL                                                                               

Scripture  Romans 8:18-39 NIV                                                                                                                       Orig. 7-15-62

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 3-21-85 

Passage:  ¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[b] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[c]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Purpose:  Continuing a series from Romans, define for my people that wonderful hope that is in Christ.

Keywords:          God       Sovereignty       Hope    Holy Spirit

Timeline/Series:               Romans

Introduction

                I read recently the story of a young writer who believed that he had composed the classic short story.  He was persuaded that it was the best that he could do.  Though the plot was not original, the young man felt that it was a masterpiece of realism.

                One day he was introduced to a famous author, and to his delight, the old man asked his new friend to come to his study and read his manuscript to him.

                The story was about the only son of a poor widow living in a cottage nesting in a Pennsylvania valley.  The boy decided to go to the city to seek his fortune.  The  mother, in true motherly form, saw him off saying, “Now remember son, if you ever get into trouble,  no matter how bad it is, you set off home and as you come over the hill, you’ll always find a light burning in this window—and I’ll be waiting to welcome you.”

                As the young author read his manuscript he told the young man’s story.  It was one of decline and fall into debauchery and crime.  After a time in prison, and after his release, he decided it was time to return to the old home place.  He came finally to the only hill that remained between himself and his home.  As he walked over the crest and looked down, there was the outline of the old cottage in the evening gloom, but no light burning in the window.

                The old author, who had listened intently all the while, leaped quickly to his feet and cried: “You young devil, put that light back.”  That light represented hope.   As long as it remained, then the remoteness of the story did not matter.

I.             A Hope that is Wonderful Defines the Human Struggle.  V22f “For we know that the whole creation groans in labor pains together until now.  And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit.”  We must first link with the prior message.  V16 The Holy Spirit confirms human spirit.  We are therefore God’s children—heirs. Heirship is fulfilled only at death.  As another thread in the tapestry of eternity, death becomes less frightening. In 1939 Lou Gehrig said of his illness:  "Fans, for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” In 2 Corinthians 10:15 Paul wrote “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Oneness with Christ is ours.

In this sense, Paul confirms human suffering.  Whatever the struggle, it is less overpowering beholding what is to be.  All of us know someone in the throes of some deep agony.  How much easier when there is a supportive family.  What a difference friends can make.

Paul says (V19) “creation” will be better off for man’s struggle to redemption.  Natural man brings nature to the brink.  PBS, in “Passion to Protect,” reported than 1 in 1000 animal species becomes extinct through a natural event, once a month through a man-made event.

Misuse of chemicals are creating a far-ranging problem. An article published 3-20-85 reported that it was a pesticide chemical that caused the death of 2,000 people in Bhopal, India. 

Man’s spiritual redemption, cosmos out of chaos, is nature’s hope also.  Hope (v20) is not God’s hope.  It is man’s hope, nature’s hope.  With God there can be nothing less than absolute certainly.  The struggle is of divine ordination.  The world may be in its birth pains, V22—tsunami, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc.  Man is in his coming to oneness with God.

II.            A Hope that is Wonderful Describes the Spirit’s Intercession. (V26-27).  V26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.”  It is intercession in prayer.  He doesn't do our praying for us.  When burdens stymie prayer, He comes to our rescue.  It is not intercession when we are not praying, but when we can’t pray. 

It is intercession in weakness. We are trying to impress others with our strengths. But “when I am weak, then I am strong.” The Holy Spirit comes in our weakness. Helps (V26)—sunantilambanomai, “to take hold of with another.”  Ever tried to pick up a wheelbarrow by the handles?  Even if a friend takes one of the handles?  We need a helper who understands the problem.  For instance, the best marriages are often those where weaknesses are known, understood, and accepted.  It is intercession seeking compliance with the will of God.  “According to [the will of] God” V27 is surely the sense of the verse: 2 Corinthians 10:15: “Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly.”

III.           A Hope that is Wonderful Explains God’s Sovereignty V26-28.  V28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to his purpose.”  Not some pantheism by which we are elected if all goes well with us.  Not some theistic “chance.”  2 Samuel 7:28 “And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.” It is God active in the framework of history.  Acts 17:24-28 at Mars Hill: “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (V26).  God guides that history by those who cooperate with His purpose, just as we must seek to pray for the Spirit to intercede.

As we “faith” events around us, we are “working together” with God.  “Purpose” translates “a placing before.”  It is to establish priorities.  V. 29-30 contain God’s loving purpose for the Christian.  “Foreknew”—to know before hand; “predestinate”—horizon—to set a limit, “confirmed to the image of His Son”; “called”—all are called,  those who respond are certified; “justified”—legal and formal acquittal; “glorified”—bring to a promised place of honor.

IV.          A Hope that is Wonderful Exemplifies Christ’s Substitution (VV 31-39).  V32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also freely give us all things?"  We are redeemed by this substitutionary work of Christ.  In Him we are God’s own dear children.  He doesn’t love others less.  His love is personalized by response as John was “the Disciple whom Jesus loved.”  To be in Christ is to be uncondemned (V34).  To be in Christ is forever (V39).

Closing

                We had a couple of pianos tuned recently.  Did you ever wonder how they do it in big chuches where they have lots of pianos?  How would it be to tune the first, and then to tune each succeeding one to the one just finished?  Would the twenty be in harmony with the first? No, in no way!

                Our two were tuned with a tuning fork.  If one had two hundred to be tuned, they would all require tuning with the same tuning fork. 

                This wonderful hope, of which we have spoken, is “in Christ.”  It is up to each of us to rest in Him to have this hope.

SUBJECT TO HIGHER POWERS

#020                                                         SUBJECT TO HIGHER POWERS                                                                                

Scripture  Romans 13:1-14 NIV                                                                                                       Orig. 11-11-62 (8-85)

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 5-18-88 

Passage:  Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.^[c]

Purpose: To speak to my people during Religious Liberty Week on the need to subject ourselves to the social as well as spiritual needs around us.

Keywords:          Citizenship          Law        Duty      Love

Timeline/Series:               Romans

Introduction

                Among sermons in my library is one preached more than a century ago by Robert William Dale, a Congregational pastor in Birmingham, England.  He raises, and speaks to a question pertinent to Religious Liberty Week.  He quotes John 6:15:

“Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew.”

                He then asks, “Did not our Lord miss a great chance when he refused the position which they offered Him? . . . .  Why did He not consent to reign?” He then answers his own question.  “It was the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, . . . that provoked the popular enthusiasm.  No doubt the people thought that if He were their king all their material wants . . . would receive satisfaction.  Ah!  But it is not Christ’s first object to secure . . . outward conditions favorable to universal ease and comfort.  That was clearly not His object in the creation of the material universe which He has built for our home.  Men have to live by the sweat of their brow, and in most parts of the world, they have to work hard in order to live.  There are fogs and floods, harvests are blighted; there is intolerable heat, . . .  cold; men are disciplined to endurance by physical discomfort; their intellectual life is provoked to strenuous activity by the hardships and difficulties of their condition.  The proverbial garden of the sluggard is not a reproach to Providence but to the sluggard.  It was God’s will that he should have not only a garden bright with flowers, but that he should have the physical vigor, the industry, the intelligence that would come from cultivating it.  God cares more for the man than for the garden. . . .  Government is a divine institution, but it is through human virtue, . . . self-sacrifice, . . . patience, . . . sagacity, that the material blessings which are possible through the social condition are to be actually won. . . .  It was impossible that Christ should accept power on the terms upon which He knew that it had been offered to Him.”

                It would be left up to us to secure the kind of government that we deserve.  That’s what Religious Liberty Week is all about.

I.             Subject to Higher Powers Means Duties to the State.  V1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God.”  This acknowledges the sovereignty of God, and abused authority is answerable to Him.  Governing authorities are put in place.  Even in a police state such authority is responsible.

                The will of God includes government within a social system.  The dark ages were marked by a serious challenge to state and church.  Henry the Eighth is easily recognized for this period.

                Paul, who knew no pope, seems to have made room for no such power vested in the church. 

                Ann and I served on a Jefferson Parish jury years ago.  A man from our neighborhood was in the jury pool with us; a Jehovah’s Witness, he asked to be excused.

                I Peter 2:13f:  “. . . submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, or to those sent by him. . . .”

                We are fortunate indeed to live within an open system.  Agitation for better government is allowed and expected.  The system, with all its faults, advocates teaching to improve.  We should all be good students of history.  Obey the law, but be prepared to work to improve the system as needed.

                Does being “subject” mean respecting leaders?  It is a military term.  It acknowledges a chain of command.  I remember my own military experience.  We were admonished to salute the rank. 

In 1977, the little Strode boy in Marion, North Carolina, and his parents were far off base; it is reprehensible for parents to allow their son to say the things he said about teachers and administrators.

I remember a First Sergeant whom I did not, could not, respect, but I was subject to him.

II.            Subject to Higher Powers Means Duties to Citizens of the State.  V8 “Owe no one anything  except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”  He is speaking outside of the purview of the church:  “Owe no man.”  Do not be obligated to another.  Don’t let others control your destiny.

                He uses the civic term “neighbor” rather than “brother”:  “’Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor.” 

                Some see contradiction with Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.”  Our relation to God is spiritual (Romans 6:14).  Our relation to the world is legal (Romans 13:8f).

                James Stifler (E13p219), The Epistle to the Romans—“God demands much more of the believer than the state asks.  The latter says ‘Thou shalt not injure thy neighbor.’ God says, ‘Thou shalt love him as thyself.’”

                The goal, then, for the Christian, is to care about other people.  It extends beyond other “believers.”

  It is an obligation to pay our own way and our just debts.  Love teaches us not only what good to do,  it teaches what ungood to avoid.  Love restrains us from: (v9) adultery, murder, theft, false witness, covetousness; all else is “comprehended” in “love.”

We would do well to remember that the state can only administer by the sword.  If it administers wrongly, grievous injustice can and does result.  The church, however, is to administer through love.  Even if we are wrong, what injustice is there in love?  V9: “. . . All is summed up (kephelaion) in this saying, namely, Thou  shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

III.           Subject to Higher Powers Means Enforcement of Civil Duties.  V13 “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.”

                What we do, do it because of the time.  V11 “Knowing  the time.”  There is too much tendency to sleep, moreso, to fail to see moral and cultural deprivations.  Biblical advice is that it is time to awaken out of stupor; time to grasp the meaning of ineptitude; time to perceive that we can make a difference. On May 14, 1988, while Monroe, Louisiana, bar owners were celebrating their school’s 2a.m. victory, a customer of Kentucky bars was turning into the wrong lane of the freeway, and killed 27 people.

                The true significance of this passage is in its relationship to Christ.  First, the “night” of Christ’s away, V12; second, the “day” of His reappearing.  They were to put off the works of darkness, put on the works of light.  Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” 

You see, when we have taken Christ, we have done all we can, or need to do.  Hebrews 10:37, “For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not tarry.”

                Simple honesty demands that we be in daily living what we claim to be in profession.  V13 “Let us walk honestly.”  It means “becomingly, decently.”  Paul uses the same word in I Thessalonians 4:12, “Walk honestly toward them who are outsiders.”  We who are believers do have moral, as well as spiritual obligations to others.  Not many “drunken” or “perverted orgies,” or even “jealous strife.”  But the text reminds us (v10) “Love worketh no ill to one’s neighbor,” remembering Christ’s definition.

                The summation of all is that we are to “put on” Christ.  Romans 6:3 “As many as are baptized in Jesus, are baptized in  His death.”  Galatians 3:27 “For as many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.”

                There is obedience. There is disposition.   There is hope.

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

PUTTING OFF AND PUTTING ON

#022                                                      PUTTING OFF AND PUTTING ON                                                                             

Scripture  Ephesians 4:17-24 NIV                                                                                                                 Orig. 11/14/71

                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 10/3/85 (10-79) 

Passage:  ¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Purpose:              To lead my people to consider the willful response of the believer to become a new person in Christ Jesus.

Keywords:          Assurance           Holiness               Obedience          Revival 

Introduction

                Paul shares a different kind of expression with us by way of his instruction to the believers in Ephesus.  “Putting Off and Putting On” is an exclamation of his faith that in Christ we become new people.  It is not a new concept.  We are quite familiar with such terms as “the new birth” or “born again.”  These terms, falling into contemporary jargon, are losing their significance to us, however. 

                The Christ-life itself is not now, nor has it ever been, an impossible ideal.  But we must understand that the hope and joy of that life, is not so much in its fulfillment as in its aspiration, something of which Robert Browning wrote:

                That low man seeks a little thing to do,

                                Sees it and does it.

                This high man seeks a great thing to pursue,

                                Dies ere he knows it.

                Paul here encourages the Ephesians about “Putting Off and Putting On.”  They are to “put off” the old man, the deceiver, the corrupt one.  They are then enabled to “put on” the new person, being recreated to honor God.

                Years ago, E. Stanley Jones labored for Christ in India.  This great missionary statesman, earnest and deeply committed believer, maintained a hope that Christianity would become culturalized into the very essence of the life of India.  He knew that little headway would be made as long as his faith was looked upon as a “religion of foreigners.”  Mahatma Gandhi, the great liberator of India, was his friend.  Mr. Jones asked what could be done to accomplish such a goal.  There were three suggestions:

1. That all of you Christians begin to live more like Jesus.
2. That you practice your religion  without toning it down.
3. That you present yourselves by love, for love is the central soul of Christianity.

I.             Put Off the Old Man of Corruption.  Put on the New Person of Obedience.  V23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”  We are not given any false notions that this is easily done. 

Our age is a critical age.  It is not a time of peace.  It is a time of war.  Revolution is a way of life.  Korean evangelist Billy Kim survived the Japanese occupation of his country and the Korean War, was educated in America, and delivered a speech entitled “I Speak for Democracy.”  Wimpy Smith, missionary to Argentina, said that country was like a  phonograph record, 33-1/3 revolutions per minute.  The only time an assassination in the Third World captured my attention was when Fritha was in Liberia.

Perhaps we don’t expect to hear of these things, but we do not abhor them.  We make light of the struggles going on.

The Bible pictures this Christ-life accomplished under adverse conditions.  Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God.”  II Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  As Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs, for then you cannot satisfy the One who has enlisted you in His army.”

Dr. E.V Hill, pastor of a church in Watts, defines their sign: Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Conservative-Liberal-Militant: He says, “Conservative, because we believe every word of the Bible.  Liberal, because we try every means available to get the job done.  Militant, because we will not take ‘No!’ for an answer.”

Obedience is to desire those things that will better enable our service for Christ’s sake.  It is more than living within the framework of a book.  It is that! The Bible!  It is letting that book change us.  The Hebrews had the book, but living without it they failed.  We Christians can carry a New Testament in our pocket or purse, but is Christ in our hearts?

                V 21,22a “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts.”

II.            Put Off the Old of Doubt, Put On the New Person of Assurance.  V23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”  The substance of this assurance is that Christ is Lord.  This link in Paul’s life is clear.  I Corinthians 2:2, “I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  Philippians 1:20 “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.”

                It is just as clear that this is God’s will for us all.  You admire this in religious leaders.  You insist upon it in pastor and staff.  You desire it in deacons.  You respond to it in Sunday School teachers.  And you should!  But it is the goal of God for all believers.  Look ahead to V30. The believer is “sealed for the day of redemption.” The “seal,” then as now, declares ownership.

                Such assurance declares that you are traveling the available road Godward.  In Galatians 3:27, Paul uses this very idea of “putting on” Christ through baptism.  It is clearly a step Godward.  Baptism implies repentance, remorse over sin, a turning.  Its use here takes us another step Godward.  We put on the teaching of Christ.  We seek that that He offers.  It is to take the garments of Christ to cover our lack.  Colossians 3:14 “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

                Remember all the while that any other road is a road to Godlessness.  There is a place of eternal loss.  Punishment in the spiritual sense is the worst kind of punishment.

III.           Put Off the Old Person of Worldliness,  Put On the New Person of Holiness.  V24 “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.”  It is a newness of life that instills a new and  different purpose.  We need to remember that it is accomplished by degrees, rarely in great, sudden surges, more often in slow, predictable change.

                We must also recall that Christ, Himself, only achieved this response to God absolutely.  We may go forward for a time, lose ground, start, as it were, over.

                But once enlightened through Christ, we are never set adrift.  Isaiah 32:18 “My people shall dwell in . . . sure dwellings.”  2 Corinthians 5:1, “We have a building of God, an house not made with hands.”  I Peter 3:13 “Who is he that will harm you, if  you be followers of that which is good?”

                It is a purpose that separates us to the will of God: to live in  His will with  or without material advantage; to rightly interpret the bounds of warranted pleasure; to interpret God’s will on the basis of the Word.

Conclusion

                In Shaw’s play, Saint Joan, an interesting dialogue takes place.  Joan of Arc, as she would later be called, is hearing the voice of God, and is then told to declare to the king what she has heard.

Dauphin: “O your voices, your voices. Why don’t your voices come to me? I am the king, not you.”

Joan: “They do come, but you do not hear them.  You have not sat in the  field in the evening listening to them.  When the Angelus rings, you cross yourself and have done with it, but if you prayed with your heart and listened to the thrilling of the bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I do.”