Pastor Sean's Blog

Obama's International LGBT Plan

2012-01-27T07:16:00.002-05:00

The President of the US is using his influence through US Ambassadors to promote the LGBT agenda as foreign policy overseas and it is NOT sitting well with some countries.

Listen to this audio commentary and then forward the link to this recording to any friend or relative who is struggling with the direction of America.

Pastor Osteen on Oprah's new show

2012-01-15T15:51:00.005-05:00

Listen as Pastor Joel Osteen tries to walk both sides of the aisle. He claims to be a Christian pastor who preach the Bible but he struggles with the clarity we need today.

Preachers and Talk About Sex

2012-01-10T21:33:00.003-05:00

This is a must listen to interview about Ed Young Jr. and Mark Driscoll. Based on the article below and books from Mark Driscoll.

Ed and Lisa Young, founders of Texas-based Fellowship Church, will spend 24 hours in bed on the church roof next week and stream themselves discussing sex live on the Internet to encourage married couples to see firsthand the power of a healthy sex life as prescribed in their new book, Sexperiment.

Two days after their book, Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, is released Tuesday, the Youngs will take part in a 24-hour “bed-in,” which will be streamed on the book’s website as they engage the audience on issues related to intimacy in marriage.

The book encourages married couples to have sex for seven straight days – a challenge that made headlines in 2008 when Pastor Young first introduced it to his church – with the promise that the “amazing results” will last far beyond the week. ...

Read the rest of the article here.

Rick Santorum Recognizes the Issues with Mormonism

2012-01-07T21:17:00.006-05:00

What are Republicans going to do? Two Mormons, two Roman Catholics (one of which is a former Baptist) and a believer in Jesus who is a Libertarian.

In this audio commentary I discuss these issues. (I also make a mistake about Ron Paul finishing in fourth place; actually, he finished in 3rd place in Iowa.)

Take a listen and leave a comment on Sermon Audio.

A Baby Dedication

2011-12-31T15:36:00.002-05:00

At Berean, some parents choose to dedicate their infants or small children to the Lord at the normal conclusion of the Sunday morning preaching services, but what does it mean to “dedicate” a baby to the Lord? Is this a “photo op,” or is it something much more serious and important? Is this baby dedication the same as infant baptism? Is a baby dedication a church sacrament? Does it dispense grace? Since various Christians would answer these questions differently, the purpose of this article is to clarify what I believe and we practice at Berean.

In the Jewish religion, male infants are circumcised in obedience to the Mosaic Law. In Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other reformed churches, infants are baptized into the church; however, Baptists do not baptize infants, nor do they believe that circumcision is necessary from a biblical perspective. Moreover, Baptists believe that only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can a child become a part of the body of Christ.

Some suggest that the practice of dedicating a baby to the Lord is simply a matter of praying for the infant’s health and salvation. This is based on the example Matthew presents in his 19th chapter where Jesus lays hands on small children and prays for them in verse nine. The trouble with this understanding of the text as the basis for a baby dedication is that it elevates the pastor to a position of being able to convene a “blessing” through a prayer, an unbiblical assumption.

A few suggest that Hannah’s dedication of her toddler son, Samuel, to the Lord in I Samuel 1:19-28 is the basis for the modern day “baby dedication” ceremony. However, the difficulty with using this passage as the scriptural basis for a baby dedication ceremony is that Hannah left Samuel with the High Priest Eli to serve the Lord all the days of his life at the “house of the LORD in Shiloh” (v. 25). The church is not prepared to rear a child in the house of the Lord forever. Nor are most parents truly giving their child at birth to the work of the Lord in the house of the Lord.

Therefore, it seems best to conclude that we are unsure of the origin or tradition of a baby dedication ceremony. We cannot say that the “baby dedication” ceremony is biblical unless we view Jesus being brought to Simeon (Luke 2) as an act of fulfilling a Mosaic Law requirement (see Leviticus 12)—in which case, a child’s dedication would be an old covenant expectation for Jews. We are also unsure if baby dedication was practiced by the early church. There isn’t anything in the New Testament indicating that babies of believers are to be dedicated to the Lord in a special church ceremony.

Some churches conduct special baby dedication Sundays or special services where all who had a child within a specified period of time collectively dedicate themselves before the church. Berean does not hold such special services; instead, a few minutes are used at the end of the normal time of invitation to recognize the parents, the child, and most importantly the commitment to raise the child according to God’s Word. In reality, our ceremony should be called a parent dedication.

Parental Responsibilities

According to Psalm 127:3, children are a gift from God; and parents have a responsibility to rear their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). Moreover, Deuteronomy 6:4-7 provides even more specific guidance concerning parental responsibilities toward their children.

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Parents are to be the primary teachers of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, beginning with the most orthodox truth that the “The Lord our God is one Lord” who has always existed as three Persons–the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—and that every man, woman, and child is to love the LORD their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength (Matt 3:16-17; Mk 12:30-31).

Therefore, instead of dedicating a baby, it seems much more appropriate for each parent to dedicate themselves to both God and their child to be obedient to their God-given parental responsibilities. Doing this before the body of Christ is a sign of the parent’s commitment to fulfill these responsibilities within a community of believers.

These parental responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Staying married in recognition that God’s plan for the biological father and mother to rear their children in the same home is the best plan. (This is not meant to exempt single parents.)

2. Being the spiritual leader(s) of their children—which includes setting the example in their relationship with Christ and the church as well as teaching their children the gospel and the whole counsel of the Word of God and its application to life.

3. Maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of their children.

4. Praying without ceasing for their children’s salvation and sanctification to the glory of God.

5. Shepherding their child’s heart toward a full relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel by God’s Sovereign grace.

At Berean, the “baby dedication” is special time at the end of a worship service in which parents recognize that their child is a gift from God and publicly affirm their commitment to fulfill God’s expectations. In essence, each parent who participates enters into a covenant with God and the body of Christ to do what they have been called to do as parents. As such, those who are not truly committed to doing what God expects, by His grace, should not present themselves before the church for a baby dedication. Although photos are often taken during this public proclamation of a commitment to the Lord, it is much more than a photo op; it is a solemn commitment to obey the Lord as parents.

Don't Mock Tebow

2011-12-07T21:02:00.002-05:00

Walter Reed Jumps on the Ban Wagon

2011-12-05T20:47:00.001-05:00

After Friday's bombshell, Walter Reed Military Medical Center was inundated with calls about the hospital's Bible ban. In case you missed it, FRC broke the newsthat the Navy had issued new guidelines for the friends and family of wounded soldiers. In a stunning attack on faith, Walter Reed specifically outlawed "religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts" from being "used or given away" during patient visits. As soon as the memo was in FRC's hands, we brought it to the Hill's attention. After working with concerned leaders like Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and talking with staff at Walter Reed, we were assured that the Navy was rescinding the policy. Todd Starnes at Fox News also contacted hospital officials and was told by a public affairs officer that the Bible ban was "in no way meant to prohibit family members from providing religious items to their loved ones at all." If that's the case, Starnes pressed, then why bother rescinding the policy? "We don't want there to be any misinterpretation of what we're trying to say," Sandy Dean said.

As of this afternoon, there is no written proof that the policy change has taken place. All we have are the verbal assurances from Walter Reed that the problem is being corrected. Until then, leaders continue to shake their heads at open hostility toward faith in Obama's military. While we appreciate that the Navy is trying to right this wrong, it speaks to the effectiveness of the President's three-year war on Christianity. Apparently, this administration will do whatever it takes to wipe faith off the military's map. With your help, they won't succeed any time soon. Log on to frc.org and speak out against the Walter Reed Bible ban. Click here to add your name to our petition.

http://nation.foxnews.com/bible/2011/12/02/exclusive-military-blasted-banning-bibles-walter-reed-hospital

A Must Watch Video

2011-12-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

Obama's Version of the Christmas Story

2011-12-03T09:46:00.001-05:00

Obama Shares Christmas Story at Nat'l Tree Lighting Ceremony

Why You Can't Join the Church This Sunday

2011-12-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

Interracial Marriage

2011-12-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

A Must Watch Video

2011-11-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

Biblical Scholarship and the Right to Know | The Humanist

2011-11-20T15:15:00.001-05:00

This professor from UNC Chapel Hills seeks to destroy the faith in Christ that young freshman have in the New Testament. Hundreds of students take his New Testament survey class each semester and in this speech he outlines his objectives.

Educate yourself on the enemy. Read the speech he gave when he received an award for his work.

Biblical Scholarship and the Right to Know | The Humanist

Music Wars

2011-11-19T08:07:00.005-05:00

The music war will plague the church until Jesus comes again. Every side and angle believes they are correct. Personal preference are superimposed on Scripture. Every side believes they know what God likes best.

Check out this article from USA Today.

And then my short audio commentary.

For more commentaries like the above; check out my sermon page on this blog.

Shepherds Must Shepherd

2011-11-14T18:42:00.001-05:00

If you wish to watch this sermon simply click on the small blue camera and a pop-up will broadcast the sermon.

Shepherds must shepherd is an examination of Ezekiel 34 in light of the New Testament. This is part 1 of a two part sermon on the entire chapter.

Give Herman Cain a Biblical Chance

2011-11-10T06:43:00.001-05:00

Learning from the Hebrew! I AM

2011-11-03T11:54:00.001-04:00

Once again I discovered this morning why it is critical to use all the resources available to the post-modern Christian to study his Bible. (This includes other translations and websites like www.blueletterbible.org.)

I am writing to those who believe that the KJV is all they need to prepare sermons, etc. and also to those who want to understand the Word more.

I am writing to those who insist that the KJV has some special status above other diligent word for word translations like the NKJV or NASB or ESV. Look at Psalm 50:21 with me.

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

The words “that I was altogether” are translated from one Hebrew word, the word hayah (Strong’s H1961). This Hebrew word can mean “to be,” “to exist,” and to “be in existence.”

What makes this word so special and what provides so much more depth of understanding concerning the truth in Psalm 50:21 is the fact that the same word is found twice in Exodus 3:14.

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Hayah hayah is translated “I AM THAT I AM” in Exodus 3.14. Perhaps you will recall this is the name that God told Moses to tell Israel when they asked the name of the One who sent him. (This is when Israel was begging God to deliver them from Egypt.)

The English Standard Version (ESV) adds a footnote to Psalm 50:21 indicating that an alternate translation could read “you thought that I AM was one like yourself.”

This makes the pronoun “I” so much more specific. These Jews, who are described as wicked in verse 16, thought that I AM that I AM was like themselves. This is why their thinking was so upside down and why they were being judged so severely.

Thinking that the self-existing God of the Israel is altogether like thyself is disastrous. Having the wrong view of God sets the conditions for wickedness. You may ask, “How so?”

The answer is found in this people’s lack of fear of God. They are not concerned that I AM that I AM is going to "tear them apart," and there will not be anyone who can deliver them from his hand (vs. 22) because they think he is altogether like them (v. 21).

You will recall that I AM that I AM demonstrated His great power in the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Ten plagues all proved the power of God. The horse and rider drowning in the Red Sea while Israel walked over on dry ground were miracles designed to demonstrate God’s great power to execute judgment!

Establishing the Hebrew linkage between hayah (H1961) (found only once in all the Psalms) and Exodus 3:14 is only possible through the study of the original languages.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a Hebrew scholar to gain this level of depth. Instead, you must be willing to read footnotes, use a reference like a Strong’s Concordance, or a website tool like www.blueletterbible.org.

Peek A Boo Jesus Loves You

2011-11-01T07:52:00.003-04:00

Peek A Boo Jesus Love You is the title to this tract especially designed for Halloween.

Look at the nonsense in the wording on the tract that was no doubt given out to 1000s upon 1000s of homes last night.

While I have no problem with giving out tracts. The tracts MUST be theologically correct.

This tract does provide a solid gospel centered verse--Romans 6:23. But then it completely ignores the fact that sinners are saved by grace through FAITH (Eph 2).

The tract says, "If you want to live with Jesus forever say a prayer like this:"

Here we go again.

Who writes these tracts? Who approves the final product? Who can defend such a statement? Who can promise to every boy and girl that says these words that they will live with Jesus forever? Will there not be accountability before God for teaching such heresy? Is God's mercy to be presumed upon, such that those who print tracts do not have to be concerned with getting it right.

Or are those who order and pass out such tracts not culpable for there failure to ensure only truth is communicated.

494 years ago Martin Luther nailed a Theses on church door to warn the body of Christ of the heresy of suggesting that one could buy their way out of purgatory.

Today we are not battling indulgences. Instead, we are battling an Evangelical community that teaches boys and girls that the mere articulation of words in the form of a sincere prayer is the same as repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).

How many will say in that day Lord, Lord I prayed that prayer and the piece of paper said if I pray this prayer I will live with Jesus forever.

God forbid that we not fight this heresy the same way Luther fought the Roman Catholic Church's heresy.

Oct 23, 2011 Youth Service

2011-10-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

Click on the image to make it larger.

It was Awesome!! Check out our YouTube channel to hear them sing @ http://www.youtube.com/user/Bereanfayetteville

King James Bible or Version

2011-10-23T16:16:00.002-04:00

Have you noticed a new abbreviation for the Authorized Version of the Bible? The abbreviation reads KJB; instead of KJV or AV. Notice the B has replaced the V. Those who use this abbreviation believe that the KJV is not a version—it is the Bible for English speaking people. They believe that version is not the right word to use because it implies that there is more than one acceptable translation of the Bible. You see, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, a version is “a translation from another language; especially: a translation of the Bible or a part of it.”

Baptist churches that use a B instead of a V reject the idea that the King James Bible is a translation. They believe that the translators were given special guidance to select all the correct English words.

This new extreme minority group within Baptist churches has adopted the position that the KJB is the new original manuscript. This group believes that the KJB has replaced the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. The following is a sentence taken directly from a letter I received from one in this group. The sentence is not taken out of context or extracted for my open purposes. This is what one man wrote me:

“We strongly believe without apology that the old 1611 King James Bible is neither just a ‘reliable translation’ nor an ‘accurate version’ but rather God's perfect, pure, infallible, and inerrant word in the English language. It is WITHOUT proven textual or doctrinal errors. It CANNOT be improved upon by any other English or American language version now and forever!”

He continues to write:

“Even with very limited resources and virtually no financial backing, I am alone endeavoring to translate the Old Testament scriptures directly from the King James Bible (without resorting to Greek and Hebrew lexicons). — a very difficult and tremendous task indeed! The Filipino King James Bible translation project is progressing slowly but surely. Filipino, which is based from Tagalog, is our national language.”

Notice that he says he is going to give the Filipino people a King James Bible. He is going to do this without “resorting to Greek and Hebrew lexicons.” To do so, this man will rely strictly upon whatever KJB he presently uses with whatever current English renderings it has. Please understand that his KJB is not a 1611 Bible. We know this to be true because, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the KJV, Amazon and others are selling replicas of the original 1611 Bible. Next time you are in a bookstore, look for a replica.

Or, if you don’t want to do that, you could check out this website:

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/

If you want to see an example of what a page looked like in the original 1611, here is a link to a facsimile:

http://www.greatsite.com/facsimile-reproductions/kingjames-1611-detail3.html

When a KJB Baptist says he is using the 1611 KJB to translate into a new language, one has to wonder if he is really using this hard-to-read-and-comprehend 1611, or if he is using a newer version. Of course, the differences are primarily in spelling, punctuation and other minor differences that have no impact on doctrine, but the point is clear: why say 1611 when the version being used is really from 1769 or some other more recent year?

The real issue is: Were the American version translators among a long line of gifted men who were committed to giving English-speaking men and women a Bible they could understand in their own language, or did something special happen in 1611 that had never happened before? Did God lead, guide, and direct these men to select all the correct English words in a particular way such that reference to the Hebrews or Greek is no longer necessary?

This scenario is problematic in this sense: who defines a word when it is not clearly understood? Is it the Webster dictionary? Is it the 1828 Webster dictionary? If Hebrew and/or Greek lexicons can’t be used, something must be used.

The value in looking at alternative scriptural rendering in English is completely lost when one decides he cannot use either other translations or the Hebrew or Greek text to gain a better understanding of what Paul, Peter, or John (or any other author) has said.

Let me illustrate. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

What does the author mean by the word substance? If I choose to use an English dictionary, my choices are presented below.

sub•stance \ˈsəb-stən(t)s\ noun
[Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin substantia, from substant-, substans, present participle of substare to stand under, from sub- + stare to stand — more at STAND]

1 a : essential nature : ESSENCE
b : a fundamental or characteristic part or quality
c : Christian Science : GOD 1b
2 a : ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change
b : practical importance : MEANING, USEFULNESS 〈the… bill—which will be without substance in the sense that it will authorize nothing more than a set of ideas —Richard Reeves〉
3 a : physical material from which something is made or which has discrete existence
b : matter of particular or definite chemical constitution
c : something (as drugs or alcoholic beverages) deemed harmful and usually subject to legal restriction 〈possession of a controlled substance〉〈has a substance problem〉
4 : material possessions : PROPERTY

The above choices are not very helpful. I don’t know which one to choose. There is nothing between the verse and the four choices to help me make a better choice.

Searching for the word substance in other Bible verses also becomes exceptionally problematic because this particular Greek word is only rendered substance once. However, the word substance is found four times in the New Testament. The other three times come from a different Greek word than hypostatis, the Greek word used in Hebrews 11:1. This is why knowing the Greek behind the text is critically important. (Additionally, if it were not for a lexicon or another translation I would not know that the other three uses of substance came from a different Greek word.)

Hypostatis is found twice in 1 Corinthians and three other times in Hebrews, for a total of six uses in the New Testament.

It is translated twice as confidence, once as confident, and once as the word person.

Because I know which Greek word is in the text, I can now study the correct word to gain a better understanding of what the word substance means in this text.

I understand the word confidence. So, if I substitute confidence for substance in Hebrews 11:1, the text would read, “Now faith in the confidence of things hoped for…”

Interestingly, if I choose to take advantage of other English translations I discover that confidence is the right idea.

‎‎Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
‎‎Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
‎‎Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
‎‎Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Assurance, reality, assurance, and confidence are the four ways hypostatis (G5287) is rendered in four other translations. Knowing the Greek behind the English is critical. Using either hardcopy or digital lexicons makes it easy to look for other contextual uses of the same Greek word. And recognizing that the KJV is just a translation gives me the freedom to look at other English translations.

By rejecting potential insight offered by other English translations and the Greek and Hebrew texts, those in the KJB camp loose valuable resources in gaining a complete understanding of the English rendering of God’s Word.

Those still not convinced should consider the following: The KJV was not the first English Bible. William Tyndale translated the Greek New Testament into English about 70 years before the 1611 version was first printed. To claim that the KJB is the only Bible worthy of acknowledgement as God’s Word means that the Greek that William used was good Greek and worthy of being studied during his time, but that this same Greek is no longer of value today. It was of value for some people (Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, the Geneva Bible translators, and the AV 1611 translators) for about 100 years, but the value is no longer there for Christians alive today who seek to know and understand the Word of God.

That is just ridiculous. It is just as ridiculous as statements like this:

"We believe that the King James Version is the perfect, impeccable, inspired, and preserved Word of God. We believe that inspiration took place when God spoke through holy men of old and that God has preserved His Word to this present moment. The Textus Receptus manuscript from which the King James is translated is the only completely reliable manuscript in existence. Midwestern Baptist College has no other text or version and would not tolerate the use of any other."

What if I don’t read English? Then what? What if I am going to preach the gospel in another country where English is not the primary language? Then what? Do I teach these people that the Greek is the standard, or do I teach that the English the standard? What happens when there is a difference between the word rendering in the non-English Bible of missionary’s people group and the way a word was rendered in the KJV Bible? Do I teach them that we must look at the Greek; or is the KJV perfect?

Certainly, what works much better is to teach that all translations are the Word of God in so much as they accurately represent the Hebrew and Greek words in the text. This means that all Bibles are not the Word of God. Only those Bibles that diligently preserve the meaning of the original language are the Word of God. Paraphrases and gender neutral translations may contain the Word of God; but they are not the Word of God because their first objective is not to translate the text.

Conclusion

When a translation committee has the same objective that William Tyndale had, we can be assured that God will use it to continue to preserve his Word. Over 2000 years ago, God did it first with the translation committee who gave the Apostles the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Through the Holy Spirit, God continues to do the same year after year, for which we can all be thankful.

He is Not Silent--Book Review

2011-10-23T07:15:00.004-04:00

He is NOT Silent: Preaching in a PostModern World by R. Albert Mohler Jr. is an exceptionally good read on the state of preaching and what is needed for today. The length is reasonable and can be read in about a week. Each chapter has a specific focus that the preacher will find to be challenging and encouraging. The text is packed full of scripture, fully quoted and left in its context. Mohler’s chapter on the preacher as a theologian is unusually helpful. He is spot on as he emphasizes the need for sound doctrine in postmodernity. Finally, the epilogue on the Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon is superb!

Any man who aspires to the office of pastor must read this book.

The Bible And the Modern Age

2011-10-22T07:58:00.004-04:00

This sermon is the follow up to the YouTube video clip you may have watched earlier on the blog between Pierce Morgan and Joel Osteen titled Kicking and Screaming into the Modern Age.

By clicking on the red pdf icon you can read the sermon transcript as well.

He Is... Signed

2011-10-19T22:15:00.001-04:00

Eating at Anchorage

2011-10-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

I wonder if all the groups at Anchorage eat as well as we eat? I doubt. But how could we not have Breyers!

2011 Men's Retreat Group Photo

2011-10-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

Sam and the Word of God!

2011-10-15T11:45:00.001-04:00

This is a great picture from the Men's Retreat and really shows why we have a men's retreat each year.

One-Hundred and Eighty Degrees Turn-About

2011-10-13T12:04:00.002-04:00

Kicking and Screaming Into the Modern World

2011-10-06T08:36:00.001-04:00

The importance of a solid stand on the authority and inerrancy of the Word of God is seen in the wish-washy performance and response of the Osteen couple.

Piers Morgan, the interviewer, recognizes the problem of Osteen's position and presses him hard but Osteen wants to have one foot in the Kingdom of God and one foot in the Kingdom of Public Approval. While we are in the world we are not of the world. No man can serve two masters. Joel is trying but you can see it is not working well in this interview. Moreover, it will be disastrous at the judgment seat of Christ.

Please pay close attention to Piers expectation that the Scripture be dragged into the modern world.

Courageous by Sherwood Pictures

2011-10-01T21:47:00.002-04:00

Don’t believe a single review that doesn’t praise Courageous as an excellent movie. Sherwood Pictures has out done itself. Writer Stephen Kendrick and writer-director-actor Alex Kendrick have together done a great job of providing two hours of good challenging entertainment that doesn’t seem like a waste of time. Instead, I left the theater moved, inspired, challenged and thankful I spent the money to watch this movie. I immediately sent a tweet expressing my complete appreciation for the movie. After spending a few minutes reading reviews of the movie, on my iPad, I was once again reminded that Christian fundamentalists are in the extreme minority in America. These movie critics can’t appreciate a movie with a Christian agenda behind it. They don’t mind a pagan or heathen agenda, but an agenda where Jesus is Lord is just unacceptable; therefore, it must be ripped apart.

Every Christian that can afford the cost of a movie ticket should send a strong message to Hollywood with our wallets. We want movies that reflect Christian values and Courageous is just such a movie. Kendrick’s target audience is not the unconverted pagan; so if such a person fails to attend this movie—that is their problem. He or she will still be accountable for their sin. For those who are unregenerate but venture into the theater anyway, they will not be able to say—I didn’t know there were people who believe that sin separates from man from a Holy God. Nor will they be able to say, “I didn’t know there were people who believed that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, died for the sins of man.” You can’t miss the gospel in this movie, yet it’s a great movie that deals with life in a rough way. All can relate to the struggles of parenting, financial battles,ethical dilemmas at work, etc.

I wish I could order every male in my church to watch the movie, but I can’t. So I will resort to encouraging all in the strongest way: Go watch Courageous! Support the local theater who dares to run such a proselytizing movie.

Sherwood Keep Up the Great Work!

Grace Card: A Must See Movie

2011-09-23T21:01:00.003-04:00

This is an excellent movie. It is not perfect and the actors will not win carnal awards for acting, but it is an superb movie. I would fast forward through the previews but once the movie gets going it getting better and better. It does suffer from a bit of predictability but that's true for most movies. It is available on Redbox.

Kevin Bauder’s Eight Characteristics of Hyper-Fundamentalism

2011-09-22T12:34:00.000-04:00

I thought this was really good. I have not read the book but may like to based on this short review. I commend this to you.

Kevin Bauder’s Eight Characteristics of Hyper-Fundamentalism

Social Security Must Be Fixed

2011-09-17T17:34:00.005-04:00

This is an excellent read about the problem with Social Security and what needs to be done to fix it.

Most people are not so misinformed that they don't recognize the necessity of providing a solution.

Moreover the only reason a Christian should be retiring from the "work force" is to do more for the Lord.

Charles Krauthammer Writes:

The Great Social Security Debate boils down to four major points:

* Proposition 1: Of course it's a Ponzi scheme.

In a Ponzi scheme, the people who invest early get their money out with dividends. But these dividends don't come from any profitable or productive activity -- they consist entirely of money paid in by later participants.

This cannot go on forever because at some point there just aren't enough new investors to support the earlier entrants. Word gets around that there are no profits, just money transferred from new to old. The merry-go-round stops, the scheme collapses and the remaining investors lose everything.

Now, Social Security is a pay-as-you-go program. A current beneficiary isn't receiving the money she paid in years ago. That money is gone. It went to her parents' Social Security check. The money in her check is coming from her son's FICA tax today -- i.e., her "investment" was paid out years ago to earlier entrants in the system and her current benefits are coming from the "investment" of the new entrants into the system. Pay-as-you-go is the definition of a Ponzi scheme.

So what's the difference? Ponzi schemes are illegal, suggested one of my colleagues on "Inside Washington."

But this is perfectly irrelevant. Imagine that Charles Ponzi had lived not in Boston but in the lesser parts of Papua New Guinea where the securities and fraud laws were, shall we say, less developed. He runs his same scheme among the locals -- give me ("invest") one goat today, I'll give ("return") you two after six full moons -- but escapes any legal sanction. Is his legal enterprise any less a Ponzi scheme? Of course not.

So what is the difference?

* Proposition 2: The crucial distinction between a Ponzi scheme and Social Security is that Social Security is mandatory.

That's why Ponzi schemes always collapse and Social Security has not. When it's mandatory, you've ensured an endless supply of new participants. Indeed, if Charles Ponzi had had the benefit of the law forcing people into his scheme, he'd still be going strong -- and a perfect candidate for commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

But there's a catch. Compulsion allows sustainability; it does not guarantee it. Hence ...

* Proposition 3: Even a mandatory Ponzi scheme like Social Security can fail if it cannot rustle up enough new entrants.

You can force young people into Social Security, but if there just aren't enough young people in existence to support current beneficiaries, the system will collapse anyway.

When Social Security began making monthly distributions in 1940, there were 160 workers for every senior receiving benefits. In 1950, there were 16.5; today, three; in 20 years, there will be but two.

Now, the average senior receives in Social Security about a third of what the average worker makes. Applying that ratio retroactively, this means that in 1940, the average worker had to pay only 0.2 percent of his salary to sustain the older folks of his time; in 1950, 2 percent; today, 11 percent; in 20 years, 17 percent.

This is a staggering sum, considering that it is apart from all the other taxes he pays to sustain other functions of government, such as Medicare, whose costs are exploding.

The Treasury already steps in and borrows the money required to cover the gap between what workers pay into Social Security and what seniors take out. When young people were plentiful, Social Security produced a surplus. Starting now and for decades to come, it will add to the deficit, increasingly so as the population ages.

Demography is destiny. Which leads directly to

* Proposition 4: This is one Ponzi scheme that can be saved by adapting to the new demographics.

Three easy steps: Change the cost-of-living measure, means test for richer recipients and, most important, raise the retirement age. The current retirement age is an absurd anachronism. Bismarck arbitrarily chose 70 when he created social insurance in 1889. Clever guy: Life expectancy at the time was under 50.

When Franklin Roosevelt created Social Security, choosing 65 as the eligibility age, life expectancy was 62. Today it is almost 80. FDR wanted to prevent the aged few from suffering destitution in their last remaining years. Social Security was not meant to provide two decades of greens fees for baby boomers.

Of course it's a Ponzi scheme. So what?

It's also the most vital, humane and fixable of all social programs. The question for the candidates is: Forget Ponzi -- are you going to fix Social Security?

Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist, writes a weekly political column for The Washington Post. Email to letters@charleskrauthammer.com.

It is Swinish and Sinful to NOT...WORK!

2011-09-16T18:17:00.001-04:00

After winning key right, gays press for more from military - Washington Times

2011-09-08T21:08:00.000-04:00

With the official end of the U.S. military’s ban two weeks away, gay-rights activists are pressing the Pentagon for more than just the right to serve openly.

An underground group of gay personnel says it has won permission from at least two military branches to let it distribute its magazine, Outserve, on bases.

In addition, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which led a long fight in Washington to repeal the ban, has written to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta urging him to extend military housing and other benefits to the same-sex spouses of personnel.

Read the entire article here.

After winning key right, gays press for more from military - Washington Times

Wounded Warriors & President Bush (July 4th, 2011)

2011-08-27T09:09:00.000-04:00

Watch this video and be inspired.

A Discussion of Luke 24:44

2011-08-19T05:18:00.006-04:00

Yesterday Bill, David, Joe and I sat down to discuss the significance of Luke 24:44. This is one of my favorite verses in the NT. Join the discussion by leaving a comment.

Understanding the Depth of Luke 24:44 as it Relates to Christ in the Old Testament

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

The significance of Luke 24:44 cannot be overstated. In this statement, Jesus is either a liar or He is the central figure of the majority of the prophecies found in the Old Testament.

The inclusion of the word “fulfilled” lets us know that Luke is referencing prophecy. Prophecies are fulfilled through Jesus. Notice the words “must be.” These words are foundational. He did not say “may be.” He said “must be.” The Sovereign God of the Universe is assuring that all that was prophesied of the coming Messiah either has been or will be fulfilled.

Notice that at a minimum Jesus is making reference to 5 plus 17 plus 1 or 23 OT books. Of course, if Psalms is more than just the book of Psalms then Jesus could be referring to the number of songs Israel sang about the coming Messiah. Therefore, books like Song of Solomon, as well as songs found in the historical books, could also be included in making the scope of His statement even more significant.

Think about the promises that are found in the law concerning Jesus. We can start with the promise found in Genesis 3:15 and move forward. In Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18, specific references are made to God sending a Prophet. Stephen understood this promise to be Jesus.

Referring to Jesus, He said, “This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.”

Seventeen prophetical books, five major and twelve minor, all contain prophecies about Jesus. Certainly, one of the most importance chapters of prophecy concerning Christ is found in Isaiah 53 where Jesus, the suffering servant, atones for the sins of the world.

A famous example of a minor prophet’s reference to Jesus would be Micah’s reference to the birthplace of Jesus.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Micah 5:2 is incredible in its depth. A ruler from the tribe of Judah, from everlasting, as in preexisting, will be born in Bethlehem. Of course, this is Jesus.

Stephen, Peter, Paul, and others all expected the Jews to recognize that they had made a colossal mistake in crucifying the Messiah. Yet, they also understood this was God’s predetermined will.

Of course, there are so many more prophecies found in the seventeen prophetical books—hundreds upon hundreds, and I would be remiss if I did not mention Isaiah 7:14 as one of the most crucial.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

In addition, Malachi 3:1 predicts that God would send a forerunner before Jesus who we now know to be John the Baptist.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Finally, the Psalms are filled with references to Christ. Think about Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

But, perhaps the most significant of all is Psalm 110.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Again, Stephen (in Acts 7) and the author of Hebrews (throughout the letter), both provide commentary on this passage for us. Both make it clear that Jesus of Nazareth is the man (God-man) who is being referenced in this prophecy of a priest after the order of Melchizedek who sits on the right hand of the Lord, as both a priest interceding and a king awaiting his kingdom.

It is critical that the student of the Old Testament recognize that the Old Testament was written with Christ in mind from the beginning to the end.

An Interview with Lecrae and Trip Lee

2011-08-13T07:28:00.000-04:00

This interview is about 45 minutes long, but the point of the interview that I want to bring to your attention is in the beginning of the interview. Notice the manner in which two men nearly 10 years apart, in different parts of America, both experienced the same "pray this prayer for conversion experience." Listen to them in their own words. For it is a compelling reason to get the gospel right with students! Listen for words like "robust theology" and you will realize even children are desiring depth in their walk with the Lord. Sunday school teachers, youth workers, AWANA leaders, Pastor David, Pastor Bill, Pastor Steve, Nate, let's give it to them.

I found this interview exceptionally encouraging as it reveals the scope of God's work of redemption in America.

An Interview with Lecrae and Trip Lee

Sharing the Gospel with Children

2011-08-12T06:59:00.005-04:00

Wednesday night I think we had an exceptionally profitable seminar in preparing for the new AWANA year. The training was well attended but for those who were unable to be present we recorded the audio and videotaped the seminar. The camera icon below lets you watch the video and the red icon lets you download the transcript as a pdf. Additionally, from sermon audio (www.sermonaudio.com/bereanbaptistch) you can also send it to your Kindle.

This seminar puts clear focus on teaching children to trust in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ and the Promise of the eternal life to all who will repent and believe in the gospel. I hope you will listen or watch.

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

2011-08-08T18:05:00.000-04:00

Watch this.

WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - The Founding Fathers on Jesus, Christianity and the Bible

2011-08-08T06:56:00.000-04:00

WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - The Founding Fathers on Jesus, Christianity and the Bible

Anyone who has been convinced that all of the America's founding fathers were deists who denied the Lordship of Jesus Christ as Freemasons--should read this article. As Freemasons they were wrong but that doesn't mean they were not influenced by the Bible.

No one knows whether these men were born again or not. That is not the issue in this argument the primary issue is: Was the Bible an influence in the lives of the founding fathers? Did Christian values and morals influence the governing documents of America?

It appears to me the answer is yes. This is not a biblical debate. It is simply an observation about the foundation of America. What do you of this article?

What about a 90 minute Worship Service

2011-08-06T13:22:00.000-04:00

Recently a visitor to Berean let me know that they would not attend a church that had a 90 minute worship service. Wow! Consider what a statement like that is saying. “God, I don’t have 90 minutes for you.” Think about everything the typical America is willing to do for over 90 minutes. They will attend a sporting event that could easily last 90+ minutes. Americans will attend a movie what will also easily exceed 90 minutes—but the preaching of the Word, worship, fellowship, Bible study, announcements, baby dedications, a call to repent, and a baptism are not worth 90 minutes of my time once a week.

It is no wonder that America is in its current state, and the fundamental/evangelical church is in its current state in the USA. “I will not go to a church that has a service that lasts 90 minutes” is indicative of a failure to disciple people into a full level of commitment or a lack of genuine conversion.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ by the Apostle John, Jesus expresses his disdain for “lukewarm” Christians.

Jesus says that because they are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, he will spew (vomit) them out of his mouth (Rev 3:16). What a graphic picture of disdain! Spitting something out of one’s mouth is what a person may do when they just can’t suffer the taste of something. Neither of the polar extremes of lukewarm are acceptable. Hot water when I am cold is wonderful and ice cold water when I am hot is so refreshing. So, both are excellent, but what about lukewarm water? It is not quite as warming or refreshing.

Unfortunately, I am afraid lukewarm is where many so-called Christians are living.

Lukewarm Christians want “sermonettes” delivered on perceived needs, not to exceed 30 minutes in length. Hard exegesis of the whole counsel of the Word of God are avoided at all cost. Lengthy sermons that explore the holistic message of the text beginning with the author’s original intent may simply take too long.

All this creates a world in which the majority still claims to be Christians, but an alien visiting America for the first time would conclude that America is not a Christian nation. Instead, it is apparently that the citizenship is worshipping at the altar of “what is best for me” without regard for anyone else. This polarization is contrary to the Word of God, but so-called Christians more concerned with political correctness and Sunday afternoon lunches and naps rather than a worship service that pleases the Lord and challenges the soul don’t care about anyone but themselves.

This manifests itself in a visible sense in those who arrive late and leave early. But, even those who arrive early and stay after can be present for the wrong motives. Treasuring Christ above all else must be the driving force for participation in corporate worship services and the preaching of the Word of God.

“90 minutes is too much” is reflective of a heart that needs to be challenged to recognize the work of the Lord in a worship service. Certainly there are exceptions for those who have back injuries and such who need to get up and stretch or those who are sick, but the general statement taken at face value does not reflect a heart that desires to experience God’s best each week in the assembly of the people of God.

Finally, there is nothing special about 90 minutes; God can work in 60 (or 76, for that matter) minutes as well as 90 minutes. That isn’t the point. The point is that 90 minutes isn’t a long time when we’re watching a great movie or a good high school basketball game when our child is playing. In the same way, when God is working in the church, 90 minutes flies by, but that’s only when Christ is treasured in the way basketball is treasured by a true “Tar Heel.”

Trust in the Tension You Can't Understand

2011-07-21T10:08:00.001-04:00

In Proverbs 21, the opening verse and the closing verse of the chapter both point to the same truth that isn’t readily acknowledged by many Christians, which is the fact that God is clearly in charge. God is in charge of the affairs of man. He is not distant and removed from day to day life on the earth. On the contrary, he directs the king’s heart. Look at verse 1:

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

God turns the king’s heart. “Heart” in this verse is the mind. It is the place where decisions are made, and God turns the king’s heart as He sees fit. Then, the closing verse reminds me of the same truth.

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

In this verse, “the horse is made ready” refers to all that man does to ensure the outcome that he desires on a particular task, event, contest, battle, etc. Preparation is made to win the war. Training occurs to be victorious. Every effort is made to be prepared for the storm. Structures are built to withstand winds and weather. Safety and shelter are sought when weather alerts warn of danger. However, in the end “victory belongs the Lord.” In the end, safety belongs to the Lord.

Seatbelts are worn. Airbags are installed. Speed limits are followed. But in the end, safety belongs to the Lord.

This amazing tension between man’s responsibility to do right, to choose wisely, to prepare appropriately, to seek the Lord, to pray without ceasing and God’s sovereignty is seen throughout the Bible.

In fact, the more you study the Bible the more you see it. Look at Luke 22:22:

For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

In this verse, Scripture makes it clear that God determined before the foundation of the world the way that Jesus, the Son of Man, would go.

Yet, there is no immunity for the men who were involved in crucifying an innocent man. God will not turn a blind eye to their sin. Judas contributes to the predetermined crucifixion of the Son of God, yet he does not get a pass for betraying the Lord.

God’s sovereignty does not absolve man of his responsibility to do right, even when God uses the wicked actions of men for a good purpose.

Therefore, the more you study the Bible the more you will see this fundamental truth woven into the narrative of the history of mankind. With your heart focused upon this truth, search for it for yourself in Scripture, and you will begin to see it come to life.

Pastors: Homosexuality not a sin (OneNewsNow.com)

2011-07-19T10:06:00.000-04:00

Pastors: Homosexuality not a sin (OneNewsNow.com)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

2011-07-01T07:12:00.003-04:00

Parents do you know what is in the movie you are letting your teenagers attend at the theater?

I have not seen this movie so I rely on websites like Pluggedin.com to give me a perspective I might not have. After hearing that the moview was clean I thought let me double check. Here is a portion of the review from pluggedin.com.

SEXUAL CONTENT:

An early scene features lingering, exceedingly close-up shots of Carly's backside as she's clad in skimpy bikini underwear and one of Sam's shirts. We watch as she climbs on top of him and straddles him in bed. Though we never see the pair in bed together after that, a sexual relationship is clearly implied between the couple. And even though they're apparently living together, both agree that they're not yet ready to say "I love you."

Carly's physique, including her long legs and cleavage-baring outfits, get regular attention throughout the film, though never quite as obviously as in the scene described above. Dylan has eyes for her, and he compares her curvaceous figure to the sensual curves of a vintage automobile in his collection. Someone makes a joke about wanting to frisk Carly, and a scene with her involving licorice is played suggestively.

Sam's mother offers him an explicitly titled book about female orgasm and says he won't be able to land another beautiful girlfriend unless he's well endowed and knows how to pleasure a woman. A male colleague corners Sam in a restroom to give him secret information, but a scuffle breaks out between them instead. Their melee (played for laughs), ends up with the man straddling Sam with his pants down in a men's room stall—something that looks like a violent homosexual tryst to Sam's boss, who happens to walk in as they stumble out. (His boss later mentions the encounter again, stressing that he doesn't care about what his employees do with others in a bathroom stall.)

Women frequently wear revealing tops, while skirts and dresses display a lot of leg. An office worker dubs a colleague a "hoochie mama" because she wears a very skimpy outfit. Sam and Carly kiss twice, as do one other couple. One character fondly recalls a secret tryst with a woman and makes a suggestive comment about her backside.

Read the entire review at:

http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/transformersdarkofthemoon.aspx.

Letter to the Editor of the Fayetteville Observer

2011-06-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

This letter was printed on June 29, 2011 in the Fayetteville Observer in response to the SBC decision to elect a black pastor to the No. 2 position in the convention.

After 165 of history, the Southern Baptist Convention is long past due in its decision to elect a black pastor to its No. 2 leadership position. The No. 1 post should be next. Every Baptist (and Christian), both those in and out of the convention, should rejoice in this step towards full racial integration. It is truly unfortunate that the Body of Christ is so divided over denominational lines. The Biblical truth is that it was never God’s intention that the body of Christ be fragmented in such a way as it is today.

The church was not designed to be segregated into “black churches” and “white churches.” While different languages can sometimes force separate times and places of worship and Bible study, skin color should never be a source of division. Racism is unquestionably a sin, and the goal of every local church should be to reflect the cultural diversity of its city as symbolic of the unity bought by the gospel of Christ.

How is it that the gospel that unifies sinful man with a loving God is preached in largely segregated churches? The same gospel that reconciles man to God and the same gospel that integrated Jews and Gentiles in first century churches after the resurrection of Jesus should undoubtedly unify whites, blacks, and believers of all colors in the church today.

Pastor Sean Harris

Saved by Fire or No Hope of Repentance

2011-06-29T06:32:00.004-04:00

This sermon deals with the controversal interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-8. It attempts to examine each of the four of the major interpretatives perspectives, including David Allen's position, and explains why some work better than others and what seems best in light of the Words of our Lord in Matthew 7 and 13.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

Baptists Must Extend to Others Liberty in the Non-Essentials of the Faith and Grey Areas of Life

2011-06-04T14:40:00.002-04:00

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Is what Paul writes about in the above verse true in your church? Do members of the church have the right and privilege to disagree on matters of the conscious without consequence?

1 Corinthians 10:29
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?

I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience?

For about 375 years Baptists in America have affirmed “soul liberty” as a distinctive of being a Baptist—because of numerous references to such liberty in the Bible. In response to the Church of England’s overbearing control of every aspect of doctrine and the full or partial denial of the individual priesthood of the believer, Baptists and other Bible churches have continually affirmed the right of the individual believer to be a priest unto himself before God. This distinctive goes hand in hand with the view that each soul has the liberty to disagree regarding non-essential matters and remain a member of the church in good standing.

This means that I can disagree with my friend Pastor Andy Webb on infant baptism and remain co-laborers and friends in Christ. We can agree to disagree. Baptists and Presbyterians have been doing this for hundreds of years. Moreover this applies to fellow Baptists. I can disagree with a freewill Baptist about man’s ability to lose his salvation. I will not criticize him; I will not accuse him of being an unbeliever, liberal, or bash any other area where the Scripture is not as black and white as I would like it. Perhaps if parts of Hebrews (and a few other passages) were more black and white, then I could describe what a freewill Baptist was saying as heretical. However, the fact is orthodox believers have disagreed on this matter. Therefore, according to 2 Corinthians 3:17, I am to extend to them liberty more specifically “soul liberty” for where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

I can extend soul liberty to preferences regarding music style, skirts or pants for women, mixed co-ed bathing [swimming], inter-racial marriages, Bible translations, infant baptism and many other non-fundamental issues, debates, discussions and differences.

I can respect the fact that two born again, Christ loving, gospel centered Christians, can come to two different conclusions on a particular issue. Both are not right but this side of eternity we will not know who was right and who was wrong or if the issue was one where God permits more liberty.

So what bothers me is when the people who make the most fuss about being a Baptist are the same ones who are the least committed to extending to other Christians the liberty in which Baptist churches were founded upon centuries ago. For example, the church has always had general Baptists and particular Baptists. General Baptists believe in a general atonement (Christ died for the world) and particular Baptists believe in limited atonement (Christ died for elect). These Baptists do not share the same conviction and understanding about the atonement, yet they should extend to each other the soul liberty to be different without branding the other as a heretic. Paul said it like this:

Romans 8:21
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Are you in a Baptist church that doesn’t extend “the glorious liberty of the children of God” to others? Is there one way or the highway on non-essential issues? Does the pastor passively shun those who do not agree with his take on the non-essentials? Is there a pugnacious, self-righteous air of superiority the ones who know all? Are some made to feel like second class citizens for not wearing skirts/dresses 24/7? When someone shows up in the assembly of believers without the right Bible (translation) are they looked down upon? Would there be an awkward silence in the air if the “wrong” translation was read aloud? Would someone feel they had a responsibility before God to set this person straight?

In Baptist and Bible churches, these things should never happen because the very distinctive things that set Baptists apart is their commitment to the priesthood of the believers, the autonomy of the local church, congregational government, and soul liberty.

Paul told the church at Galatia not to allow others to put them in bondage again.

Galatians 2:4
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

Because Paul makes specific reference to “false brethren” do not think that is ok for genuine brothers in Christ to do what Paul said the false brethren were not to be allowed to do. Do not think this is my pastor—surely it is “ok” for him to bring me into bondage. Bondage is bondage.

Christ said he came to “set at liberty those who are bruised [oppressed]” (Luke 4:18). There are far too many Baptists preachers oppressing their people with secondary rules where the spirit of liberty is supposed to be ruling.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not add this final admonishment from Paul. He said,

1 Corinthians 8:9
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

Nothing about the liberty or freedom I have in Christ should ever be used in a way that could cause a weaker brother in Christ to stumble. What a balance! This is a balance that I must rely upon the Holy Spirit to help me find each and every day God calls me to serve him.

Communion with God

2011-05-31T07:40:00.000-04:00

Having just read an article on “Reading the Bible in Prayer and Communion with God” by John Piper in the ESV Study Bible in the Articles and Resources Section (p. 2570-2), I thought I would try and share a few thoughts with you.

1. I don’t ever want to get over the fact that the Sovereign God of the Universe desires to hear from me in prayer. What an amazing thought! The One who created an untold number of galaxies upon galaxies and calls the stars by name (Is 40:26) is ready to hear from me—little old me—one of billions on the planet.

2. Then when I consider the number of times that I place something else about communion with God it is amazing that He still wants to hear from me. In my mind, I can almost hear the “O now…now you want to spend time with me.” “Is there a tornado coming? Is that why you are praying?” I know I have been guilty of that and I want to confess it as sin. Communion with God needs to a top priority in my life.

3. Praying should be a joy in my life not a drudgery! Praying is not something I have to do; it is something I get to do! I get to spend time with the Lord and it is for my joy. If God is my joy then communing with God will result in my joy.

4. May I never forget that I was created to commune with God to His Glory! The Lord says, “even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Is 43:7). Piper reminds me that glorifying God is not something I go do after I have prayed for the day; instead, I bring glory to God in communion with Him.

5. Then I (a sinner!) am reminded that it is the gospel that makes communion with God possible. The gospel not only promises me eternal life, but the same good news makes prayer a joy. Without the gospel the wrath of God abides on me and I cannot imagine communing in prayer with a God who is pouring wrath in my direction. When God gave Adam and Eve coverings of skin and blood was shed because of their sin he was reminding them that communion would still be possible even after they had disobeyed him. But animals died and blood was shed! And the eventual death of Christ was portrayed.

6. Finally, communion involves two way communications and Piper reminds me that the Bible is the revelation of God. Sixty-six canonical books inspired by God to ensure I have an infallible and authoritative revelation of the eternal Triune God. But this is work—I must think as I am reading. True communion with anyone requires work so I should not be surprised when the same holds true with God. I must respond to God communicate to me. What is he saying to me? How does His Word speak to me? What should I be getting out of this text?

The Christian cannot separate prayer from Bible reading. The two go hand in hand. I need to synchronize the two. I need to pray and read and read and pray. Therein lies true communion with God.

Does God Obligate Himself to Do Things Based on the Incantation of Prayers?

2011-05-29T16:58:00.003-04:00

This morning I hope to talk about three things in a way that relate one to another and should serve to reinforce an important point. First, by now most Christians have heard of the Prayer of Jabez book from 1 Chronicles 4:10. From one verse, ripped out of context, an entire book was developed and marketed to millions. Without regard to the motive of the author of the book, one thing is clear—the book is a sham. It suggests that the articulation of Jabez’s prayer in faith obligates God to perform for the one praying the same thing that He did for Jabez. Most Baptists understand that God doesn’t operate that way. There aren’t words that can be articulated which obligate God to do anything. Even the words “Have mercy upon me!” may not automatically result in mercy. In the end, God will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy (Romans 9:15).

Second, John Eckhardt, a self-proclaimed Apostle, markets a book that suggests that certain prayers rout demons and break curses. Obviously only he knows what prayers work and do not work. Therefore, you need to buy his book—the Bible is not be sufficient. So like Bruce Wilkinson, the author of the Prayer of Jabez, Eckhardt has the inside scoop and you need to buy his book. Again most Baptists (including other Fundamentalists and conservative Evangelicals) seem to understand that it is ridiculous to suggest that a particular prayer is necessary to gain victory over our Enemy or automatically gain victory over Satan and his cronies. It is seems as though nearly all Baptists understand that it is faith in the power of God that overcomes the devil and the flesh.

However, I find it quite ironical, sad, and disconcerting that these same Baptists sometimes teach by word and/or practice that a certain prayer is necessary for salvation or this prayer guarantees salvation. How can this be? How can Baptists refute the idea that the mere articulation of Jabez’s prayer will not obligate God to bless and how can they rebut the idea that saying the words in Eckhardt’s book will not obligate God to remove a demon from a person, but these same Baptists teach a child that the articulation of a prayer of salvation guarantees eternal life. How can these three things be reconciled? Where is this model prayer of salvation in the Bible? Where is the scriptural proof?

Is it Romans 10.13? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Is that the same thing as say this prayer?

Is that what the Bible teaches? Is that how we tell somehow to be saved? Do we lead them in prayer? Can we not see that the mere articulation of words does not obligate God to bless financially or exorcise a demon or save a soul from hell?

Is it not repentance toward God and faith in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves the soul from hell (Acts 20:21)?

How can we say, “yes, I agree with you” and then violate our very words as we lead a six year old in a prayer—are they supposed to understand the difference?

Read about what does it means to call upon the name of the Lord here:

Can’t we stop practicing that which we know is not a guarantee of anything? In the end we can only tell someone what the Bible says and challenge them to repent and believe the gospel. We can do know more to seal the deal or close the net or invoke decision—only the Spirit of God can do that.

Disingenuous or Ignorant: The 1611 KJB Brothers in Christ

2011-05-27T21:48:00.002-04:00

The next time you are in a Walmart pick up a 1611 KJV Bible in the book section of the store. Walmart and many other stores are selling replicas of the original Authorized Version in celebration of its 400th Anniversary Year. These Bibles are digital reproductions of the actual pages from the first King James Bible. And one thing you will quickly see is the font is much different and very hard to read. The next thing you will notice is it is hard to read because of how many words have changed in the way they are spelled. Sonne is son and many, many others. At first, you will be tempted to go to a passage you are very familiar with, but let me encourage you not to do that. Go to a book and chapter you are completely unfamiliar with and then try and read the text. You will quickly see how very much has changed from the first printing to the current version you have at home. Numerous changes have been made to the spelling, punctuation and words. In fact the original 1611 had a preface from the translators and marginal notes. It also had 14 additional apocrypha books included between Malachi and Matthew. In the marginal notes you can see alternate renderings of the text from the translators. You will also be able to read the translators note to the reader challenging others to carry on the work they started in giving the people of God scripture in the common tongue.

I bring all this to your attention because some Baptists are not being honest when they say they use the 1611 KJB. They may be using a Bible historically tied to 1611, but they are not preaching from the 1611 KJB. Yet somehow this is the image they wish to portray. Somehow it appears to be more traditional, conservative or authoritative to suggest that the Bible they are using is 400 years old. Often the very ones who are hypercritical of other modern translations do not know their own favorite version has been updated as well. Perhaps the update is not as great but the fact is it has been updated. It is not the same Bible printed in 1611.

This is not a bad thing; this is a good thing. Sometimes I wish a new printer/publisher would take up an endeavor to standardize even more things in the King James. I think it is confusing to have Mark and Marcus in the New Testament when it is the exact same Greek work. I wish references to Elijah, Isaiah and others would be clearly presented by keeping the spelling consistent and synchronized with the OT. I do not think it is helpful to have three different spellings of Judah, Judas and Juda when it all refers to the same proper noun. I do not think it is helpful to refuse to update the English as it changes. Somehow it was previously ok to makes updates for the first 150 years of the King James history and publishing but now it is no longer acceptable to make spelling, punctuation, and marginal note changes. It was fine to do that for the first 150 to 200 years but it is no longer acceptable. Why? It just does not make sense to say corrections could be made but now no longer can be made. Why?

Did someone finally get it perfect? If so who? Cambridge? Oxford? Nelson? Who did it and in what year?

Read this article for an even more detailed discussion of the differences.

http://bible.org/article/changes-kjv-1611an-illustration

Do not be ignorant.

Berean Cross Fire Youth Group

2011-05-20T16:43:00.001-04:00

Enjoy!

God Doesn't Need Me to Do Anything to be Saved: Believing is Enough

2011-05-17T15:50:00.000-04:00

A fellow sent me a link to look at a fundamental Baptist website. And one of the first pages I reviewed was “How to Get to Heaven.” What I found was the author believes there are things that I need to do in order to be saved. That always interests me when I hear what someone needs to do because people are not saved by works (Titus 3:5).

From the website, I learned “first, God needs you to confess.” Is that right? Is God in need for me to do something in order to be saved? From the website, I learned that I need to “call.” This is what is presented on the website.

“What does it mean to call to God? You call to God in prayer. This is not an audible prayer that man needs to hear, it is a prayer of the heart that God needs to hear. Call simply means to ask (believing His Word by faith, believing He is true to His Word, then acting on that belief). We ask God by praying to Him, believing His Word is true and that He will do what He says He will do” (http://militarygetsaved.tripod.com/heaven.htm).

Does God need me to do things? Does the Sovereign God of the Universe need anything? Is it true that God needs to hear a prayer from my heart? Is this web author teaching biblical truth?

The short answer no. God can save anyone; He can save anyone he chooses to save. Even before the foundation of the world God chose to save people (Eph 1:4). In love God predestined believers unto salvation before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:5) .

In Acts 17:25, Paul makes it perfectly clear that the Sovereign God of the Universe does not need anything from man. To say that God “needs” something is heresy. God does not need anything that man can provide or is not present in the Tri-unity of God. He does not need my love or worship or anything. He does not need my faith to save me. Instead, He has ordained that by His grace man may be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9).

In Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas answer the most important question in the Bible. Luke, the author of Acts writes:
And brought them [the prison guards] out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

That is the answer. God does not need me to believe—I am the one that needs to believe. What do I need to do? I am the one who needs to believe—not for God—but for myself.
Was there something that needed to be satisfied within God? Yes—God’s wrath needed to be satisfied and Christ is the One who answered that need—for “it is finished” (John 19:30).

There is not anything else that God needs to save people. Christ satisfied the wrath of God. Does God need me to pray something from my heart?

John 2:25 answers the question and the answer is “no.” God knows the heart man. I cannot make my heart communicate something. I can communicate with my mouth, hands, and eyes but not my heart. It is unbiblical to tell someone that they must communicate something to God with their heart or that they need to articulate something in order to be saved.
John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

According to Hebrew 4:12, Jesus Christ the “Word of God [see John 1:1-4, 14] is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Jesus is the discerner of the heart. This is why he knew who believed unto salvation and who didn’t in John 2:23 for “many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did,” but Christ did not commit himself unto them because he knew what was in man.

Christ knows whether one’s faith in authentic or not. My confession does not make it authentic; articulating words does not make it authenticate. Saying something in my heart or with my mouth, heart, or mind doesn’t make it authenticate. I must trust in Christ to be saved.
For more about what does it means to call upon the name of the Lord check out
http://pastorseansblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-does-it-mean-to-call-upon-name-of.html

In the end, to suggest that God needs man to do anything is unbiblical. Does man need to believe unto salvation, yes, but not for God or God’s sake.

The “Already” and “Not Yet” of the Kingdom of God

2011-05-10T10:37:00.000-04:00

After Jesus’ baptism and period of temptation for forty days in the wilderness, Christ begins his public teaching and preaching ministry. Mark writes,

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14,15).

Notice in this text a reference to the words gospel and kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, the good news was communicated by Christ and people were expected to believe this good news by faith. They were expected to turn to God and put their faith in the words of Christ. Christ taught; He communicated for three years—message after message, lesson after lesson all about the kingdom of God.

Yet, today perhaps we have thought too much about the kingdom to come and not considered the present kingdom enough. So when I began to study the NT concerning the “kingdom of God,” I was amazed at what I found. I, too, have been guilty of thinking “kingdom” is futuristic. When I looked at the numerous references to “kingdom” throughout the twenty-seven canonical books of the NT, I realized that the apostles continued the message of the gospel of the kingdom of God. I don’t think they were locked into a thinking of the kingdom as a time when Christ rules in David’s stead for 1,000 years. No. Instead they understood the kingdom of God was the reign of God in the people of God which would culminate into the full and complete reign of Christ on this earth—but the kingdom of God was being established present day.

I need to understand that the kingdom of God has both an “already present” and a “not yet” futuristic aspect to it. As a born again believer, I am in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is in me. The reality is in the present world in which I live, there are multiple kingdoms of men competing with the kingdom of God. The god of the world is the ultimate leader for the kingdoms of men, and all those who are not in the kingdom of God are citizens of the kingdom of this world. The fact is you are either in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan. You may say “No I am not—I am a ________ (any religion)”, but the truth is those false religions are just a fraud to deceive you. In the present world, there are parallel kingdoms existing. They both exist simultaneously on the same planet and God sovereignly reigns in both but permits man to choose what kingdom he will live in for all eternity.

There are nearly 200 references to this idea of “kingdom” in the NT. The kingdom of God is referred to as the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of the Lord, the kingdom of his dear son and more. These are not different aspects of the kingdom of God but simply various ways of referring to the same kingdom where the one true God exists as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The kingdom of God is the reign of God, and this reign occurs first in the hearts of those who are truly converted. This is not to say that those who are converts always obey the king, but they share a similar objective, which is to allow the reign of God to occur in their lives. Their lives are not characterized by disobedience to the kingdom. The kingdom of God then expands into the marriages and families of those who are members of the kingdom. Then the reign of God can be seen in the body of Christ, in those churches, whose head is King Jesus. Finally, the reign of God exists on the planet, for God has not given up His control to intervene and limit the god of this world as He sees fit.

The resurrection of Christ is the greatest evidence that the reign of God exists on the planet. When the God of the universe can come to the kingdom of men and subject himself to all that man experiences living on the earth and can still be victorious over sin, death and ultimately over Satan, you know God still sovereignly reigns. Think about what Nebuchadnezzar had to learn.

And they shall drive thee [King Nebuchadnezzar] from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Daniel 4:32).

Luke 17:21 tells me that the kingdom of God is within me, and John reports that Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world and “now” is not from here (18:36). So I conclude that the kingdom of God already exists in me, and the kingdom of God will be on this planet in the future, for Christ left that door wide open with his remark “now is not from here” which certainly implies the possibility that it is only temporarily not from here.

In Matthew 24:44, Jesus plainly stated that the good news of the kingdom would be preached throughout the world as a witness unto all the nations, and then the end would come. So I should not be surprised when I find the bookends of the book of Acts to be the same message. In Acts 1:3, Luke states that Jesus “showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Notice what Jesus spent forty days instructing the apostles about—“things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

Then when I turn to the end of the book of Acts, I find the same thing. The very last verse of the Acts of the Apostles and Luke concludes with Paul’s ministry. He writes concerning Paul’s ministry that he focused upon “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” That’s it. Luke opens with the “kingdom of God” and Luke closes with the “kingdom of God.” Therefore, my single focus must be upon the reign of God in my life, in my family’s life, in the church’s life and ultimately globally.

Christians are often guilty of thinking that they have a religion just like Muslims have a religion, but that is not how we should think. Instead, we must realize we are the people of God. We are the only people of God, and we are members of the kingdom of God with a mission and message from the King! Everything else is secondary to that. I have brothers and sisters—fellow members of the same kingdom—strategically located throughout the entire globe. They are not my enemies because they are in China. On the contrary, if they are part of the kingdom of God, they are my brothers in Christ—citizens of the same kingdom.

If you can’t see this, you are not born again. Jesus said very plainly and with emphasis designed to get a religious Jew’s attention “truly, truly, I say unto you except a man (or woman) be born again he (or she) can’t see the kingdom of God”. They can’t see it and they can’t enter it. Jesus said:

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24).

Paul understands this in the same way; he repeatedly addresses the kingdom of God. Jesus made it clear that man cannot serve two masters. He will love the one and hate the other. And then as though he was talking to American Christianity, he speaks very directly about loving God or money (Matthew 6:24).

In the same sermon, he tells us (members of the kingdom) to seek the kingdom first. “But seek you first the kingdom of God” is what he says. I am to make seeking the kingdom of God my first priority. I need to want the rule and reign of Christ to expand globally by the conversion of one disciple at a time through the power of the gospel.

YAHWEH’S SILENCE ENDS WITH A PROMISE OF GRACE AND JUSTICE

2011-05-09T21:30:00.000-04:00

Introduction

Prior to Isaiah 65, seventeen verses are presented as a prayer to Yahweh. Beginning with “Look down from heaven and see” (63:15), Isaiah provides a model of how God’s people should be praying during this crisis. He states that although Yahweh is their Father, he is concerned that Abraham does not know them. They have drifted far from the ways of Israel. Isaiah asks, “Why the Lord has made them wander from him and harden our hearts, so that we fear you not?” (63:17). As evidence of their desperation, Isaiah prays that Yahweh would rip the heavens open and come down and give them a true display of his majesty; he wants the mountains to quake in the presence of the Lord (64:1). He rightfully acknowledges that Israel is the clay and he is the potter (64:8). Finally, he closes with two questions that sound more like desperate pleas: first, “will you restrain yourself at things, O Lord?” and second, “Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?” Yahweh responds to these questions beginning in Isaiah 65:1 with the words “I was ready,” (twice) “I said,” “I spread,” and “I will” (seven times). He responds with love and grace to the question of his silence and affliction with a promise of a Seed, comfort to his servants, and horror to the rebellious. The primary purposes of this paper are to provide an exposition of Isaiah 65:1-16, with a focus on the interpretive issues of the passage, identify the theological significance of the passage, and to draw application into the twenty-first century as a message just as relevant to believers and unbelievers as it was to the original recipients.

Paul reinforces the relevancy of passages like Isaiah 65 with his application to epistles like Romans. In chapter 10, Paul explains that his heart aches for Israel and that his greatest desire is to see Jews stop seeking after personal righteousness and pursue God’s righteousness by faith (v. 3). Then after a thorough explanation concerning how one is saved by believing in (v. 9)/ obeying (v. 16) the gospel in faith, Paul proceeds to quote from the Old Testament to prove that this is not a new idea. First, he quotes from Isaiah 53:1 and then he quotes from Psalm 19:4. Third, he quotes from Moses in Deuteronomy 32:21, and then in verses 20 and 21 he quotes from Isaiah 65:1-2. He writes, “Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’ But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’” Paul’s incorporation of Isaiah in his argument reveals its relevancy to the message of the gospel.
Exposition of the Text

God’s Love and Forbearance

In response to the accusation that God was neglecting his covenant people, Isaiah 65:1 answers the two questions presented in the previous chapter. These questions are: “Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? [and] Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?” The initial response to the question reveals Yahweh’s amazing benevolence, mercy, and grace. This is seen in the fact that he permits people, more specifically a nation, to find him who are not seeking to know him (65:1-2a). Speaking for God, Isaiah declares that God has not been silent! He has continually been revealing himself to a nation that was not called by his name (65:1). “Who is this nation” is the first interpretive issue in the text. Concerning the last clause “a nation that was not called by my name,” Carson writes: “The Hebrew [language] as it stands supports Rom. 10:20–21 in referring v 1 to the Gentiles and v 2 to Israel. In the NIV, the Hebrew phrase ‘a nation … not called by my name’, (i.e. the Gentiles) has been adjusted to read a nation that did not call on my name (which could still be Israel). While this reading can claim ancient support, the unaltered Hebrew (as in the AV and RV) points quite clearly to the Gentiles, answering Israel’s disdainful 63:19b, rather than merely echoing 64:7. Obviously then, the issue is not with God. Smith writes, “To this sinful Israelite “nation” (gôy), a derogatory term for foreign nations that is used instead of the covenant term “people” all of which seems to reinforce that Yahweh is not referring to Israel.

View the Entire Paper including the Bibliography pdf

Love doesn't Win as Rob Bell Suggest--God Wins!

2011-05-01T17:39:00.000-04:00

Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church in Michigan is rocking the world of Christians with his incessant questioning of the Word of God most recently in his book Love Wins. He suggests ultimately by Love Winning that no one goes to hell. This sermon deals with that issue for Isaiah 65 by showing that Jesus is not rescuing people from the Father.

VIDEO: http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopupvideo.asp?SID=51111233261

AUDIO: http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=51111233261

The Foolishness of Preaching the Gospel

2011-04-21T08:12:00.001-04:00

This entire sermon can be listened to or read at:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=121610052354629

Our High Priest Who Knew No Sin

2011-04-21T07:59:00.000-04:00

Lack of Posts

2011-04-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

Lord willing, in less than four weeks I will be finished with my M Div from LBTS praise the Lord. I am looking forward to a nice break before I continue with more education. I am looking forward to writing more and reading what I want to read. Radical by David Platt is on my summer reading schedule--what's on yours?

We need to be readers.

ABC 2020 Video

2011-04-12T06:46:00.001-04:00

http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55121488/2020-48-victims-forced-confession

Everyone needs to watch the above video. I think Brian Fuller did an awesome job answering Elizabeth's questions.

Sean

In Memory of Wade Holder a Dear Brother in Christ

2011-03-26T21:47:00.001-04:00

Watch the Funeral Service.

Mr. Wade Hampton Holder Jr., 83, went to be with his God and Savior
the Lord Jesus Christ on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, after battling
pancreatic cancer. Throughout his full life and numerous passions,
Wade was consumed with an intense desire that everyone he encountered
would discover the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Born the 11th of 12 children in the family home in Harnett County on
December 12, 1927, Wade, known then as W.H., was son to Wade Hampton
and Flora Stewart. In 1945, he graduated from Boone Trail High School
and UNC in 1950.

Upon graduation, Wade was drafted into the US Army during the Korean
War. After his discharge, Wade completed his MA in Education and began
a teaching career where he met the love of his life, Ms. Anna Ruth Lee
of Fayetteville another teacher. After courting, Wade married Ruth on
December 28, 1961. Wade faithfully poured his life into the lives of
his students. His students understood 3 things about Mr. Holder—he
loved Jesus, the Bible on his desk, and them. Wade retired from the
Fort Bragg School system after 28 years.

A true Tar Heel fan, Wade loved sports. As a member of the NCAOA, Wade
refereed football, basketball, and baseball and continued being
involved even after retiring as a supervisor. Wade also loved
checkers—it wasn’t just a game for him. He competed in tournaments in
19 states. On tournament Sundays, Wade would lead a morning worship
service where he would faithfully testify of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.

From nearly the beginning of Berean Baptist Church, Wade was a
faithful member and deacon. For 26 years, he taught the Bible at the
Towers West Retirement Home, but Wade was much more than a teacher. He
was their lay pastor. He celebrated birthdays, made hospital visits,
took members to doctor appointments, and preached funerals. He loved
the residents of Towers West and they loved him. Wade also served as a
Gideon for 3 decades and led monthly worship services at the NC
Veteran’s Nursing Home for many years. All who knew Wade knew that he
loved people and will remember him as a man who never had a cross word
to say about anyone. Like his Lord and Savior, Wade always “went about
doing good.” The family sorrows but not like “others which have no
hope” 1 Thessalonians 4:13. Wade’s hope was in His Lord and he would
want you to put your hope in Christ, too.

Wade will be remembered as a godly man, teacher, referee, friend, and
servant. He was a faithful and loving husband, father, brother,
grandfather and great-grandfather. He is survived by his wife of 49
years, Anna Ruth Lee Holder; 2 daughters: Karen Holder Guinn and her
husband David of Zebulon, NC, and Sharon Holder Finley and her husband
Ken of Timberlake, NC; 2 sisters: Myrtle Slaughter of Sanford, NC,
and Ester Howard of Buies Creek, NC; a brother: Thomas Holder of
Raleigh, NC; 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He was
preceded in death by his parents; his son, Wade Hampton Holder, III; 5
sisters: Margaret Porter, Bertha Lucas, Lovedy May Holder, Callie
Cummings, and Oneta Morrison; and 3 brothers: Perry Holder, Lois
Holder, and Layon Buie Holder.

Limited and Unlimited Atonement

2011-03-08T12:56:00.001-05:00

In an effort to explain the how the atonement is both limited and unlimited at the same time, the pastors of Berean have drafted what we believe the Bible teaches.

Atonement: While we acknowledge the truth that there is an “elect of God,” we believe the Bible teaches that Christ—the Lamb of God—died for the sins of the whole world and not just the “elect”(John 1:29, 3:16-18, 14:1; Rom 5:6; 2 Cor 5:15; Col 3:12; 1Tim 1:15, 2:4-5Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2; 4:14; 1 Pet 1:21; 2 Pet 2:1). We believe the atonement becomes effectual for the individual based upon his or her repentant faith in the Person and salvific work of Christ at their moment of conversion (John 3:3; Acts 20:21; Rom 1:17; 10:9-14; Eph 2:8; 1 John 5:1). We reject the teaching that all men will eventually be saved (Universalism) and the doctrine that Jesus’ death and shed blood was only for the elect (pure Five-Point Calvinism). We believe the atonement is limited in the sense that not all will be made right with God because not all will believe in the Savior (John 4:42; 1 Tim 4:10), but we also believe it is unlimited in the sense that the potential exists for anyone who believes in the Truth of the Gospel to be declared righteous and reconciled to God (John 1:7, 14:6; Rom 1:16; Col 1:21). Only God can reconcile the paradox of an atonement that is both limited and unlimited.

A WORD STUDY OF CHECED OR HESED (H2617)

2011-03-06T21:01:00.000-05:00

A thorough study of the Hebrew word hesed in the Old Testament will reveal that it has always been God’s plan to establish a holy nation of people from every tribe, clan, language and culture to be the objects of his hesed. Beginning with a concordance study, followed by an analysis of the contextual use of hesed, I will demonstrate that the idea of redeeming a particular people through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has always been God’s plan in light of His hesed. Finally, I will articulate how the knowledge gained from the study can be applied to ministry, discipleship, and theology.

CONCORDANCE STUDY
According to the Enhanced Strong’s Concordance, the Hebrew word חֶסֶד, transliterated checed or hesed (H2617), is a masculine noun pronounced like this kheh'•sed. The first time hesed is used in the Old Testament is in Genesis 19:19 with the last occurrence being found in Zechariah 7:9. Between these two passages hesed is used 248 times in 241 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the Authorized Version (AV). Of these 248, over half (127) of the occurrences can be found in the book of Psalms. The remaining occurrences are nearly evenly divided between the law, the historical books, and the seventeen prophetical books. In the New American Standard Bible (NASB), hesed is found 253 times in 241 verses with the same first and last occurrence as the AV. Fifty-six percent of the time hesed is translated with the English word “mercy” in the AV; and in the NASB, mercy is used for hesed fifty-nine percent of the time. The words kindness, lovingkindness, and goodness account for the majority of the other instances. Finally, on one occasion NASB translators render hesed “wicked thing” and another time “reproach.”

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Hesed (H2617) is used eleven times in the book of Genesis beginning with God’s saving of Lot’s life. Since this is the first use of the hesed in Genesis, and thus the Bible, thoroughness in examination is important. Based on Abraham’s intercession for as few as ten righteous residents of Sodom, God sent two angels to rescue the righteous in the city (Gen 19) before He destroyed it (along with Gomorrah) for its wickedness (Gen 18:20). Evidently, Lot and his family did not take the need to evacuate very seriously because the angels had to urge Lot and his wife to get up and get out of the city before they were “swept away in the punishment of the city. But he [Lot] lingered. So the men seized him by the hand [because] the Lord [was] being merciful to him” (Gen 19:15-17). Then Lot said, “Behold your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness [hesed] in saving my life” (Gen 19:19). So when Lot so sensed that his life was at stake and he could have died but he instead was rescued, he concluded he had received “great hesed.” In the book of Genesis, hesed nearly always relates to saving or losing one’s life. In Genesis 20:13, Sarah was asked to lie to potentially save Abraham’s life. In Genesis 21:23, Abimelech and Phicol, fearing for their lives, ask Abraham to return the hesed he previously received. Jacob fearing for his life asks for hesed (Gen 32:10), and Joseph wanted hesed to be delivered from prison where he probably thought he would die (Gen 40:14). Finally, Israel asks Joseph, “If he has found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly [hesed] and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt” (Gen 47:29).

From the eleven uses of hesed and most especially Jacob’s plea for hesed, one can gain a better understanding of what this word is all about. Jacob asks for a promise with a hand under his thigh. This is covenant language. Joseph is pledging to fulfill this request for hesed. Jacob is a descendant of Abraham. His father received a promise for land, and Jacob knew Egypt was not that land. Jacob desired to be buried in the land where his people would dwell eternally according to the word of the Lord (Gen 12). Joseph is to ensure that no matter what, his father is not to be buried with the heathen of Egypt. Jacob asks Joseph to “‘Swear to me’; and he swore to him” (Gen 47:31). Although Jacob died in Egypt, he did not remain in Egypt because Joseph swore to his father that he would show him kindness (hesed). Hesed is not kindness like a person waiting in a long line lets someone with one item go in front of them. Hesed is much deeper than that.

Exodus 34:6-7 (and Num 14:18-19) is a powerful quotation of Yahweh’s description of himself which uses hesed twice. Yahweh, Yahweh, a “God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love [hesed] and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love [hesed] for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” Hesed in this passage is translated “goodness” in the KJV, NKJV; “faithful love” in the HCSB; “love” in the NIV and “lovingkindness” in the NASB. Hesed is another word that describes the amazing, enduring love Yahweh has for His people in spite of their rebellion and sin. Hesed does not compromise his integrity or justice; he still punishes sin. However, he is compelled to show mercy, delay punishment, and forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin. Hesed is one of the words that describes what makes Yahweh worthy of worship. He is not like any other God; he is a covenant-keeping God and shows steadfast love [hesed] to his servants (2 Chron 6:14).

In Joshua 2:12 and 14, Rahab the spy communicates to Joshua and Caleb that since she has shown hesed (kindness) to them she expects them to reciprocate hesed (kindness) to her. Then in verse 14, the men commit to reciprocating hesed with her. “Then she let them down by a scarlet cord through the window” and they live, and later she lives because of the hesed they swore one to another (2:20). So again hesed often communicates kindness, but always in the sense of living and dying.

Hesed is found in the book of Psalms 128 times in 127 verses. One cannot understand the depth of the word hesed without examining how it is used by various psalmists. Four different times hesed is described in relation to salvation in Psalms13:5, 69:13, 85:7, and 98:3. Similarly, God’s right hand saves those who put their trust in him as a display of his “lovingkindness” (AV) or “steadfast love” (ESV) (hesed). In Psalm 6:4, a plea for hesed is communicated so that the soul may be delivered. Three times hesed is connected with man’s soul in Ps 31:7, 86:13, and 143:12. Hesed keeps the king secure in his position because he trusts in the Lord (Ps 21:7), and Psalm 31:16 is a plea to be saved in God’s hesed.

There are forty-two specific references to “hesed enduring forever” beginning in 1 Chronicles 16:34 and culminating in Jeremiah 33:10. In Psalm 136, the central message of the entire psalm is the truth that God’s mercy, lovingkindness, or steadfast love (hesed) endures forever. Hesed is mentioned in every one of the twenty-six verses in Psalm 136. God’s steadfast love endures forever because God’s covenant relationship with his people endures forever. Hesed is often associated in the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because that covenant is without end and hesed is a “lovingkindness” that endures forever.

There are ten times hesed can be found in the book of Proverbs in the AV/ESV. In this collection of wise sayings, one can find the most variance in the meaning of hesed. There is a degree of kindness from one human to another (Prov 31:26). There is a variance in Proverbs 19:22 where the ESV states, “What is desired in a man is steadfast love”; whereas, the KJV renders it “kindness.” Then there are specific references to God’s eternal covenant and lovingkindness to his people like Proverbs 3:3. Finally, there is a unique reference where hesed is translated reproach in Proverbs 14:34, but this is an anomaly in the normative use of the word.

In addition to a clear linkage to the Abrahamic covenant, hesed also is linked to the Davidic covenant in Isaiah 16:4b-5. Isaiah writes, “When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land then a throne will be established in steadfast love (hesed) and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David.” Again, Isaiah 55:3 emphasizes the relationship hesed has with the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. Finally, the prophet emphasizes that hesed belongs to Yahweh in Isaiah 63:7. In fact, there are seven different references to hesed being “of the Lord” in the ESV. Seven different times the particular rendering “steadfast love of the Lord” is found in 1 Sam 20:14, Ps 33:5, 89:1, 103:17, 107:43, Is 63:7 and La 3:22.

Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations 3:22, helps the reader truly understand how significant it is for God to possess this “steadfast love” or as the KJV translates it “mercies.” He indicates that the only reason Israel is not consumed, or that the only reason Israel is still alive, is because of the Lord’s hesed toward his covenant people. In a state of exile, Daniel uses the word in nearly the same sense in Daniel 9:4, where in a prayer, he reminds God of this hesed and his covenant. The word or promise of the Lord is important; God has obligated himself to show “steadfast love” to his people even when they deserve otherwise.

Having studied nearly every use of the hesed in the Old Testament, it is apparent that hesed has what could be described as a sliding meaning of sorts. This helps account for why none of the major translations have consistently used one word or set of words to communicate the intent of the author when he used hesed. For example, the ESV uses “steadfast love” as its primary way of translating hesed, but not in every case. The harlot was not showing Joshua and Caleb “steadfast love”; instead, they received from her the strongest amount of kindness a person can give to another without it being love (which obviously has some degree of love behind it). However, when God’s covenant people experienced mercy/grace (hesed) from God it was because of his enduring love for those he elected to be his people. God has bound himself to his own character to show mercy (AV) or lovingkindness (NAS) or steadfast love (ESV) to his people because of their covenant relationship. Translating hesed as just “kindness” is not the best choice in most cases, but neither is just “mercy.” Steadfast love emphasizes the covenant aspect of the word hesed, but it does not emphasize the forgiveness aspect of hesed when it is associated with sin/transgression and salvation/redemption/deliverance. Perhaps steadfast lovingkindness best describes the meaning of hesed in the majority of instances where it is found.

APPLICATION
Believers in Christ everywhere can have great peace and assurance in knowing that the God of the Old Testament, who does not change, is unconditionally steadfast in his love for those who are spiritual sons and daughters of father Abraham because all that are Christ’s are Abraham’s (Gal 3:29). They are eternally secure. The just have always lived by faith in the promises of God as revealed to them to the point that it is always faith that saves one from God’s wrath. This means that every promise made to Abraham can be claimed by every disciple of Christ including God’s promise of steadfast, enduring, unconditional lovingkindness in a most merciful way to those who deserve just the opposite. Even the land promise will be fulfilled in the life of the believer in a place of eternal rest. Thus I am freed from the burden of earning God’s favor or maintaining his love for me through the keeping of the law. In Christ, my burden is light because of his provision of righteousness (Mt 11:27-29). As a Christian, I am not earning his favor, but neither was Abraham.

Although beyond the scope of this work, I would like to suggest the depth of this word as it relates to God’s relationship to people certainly calls into question some of what is taught under the umbrella of dispensationalism. It is not theologically accurate to suggest that God was not gracious to his people in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament there is now grace. There has always been grace. Hesed is filled with grace. This quality of God comes from his marvelous grace. When Israel received hesed instead of wrath, they were experiencing grace. Grace is not a new attribute that evolved in God, nor was it a hidden attribute in God.

Hesed is a gospel word. The gospel of the Lord Jesus requires that I extend to others just what I have received from the Lord. For a Christian, not forgiving someone else for a transgression is not optional. Several times hesed is used in this reciprocal manner. In Genesis 21:23, Abimelech and Phichol expected that as they “have dealt kindly with you [Abraham], so you will deal with me.” The same is true of the harlot and Joshua and Caleb. The harlot expected that Joshua and Caleb would extend to her the same hesed she extended to them. Likewise God, who is often treated like a harlot by his people, expects Christians to extend to others the same hesed he faithfully extends to us through the gospel (Mt 18:23-35), which is not a new idea. The prophet Zechariah told the people that God expected them to “render true judgments, show hesed, and mercy [or compassion] to one another” (7:9).
A thorough understanding of hesed makes it clear that God has always had a plan of forgiving sin and transgressions and saving people from his wrath in order to demonstrate to the world his marvelous steadfast love, mercy, and enduring lovingkindness in an amazingly faithful way to his glory. When one understands the depth of this merciful kindness that endures unto all generations to those who trust in him, the only appropriate response is to declare with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12).

CONCLUSION
God’s unconditional, enduring lovingkindness to his people is what distinguishes Yahweh and the true Christian gospel from every other world religion and cult on the planet. The depth of the meaning of hesed as it is used in the covenant relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and in Exodus 34:6-7, and the Psalms, and numerous other passages provides assurance that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not an invention of twelve men. On the contrary, it is the purest manifestation of God’s steadfast, merciful lovingkindness (hesed) to those who will trust in Him forever (Ps 52:8).

Bibliography
Strong, James. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 1996.

Another Tract that Adds to Faith Alone

2011-03-05T07:05:00.001-05:00

Today, I received tract in my box titled “It’s Time for You to Know.” That’s a great title. It is a beautiful tract. It has a clock on it with the hour glass divided into 12 wedges with nice pictures in each pie. It is very professionally done with a particular church name on the back and a map etc.

In the center of the tract is the message

“The Good News Is that Christ Paid for Our Sins.”

That is definitely true and it is certainly good news.

It is the next section of the tract that is disconcerting. It states:

“We must Personally Pray and Receive Christ by Faith as Our Savior”

Then Romans 10:13 is quoted as the proof text that we must “personally pray.”

This isn’t biblical. The Bible doesn’t say “we must personally pray.”

What must one do to be saved? Acts 16:30-31 answers this question; read it with me.

Acts 16:30-31
And brought them [Paul and Silas] out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Notice Paul didn’t say “personally pray.” Instead, he said “believe!”

The fact is a person does not have to pray to be saved, but he or she must believe. You can pray without believing. But God knows authenticate belief. A person can trick the preacher or his wife into believing that he or she is a Christian with words, but you can’t trick God. God knows who has believed and who has not believed. God knows who is born again and who is only saying a prayer.

I have already explained what it means to call upon the name of the Lord (in a previous posting) so I will not explain it again.

Authenticate original unsolicited prayer— as an expression of genuine faith—should never be hindered, but that is completely contrary to telling someone that they “must personally pray.”

This sounds like a work. It is something I must do. But my salvation is not based upon something I do.

Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

My response to message of the gospel is belief or faith. And the Bible says faith comes by hearing the Word of the Lord.

Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

When someone says “we must personally pray” he is adding to the gospel.

Some denominations (like the Church of Christ) teach a person must be baptized. Baptists have always taught that that is heretical because it is creating something that man must do. Baptists have always insisted that man is saved by grace though faith—not by words that must be articulated.

Romans 4:3
For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

In the past, soul-winning tracts would contain something like “this prayer of salvation” is an expression of your faith.

But not now, this tract (and others) is so bold as to suggest that a person “must personally pray.”

According to the tract titled “It’s Time for You to Know” prayer is no longer an optional expression of faith in Christ—it is now a requirement for salvation.

But this is what Jesus said:

Mark 1:15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believe the gospel.

A person can pray after he is born again and he can pray before he is born again, but in either case it is not his prayer that makes him born again. Prayer doesn’t save; therefore, no one should be told they “must personally pray.”

When a person is told that, there is an automatic inference that implies this prayer saves me but it doesn’t!

This tract, “It’s Time for You to Know” is just as wrong as a tract that teaches one must be baptized to be saved.

What Does It Mean to Call Upon the Name of the Lord?

2011-02-24T15:40:00.010-05:00

Recently, I was on an independent Fundamental Baptist dating ministry website (like eHarmony), by invitation of the sponsoring pastor, and I was reviewing their presentation of the gospel. After a solid presentation of numerous verses relating to salvation, the presentation closes like this:

7) Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and take you to Heaven someday when you die:
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
* The word call means, in this verse, to pray.

Here is a sample prayer:

“Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve hell for my sin. Please forgive me of my sin and I trust in Jesus alone as my only way to get to Heaven. Please come in my heart and save me and take me to Heaven someday when I die. Amen.”

I wonder if this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote Romans 10. Did Paul imagine that two millennia after he penned Romans 10, people all over the globe would be told that if they sincerely asked Jesus in their hearts they can be assured of being saved because of the promise in Romans 10:13?

Another website says: "We must pray to receive Christ" and then cites Romans 10:13 as the proof text. Is this adding to the gospel? Where does the Bible say we must pray to be saved?

A different Baptist church website looks like this:

Won't you call on Him in prayer today? It's a promise from God - the Bible says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13

Is it true that “call” means to pray in this verse? Can we say “Whosoever shall pray to the Lord shall be saved?” Would anyone dare say: “If you pray this prayer you are saved?” Who would be so bold as to assure someone of salvation based upon a prayer?

The truth is the word call is never translated “pray” in any of the numerous times it is used in the NT. (Notice the various ways the AV/KJV translates epikaleomai G1941 — call on 7, be (one's) surname 6, be surnamed 5, call upon 4, appeal unto 4, call 4, appeal to 1, appeal 1.) Did you notice it wasn't pray one time?

The verse is never translated “whosoever prays to God will be saved.”

In an effort to explain what it means to “call upon the name of the Lord,” the entire context of Romans 10 must be examined. Paul was writing a letter, and he never intended for isolated verses to be pulled out of his letter and used arbitrarily. Romans 10:12-14 reads like this:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14 should never be separated from verse 13. Romans 10:14 asks this question:

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”

This is a critical point. Whatever it means to “call on” can’t be done without belief. Therefore, “call upon” can’t simply mean “say words in the form of a prayer.” In this follow-up question to verse 13, Paul explains that you can’t call upon the name of the Lord if you have not believed in Him whom you are calling upon. The context is very helpful. The context provides much clarification. Paul helps me understand that it is not the action of “calling upon” that saves me, but my faith in the One upon whom I am calling.

In Romans 4, Paul reminded his reader that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham was not declared righteous because he prayed to God. The book of Genesis does not record any prayers that Abraham offered up to God.

If “call upon” is the same as “pray to,” why didn’t Paul just say that? He could have. He uses the word “prayer” in 10:1 and the word “pray” in Romans 8:26 speaks of the Spirit of God making intercession for us when we pray.

No, “call upon” is not the same as “pray to.”

The emphasis upon verse 13 is not an explanation of how to be saved, but a promise from God and the promise is extended to “whosoever.”

Salvation, according to Paul, is no longer limited to just the descendents of Abraham. Verse 12 makes it clear that the context of the “whosoever” is Jews and Greeks. Now Greeks (Gentiles) can also be included in the promise that God will save those who “call upon the name of the Lord.”

The phrase “call upon the name of the Lord” is a way of expressing a dependency upon the Lord to be one's Savior. This person is invoking the “name of the Lord” as the name of the One who is their Savior. This person who is calling upon the name of the Lord has already believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (10:9). He would not be invoking the name of the Lord as the One who saves him if he thought Jesus was still dead. Dead people can’t save people. No, the very reason the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is being invoked as Savior is that the person has already believed upon Him. He has already recognized that he is helpless to save himself. This is why the name of the Lord Jesus Christ must be invoked. Who is the one saving you from sin? “The Lord Jesus is my Savior” is the testimony of anyone who is a believer. This person believes that God saves those who appeal to the gospel as their only hope for salvation in faith. This appeal is not the articulation of words, in the form of a man-made prayer, but it is an acknowledgement of a complete dependency upon God for salvation from the heart.

The testimony of the one who is a believer in Romans 10 is: “If I am going to be saved, it is God who will have to save me.” This is why saved people frequently and without hesitation confess or profess with their mouth “the Lord Jesus.” This profession or confession is not a prayer but a testimony (either orally or in writing or any other means of communicating) of their faith in Christ. Those who believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead have as their testimony that “Jesus is Lord.” He is not just a man. He is God Incarnate—the Son of God. He is the Lord—which is precisely why God raised Him from the dead. Believers appeal to or invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the One who saves them from sin and death because there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which a person can be saved (Acts 4:12). When asked, “How do you know you are going to heaven when you die?” believers will always invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the reason they know they are saved (1 John 5:13). It is not the fact that they have prayed a prayer that saves them. God knows their heart.

Believers’ faith is not in their prayer, but in the promises of God found in the gospel. Like Abraham who believed God’s promise for a future son (the child of promise, Romans 9:9) to carry forward Abraham’s name, today’s believers in Christ invoke or appeal to the name of the resurrected Lord Jesus as the One they are depending upon for salvation. They would never appeal to their own righteousness. They would never appeal to their keeping of the law as sufficient to save them. Their appeal, instead, is found in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead.

Genesis 4:26 speaks about a day when men began to call upon the name of the Lord. On what day did you “call upon the name of the Lord to be your Savior?” When did you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the tomb to be your Savior?

I can’t help but wonder how many people have been led to pray a prayer from Romans 10:13 who have subsequently never publically confessed Jesus before men. Jesus said (using the same Greek word Paul used) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Mt 10:32).

Obviously, it is imperative that we don’t attempt to make Romans 10:13 say something it is not saying. Jesus is not communicating that anyone who has ever said “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” can be assured that Jesus will confess their name before the Father in heaven. In the same way, anyone who calls out to God to save them cannot be assured that those words have obligated God to save them.

Someone would be foolish to think that the articulation of the words “God save me” is what saves a Christian from hell. People are saved from hell because of their faith in the gospel—not their faith in the words they have said as an expression of that faith.

A person who has previously prayed a prayer of salvation, like the one on the webpage, must be taught that his faith should never be in the fact that he prayed to God. Instead, his faith must be in the “name” of the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified for the sins of the whole world and subsequently rose from the grave in demonstration of the power of the gospel to save all who believe.

If you have previously prayed for salvation and have yet to experience any peace in your salvation, let me encourage you to examine what your faith was truly in—was it faith in your prayer or faith in the promises of a God Who cannot lie?

The Relationship Between God’s Election and God’s Foreknowledge

2011-02-20T06:33:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Christians get confused or are genuinely ignorant of God’s election of believers unto salvation. Some think that God’s election is based on His foreknowledge. That is to say that God chose believers (in eternity past) because He saw that they chose Him. Therefore, His selection of me (a believer) was based on my selection of Him. This is often based on a misunderstanding of Romans 8.29.

“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

The argument goes something like this: Notice—foreknew comes before predestinate; therefore, election is based on foreknowledge. Some articulate this perspective in this way: “God has every right to predestinate because He knows all things” (foreknowledge). While it is true God’s foreknowledge is perfect, there are numerous problems with this reasoning. Let me try to illuminate a few of the problems this perspective creates biblically.

1. The fact is that God may predestinate anything He pleases to predestinate because He is Sovereign, not because He knows something (Ps 135:3). If God can predestinate or elect because of His foreknowledge then He is not doing what He pleases—He is doing what I please. The President of the US is not sovereign in that He cannot do as He pleases. God is sovereign. He may elect and not elect whomever He chooses. Just like He may create and not create anything and anyone He chooses.

2. Let’s look at Paul’s conversion. Are we really going to say that the reason Christ appeared before Paul on that fateful day was because God knew Paul [Saul] wanted to be saved? Is there really anything about Saul’s pre-conversion life that would give us any indication that Saul was going to repent and put his faith in the Messiah? When Luke records that Paul was a “chosen vessel” what does that mean (Acts 9:15)? Concerning Paul’s salvation, Acts 22:14 states: “The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.” The fact is that those words describe anyone who Christ refers to as “His sheep.” Jesus refers to “those who do not believe” as those who are not His sheep. John writes: “but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

3. How should we interpret the numerous verses that speak of God choosing? How should “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:14) be interpreted? Should the text read, more appropriately, “few are chosen because few chose me?” God forbid. Look at John 15:16: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Some conclude that “I have chosen you” refers only to God’s election of their service in the kingdom as Christ’s first 12 disciples. This reasoning subordinates God’s vocational election to man’s salvific choosing of God. Instead, it appears to be much more consistent with Scripture to say that God’s choosing of the apostles began before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) and included a plan to use these chosen regenerate men as apostles to build His church.

3. Is the word, “elect”, really just a code word for believers without any connotation of God choosing? No. Look at, “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days” (Mk 13:20). If God’s election of man is based on man’s selection of Him, then we may rightly ask what is the point of this text, “but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen.” When the people have chosen their president, he is referred to as the President-elect until the day he is sworn into the office. Plain and simple the word “elect” means chosen.

4. How can dead men choose Christ (Eph 2:1)? If dead men can choose Christ outside of a work of regeneration, then we may rightly conclude “dead” doesn’t really mean dead. “Dead” cannot mean a bad person who is still capable of choosing God when presented with the choice. That is not dead. Can dead bones live? The answer is yes. When God breathes life into dead bones they live (Ezekiel 37). And it is with this new life that man repents and puts His faith in the gospel.

5. Subordinating God’s election of some unto salvation to man’s spiritual response robs God of the glory of redemption (Eph 1:6). If predestination is subordinate to foreknowledge (in the sense of God seeing my spiritual response to the message) then we may rightly conclude that it is a good thing that I chose God or He would not have chosen me. In this way, I am able to share in the glory of my redemption. However, if God’s election of me was not based upon anything He saw me doing, then I find myself concluding that my salvation is all grace (Eph 2:8-9) and God gets all the glory!

Conclusion

The fact is no one has any idea why God elected anyone (Adam—the disobedient one, Abram—the deceiver, David—the adulterer, or Saul—the murderer) to salvation (outside His great love). There is none righteous, no not one. No one desires to be part of the elect (outside of divine grace). All have sinned and all have missed the mark (Romans 3:10-23). All are dead and in their trespasses. Why did God elect Abram to be the father of a multitude of nations? It certainly was not because God saw Abram seeking to know God. Before His encounter with the God of creation, Abram was an idolater like his father. No one complains about God’s predestination of Satan unto eventual destruction. The reason we don’t complain about this is because we believe Satan deserves this destruction. But don’t human rebels and idolaters also deserve the same destruction. Furthermore, the Bible is clear that God’s election is not what keeps someone from repenting. John 6.37 is very clear, “the one who comes to Me [Jesus] I will by no means cast out.” There isn’t anyone on the planet who desires to repent and place their faith in Christ who is not doing it because he or she was not elected by God.

Moreover, nothing of this understanding of election eliminates the need for man’s response of repentance toward God and faith in the promises found in the gospel and the Person of Christ. Likewise, nothing of this understanding of unconditional election eliminates the need for man to preach the gospel to the unconverted soul—faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and how shall they hear unless they that preach be sent to preach the gospel (Romans 10:14-17).
The reality is that there isn’t a single verse that indicates that God’s election of man unto salvation is based upon man choosing God first. Although man does chose to believe in Christ, this belief is always a response to God’s initiative. The Bible teaches that God has elected some to salvation and that there isn’t anyone who desires to be saved who God will not save. Finally, the Bible does not teach that God has elected the rest to damnation. In the Moody Handbook of Theology, Paul Enns explains it like this, “The corollary doctrine of reprobation (that God decreed the non-elect to suffer eternally in hell) is not sustained by Scripture, at least in the clear way that positive election is” (Enns, Moody Press, 1997, p.486).

God's Amazing Power Over the Evil Intentions of Others

2011-02-17T06:18:00.002-05:00

In the last chapter of the book of Genesis (50:20), an amazing theological truth is illustrated in Joseph’s reply to his brothers concerning their fear of potential retribution after the passing of Jacob (Israel), the grandson of Abraham. After Jacob’s death, Joseph’s brothers feared that in Jacob’s absence, Joseph would seek revenge for the way they had betrayed him. Genesis records that the brothers threw themselves down before Joseph in an act of submission to his authority while announcing: “We are your servants” (Gen. 50:15). But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Gen. 50:18-20). This historical record of Joseph’s perspective illustrates God’s amazing power to turn the evil intentions and actions of fallen men and the devil into that which is good. For we know that all things work to good to those who are in a covenant relationship with God and Joseph’s life provides an example of just how God does this (Rom. 8:28).

Beginning with the betrayal by his brothers, Joseph lived through two decades of experiencing evil. He was left for dead in a pit (37:24), sold into slavery (37:28), betrayed by a spiteful woman (39:14), unjustly sentenced to prison for something that he did not do (39:20) and forgotten in prison (40:23). Then God created just the right scenario to bring Joseph into a position of tremendous influence and power as Pharaoh’s Prime Minister (41). It was precisely because of Joseph’s great power that his brothers were fearful of his revenge. Pharaoh told Joseph, “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you” (41:40). However, Joseph calmed their fears with a statement that they had nothing to fear because he was in the place God wanted him to be. Then he explained that “what” the brothers intended to be pure evil against him, God sovereignly orchestrated into a good thing for the purpose of saving many people from starvation from seven years of famine. Joseph understood that all that he had experienced was used by God to pre-position him in Egypt for the eventual day that his brothers would need to buy grain to live. If Joseph had not been in Egypt, one may speculate as to whether grain would have been stock piled and if an Egyptian would have been willing to sell the grain to a Hebrew—but Joseph understood that God had taken all that was intended to be evil against him and used it in a most amazing way for good to the point of saving both Egyptians and Hebrews from the effects of a famine.

BRIDGING CONTEXT

According to John Walton, Genesis 50:20 should not be viewed just as a concluding verse in Joseph’s life, but more as the entire book of Genesis (Walton, loc. 16570). This truth helps answer the difficult question: “Why would God, who knew man was going to rebel, create him anyway?” The answer lies in what God did with Joseph’s situation. God permitted evil into the world in order to demonstrate the magnitude of his love, mercy, grace and Sovereign rule over the universe. Only the most powerful being in the Universe would be able to consistently take evil and turn it into good. Beginning with the fall of man and the proto-gospel promise in Genesis 3:15, God revealed His plan to demonstrate his glory through victory over evil. The truth that God often takes what man intends for evil and turns it to good should be of amazing comfort to the follower of God.

Moreover, the student of the Bible needs to see the great degree that verse 20 pictures and helps the reader understand the gospel. Certainly the crucifixion of the innocent Son of God is the most evil thing ever perpetrated upon another human being in the history of mankind. Jesus, like Joseph, was unjustly accused of that which he did not do. He was without sin. Claiming to be God was not sin—He was and is God. The crowd accused him of teaching that Jews should not pay taxes to Caesar, but this was another false accusation. Jesus told people to render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s (Matt 22:21). Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4). The Roman Centurion said, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47, NAS). When the crowd was shouting crucify him, crucify him, you know they meant to harm him. When a man nails stakes into your hands and feet, you are experiencing the evil intentions of fallen men. When a crown of thorns is being pounded into your head, you are experiencing the evil intentions of fallen man. And when you are crucified as an innocent man, you have experienced the ultimate evil intentions fallen man can perpetrate upon another man. Yet this evil is precisely what God used to appease His own wrath toward sinners in order to “save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 3:25). Like Joseph’s situation, both Jews and Gentiles are being saved because of God’s amazing ability to take what the Jews and Romans intended for evil and turn it to good, such that the same Jews and Romans could be saved through repentance toward God and faith in the innocent Lord Jesus Christ.

CONTEMPORARY SIGNIFICANCE

Understanding this great truth can be exceptionally beneficial to the life of the believer. Christians do experience the evil intentions of their great adversary, the devil, and other sinners (1 Pet. 5:8). Moreover, the great commission does not permit Christians to live in communities of believers with the intent of isolating themselves from evil people. We are called to be salt and light in a fallen world. Living in a fallen world under the Lordship of Christ requires an understanding that Christians will experience the evil of persecution, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDs, stroke, theft, fires, rape, child molestation and all that fallen men can imagine. Genesis 6:5 records, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Wicked men will prematurely kill Christian girls and boys at places like Columbine and an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, and this will continue until Christ returns.

Joseph’s life teaches the believer that God is so powerful that He is always taking what is meant for evil and turning it into good. The significance of Genesis 50:20 to the Christian in the 21st century is the truth that God is still working each and every moment to take what he or she may believes is evil and turn it into good. The good may not always be as clear in Joseph’s case and certainly it will not have the magnitude of the good of the gospel, but nevertheless the promise still stands. Paul tells us, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Only eternity will fully reveal the magnitude to which God, from the very beginning, has taken what Lucifer and fallen men have meant for evil and turned it to good over and over again to the glory of His great Name.

Is a Single Apple Really Sufficient

2011-02-10T09:43:00.005-05:00

A preacher friend of mine once said: “An apple tree only has to produce one apple for you to know it is an apple tree.” What a true statement. An apple tree does only have to produce one apple to be known as an apple tree. However, certainly no one would consider a tree that only produces one apple a healthy apple tree, would they?

The above statement was made within the context of the difficult struggle in knowing whether someone is born-again or not—converted or not—truly saved or just a professing Christian. In the case of an apple and an apple tree, this preacher is right. Once I see an apple on an apple tree, I can declare this is an apple tree.

But what possible single fruit could a Christian produce that would allow someone to declare, like the apple tree, that he is a Christian?

According to the epistle of 1 John, the assurance of salvation is not gained by a single apple. Instead, John says in 1 John 5:13 “these things have I written unto you.” He says “things” because assurance of salvation is gained by a comprehensive examination of one’s life.

The believer can’t say, “I prayed; therefore, I know I am saved”. The believer can’t say, “I was confirmed” or “I was baptized; therefore, I know I am saved”. According to the first five chapters of 1 John there isn’t a single “apple” that will make my “calling and election sure.” Instead, John presents numerous things that can assure the Christian he is an apple tree. Peter agrees with John and also writes about “these things” twice in 2 Peter 2:5-10. (Check out this sermon http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=121710105632973 for more about these assurances in 1 John.)

2 Peter 1:5–10
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

The believer lives by faith. He doesn’t live by a blind faith; for he has received promises from the one true living God of the Universe who has made himself known to us by His Son Jesus, but nevertheless the believer lives by faith. Peter says “add to your faith.”

The believer examines himself in light of the Word of God and lives each day by faith in the gospel. He is not looking for a single apple but a tree full of apples, each representing different things (knowledge, temperance, patience, kindness, etc.) or assurances of salvation presented throughout the Word of God.

Paul said it like this:
2 Corinthians 13:5
5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

When heaven and hell hang in the balance a single apple would not be sufficient for me. Would it be for you?

Click here to listen to or check out a pdf copy of these assurances of salvation http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=121710105632973.

Understanding the Truth of “Love Lifted Me”

2011-01-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 2:4–9 (AV)

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Have you ever sung this song?

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I

This is the first stanza of the great hymn of the faith “Love Lifted Me” written by James Rowe.

Here is my thought for you from this stanza and Ephesians 2. According to Paul, I would not even know I was drowning in the sea “sinking to rise no more” if God had not alerted me to the trouble.

For before Christ I was dead. That’s right dead. And dead people don’t know they are drowning. The very reason I sensed that I was drowning was the movement of the Spirit of God.

The fact is that the very “despairing cry” could not and would not have happened apart from the grace of God—by grace ye are saved. Not by grace of God plus anything else. Salvation is all grace. No works. No cries. No prayers. It is all grace—the grace of God. Notice Paul says “But God.” Those are the two greatest words every assembled in the Word of God. I believe because I have been “quickened together with Christ.” If I had not been quickened, I would not have believed. If it were not for God, I would not believe. If it were not for God, Noah would have drowned to death. If it were not for God, Sarah would not have gotten pregnant with Isaac and Abraham would not have a legitimate descendent for God to bless. If it were not for God, Saul of Tarsus would have spent his whole life dedicated to killing Christians.

“But the Master of the sea” is exactly right. The Master did not wait to hear my despairing cry. He was working long before I cried “help.” He was working in me when I didn’t realize He was working in me. He was working in me “even when I was dead in sins.” He was demonstrating the “exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward me” when I was drowning and didn’t know I was drowning. This is why the hymnist can truly write and we can sing “love lifted me.”

And this is precisely why I should and must love God with all my heart, mind, soul and every fiber of my very being. This is precisely why I must treasure Christ above all else and sing of His great love for me for all eternity.

Knowing this, now look at stanza two with me:

All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I’ll cling
In His blessed presence live, ever His praises sing
Love so mighty and so true, merits my souls best songs
Faithful, loving service too, to Him belongs

Stanza three is a call to believe, look at it with me.

Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves
He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today

If you recognize your soul is in danger, it is because the Father is drawing you to His Son. If you recognize your soul is in danger, “look above.” “Look above” is a wonderful way of saying repent. If you recognize your soul is in danger, turn to the Master of the sea and put your faith in what God did for you in Christ Jesus while you were dead and drowning in a sea of sin and be rescued today!

If you have already been rescued, make stanza two your life’s ambition.

Global Warming

2011-01-17T19:09:00.001-05:00

Should a Christian be Concerned About Global Warming?

As a Christian where should I stand in regard to the global debate on the greenhouse gas reduction efforts of radical environmentalist? Should I support further regulation of refineries and industries that emit large amounts of CO2? Should I support politian’s who are voting to put the Nation deeper in debt to reduce CO2 emissions? How much regulation is enough? Ultimately the question is: “How concerned should I be about protecting mother earth?”

First, Christians need to recognize that the earth was made for man and not man for the earth (Gen 1:26). Anything that seems to flip that perspective is unbiblical.

Second, anything that seems to present “mother earth” as a goddess must be recognized for what it is: idolatry. It is idolatry to treat the earth as an entity that needs to be preserved forever. The Bible is very clear the earth will not last forever (Heb 1:10-12). God has promised Christians a new heaven and a new earth (2 Pet 3:13). Ultimately the planet will be destroyed again.

“But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 3:7, ESV)

Third, the earth is cursed. It is not perfect. Nor can man make it perfect.

“And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; ” (Genesis 3:17, ESV)

Thorns and thistles, mentioned in verse 18, represent the effects of the curse. The climate changed. The need for clothing changed (and on and on). God has the power to create an earth that does not need any temperature regulation--never too hot or too cold, but that is not the earth we are living on. The earth we are living on is cursed.

And the fact is that no amount of reduction in CO2 emissions will change that. Should the Christian live with a fear that the planet is going to get so warm that it will be impossible to live here? No. God promised Noah that there would always be cold. God promised that there would always be seasons.

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” ” (Genesis 8:22, ESV)

The fact is: the earth will remain as long as God wants it to remain and it will remain not even a minute longer than God wants it to remain. And there isn’t anything man can do to alter that fact.

So when the further regulation of green gas emissions increases the global cost of energy the people that suffer the most are the poor in third world developing nations. This must be unacceptable to the Christian. He or she has been instructed by their Lord and Savior to love their neighbor as themselves (Mat 19:19). An increase of gas prices of quarter or fifty cents per gallon will get a grumble out of an American but it doesn’t really change their standard of living all that much. However, the same increase in a third world country where the average annual income is $2000 is phenomenally different.

The earth was created by God for man. The resources on the planet are to be used wisely and we are to be the best stewards of those resources.

Regulations which protect those resources should be implemented. For example, dumping pollutants into one’s drinking water supply is stupid. Every Christian should be in favor of regulations that protect one’s local source of drinking water. Man cannot survive without water and he does not have a promise from God that all water will remain potable.

This requires wisdom. Some government regulation is absolutely necessary and is required as a result of the fall of man and the curse of the earth. The government is a God-ordained authority for which all Christians are expected to obey (Rom 13:1-5); however, in America our democracy gives us the freedom to vote politicians in and out of office.

This requires a choice and any politician that is voting to put the Nation into greater debt to protect the earth from man is not voting the way the Bible would have him or her vote, and he or she should be voted out of office. (Christians don’t lock themselves into one political party and then vote that way all their lives!)

Presently (2011), the number one priority of every politician, without regard to political party, must be deficit reduction not environmental protection (Rom 13:8). Not a penny more should be spent to protect another endangered wolf, smelt, bug, plant, weed, lizard or anything else. We must stop the foolish spending to protect that which was created for man to use, consume, and enjoy.

Wise stewardship of what God has provided is what God expects--not an idolatrous worship of the planet through an agenda to protect the eternality of the earth. This imbalance really comes from a desire to deify creation and to pronounce God as some un-knowing, un-caring, aloof being (Rom 1:18-25).

Only God is eternal and only God, through Christ, can grant eternal life. God was in Christ “reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor 5:19). Man, as a subset of creation, was not merely a peripheral focus in His redemptive plan, but was the chief objective in Christ dying for “the sins of the world” (Mat 13:38 & 42; 1 John 2:2). The planet did not sin, but Adam’s sin brought the curse to the whole of creation, and the whole of creation eagerly awaits sin’s removal (Rom 8:19-24). The curse can be removed as quickly as it was pronounced, and one day it will be done without the help of any man, movement, special interest group, or political party (Rev 22:3).

A Ministry and Message of Reconciliation: The Gospel

2011-01-08T16:23:00.002-05:00

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=121610060435645

Colossians 1:19-21

Colossians chapter one. If you found your place in that chapter let’s go ahead and stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and we are going to get into an awesome text. We will read the text, pray, then we will get to work. And I pray that you have ears to hear
this morning and that all of God’s people are ready to be blessed from God’s Word.

Verse 19 says:

For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you [number one] holy and [number two] unblameable and [number three] unreproveable in his sight.

And let’s pray.

Father God in heaven, I would ask right now that you would give me the power to preach in your name under the leadership and influence and guidance of God the Holy Spirit. I pray, oh God, that you would do the work that only you can do, God the Father, that you would draw sinners to yourself this morning. I pray, oh God, that today would be a day of salvation and that a lost man or woman would repent. I pray, oh God, that you would reconcile sinners to yourself today through the power of the cross in Jesus’ name. Amen.

And you may be seated.

The title of this morning’s message is, “A Ministry and Message of Reconciliation.”

Look in your Bibles at verse number 19 please. Notice especially, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.”

Once again we are reminded of the significance of the deity of Christ. We are reminded again. Paul wants to bring to our attention one more time this Church at Colosse needs to be alerted to the idea that Christ, the body of Christ, the man Christ Jesus has every ounce of deity within him. He is the walking, talking, breathing, living God.

Why is this so important? Why must we put such emphasis on this? Because salvation is in him and him alone. And, folks, you can’t make up your own him. You can’t decide what attributes you would like him to have. The Word of God has already made that clear. You can’t pick and choose your Jesus. Your Jesus has every ounce of godhead in him.

That is how Paul said it in 2:9.

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Every ounce of the godhead, everything that God the Father had, God the Son had. All of it. Paul is communicating that Jesus is completely God. Everything that God is Jesus is. God is more than Jesus. God includes the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Jesus is only one aspect of God, but he is every bit God. This diagram is probably the best illustration. If you need to explain the Trinity don’t do it without drawing something. Pull out a piece of paper and draw this triangle and use this idea right here.

You say, “Preacher, when would I be called upon to do that?”

You might be called upon to do that any time and when you are supposed to give an answer, you want to know how to give an answer. How pitiful it is for you to say, “Let me get you to talk to my preacher.”

Every single Christian is called to be able to explain the person and work of Christ. Everybody ought to be able to do that. What a pitiful thing it is that if the preaching ministry of the Church doesn’t develop God’s people to be able to defend their faith. Not a social gathering. This is a time of instruction. This is a time of development. This is a time of discipleship.

Again and again I want to say this. You shouldn’t have to come out to a private class on a Monday night to grow in Christ. You ought to be able to grow in Christ through the preaching and teaching of his Word in Sunday school, adult Bible fellowship, camps, all the time, men’s ministry. Everything that we do ought to be forcing you and encouraging you to grow in Christ.

So you put the Father at the top and you say the Father is God, but the Father is not the Holy Spirit and the Father is not the Son. The Son is no the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not the Father. But they are all God.

You say, “I don’t understand that.”

Me either.

That is our premise. We just take the Word of God at face value. We just believe that all 66 books are divinely inspired and that they have been preserved by God for our edification. And we are not here to do anything other than present the truth, present the truth.

And so Paul said it like this to Timothy. To Timothy he said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

One mediator, only one mediator. The godhead determined that the man Jesus who would reconcile the world to God would be God sharing all the properties, characteristics and prerogatives of God himself. Of course, the movement of the incarnation was that God took flesh, not human being became divine.

So important for you to understand this.

A church member sent me an email this week about how she was confronted by a Jehvoa Witness and how she needed to be able to articulate her faith and be able to defend her faith. I am telling you right now, it is pitiful when a Jehovah Witness comes and knocks on you door and you find yourself nervous and shaking in your feet and wishing you didn’t have to defend your faith. Something is wrong there.

When a Mormon knocks on your door, when a cultist knocks on your door you ought to be able to say, “Let me tell you something right now. I believe that Jesus is God and that he is the Son of God both. Let’s get right to the heart of the matter right away.” Cut him right off.

It is pitiful that they are more articulate than we are. It is pitiful that those who have the truth are less articulate than those who are deceived. Something is wrong there. Something significantly wrong there.

Look at verse number 20, please, in your Bibles.

“And having made peace...”

Peace. That means that we were at war. You don’t go from peace without having been war before. Everyone understands that. There was a war. God hates sin. There is a war against sin. There is a war against unbelievers. There is a war against children of disobedience. Our staff song about the wrath of God. We are going to talk about the wrath of God.

So he “made peace through the blood of his cross.”

The consequence of disobedience is enmity or hostility between God and man.

Last week we had the privilege of dedicating a baby. There are several small babies running around this congregation. Carol has just had a little baby. There is all kinds of cute infants everywhere, but the reality is outside of Christ Jesus there is an enmity between that little innocent baby from our perception and a holy and righteous God.

And that is why the ministry of reconciliation, the goal of the gospel is to get that baby reconciled to God. If not, if we are not committed to that, folks, we might as well just be a Kiwanis club. You know, we do some good deeds. We hang out a little bit and we fellowship a little bit, play softball together, kind of have a cute little club.

That is not what we are here for. That is not what we are here for.

Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies...”

Let me tell you something. You start a gospel presentation out by letting that sinner know that they are an enemy of God they might feel more of a need to repent.

“That is too confrontational, pastor.”

Which is more confrontational, to tell them the truth or die and let them go to hell? Which is more loving, folks? What is more loving?

You see, if I understand that I am an enemy of God there is a necessity to figure out how to fix that problem. I have got to figure out, ok, if I am an enemy of God I don’t like that idea. How do I fix that? And that is when the soul winner can tell them about the gospel. If they don’t understand that their sin separates them from God and God hates that sin and his wrath abides on that sin, then you are in no position to tell them the awesomeness of the love of God.

Verse 20 says that, “...by him to reconcile...”

Reconcile is this incredible, awesome word that describes the restoration of a friendship. We love the idea of being reconciled.

Husbands and wives, when you get into a little tiff, isn’t it awesome to be reconciled? When somebody takes the spiritual leadership—and it should be the father, it should be the husband, but sometimes we are too weak to do that and so the wife steps up and begins to iron through the difficulties—and you get honest one with another, you get transparent one with another, there is a little bit of repentance that goes on inside that marriage and then all of the sudden the joy at the love of this alienation that was there prior is not brought back together. That is reconciliation, folks. And reconciliation is awesome in a marriage.

Now you think about two sinners being reconciled. How much more awesome is it to be reconciled to the God of the universe, the holy, sovereign, perfect God of the universe? Now all of the sudden this message of reconciliation is awesome. You might even want to say amen on something like that.

So what are the reasons why unbelievers don’t think much of this reconciliation? Why is it that the coworkers that you are with, why is it that the neighbors that we have that are lost, why aren’t the people that you associate with as students at the colleges that you go to, why don’t they get all excited about the reconciliation of God? Why isn’t this something important then?

There are three reasons. Let’s look at them. Number one, they don’t believe that there is a God. They honestly do not believe that there is a God. They have been duped into believing that evolution is a fact and that they were once a blob, came from a monkey and there is nothing after life. And so they are living life with all they can for a few years and they have believed the lie that they are going to decompose into a pine box and that is it. And they love that lie because they love their immorality. And if you love your immorality you don’t want any accountability.

That is the facts, folks.

Number two, they are ignorant. They don’t know that sin has alienated them from God. They believe that they are morally good people and that as a general rule God loves me. How in the world wouldn’t God love me? I help my neighbor and I am a good person and, really, please don’t tell me that God doesn’t love me. You don’t know me. Don’t judge.

That is the world we are living in right now, folks. That is the ministry that you have. That is the culture that you are called to minister in. We cannot go back to leaving beaver. Those days are over with, folks. We are not going back. We live in a Postmodern world in which absolute truths are completely denied. And if we want to get outside of our bubble and start reaching people with the gospel, we have got to know the people that we are going to encounter.

And you go engage sinners at work. When you go engage these people they recognize they don’t see themselves as alienated from God. Only Hitler and a few of those kind of dudes are alienated from God. For the most part they can justify their sin.

Hey, folks, that is exactly what governor Mark Sanford did in South Carolina when he brought to our attention with David. That was all justification. That is all it was. That is exactly what it was. If it was good enough for David, it is good enough for me. Don’t throw me out of the office. God didn’t throw David out, so don’t throw me out.

That is exactly what he was saying. It is a justification.

By the way, he is a Republican, so I am an equal opportunity preacher when it comes to that. It doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. You are both going to get it.

Number three, misperception. They can’t imagine that God sees them as an enemy. The reason they are underestimating God’s wrath. The entire world is in love with the love of God and we should be in love with the love of God. But what makes the love of God so awesome is the understanding that God is a vengeful, wrathful God who sets that aside in his mercy and grace. That is what makes it awesome.

If there is no concern for punishment, mercy isn’t that big of a deal. It is no concern. But when all of a sudden life is on the line and the consequences are over the top and you get mercy, then mercy is a big deal. Then mercy is a big deal. All you got to do is think about your own life either when you were a child or as a parent.

Man, when you see dad explode over something he sends you to the room and you know, man, the consequences are going to be over the top and you know that you are going to get it. You know that you are going to get it. Come on, young people, you are not too old to remember that. There has been at least one time in your life when you sinned, even [?] because we are all sinners.

And then when mom and dad say, “You know what? I love you. I love you,” man that love is awesome. That love is magnified because you understood that you deserve the punishment. You understood that you were dead to rights. You should have got the ticket.

We all know the deal. There isn’t anyone in here that hasn’t sped. You know, driving down the road going way too fast, way too fast. You know you are guilty. There is no way around it. Speed limit clearly posted. You looked at your speedometer a few minutes earlier. You know you were speeding. You were taking a chance and you get pulled over. When you know that you are caught dead to rights and you deserve the ticket and you get some mercy, isn’t that mercy awesome?

So first thing the gospel presentation has to establish, teachers, is that you are dead to rights. You deserve the wrath of God. That is the first thing that the gospel presentation has to establish. It has to look at the wrath of God.

Turn to Colossians chapter three in your Bibles. You are almost there so turn over to chapter three and look at verse number six.

So just go ahead and establish the fact that what you are dealing with is a child of disobedience.

“For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.”

Brother Bill, if they don’t see themselves as a child of disobedience, the gospel is meaningless to them, meaningless. The gospel is meaningless. If they do not see themselves as alienated enemies from God you don’t have good news for them. You don’t have good news. And so we have got to establish that first and foremost.

Number one, number two, we need so that they can see beyond a doubt that between God and man there is some irreconcilable differences outside of Christ. We have got to show them that there isn’t a plan B. There isn’t a plan C. There is now way they can be morally pure enough. All have fallen short of the glory of God. All are sinners. I am the sinner. I am the chief of sinners. I lead the way in sinning. And then the mercy of God is magnified. The mercy of God is magnified.

And so let me give you a word of caution, please. Please listen to this very closely. Do not attempt to defend the love of God by denying the wrath of God. Do not do that. When someone says to you, “I do not understand how God could be a loving God and a wrathful God,” don’t try to deny the wrath of God. Don’t try to minimize the wrath of God to magnify the love of God because you are doing just the opposite.

When you communicate how holy God is, how just God is, how perfect God is and then that gets you to better understand his mercy and grace, recognize that God’s wrath towards sinners magnifies his love, mercy and grace when he extends reconciliation to sinners.

Recognize according to verse 21 that we are, in fact, before Christ, before being born again, we were alienated. We were alienated. Yes, even you. You were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.

I want to pause for just a minute. I want you to think of the parable about the two sons. One son stays home, good son stays there, doesn’t go out, doesn’t explode all the inheritance. The other guy goes out, lives. You know the story I am talking about, right? Gets way down in the pig pen of life and asks to be brought back.

Now which son more clearly understood the love of the father? The one who thought that he wasn’t going to be reconciled, the one who thought he was going to have to live in the pig pen. He couldn’t get over the fact that his father loved him.

Now don’t misunderstand. I am not encouraging you to run out there and sin. That is not what I am saying. I am saying let’s make sure that we clearly understand how much our sin offends a holy and righteous God. Let’s not bring God down to our level. Let’s not try to get God to understand us and so God can justify us and God winks at our sin. Let’s recognize that ungratefulness is a sin. Let’s recognize the fact that a failure to be content is a sin. Let’s recognize that failure to appreciate God’s goodness is a sin. Let’s recognize that we still have a problem with sin.

Self righteousness kills the Church. That is why Christ went after self righteousness. Look at your gospels and you see him going after self righteousness with a passion.

Who gets called vipers? Who gets called snakes? The self righteous do, the hypocrites do. It is those who recognize that they have a need for a Savior who embrace Christ. So that is our first step.

So the issues of man and most importantly the issue is in my mind so let’s talk about this, enemies in you mind. Number one, it all begins in the mind.

Number one, it all begins in the mind. It all begins in the mind. You need to be concerned about your thought life. You need to be concerned about your thought life. You need to be concerned about your attitude, your thinking. It starts in you mind.

Number two. Sinners engage in evil deeds because they are hostile in their minds. That is why I need a new mind. I need a new heart. I need the stony heart removed and a heart of flesh [?]. I need God to do an entire work on my whole body. That is exactly what Paul was talking about where he said he couldn’t wait to be delivered of this flesh.

Number three. Faulty thinking leads to faulty behavior. So it starts in the mind.

Counselors, this is so important for you. You have got to address thinking in the campers. Get to their minds. It is easy to get them to conform to known [?]. We have got to get deeper than that. We have got to get into their minds. What were you thinking?

It is easy to tell Christians, “Dress this way. Look this way. Walk this way.”

That is easy. Everybody can conform to a known set of standards. You have got to peel that back, folks, and get inside the thinking process.

Number four. Every thought needs to be taken captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. Every single thought.

So let’s be real pointed one more time.

Eight years ago, that was when the thought needed to be taken captive, eight years ago, eight years ago, eight years ago, eight years ago. That is when we should have grabbed that very first immoral thought and grabbed a hold of that thought and said, “This thought will be taken captive right now. This thought is not ok. This thought is immoral. This thought is sinful. This thought must not go on.”

You want to protect your marriages, husbands? Husbands, you want to protect your marriages? You say, “I want to protect my marriage. I want to go the distance.”

Then keep a hold of your thought life. Keep a hold of your thought life. Do not allow your thought life to get out of control, because when your though life gets out of control your behavior gets out of control.

Everyone believes somehow that they are strong enough to have this thought life which is immoral, but behavior which is moral. It never works that way, folks. It never works that way. never. This governor attributes the entire affair to the first email, the first email. That is one of the problems with the 21st century. We are texting things and we are typing things that we would have never ever said in person. We are texting things and we are typing things.

Young people in Anchorage, do not allow yourself to type something or text something that you would not say in person. Do not allow yourself to go down that road because there is no end to it. Your morality is at stake.

Eight years ago the affair began on a simple little email and it started in his mind.

Men, our relationship with ladies should be above reproach, above reproach. Ladies, I know that from a pastoral perspective sometimes you feel like that I am exceptionally short with my emails with you. I am going to tell you right now that is an intentional decision on my behalf. I don’t ask you how your day went. I don’t ask you how you are doing because I am not to have that kind of relationship with you. Your husband is to have that kind of relationship with you. I am not.

If you feel like I am current with the emails, folks, if I am responding to a lady, you are going to get just the facts, ma’am, just the facts. I am not going to go any deeper because I don’t want an email relationship with you.

It is a reality. Who does Satan go after? He goes after leaders. He goes after senior pastors.

Sure, you can email me and I will answer your question. I will answer your question. But I should never—dads, listen to me, please. Husbands, listen to me. I should never type something that I am not more than willing to cc my wife on.

Here, sweetheart, read this email.

There is something seriously wrong in your marriage if you have got a private email account that your wife does not have access to.

Outside of the military I know there are some guys [?] and things like that. I am not talking about security. I am not talking about national security. I am talking about personal accounts. You have got your little work email and you have got your little personal hotmail and nobody knows about that. There is something wrong there. Take that into captivity right now, men.

Jesus said it like this. “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart...” and then just the opposite for the evil man.

So question number two. How did God reconcile us? How did this reconciliation happen? What did Christ do to reconcile you to God?

The Scripture is very clear on that. Look at the Scripture 20 and 22 he tells us two key elements.

Number one, he shed his blood. He shed his innocent blood. The Bible makes it very clear. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Every single lamb, goat, every single pigeon, every single thing in the Old Testament that was shed blood was all picturing the perfect Lamb of God who would shed innocent blood.

And, number two, he died on that cross. The God man died on that cross.

Please turn back to 2 Corinthians, please. Very easy for you to get to. Just turn back a few pages. Everyone turning. Don’t allow yourself not to turn right now. Please take your Bible and turn to chapter number five. This is a parallel dissertation on reconciliation that Paul delivers to us. And we will move through these Scriptures and then we will wrap it up.

We have got some great food. Pastor Joe wanted me to remind you that your food is going to get across the street when you carry it across the street. That is the only way it is going to get across the street. It has no wheels. He said it, not my words. He said that [?] that is Joe’s... see him about that. I would have said it kinder, but you know. He is not even in here so I can set him up real good.

Verse number 11. Look at verse number 11. Paul says, “Knowing therefore…” fully aware of, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord...”

That is the issue right now. There is no fear of God in our country. There is no fear of God. The fear of God is gone. The fear of God is gone in our country. We are not concerned with our immorality. How in the world do you carry on affair for eight long years and call yourself a Christian? Something is wrong there. Where is the fear of God? Where is the fear of God’s judgment on my life, on my ministry, on my office, on my state? Where is the fear of God? It is gone. It is gone in America. That is why there is such a need of pulpits that preach the Word of God, the truth.

Folks, I am not mad. I know sometimes it looks like I am mad. I am not mad. I am honestly not angry. I am passionate about this truth. Ok? I don’t know how to tell you to guard your marriage with a million dollar smile on my face. I can’t do that. Because when we are talking about adultery, when we are talking about destroying families, I feel like that needs a wake up message. I feel like that needs a get it going, that kind of a message.

I can’t do it any other way. I don’t know how to do it any other way. When Paul says we have got fear of God, he is concerned that some day he is going to stand before a holy and righteous God and account for his life. He has got to account for his life, folks. Yes, his sins are forgiven. That is a true statement. Be he still knows that he is going to account for his life, the choices he made, the priorities he made, the sacrifices he made. He is going to account for that. And so he says, “We persuade me.”

So I am not the leader. You are the leaders, but let me just talk to the counselors for just a minute. When Monday afternoon happens isn’t that when they come, Mondays? Those campers come piling off the bus. That is your objective right there. You are there to persuade men and women. That is it. You are not there to entertain them. You are there to persuade them. You want to persuade them to the truth. You want to passionately persuade them to the truth. That is the goal. If I didn’t think that you weren’t committed to that I wouldn’t support the ministry. I wouldn’t love you guys the way I do. I am crazy about Anchorage. I am crazy about the entire ministry, because I believe that for 12 weeks, the whole summer and the other parts of the year you are committed to persuading men and women, boys and girls to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And Berean Baptist Church is not going to partner with anyone that isn’t committed to that. We are not going to partner with anyone that is not committed to that.

Look at verse number 14 please. Fourteen in your own Bibles, look at it wit me.

“For the love of Christ constraineth us.”

It grabs a hold of me. It takes control of me. Not the wrath of God. I am beyond that. I have been freed from that. Now the love of Christ, the love that Christ bestowed on me, the love that I have for him. That love grabs a hold of my hand. It grabs a hold of my arm. It grabs a hold of my arms. It constrains me. Why?

“Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

So you don’t live for yourself anymore. You don’t live for yourself anymore. You don’t live for your children. You don’t live for your wife. You live for him and him alone. You don’t live for the United States army. You don’t live for the corporate dollar. You don’t live for the state. You live for him and him alone. He constrains you. He controls you. Every decision you make is based on what would you have me to do, Lord. You are not concerned about what you want to do in life, you are concerned about what he has for you to do, not what college do I want to go to, but where would you have me to go to college, Lord. Not what occupation do I want, but what occupation do you want me to have, Lord. Not what wife do I want to marry, but what wife do you want me to marry. Not who do I want to date, but who do you want me to date, God, because you get a hold of every aspect of my life.

Will that change you? Yeah. It radically changed Paul. It radically changed Paul. So the gospel is supposed to impact my current life. I no longer live for myself. I live for him. Who died and reconciled me.

Verse numbers 17.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

So verse 18, now we get to it. Here it is.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us...” , us, folks, not the preacher, not the deacons, not the Sunday school teachers, us, us, the entire body of Christ. We all have a ministry of reconciliation, all of us, the entire Church has a ministry of reconciliation, not those you only have a spiritual gift of evangelism. No, that is not what Paul says. Paul said everybody has a ministry of reconciliation.

Verse number 19 says, look at it closely please, not only do we have a ministry of reconciliation, we have a word of reconciliation. Our message is one reconciliation.

Verse 20 says we go forward with a message of, “Be ye reconciled to God.”

Be reconciled. Be reconciled. Be restored. And so our message is not pray this prayer to avoid hell. Our message is not an intellectual assent to the existence of Christ. Our message is not bring your sins up to this bar and exchange them for a [?]. Our message is not a health and welfare gospel. That is not our message.

Maybe you don’t understand what I mean, so let me give you a similar illustration. What would do you about a guy who said, “You know what? I don’t want to be by myself when I am old and gray so I am going to go find me a wife”?

What would you do with a guy who said, “You know what? I am tired of doing my own laundry and I would really like somebody to cook for me so I am going to go find me a wife”?

What would you think about that idea?

You say, “That is ridiculous. That is not why you get married.” You say, “That is ridiculous. Preacher, you get married because you love somebody and you adore them and you want to spend the rest of your life with them.”

Well, that is the gospel message. The gospel message is it is time to stop adoring yourself and start adoring the Creator God of the universe. The gospel message is now it is time to start serving God and God alone. We don’t come from a message of get out of hell and go back to your own life living it any way you want. That is not our message. Our message is it is time to be reconciled to God. You have been living for yourself long enough. It is time to restore your relationship with God.

And so our message of reconciliation comes from Acts 20:21 in which it requires repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every single counselor has to talk about repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the true gospel. That is the only gospel, repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot waiver from that. That is the message that the apostles gave and we must continue to preach that message.

God is not reconciling people to himself so that they do not go to hell. He is restoring them to a place of harmony and friendship with himself so they might glorify his name and that people who are righteous and are being made righteous by the sanctifying grace of God. That is why we are saved, to glorify his holy name. And we do that through holy living, folks.

Look at verse number 21 in 2 Corinthians and then we will flip over and compare it to Colossians one. Look at what he says. Look what he says, folks.

He says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Now turn back to Colossians 1:22 and look what he says there and we will wrap it up. Look at what he says, folks. Three things. Why?

“Why does he reconcile us, pastor? Why is it so important that we are reconciled? Why doesn’t justification sufficient? Why does he reconcile us? Why does he redeem us? Why does he do all that for us?”

So that he can present us “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

That is why. That is why.

So the message is you are in darkness and he delivered you to light. The message is you are a sinner and he took the righteousness of the Son and put it on your account. The message is you were enslaved and he bought you off of the block. The message is you were way out there and he set you apart. The message is you were alienated from God and he took that enmity and he got it out of the way and he said, “Let’s go. Let’s get the friendship back in place.”

He is literally moving us back to a pre fall day. He wants to walk and talk with you in the cool of the garden. He wants to have an intimate, personal, close relationship with you. He wants you to get up in the morning and start your devotion time out with a close and personal time.

God, I just want to be close to you. And he says, “Not only have I justified you, not only have I redeemed you, not only have I delivered you out of darkness, but I have reconciled the harmony that is supposed to be there so that we can have a friendship.”

This is what you have got going on. You have go the judge of the county. You have go the judge of the county forgiving your debt and inviting you over to his house for a barbeque.

And you go, “Man, you are just the judge that forgave my sins.”

Yeah. Not only am I going to forgive them. Come on over. Let’s grill some burgers together. Let’s sit by the patio and enjoy some friendship together. Let’s get close and personal. I want you to know me. Not way out there distant, not far, far away, not unbelievably amazing and I can’t even fathom. No. I am going to come in with you and sup with you and be with you. I am going to fill you with my Spirit so that you can have a close and intimate relationship with the God of the universe.”

Now do you see why it is so important for us to preach a ministry of reconciliation? How awesome that is.

All right, all right. Let’s go to our closing slide.

So let’s wrap it up with what is the application of this. What is the application to God’s people in the 21st century?

Number one, we go with the message that is so awesome. The Mormons don’t have the message. The Jehovah Witnesses don’t have this message. Buddhists don’t have this message. Muslims don’t have this message. Nobody has a message of reconciliation like we do. Nobody does. Nobody talks about the intimacy that the Word of God communicates. Nobody talks about being filled with the Spirit of God and having a close and personal relationship with the creator God of the universe. No one talks about that. Christianity is alone in that teaching. Christianity is alone in communicating that you can have a personal relationship with the sovereign God of the universe.

And then let’s take it real personal and then we will be done.

How in the world could any of us not be reconciled one to another? How could any of us... listen to me very closely, please. Listen, please. How could any of us not be reconciled one to another?

Aaron, how is it that maybe I come to camp and we have a falling out for whatever reason, but you have been reconciled to God and I have been reconciled to God. How could it be that I enjoy reconciliation with God the Father and you, my brother, enjoy reconciliation with God the Father, but you and I we can’t be reconciled? How could that be? You are a new creature in Christ. I am a new creature in Christ. I have been reconciled. You have been reconciled. How in the world could we hold any animosity towards each other insomuch as we love the reconciliation that God the Father has done for us through Christ?

Counselors, are you getting it? Because listen to me very closely. The children and the teenagers that you counsel with need to be reconciled to somebody. I promise you, if they are hurting, if they are distraught, if they are in rebellion, if they are having difficulties there is somebody that they need to be reconciled to. Often it is going to be a mother or a father. Often it is going to be the authority figure in their life. So once you get this reconciliation done, you have got to start working that lateral reconciliation.

Who do you need to forgive? Who do you need to forgive?

Again, let’s make it real intimate. Let’s make it real personal, brother Bill. How could a husband who loves Jesus and a wife who loves Jesus have irreconcilable differences between them? It should never happen, folks. It should never ever. How in the world would a marriage end up in divorce if the father has been reconciled and the mother has been reconciled? How in the world would a marriage end up in divorce if the father has been reconciled, the husband is reconciled and the wife has been reconciled? How in the world would anyone justify their refusal to be reconciled to another human being when they enjoy the reconciliation that the Father has provided?

That should never ever happen in the body of Christ. And when two Christians are refusing to be reconciled, when two counselors are refusing to be reconciled, when two students are refusing to be reconciled, that is sin, sin which must be confronted and dealt with through the what? Though the power of the gospel. The same gospel that saves a soul from hell is the same gospel that has the power to reconcile two individuals who believe they have irreconcilable differences.

Let’s pray.

Ten Suggestions for 2011 from Andy Webb

2011-01-04T11:49:00.000-05:00

1) Read Your Bible Before you read your email, log in to Face Book, turn on the radio, etc.

Far too many of us spend time in the world, before we spend time in the Word and as a result we begin the day with the wrong frame of mind and perspective, and not having "broken our fast" by partaking of the bread of heaven. For many people, this means that they begin the day having partaken of things that cause them to be irritable, anxious, or distracted, rather than filled with the things that promote peace, contentment, and knowledge. If we wonder why we are weak in the faith, it might just be because our primary diet consists of things that are not spiritual food. Let your first meal in the morning be the milk and meat of the Word of God!

"Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation." (Psalm 119:97-99)

2) Start attending the church events you normally miss

If there is one thing we learn from the Apostolic church, it is that they never missed an opportunity to worship together. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) This should still be the fondest desire of every Christian’s heart. "I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1) But it is also something that we desperately need for our growth. Indeed, the Christians who are growing the most in the faith are almost invariably the ones who spend the most time in worship and study. Sometimes people really are providentially hindered from attending the services of the church, but more often than not we have simply made a decision not to go. There are many excuses we can generate for not coming to both worship services on Sunday or the Bible Study or the Prayer Meeting, but how often can we honestly say, "Lord, the thing that I am doing instead of going to church is more important than worshipping you with the saints and is better for my spiritual growth?" Do we really think that the eternal blessings that we gain from attending on the means of grace will not outweigh the temporary hassles of traveling to church? Do we expect that in heaven we will say, "I'm glad I didn't go to church more often?" or that if we did attend all the church services we could that we will regret doing so?

Finally, before you protest that you would be physically exhausted if you attended more of the services of the church, make sure that there aren't other activities you could cut out that would enable you to get more rest. Often church is the first thing we remove from our schedule rather than the last. Christians are by definition people who hope to spend eternity in the corporate worship of the Lord, and we need to begin living now as we mean to continue forever afterwards. Remember, we can suffer from a lack of grace, but it is impossible to suffer from having gotten too much of it!

"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb. 10:25)

3) Begin and Stick to a Pattern of Daily Family Worship

Properly understood there are three different spheres in which worship should take place; privately, as we do our personal devotions, corporately, as we assemble for worship with the other saints on the Lord's Day, and household, as families assemble to worship together on a daily basis.

While all the different spheres of worship have declined in modern times, perhaps none has suffered quite so much as family worship, and I believe that the results of this decline can be seen in the exodus of covenant children from the church. Simply put, an hour of corporate worship or even an hour of corporate worship and a youth program like AWANA cannot ever replace daily household worship and instruction. Fathers, you and not your pastor, youth pastor, or Sunday school worker have been charged with bringing up your children in the training and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). You simply cannot do this without following that daily pattern of instruction and worship set out in Deuteronomy 6. Additionally, Family Worship is a bulwark of any marriage, and you will find that although it is a cliche, there is a LOT of truth to the saying "The Family that Prays Together, Stays Together." Indeed, it isn't surprising to see that as family worship has declined, divorce rates have increased. In 10 years of pastoring, I have yet to encounter a family that kept a regular pattern of daily family worship that was on the verge of divorce.

Many families are intimidated by the thought of starting a pattern of family worship because they were not brought up doing it themselves, and were thus never taught how to worship at home. The keys to starting off a successful program of family worship are simplicity and consistency. If you have never done it before, I would recommend you start this way.

First, pick an event that the entire family already does together, such as eating a meal like then covenant that as soon as you have finished your meal you will assemble together for family worship. Keep your family worship simple and brief, and make your family wish there were more of it rather than wish that it would finally end. A sample pattern for worship might include:
Father or Mother Prays
Father reads a short selection from the Bible (no more than a chapter!) that he is familiar with and can explain, or from a good family devotional like the ones written by Jim Cromarty.
Father explains the text and asks the children some questions about the text designed to stimulate thought and conversation
The family closes by praying together and offering up their individual praises and requests to God
Later, after your worship has grown consistent, you can begin gradually adding in other items like singing and reciting the Shorter Catechism, Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, etc.

"We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments" (Psalm 78:4-7)

4) Start Reading Systematically Through the Bible

One of the trends that has emerged over the years is that while Christians read email, text messages, magazines, novels, and Facebook, they rarely read the bible. The bible reading that does go on is either needs based (I have to read this for a bible study) or random. The result of this is that bible knowledge amongst Christians is declining at a precipitous rate. As an example of that, one seminary president pointed out that while it used to be the case that only 1/3 of the incoming class failed the English bible exam, now only 1/3 of the incoming class pass the English bible exam. It should shock us that the majority of future pastors begin their training without a firm grasp of the content of the bible, but it should be even more distressing when we consider that these men usually represent the most biblically astute members of the church.

A failure to read systematically through the bible also tends to generate an atomistic understanding of verses. We may be familiar with what a particular verse says, but we are not aware of its context or its connection to the rest of scripture. This often leads to serious theological error. It also often means we fail to recognize the progressive nature of revelation in the bible.

Instead, find a bible reading plan such as McCheyne’s and read through entire books in BOTH the Old and the New Testaments. Even if you don’t want to begin a bible reading plan, at least begin a process whereby you select books of the bible and read them rather than merely letting your bible fall open at random.

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

5) Read at Least Two Christian Biographies this Year

Few things are as informative and encouraging as the biographies of great Christians. Through them, we learn that the God who equipped and sustained the Christians of the bible is still raising up ordinary men and women like ourselves to go out and do extraordinary things for his kingdom. These biographies are packed full of practical Christian wisdom that would take us a lifetime or possibly several lifetimes to learn ourselves. My own testimony is that other than the bible, no other kind of book, has taught me as much as biographies about the Christian faith and I include systematic theologies in that statement!

If you have never read Christian biographies before, I would recommend getting started with the excellent collections of short biographies written by Faith Cook.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1)

6) Start Keeping a Prayer Log

We are told and shown again and again how powerful prayer is and encouraged with statements like “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” to be often in prayer for one another and yet many Christians have great difficulty praying on a regular basis, and many do not know what to pray for or doubt the efficacy of their prayers when they do. Other times we simply forget the things that we have said we will pray for.

Most of these problems will be immediately eliminated if you simply begin to record the things that you should be praying for, and then also record the way in which God answers your prayer. This will also help you to become consistent in your prayers. I would recommend you use an organizer, or a notebook, or your computer to start listing the things you are praying for and the way in which God answers those prayers.

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'” Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” (Luke 18:1-7)

7) Start Meeting for Fellowship and Accountability with Other Christians

One of the reasons we often wither in the faith, become susceptible to temptation, or simply “get into a rut” is a lack of regular fellowship with Christians outside of our own family. Make it your habit to meet with Christians, of the same sex, for regular fellowship and seek out Christians who are further along in their walk to be your mentors. Often in scriptures like Titus 2 we see it taken for granted that older Christian women will mentor younger Christian women, and that older Christian men will mentor younger Christian men. These brothers and sisters will pray for you, exhort you, teach you, and stir you up to love and good works. They will also keep you accountable in ways the world NEVER will.

"but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." (Heb. 3:13)

8 ) Begin Reading About and Praying for the Persecuted Church

From time to time most of us will grumble about our lot in life and frankly be discontent about our circumstances. We will condemn anything the causes an uncomfortable change in our lives as “unfair” and our three great enemies the world, the flesh, and the devil can use these practices to cause harm to us and those around us. This is usually the result of making a habit of comparing ourselves to ourselves, or perhaps those whom we perceive to be in even more agreeable circumstances than we are. When, however, we are well acquainted with what our brothers and sisters are enduring for the faith in Islamic or Communist nations, we will quickly realize that our own circumstances are almost ideal by comparison. One Indian pastor I spoke with openly wondered how one could even preach the gospel in the midst of so much material wealth. His own congregation worshipped in a cinder block building with a corrugated metal roof and no air-conditioning. No one in his entire congregation owned a refrigerator, and the idea of being able to have flush toilets and clean hot and cold water coming out of taps in your own room was unheard of. What we take for granted, they considered to be like living in heaven already.

Also, if we consider what our brothers and sisters in Christ have to endure, we will recognize that Paul’s statement that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12) remains true. Indeed, our own faith may be strengthened by the fact that the Lord who sustains persecuted Christians in the midst of so much tribulation is the same God who has promised never to leave or forsake us as well.

Above all, we should be praying for the persecuted because we are commanded to do so, and if the circumstances were reversed and we were the ones being attacked or imprisoned for our faith, we would want to know that no matter how bad things were, other Christians were praying for us!

"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them -- those who are mistreated -- since you yourselves are in the body also." (Heb. 13:3)

9) Start Praying that the Lord Would Give you Opportunities to Share Your Faith With Others

The results of Barna polls conducted in 2010 suggested that American evangelicals are becoming less evangelism oriented than ever, and “less inclined to discuss Christianity with their friends than was true in the past.” This is tragic for two reasons, first, because sharing the faith is one of the primary ways our own faith grows and is strengthened, and second because this is and always has been one of the primary ways that God uses to spread the gospel, even in times of persecution. “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4)

Make it your aim to pray that the Lord would not only give you opportunities to talk about Christianity, but that when those opportunities arise, you would take advantage of them. In order to encourage you to do that, I want to share with you an exhortation that Charles Haddon Spurgeon delivered to the members of his own church on May 1, 1870:

“If you have found mercy, you ought to praise God and tell others, so that they may believe and in their turn lead others to Jesus. This is the way the kingdom of God grows. I am afraid you are guilty here. See to it, dear ones, and who can tell of what use you yet may be? There was a dear servant of Christ who was just on the verge of the grave, very old and ill, frequently delirious. The doctors said no one must go into the chamber except the nurse. A little Sunday–school boy, who was rather curious, peeped in at the door to look at the minister. The poor dying servant of God saw him, and the ruling passion was strong even in death. He called him. “David,” said he, “did you ever close in with Christ? I have done so many a time, and I long that you may.” Fifty years later, that boy was living and bearing testimony that the dying words of the good man had brought him to Jesus, for by them he was led to seek Christ.

You do not know what a word might do if you would but speak it. Do not keep back the good news that might bring salvation to your wife, to your husband, to your child, to your servant. If you have indeed felt the Lord’s anger pass away from you, right now, on your knees repeat this vow, “My God, I will praise You! I have been a sluggard. I have been very silent about You. I am afraid I have not given You of my substance as I ought. I am sure I have not given You of my heart as I should. But oh, forgive the past, and accept your poor servant yet again. Then ‘I will praise thee; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and you comfortedst me.’”

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" (1 Peter 3:15)

10) Don't Do Anything You Couldn't Ask the Lord to Bless in Prayer!

Many years ago, an evangelist by the name of Brownlow North wrote the following simple but helpful rule for Christians: “If you are in doubt as to a thing being right or wrong, go to your room and kneel down and ask God’s blessing on it. (Col. 3:17). If you cannot do this, it is wrong. (Roms. 16:23).”

Sometimes we will have difficult decisions to make over issues that even sincere Christians disagree upon, but more often than not, the word of God contains explicit advice on the subject, but we would rather not follow it. For instance, we can be assured that whenever our action will clearly cause us to violate one of the Ten Commandments, it is wrong. If it is not of faith, it is sin, and if God wouldn’t bless it, you shouldn’t be doing it!

"And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col. 3:17)

http://biblebased.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/ten-suggestions-to-help-you-grow-in-grace-and-knowledge-in-the-new-year/

Think of America--A Song of Moses

2010-12-05T06:43:00.002-05:00

This is the Song of Moses. The target audience is Israel. God's chosen people. Initially Moses is the speaker but it switches to the Lord. Pay attention to the transitions and ask yourself why would America be except of impending judgment. Enjoy the Word of the Lord.

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and like showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
ascribe greatness to our God!

4 “The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
they are a crooked and twisted generation.
6 Do you thus repay the LORD,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
9 But the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.

10 “He found him in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 the LORD alone guided him,
no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the land,
and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,
and oil out of the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
with the very finest of the wheat—
and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

15 “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;
you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
then he forsook God who made him
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 “The LORD saw it and spurned them,
because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have made me jealous with what is no god;
they have provoked me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 “ ‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
I will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured by plague
and poisonous pestilence;
I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.
25 Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
I will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,
it was not the LORD who did all this.” ’

28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
and there is no understanding in them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand this;
they would discern their latter end!
30 How could one have chased a thousand,
and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the LORD had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock;
our enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of serpents
and the cruel venom of asps.

34 “ ‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
sealed up in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
let them be your protection!

39 “ ‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I sharpen my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people’s land.”

44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

Deut 32

Candidates to Deacons

2010-11-24T06:58:00.001-05:00

This post was written for the BBC website.

http://www.bbcfnc.org/deacons.php.

The purpose of the following paragraphs is to explain the mechanics of how men come to serve as deacons at Berean Baptist Church. (Many churches do it differently.) Once or twice a year a request is made to the congregation to nominate men to serve as deacons. Candidates must be men who have already shown they have a servant’s heart and meet the biblical qualifications of a deacon (1 Tim 3:8-13). These names are submitted on a note during the offering or turned in to one of the current deacons. The names are collected by the deacons and the pastors review the list. In those cases where a candidate has previously communicated a disqualifier to a pastor, he is not sent an invitation. All other candidates are mailed an invitation to download a deacon questionnaire from this webpage and return it by a specific date.

Once the candidate returns his questionnaire to a pastor or deacon, it is first reviewed by the pastors and then the deacon board. If the deacons and pastors are supportive of the recommendations from the congregation, the candidate’s names are presented for a vote on a secret ballot. (If there is an issue with a candidate the pastors and deacons will collectively discuss the issue and come to an agreement on the best course of action on a case by case basis.) Normally, the church will be notified who is being presented for a vote about two weeks before the member’s meeting when the vote will take place. Members may vote up or down on as many or few candidates as they choose. After the church votes, the deacons collect the ballots and tally the results. Candidates must receive an affirmative vote from the majority of the ballots that are turned in from the members at the member’s meeting (i.e. if 100 ballots are collected by the deacons a candidate must receive 51 yes votes to be approved). The chairman of the deacons will oversee the tallying of the results. The church clerk is responsible for ensuring the results of the vote are recorded in the minutes for the member’s meeting. The chairman of deacons or church clerk will notify the church of the results of the vote by percentage at the member’s meeting.

A deacon’s term of service is three years. After a year of Sabbath former deacons may be nominated again for a subsequent 3 year term of service. The BBC Constitution does not limit the number of men who can serve as deacons. Every effort is made to allow an opportunity to all who have a desire to serve and meet the qualifications to serve the body of Christ. Candidates who have not been ordained as a deacon by the church will be ordained on a subsequent Sunday night service. The board of deacons nominates and approves its own leaders annually.

Dealing with the Non-Essentials in the Body of Christ

2010-11-23T13:55:00.001-05:00

October 31, 2010

Paul our author is writing to us. Let me stop and teach you something for just a second. It is really simple. Any time a preacher opens up the Word of God, let’s talk about what he is supposed to do so you know what right looks like everywhere you go. No matter whether you are visiting another church or whether you are here. This is what right looks like. Who is the author? Who is he writing to? When did he write it? What did he mean when he was writing to that audience? You have to figure that out every time. You need to know that every time. Once you figure out what he meant when he was writing to the original audience in the context that he wrote, then and only then can you grab that truth and move it forward into the 21st century. So listen, when you are visiting other churches, or you are a guest here, or you listen to your preacher back home, or you are on the Internet, or you are flipping through the television channels, look very closely to make sure he is doing that. Is he saying what did it mean then? What does it mean now? What is the application today? This is the truth to the audience, to the Israelites. That is what we are going to do by the grace of God.

Romans 14:1-12
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let him that eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who are thou that judgest one another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yeah, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above antoehr: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be full persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. By why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why doest thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himslef to God.

Let me give you a warning: first of all, the twelve verses contain far too many truths for us to deal with in only one week. So we will have to, for lack of better words, re-attack this passage in the weeks to come.

Here is the background. Paul is the author. There is a group of believers there and they have an issue. We could take this congregation and divide it up. We could call one group Group A, and call this one over here Group B. At Rome there were Jewish Christians who were reluctant to give up certain ceremonial aspects of their religious heritage. They were uncertain about how faith in Christ affected the status of Old Testament regulations. Others embraced the new freedom in Christ unencumbered by an overly sensitive regard for the past. Group A has grown up in Judaism your entire life. You are raised under the law. You know about the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Sacrifices, the Passover and all those things. Group B are Gentiles who came to Christ as adults. You don’t have all the Jewish baggage that this group has. You have never been to the Temple. You don’t know about all this Torah stuff and keeping the law. You came to Christ and you are thrilled that Christ delivered you from your sin. This group, according to Paul, is struggling. They were uncertain about how faith in Christ affected the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, Sacrifices, and all kinds of stuff like that. You are not eating any unclean meat. You are adhering to the dietary laws of the Bible. This group over here, you are pork eaters, bacon eaters, you have it in the morning with your eggs, you put bacon bits on your salad, your arteries are clogging even as you are sitting there, the amount of sausage that you consume, you are gaining weight. You got it?

What I want to do is use these two terms all morning: essential and a non-essential. An essential element to a truck is a transmission. It is a set of wheels. It is a steering wheel. It is a cargo bed. You have to have these to have a truck. No cargo bed, no truck. No wheels, it’s not much of a truck if you can’t move it around. No transmission, the wheels are not turning. No engine, no movement. These are essentials of the Christian faith. Things like “Jesus is the Son of God” are essential to the Christian faith. Things like God the Father sent the Son. That is essential. We are saved by grace. That is essential.

Let’s talk about non-essentials to the faith. Air conditioning is non-essential. Now some of you ladies are thinking, no Preacher, that is an essential, that is only because of your make up. If there was no makeup you would not worry about it sweating off. Another non-essential is leather. You don’t have to have leather seats. How many of you can remember the old pick-up trucks that had a vinyl bench in them? That is all it had. You just need a place to sit. It doesn’t need to be comfortable. You just have to have something to sit on and grab a hold of the steering wheel. A c.d. player is non-essential. Nowadays the Cadillac has a 6-disk player, drop down screens—those are all non-essentials.

Here is the non-essential issue. Back then Paul was writing to the church at Rome, the question was, what role do the Jewish food laws have in the life of a Christian in the New Covenant? You’re a Jew. You have been delivered from the Old Covenant and brought into the New Covenant. What do I do with all this all this old baggage? Not eating unclean foods and all that kind of stuff. Some of those in Group A were holding on to it. Group B said we are in the New Covenant; all that stuff is past and we can eat what we want. Paul told us in Romans 6 that they are not under the law; you don’t live under the Mosaic Law. You don’t have to go to the Tabernacle. You don’t have to go to the Temple. You don’t have to offer sacrifices. You are not under the law. In fact in Matthew 15:11, Christ doesn’t endorse dietary laws. Look at the verse with me. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Eating doesn’t defile you. Now it may make you gain weight, but that is different than defiling. Defiling is referring to sin. When He made that statement, He was giving us freedom when it comes to eating. He was releasing us from the bondage of no pork. You just eat it. If you enjoy snake, eat snake. Give thanks and enjoy it.

So then the question comes to us, what was the point of the law then? Why did God give us the law if He was just going to release us from it? Galatians 3:24-25 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Another rendering is our tutor, or our guardian. Here let me explain this to you. The law comes along side you and grabs you. The law is a schoolmaster. The law is a tutor. The law is a guardian. And I look at that tutor, I look at that schoolmaster and I say “I don’t measure up”. How do I measure up? I fail. I fail again. And the schoolmaster says you are right. You are right again. Now, let’s go get a solution, and he carries me to Jesus. That is why after the death, burial and resurrection He took them to the Old Testament and He unpacked the law showing them Hey, here I am on this page. Here I am over here. Look at this sacrifice right here. That is me. Look at this fulfillment of prophesy. That is me. The law, the Torah, is our schoolmaster. It is our tutor. It is our guardian and it takes us to Christ. We don’t read the law to put ourselves under bondage. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The objective of reading the law is not so that you become so miserable. It is to remind yourself of how awesome it is to have your sins forgiven and what Christ did on the cross for you.

Group A attempts to keep the dietary laws of the old covenant. Group B is not concerned. So we are going to call this group vegetarians. Just for the moment of this sermon; you are released from this at noon. Group B over here you are the libertarians, not the political party, but you have lots of liberty in Christ and you love that liberty and you embrace it. This is what Paul says to the church and he could write to us today. He could write to us right now. He could say, I want to speak to Berean Baptist Church. I want this letter read at the next assembly. This is what he would say.

Concerning Group A, who is weak in the faith, welcome them. So all of you over here, welcome Group A into the congregation. Embrace them. Sit next to them. Invite them out to lunch. Come to Sunday school class. Welcome them. But do not quarrel over opinions. Receive them. Welcome them. Embrace them. Fill your church with them. Paul knew that a divide was happening in Rome. No doubt he was writing for a specific issue. No doubt the church was beginning to split in Rome. And the group that kept the dietary laws was assembling and the group that didn’t and these groups were not welcome one to another. So he says, Hey, listen Group B when they come through your doors, you welcome them into the assembly and you embrace them into the assembly. You get to know their names. And you are not doing this to bring them over to your side. That is not what you are doing. You are not engaging them for a relationship to win them over to become libertarian. If they don’t want to eat meat, there is more for you. You don’t worry about it.

Here is Paul’s message to us in the year 2010. Listen, this is so important for everyone at Berean Baptist Church to get this. The non-essentials of the faith must not have any bearing on who is welcome into this church and who isn’t. The non-essentials. No one ever gets looked down upon because they don’t measure up to what our perceived higher standard is. No one ever gets looked down upon for whatever our perceived liberty in Christ is, that they chose not to have that liberty for whatever reason and we look over there with our self-righteous pungent nose and we say I can’t believe you are not embracing the liberty. Or from this side we say, Oh, I can’t believe you are taking advantage of the liberty you have in Christ. That is so repulsive. And we say “I can’t believe you are sticking to the Old Testament Torah like that”. Don’t you understand that Christ died to set you free? And both groups are despising each other from a different perspective. Do you understand it?

Let me use this analogy. Picture a Toyota Tacoma truck. It is a great truck. Someday I am going to have one. There is an essential to the truck—the wheels. That cargo bed is an essential to the truck. That rack is a non-essential. You don’t need a rack to have a truck. You don’t need those stickers to have a truck. You don’t even need a bumper to have a truck. I remember the first Toyota I bought didn’t even have a bumper. A bumper was an option back then. How many of you can remember when bumpers where options? Doors, two doors or four doors or a cab, those are all non-essentials. You just have to have a way into the truck. These accessories so that you can roll down the window and stay dry, the type of rims you can have spray painted silver or you can have thousand dollar rims with those little tiny wheels that kind of look a little ridiculous. Preacher, we are not concerned about trucks.

Alright. We are not. These are the non-essentials that the church is battling with today: Music, Bible Translations, Pants on Ladies, October 31st, Christmas Trees, Alcohol in moderation, Dress on Sunday mornings, with a tie or more casual. Those are the non-essential issue that we are battling. Let’s remember none of these things impact salvation by grace. None of these impact the deity of Christ. None of these impact whether we are a Baptist church or not. These have nothing to do with the essential core elements of Christianity. According to Paul, Berean Baptist Church must not have the goal of filling the church only with those who agree on the non-essentials. Let me break this down so you all understand because this is relevant. This is relevant for our church for years to come. We are not trying to create cookie cutter members who all listen to the same music, carry the same Bible, buy the same shirts, always wear that, don’t wear that, do the same thing on October 31st, no one has a Christmas tree in their house. We are not trying to do that. In the exact same way that we want to make sure that we have blacks, whites, Hispanics, Koreans, and every nationality in the congregation, we also want to make sure that we respect individual differences have on the non-essentials of the faith. So, you and I can have a difference of understanding on any of those topics and you are welcomed and embraced and received into this church as a member and as a fellow brother in Christ. That is the message. No one is made to feel like a second class citizen because they don’t measure up to whatever we have determined in our own mind as Group A or Group B. No one is made to feel like a second class citizen because they are not wearing a tie or they are wearing a tie or because they have pants on or they don’t have pants on or because they went to the concert last night or they didn’t go to the concert last night. Or they sent Johnny out to the festivities or they didn’t send him.

Please look at verses 2 and 3. Group B believes they can eat off things. Group A only eats vegetables. Let not Group B despise Group A and let not Group A judge Group B. Make sure that is not happening. For who art thou that judges another man’s servant? Who made you the pope of the church? Who made you the bishop of the Sunday school class? Who elevated you to that position? Notice what it says, He stands or falls yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. Then someone says, that means we are not going to do any judging in the body of Christ. No one ever corrects anyone. No. That is not the case at all.

Galatians 6:1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So what we have to decide in the body of Christ every time is if this is essential or if it is non-essential. If it is an essential of the faith, then I am going to go to you. We are going to quarrel about this. We are going to have words about this. You cannot leave your wife. You are called to be a husband. That is essential. You cannot say to me that I feel the Lord leading me to abandon my family. No, that is not a non-essential of the faith. I am going to come to you and say, No, you are in a fault. You are in a transgression. You are called to remain faithful to your wife until death do you part, and I need to encourage you to remain faithful. Why? Essentials of the faith must be confronted. You cannot depart into unorthodox doctrine. If anyone in this church starts teaching that Jesus is already coming again and we are living in the millennial kingdom, you are going to be corrected because an essential of the faith is that Christ is coming again. He has not already come. But if someone says, Hey, I went to that concert last night and another one says I can’t believe you went to that concert last night. Wait a minute. Are you entering into Group A judging Group B?

Every time the issue becomes is this essential or non-essential? We are not going to allow something to come into this church and split us over something that is called an essential of the faith. Paul talked about that with wolves in sheep’s clothing. But wait a minute; if you have a preference of music that is different than my preference of music, then we are going to respect each others’ differences.

Here are the non-essentials. One person feels the liberty to read other Bible translation; another limits himself to the King James Version. Now that is a real thing that the church is battling in America and normally only in Baptist churches. If you find yourself in Group A or Group B, you are not to go around as the translation police trying to fix everyone. You’re not looking for someone who is carrying something other than what you are carrying and then beginning to create within the congregation two groups—Group A and Group B and your job is to sway all of them into your camp. You are not to do that.

What are you to do? Look at what verse one says. You welcome them. The word literally means not for scrutinizing of thoughts, not with searching out and pronouncing judgment on their opinions. If they say to you, Hey, why do you read that translation? Answer their question. That is a realistic question. If they ask why do you limit yourself? Tell them, I have some concerns with some of the ways the modern translations are removing some stuff, so this is my preference. And then let it go at that. Your job is not to convert them to your side. You let them make up their own opinion. Tell them why you believe what you believe. Tell them why you make the decisions you make. Tell them your logic. Tell them the Scriptures that you use. But in the end, you don’t judge them.

Group A doesn’t invite them to their Bible study only to ambush them at the Bible study. Hey man, I sure would like for you to come to the men’s Bible study and then the men’s Bible study is set out to have an ambush on why you shouldn’t be using that translation. That is not what we are supposed to be doing. You welcome him because he is a brother in Christ.

Instead, look at verse four. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. May I remind you that the preacher is not the master of the congregation? We have far too many Baptist preachers who are assuming popish roles in the congregation and their job is to get everyone conformed to their image using their own personal preferences. That is wrong. I make up my own standards for my family and you make up yours for your family. And we are to respect our differences.

Scenerio #2 is that Group A keeps all the Jewish laws and festivals and Group B views all days the same. One group is living back in the Feast of the Tabernacle and Passover. The other says that is all gone. We ought to respect the differences.

Let’s make it modern. Let’s bring it to the 21st century. Let’s make it relevant today. There are three groups in the church. Group A are home school. You love home schooling and you have embraced it for your life. This group over here is Group B and you chose private school. Group C over here, you guys are choosing public education for your children. Those are three relevant groups in the church. Let’s make sure that in Berean Baptist Church that there is never a time that one group is despising another group for the choice that they make for their family. Please listen to me. This is so important. If you are in the nursery, if you are in AWANA, if you are in the hallways, if you are at a Bible study, or the narthex or the coffee shop, and you are talking about and you say, I can’t believe they send their kids to and fill in the blank. I can’t believe they are sheltering their kids. I can’t believe this. Who in the world would send their child to Jack Britt? Or the reverse is why would you want to shelter your child in a private school? If you are talking that way in the church, you are ignoring what Paul tells us which is to welcome and receive each other to not quarrel.

Let me make it even more clear. If you are at dinner having a conversation about Group A, B or C because you are in one group and you don’t like what the other group is doing, you are sinning. You can talk in theory about one preference over another, but listen, when you are calling out families’ names and you are saying I can’t believe the Browns send their children there or I can’t believe the Smiths are going there. When you are calling out names, you are doing exactly what Paul says to the church at Rome which is not to do. You let every family make up their own mind for their children.

Let me give you three quick points of application. Number 1, all three groups should be welcomed into the church. We are not trying to create a church in which every single family sends their children to our little school. We are not trying to have a youth group in which if you don’t go to Berean Baptist Academy you are not welcomed because we are the in group. We wear the cool t-shirt, and you don’t. You go over there. That is not the way the youth group is supposed to be. The youth group is supposed to be filled with public school, private school and home school who are all brothers and sisters in Christ and respect each others’ differences. And if in our youth group, one group is despising another group or isolating from another group you are in fact disobeying what Paul tells us in Romans 14.

Number 2, there shouldn’t be anyone passing judgment, gossiping or quarrelling about any other group. If you are talking about Group A that went to the concert, and you can’t believe that they went to listen to that group, you are ignoring this. Now if you want to talk about why they are not in church, that is a different story. You shouldn’t go to a concert as your substitute for corporate worship. If it is out too late and you can’t get up, then don’t go to the concert. A Saturday night concert at the Crown coliseum does not constitute corporate worship in the body of Christ. It is an additional activity.

What about Number 3? Let’s look at the sentence in the verse. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. So number 1, respect our differences. Number 2, don’t quarrel. Number 3, you don’t embrace something because I said it. You embrace it because you have studied it through and you have prayed about it. You are fully convinced in your own mind. Why do you believe such and such? Well, the preacher believes it. No. Not because the preacher believes it. Not because the chaplain believes it. Not because John MacArthur believes it. No. That is not the reason to believe something. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Each group needs to fully convinced in his own mind.

According to Romans 13:5 you have a conscience. Make sure you are listening to your conscience. Group A says, Hey we give thanks, and regard the day; the other one does not and also he does it as an act of worship. Group B eats and thanks the Lord. Group A obstains. Both are doing it with a clear conscience before God.

Let’s make it relevant since it happens to be October 31. Group A abstains from trick or treating as an act of biblical separation from the world. Group B lets little Sally get dressed up and go around with her little plastic pumpkin and get some free candy because they are cheap skates and don’t want to buy Sally any candy themselves. Let every family be persuaded in their own minds. We are not to judge other families for what they did last night. We are not going around as the police going to get everyone doing the same thing on that day. Every family needs to be fully persuaded in their own mind. Now “fully persuaded” does not mean that Johnny wore you out and you succumbed to them. That is not fully persuaded. Can I go? Yes, just to shut you up. No, that is not fully persuaded. Fully persuaded is you work through it and you have make a decision for yourself.

Let me give you three quick keys. What do I do if I am not fully persuaded on an issue? Let me give you three quick keys. Number 1, consult with others. Let’s go back to home school, private school or public school. As a home school family, why do you home school? As a private school family why do you send them to private school? Ask another family, why do you send them to public school? Go around and ask. Is it a conviction or a preference? Is it a money issue? Why do you do what you do? Are there Bible verses that have led you toward that opinion? Then what are you going to do next? Study the Bible. Look at the Bible verse that they quoted. Do you see the same application for your family? Jeremiah 10 is the ridiculous text that talks about bowing before a tree and so a bunch of people have applied that to no Christmas trees. You open up Jeremiah 10 and by my own statement when I use the word ridiculous you can see I don’t believe that is what that means. But you open up the Word of God and you decide what does this mean for me and my family and then you pray about it.

Here is what I want to tell you at Berean Baptist Church. We are okay with diversity. Our goal is not to fill the church only with every single person that agrees with us. It is just the opposite. We want diversity in the body of Christ. We want some diversity. We are not looking for everyone to look like us, smell like us, walk like us. But wait a minute. This is so important. Let’s just say for the sake of discussion that people that drive trucks go to heaven and people who drive cars go to hell. What are you saying, Preacher? We are going to welcome people in that we want to see change. We want to see them change to Christ. That is the difference. You can have a difference in music, but you can’t have a difference in Christ. What I am showing you with this analogy, let’s just say for the sake of discussion, that people who drive trucks are followers of Christ and people who don’t drive trucks are various other sundries of nonbelievers. So if someone comes into our congregation driving a car, we are going to pray that the Lord would move them to become an owner of a truck. What do you mean? I mean to become a Christian. We are not going to just let Patrick sit in the congregation week after week as an unbeliever without being concerned. Wait a minute. If he wants to drive a Nissan Titan or a Toyota Tacoma or a Chevy or a Ford or a Honda or an old Dodge, that is his business as long as he is in Christ. We are going to pray for you and lead you and admonish you and encourage you to move from this side onto the side where there are followers of Christ. We don’t want you staying an unbeliever. We need you to come to Christ. Our desire is for you to repent and put your faith in Christ. Not to fix everything to get you lined up and look like us in every way. No. But we do want you to come to Christ.

We could say it like this. We want everyone to drive a truck, but we don’t want a parking lot full of black, Toyota Tacoma, 4x4 pick-up trucks with racks on it. We are not looking for someone to drive by our church and see every single person driving the exact same vehicle. We are not wanting someone to come into our congregation and notice that everyone dresses the exact same way, listens to the exact same music, and does the same things, and if you don’t conform to that, you sure are made to feel uncomfortable because we are all white in this church or we are all black in this church or we all carry this Bible in this church or we all listen to this music in this church or we all abstained on this day. No. We want some diversity in the body of Christ. Why? We want every person fully convinced in their own mind.

God Ordains the Governing Authorities in Our Life

2010-11-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Romans 13:1-4Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to them damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good workds but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the ministerof God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

What I want to teach you is how you should think about the governing authorities, how you should think about the President, how you should think about the governor, local government, state government, your parents, your boss at work, your commander. I want to teach you how to have a biblical worldview about these things. You either have a biblical world view - that means you think the way the Bible would have you think, or you have your own self world view, that is where you determine what you believe and don’t believe. I want to teach you what it is to have a biblical worldview about the governing authorities. I want to remind you that when Paul wrote to the church at Rome, this fellow, Nero was in charge. I want to remind you that Nero wasn’t a democratically emperor. I want to remind you that no one got to vote for him being in charge. I want to remind you that this is the guy who blamed the entire fire in Rome on the Christians even though they were just as innocent as can be he blamed the Christians for burning the city down and when that happened, a great persecution began against the Christians in Rome. So here is Paul writing to Christians in Rome and he saying, You obey these secular, pagan authority figures. You obey them. You do what they tell you to do. These who are not Christians, these who maybe you didn’t vote for, these who you don’t agree with, these governing authorities that you really don’t care too much for, you obey them. These heathens are ordained by God. I want you to understand how involved God is in your world. So many Christians think of God in a little church box. There is God, He’s over there in a little church box, has a little cute cross on it. When we are at church we will worship God, when we are done, we leave and go home, but God stays there. That is a little, small, wimpy kind of a God. That is not the God we are going to learn about today that governs the affairs of man.

The Greek word that is translated “ordained” in our King James Bible is instituted, it is established; it’s appointed. One of those four words is used to communicate this idea. So God establishes who the President of the United States is. God appoints the governor of North Carolina. God appoints these people into your lives. They are God-ordained authorities and for whatever time they are in authority they are ordained because God. They are not there because they ran a great campaign. It may be that a Sovereign God used a great campaign to get them elected. But we don’t have a situation where God is on the edge going, I wonder who is going to win down there. That is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible ordained this governing authority. He is in charge. He is Sovereign. Where did Paul get this understanding of the affairs of man? He got them from the 39 canonical books of the Old Testament. This is the foundation for your New Testament. A foundation is what you build upon. Our New Testament is build upon 39 books originally written in the Hebrew language. And they are the foundation. Everyone knows if you are going to build a large building you are going to need a deep, solid, wide, awesome, strong, well put together foundation. They are working at ground zero right now. That is actually a ramp, in order to build this great foundation. When you read your Old Testament you are reading foundational verses to teach you more about the New Testament. So let me show you this great verse.

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Mohammed is not a god. Buddha is not a god. There is one, true and living God. You say we have heard this before. Yes, you have and you are going to hear it again and again. According to my Bible, Deuteronomy teaches us that we are supposed to be teaching that to our children when they rise up, when they are walking and when they are sitting, they are supposed to be hearing all day long that there is one and only one God. And if you don’t hear this in church and you watch the news all week long you are going to get real confused. There is no one else like Me, and this is what I do: I declare the end from the beginning. That is pretty awesome. I would like to be able to declare the end from the beginning. We would win all soccer games if I could declare the end from the beginning. We would always win. We would win all the basketball games if I could declare the end from the beginning. I can’t do that. Only God can declare the end from the beginning. From even before the creation of the world He said that the end is going to look like that. I know what the end is going to look like and I know how we are going to get to that end. He says, From the ancient times the things that are not yet done. In the mind of God, they are done. The things, from our perspective that are not yet done. This is what I do. I declare the end from the beginning. And this is what He says: My counsel is going to stand. I will do everything that I want to do according to My pleasure. There is no one that stays the hand of God. There is no one that gets involved.

So in America uses or controls the vote to ordain the governing authorities. Now you vote and that is right and proper and we should vote. And you should vote as a Christian. You should use Christian values. But at the end of the day when we have all cast our vote, and the vote is tallied, God says, That is who is in charge and I put him there. We don’t determine that God lost on November 4th if our political persuasion did not get elected. God always wins. God won, is winning and will always win. He is never losing. God is orchestrating the affairs of men in a unique and spectacular way beyond our wildest comprehensions. That is what I want to cast the vision for.

Some suggest that God’s Sovereignty is a bi-product of His foreknowledge, but that is not what the Bible teaches. For example, Psalm 105:17 says, He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: to set the condition for Israel’s deliverance from famine. It doesn’t say God knew Joseph was going to end up there. The Bible says God sent Joseph. He was a sent one according to God’s sovereign authority. So if God’s sovereignty is based upon foreknowledge this verse would not work. We are not dealing with a God Who is a mathematician. We are not dealing with a God Who knows all the probability, lines them up and does statistical analysis of them to determine what is the most likely outcome? That is not our God. Our God declares the end from the beginning. Our God is orchestrating in the affairs of men in most miraculous way.

Now if your life is fine and things are going well for you, this is not too much. But I promise you when you hit that valley, and you are way down and life is really struggling for you, and you are in the valley you are going to need to know that He is still on the throne. You are going to need to know that He is still governing in the affairs of men. When you hit a valley, you need to know that He wasn’t off the throne, that He wasn’t absent, He wasn’t taking a nap. Consider this verse please. Isaiah 44:28, That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Cyrus. Not a prophet. Not a convert. Not a Jew. Not a Christian. A pagan of pagans, an idolater of idolaters, a proud, arrogant, world leader, and God says that Cyrus, that is my shepherd. We are not talking about a Christian, or someone who is born again. We are not talking about someone that worships Jehovah. That is now what we are saying. Church, we are saying a pagan of pagans and God says, that is My shepherd. He is going to do what I want him to do and this the most amazing thing that you need to understand. When he is doing it, he is going to think he is doing it. When he comes up with a good idea, he is going think that was his idea and it was a good idea. And he is not going to think that he was a puppet being orchestrated. But he is in a most amazing way. Because the Bible says, he is the one that will send him back to Jerusalem, he is the one that shall build the temple and to the foundation be laid. God is going to use him to get the Jews back to their land and to get the temple built.

Now, turn to Daniel 4, and I want to show you for the rest of our time an incredible chapter. I hope that you can get as excited about this chapter as I am because I am going to come unglued. This is an amazing chapter so I just want you to know ahead of time that the preacher came unglued. Now this is a great chapter. Every Christian needs to understand this chapter inside and out. Nebuchadnezzar is a legitimate Babylonian king. This is a rendition on perhaps the currency or some type of seal. We are not dealing with a biblical character. Remember we don’t have Bible over here and Western civilization over here. They are intertwined. Stop thinking that you are going to study the Bible and put it in an isolated box and then I am going to go over here and study Western civilization and now I am learning about something different. This is my Sunday School fairy land information over here and then this is the real stuff over here. Stop thinking that way. There is one historical narrative of world history and God has been in the affairs of man from the very beginning.

So he is the one that captured Jerusalem, he is the one that ransacked the temple, he is the one that carted off guys like Daniel back to Iraq. This is who we are talking about. He is mentioned throughout your Bible. He is a real character. This is a picture of cylinder in which he offers a proclamation on a stone wheel and it would print across it. And you could take it and you could roll it and you could get the message off from it. This is in an actual museum and this is the kind of letter that we are going to read about in chapter 4. Chapter 3 says I want you all to worship this golden image and you know what happens? They refuse the image and God comes through. Now because of him saying I want this image worshipped God is going to deal with him in Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I though it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. So what we are going to get is a historical record of what he learned beginning in verse 4. How great are his signs! And how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make know unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Balteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the vision of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the earth; Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the degree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. All this is going to happen to you, Nebuchadnezzar, so anyone that is alive will understand that the most High rules in the kingdom of men. That is why this is happening. Let’s all understand the Bible teaches that God is intimately involved in the affairs of man. We do not have a God Who is way far away looking down with big binoculars watching everything happen. We have a God that is involved in who your boss. We have a God who knows who your commander is and put you in that unit for an express purpose. We know God knows who your boss is. Who knows who your parents are, who knows who your principle is, who knows who the governor is and the mayor and every single governing authority and they are all there because He ordained them. That is our God. Anything less than that is not a biblical world view. If you decide that you do not agree with that, you are disagreeing not with the preacher, but with the word of God. This matter is by the degree of the watchers and the demand of the word of the holy ones. Pay attention to those two words and we will come back to them in just a minute. Verse 18. This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou are able, for the spirit of the holy god is in thee. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. This is a way of saying that he loves him, he supports him, he doesn’t want to see this happen to Nebuchadnezzar. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: Verse 22. It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying. Now let’s stop for just a moment. If God was to open your eyes and you were able to see the degree to which God is working in an invisible way it would be mind boggling. This is what we think. I’m sorry, but let’s just say what we think. We think there is God and us. We have no earthly idea how awesome God is. It is beyond our wildest comprehension the number of angels, watchers, holy ones that He has on this earth right now orchestrating His will in a most amazing way beyond your wildest comprehension. If we were able to put on supernatural glasses and see principalities, powers, things present, things to come, and that God is doing we would be amazed to go to a battlefield in Afghanistan and see divine angels intervening on behalf of the prayers of God’s people. The Bible is going to say in a few minutes that God has an army of heaven. We think that there is a little god up there, kind of a cosmic Santa Claus, but that is not our God, Church. Our God is magnificent, Sovereign huge God Who has orchestrated affairs beyond our comprehension with layers and layers of angelic beings who are accomplishing His will all along the way in a most amazing way on every single continent, on every single moment of every single day. Now, I gave you a warning that I was going to come unglued on this. Watchers, holy ones, being sent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to go to various locations and make sure God’s will is always accomplished.

We have unfortunately allowed comic books to influence how we think. We have good and we have evil. Or Greek mythology. And these two are kind of struggling all the time. And sometimes God is down and they are winning, and sometime God is winning and they are down. That is not the Bible. Let me make sure you understand that He won, He is winning and He will win. Sometimes Christians will say something like I have read the end of the book and God wins. No, no, no. He won, is winning and will win!! That is a biblical worldview. He is never down trying to get up. Do you understand that God has been using Satan to orchestrate the affairs of man any time He wants at His beck and call? You don’t have God and Satan battling it out like two brothers that are constantly fighting. That is not a biblical worldview. A biblical worldview is the Sovereign God of the Universe has always been ruling and reigning in a most amazing way. Why? Verse 23. Hew down the tree. Destroy it; but you leave the stump right there. You are going to hack it off. Verse 25. They are going to drive you from the men and the dwelling shall be with the beast of the field and you will eat grass like oxen and they shall wet you with the dew of heaven until seven times passes over and you are going to stay in that condition until you really understand that the Most High rules in the kingdom of man and He gives it to whoever He wants. So you don’t get arrogant with God. You don’t say that I finally arrived. You don’t say I am here. You never, ever assume that arrogant posture with God. Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Not that the heavens will rule. Not that the heavens are going to win someday. Not that Jesus eventually gets a kingdom. He has always had a kingdom. The Bible never presents the Sovereignty of God as a fatalistic determinism, yet it never leaves any doubt concerning God’s authority. Look at 27. O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. Stop sinning. Show mercy to the poor. You know what he is getting? He is getting an opportunity to repent. He is getting a chance to be saved. It doesn’t have to go this way. We don’t have to go down this route. Please listen, Daniel is now standing like a soul winner and he is looking right at Nebuchadnezzar and he is saying, You don’t have to go there. It is not too late. You can turn from this. You can turn from your sin. You can begin showing mercy. This is a warning to you. This is an opportunity to turn back. It doesn’t have to be this way, King. My tree trunk doesn’t have a brass ring around it. It is missing, that is why large chunks have been removed. That is why it is deteriorating.

Romans 2:4 says, Do you despise the riches of his goodness in the forbearance and the longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God should be leading you to repent. It is not too late for you this morning. You can turn. You can turn from your sin right now. Listen, it is not too late. Do you know what the band of brass represents? The band of brass is a symbol of God’s grace. You see, the trunk is right there. It is large and if there is no brass around the trunk, I can take an axe and divide the kingdom and splits and it fragments. But God says, No I am in charge. And that is not going to happen in the kingdom because I am going to give you an opportunity to repent. I am going to give you an opportunity to recognize that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men so I am going to wrap this brass of iron around here and this brass shows you that I am a God of love, I am God of grace, I am a God of mercy, and you have an opportunity to repent.

Let’s make sure that we all understand King Nebuchadnezzar, you are going to either bow the knee now or you are going to bow the knee later. But you are going to bow the knee. You are going to bow it now or you are going to bow it later, but here is the reality, you will bow the knee. And may I tell you, You are not going to bow to Buddha. You are not going to bow to Muhammad and you are not going to bow to Allah. You are not going to bow to anyone other than King Jesus. So my dear friend, you know that you have not bowed the knee to King Jesus. You know you have not submitted to His lordship in your life. You know that you are here because your wife is making you come to church and He is not the King of your life. You don’t recognize Him as King. You don’t see Him as the One Who is ruling in the affairs of men. He doesn’t rule in your world. You rule in your world. You know I am talking to you this morning. You know you are that man sitting there this morning sitting in charge and you are not going to let the spirit of God come inside your life. You are the King. Right now, my friend, there is a band of grace wrapped around you holding God’s love and mercy around you. But that is not an everlasting band of grace. Only through Jesus Christ can you find true salvation. This was a temporary band. 28 and 29. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? Can’t you see him walking in all his clothing and all his badges, all his awards thinking he is something and he’s looking over all his lands and all that he has done? He is saying, Wow, I am the man, as far as I can see that is my kingdom. As far to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south and he is arrogant and he is filled with pride. My kingdom, my glory, my majesty, my power. Don’t miss this. When was the last time you thanked God for anything? When was the last time you thanked God for a promotion? When was the last time you thanked God for anything in your life? Standing there arrogant with his own wisdom, his own might, his own wealth, his checking account, his 401K, big and mighty. And the Bible says, While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. You say, I can’t believe you are so fired up this morning. Church, I don’t know how you can preach this and not preach it this way. Because this is that kind of a text. This requires a deliberate type of message. While he was speaking, Your kingdom is done. This is it. Hold your place please. But for those of you that are saying, That is the Old Testament, those of you that are deciding that is the God of the Old Testament and you like the God of the New Testament turn to Luke.

For those of you that are saying, That is not my God. My God is a loving God. Turn to Luke 12, for those of you that are saying, I don’t agree with your interpretation of that, Preacher. For those of you that are sitting there thinking, God is not really that big. That is not what Jesus would do. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry. May I tell you that sounds like most of the television commercials about your retirement. Remember you have to get your financial plan together. You are going to meet with your broker so that you get to live out your dreams. That is why you are working so hard and banking all you can so that someday you can say to yourself you have a huge 401K plan, so you can say to yourself, Soul, relax. Soul, golf more. Soul, fish more. Soul, enjoy life. Remember this is Jesus. Those of you that are saying Old Covenant, New Covenant. We are in the New Covenant. This is Jesus, But God said unto him, you fool harsh word, not a kind word. Fool is a harsh word. Food is a rough word in the Bible. Stupid, ignorant fool, This night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou has provided? Then who is going to be in charge of your 401K plan? Then who is going to drive your Harley? Then who is going to watch your 72” flat-screen television? Then who is going to drive your boat? So many of you are working so hard, saving up as much money as you can so you can give it to your children who are going to blow through it in 12 or less months. And if you look at your will, if you look at who is going to get your inheritance, the church of Jesus Christ is nowhere in there. It is not even in that mix. You are not even concerned about the church. You are not saying, I could fund this, I could do this, I could set up a scholarship fund, the kingdom of God could go forward, we could fund more missionaries. That is not even in your mindset right now. All you are thinking about is I am going to earn all I can to give to my children who are going to burn through it as fast as they can. And this is what the word of God says so clear, don’t miss it, Then who shall these things be? Then who is going to get it? Do you understand that you will not direct your 401K plan from heaven? Do you understand that dead is dead? You are not reaching down and saying, I don’t like the way they are investing that. So, is he that saith, so is he that treasureth treasures for himself and is not rich toward God. Where is your money going? Is it invested in your stuff or the kingdom of God?

So look at 32 and 33. You have to see the end. The end is amazing. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. You say, I don’t believe that. Really? You don’t believe that. I don’t believe that. That is ridiculous. How many know someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Do they lose their mind? This is what I believe happened. I believe that in a millisecond of time, God took over his mind. And just like that he was down on his hands and knees like this. And he never got up and he didn’t shower and he didn’t brush his teeth and didn’t cut his fingernails. And you can’t govern a kingdom like this. This king has to sit on the throne. The king has to judge cases. You can’t govern on your hands and knees. Your mind is your mind because God is allowing you to have that mind. And He will allow you to have that mind as long as He allows you and only for as long as He allows you. Just like you didn’t determine who your parents were, you didn’t determine what continent you were born on, you didn’t determine your skin color, you didn’t determine your language. You don’t determine how long you have a sound mind. Any given moment, God can take your mind from you just like that. No longer eating with forks and knifes and spoons. You fingernails are getting long and your hair is all over the place. And you are nasty and you stink and you are crawling around. This is not a cute, little story to teach 4-year-olds. This is an adult story for adults who need to learn Who is in charge. You see, King Nebuchadnezzar, you can bow the knee now, or you can bow the knee later, but you are going to bow the knee. You will bow the knee. The Bible says, seven times if that were on a Hebrew calendar we would go 360 times 7 and that is the exact number of days.

Here is what I find that is amazing, please don’t miss this. He didn’t lose his kingdom. Do you understand how significant that is? If the President of the United States would start crawling around in the White House and we would see FOX News reporting that President Obama is on his knees out there we would have him out of office and the next guy would be in that quick. But in an amazing way, God preserved the king’s kingdom. So here is the king in the back, eating like this, and everyone is telling the world, he is fine. He is fine. No public appearances today, but he is fine. And who is orchestrating that? God is in a most amazing way. Verse 33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: And at the of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever: whose dominion is everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. If you die and go to hell, don’t tell anyone that the preacher didn’t tell you about Jesus. Don’t tell anyone that you didn’t know you were going to have to bow the knee before King Jesus. Don’t walk around in hell going, I was amazed. I didn’t know I had to do that. You are getting a fair warning right now. And you don’t know if you are going to get another one. You don’t know if you are going to get another day. You don’t know if you are going to walk out of that door and step on a crack and have a massive heart attack and you are in the presence of God right then and there. You don’t decide I will repent when I want to repent. You repent now. You trust Christ now. I want to show you this last truth and I will be done right after this. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and non can stay his hand, or say until him, What doest thou? The army of heaven. Not some small little guys going, Boy, I sure hope I win in the end. No one can say, What are you doing, God?

This verse teaches us how Sovereign God is. This is a true saying or of a truth. This is truth. This is like verily, verily, this is what the Bible is teaching very clearly. God put Herod in place. God put Pontius Pilate in place. God put the Sadducees in place. God put the Pharisees in place. God orchestrated the Roman Centurion and ever other person that was involved in the death of Jesus Christ. Make sure that you understand that you don’t have a warped view that God was losing on the cross of Calvary. Make sure that you understand that God did not get an ambush on the cross of Calvary and had to come through 3 days later and win the victory. That is not what was happening. The Bible teaches that God orchestrated this entire thing from before the foundation of the world to do whatsoever thy hand and thou counsel has determined to do before to be done. Folks, that is your God. That is your God if you are born again. That is your God ruling and reigning in the affairs of man at all times. So on November 4th whether this group has the house or that group has the house or whether the tea party or the coffee party or whatever comes through it won’t make a hill of beans. He is still in charge. Now don’t misunderstand, you vote. You vote according to your convictions and after you cast your vote you say, God you are in charge. God take make my vote and use it as You see fit.

The True Marks of a Christian

2010-11-04T16:04:00.000-04:00

This passage is like an old fashioned laundry list. Maybe you don’t know where that idea comes from. We say sometimes as husbands that we have a laundry list from my wife. That means he has a whole lot of things to do. An old fashioned laundry list: a fellow would come by and check off 3 socks, 5 handkerchiefs were a nickel a piece and 2 shirts and some socks; those things make up a laundry list. Verses 9-21 actually become a laundry list, if you will, of what a Christian is supposed to look like, what a Christian is supposed to think and act like in this world. I want to read it like that. I want to kind of modify the text just a little bit to make it a bit more personal.

Romans 12:9-21
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good..

We need to make sure our love is genuine. We need real love in the body of Christ. So we are going to consciously move away from that which is evil and make sure as much as within us we are cleaving to good things. We love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not lazy in business. We are not lazy workers. Prayer is a part of a Christian’s life. This is our laundry list. This is someone who has been changed by the power of the gospel.

Before we get into 12 I want to give us some pre-12 marks of a true Christian. Let me just share my pastor’s heart with you for just a minute. I am really concerned that there has been an incredible number of people who have professed that this year is the year they got saved and you still haven’t been baptized. I don’t understand what is going on with that. Let me be real pointed, if you have been scripturally baptized, you can just kind of take a 30 second break. I want to speak to those of you who would say 2010 is the year that I have been saved. I don’t understand what you are waiting for in getting baptized. I am going to be real pointed about this. Acts 2 they received the word of God and they were baptized. I don’t understand how you are claiming Jesus is your Lord and you are not getting baptized. I don’t understand where personal pride is keeping you from making a personal profession of your faith in Christ. If you have in fact been saved after your baptism you need to be baptized again. That is very clear in Scripture. An infant baptism, a pre-salvation baptism is not believer’s baptism. Believer’s baptism is only those who profess to know Christ. So if you were a teenager at Anchorage this summer and you say you got saved, you should be asking the church you. The fact that you got baptized when you were 7, 8 or 9 is pre-salvation. You got wet. That is what you got. That is all that was. Now you are going to get baptized. Young men, may I speak to you? I don’t understand why the soldiers and the young men in our congregation are not stepping up and following the Lord in believer’s baptism. I am going to be real pointed right now. I am starting out a little bit too obnoxious real early in the sermon. Let me tone down a little bit. I cannot imagine being a soldier praying to God for protection while ignoring the Holy Spirit on believer’s baptism. I don’t understand that at all. If you are a young man, 20-25 years old, and you got saved and you are not willing to bow the knee to King Jesus in the baptismal pool and humble yourself before the body of Christ and make a profession of faith something is wrong and you need to get on your knees after the sermon and begin to figure out what is going on.

Number 2, after they were baptized they were added unto a church. Acts 2:47 says And the Lord added unto the ecclesia. The called out assembly. I am very concerned about the number of “Christians” who are not joining a church. The local New Testament church in Fayetteville is not the mall where you go to JC Penney in the morning and Belk in the afternoon and Talbots later on, and you kind of pick and chose your favorite store. That is not the churches in Fayetteville. Every Christian according to the Word of God is to be united with a church. Now, listen to me please, those of you that aren’t part of a church. Listen so closely, we are living in a society that wants the intimacy of marriage without the covenant of marriage. And that is moving into our church relationships. We want the benefits of the local church without the covenant of the local church. I am not interested in a relationship in which I am your pastor and you are part of the body of Christ. So I am amazed at the number of Christians that spend 3 years in Fayetteville and still haven’t found a church yet. That is ridiculous. So don’t name the name of Jesus and avoid the church that He died for.

Matthew 16, Jesus said I am building the church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and there is a tremendous number of “Christians” in Fayetteville that want nothing to do with the church. That is wrong. That is clearly wrong. Some of you need to be back tonight and be baptized. You have been avoiding it and avoiding it. It is time now to yield to believer’s baptism.

Paul wrote to the church at Rome. He wrote to the church at Gentiles. The body of Christ, the local church is what God is working through. Soldiers, the navigators is not the body of Christ. It may be an assembly of Christians, but it if doesn’t have a God ordained pastor, if it’s not bound together in a covenant relationship it is not a church. It is not a substitute for the local church. Para church ministries like Campus Crusade are wonderful and every college student that is going to a secular school should be part of that. But that is not a substitute for being part of a local church in your city on Sunday mornings. You don’t decide I will go to the Tuesday Campus Crusade for Christ so that I can sleep in on Sunday morning. That is not biblical. That is the pre-sermon. Now we will get into the text.

It is really almost impossible for us to understand what Paul meant when he said bless those that are persecuting you. It really is. Let’s be honest. Let’s be frank. We have to come to grips that most of us will not see a Christian ripped apart body part by body part by lions. We use the word, persecute around here and what a joke. We have no clue what persecution is. We can’t even fathom ladies, what it would be like to sit there and watch your husband being carted off by Roman soldiers and you know you will never ever see him again on this side of eternity because he is going into a stadium and lions are going to rip his very body apart while the crowd enjoys it. We cannot fathom what it would be like to look up on a pole and to see your father or mother wrapped around with a cord and oil doused on them and they stand on that pole for hours and burn as light for the city. So let’s make sure that we understand that when Paul speaks to us in verse 14 and he says bless them that persecute you, he is not talking about someone who is reigning on your parade. He is not talking about someone who cut you off on Yadkin Road. That is not what He is talking about. He is talking about men and women losing their life for the cause of Christ and I want to say very clearly that America does not have a traveler’s umbrella over it keeping it from ever experiencing persecution. Let’s make sure that everyone understands that there is a radical Muslim, Islamic, terrorist organization that would love to see every church in America closed.

Let me just speak to this for just a small little snippet of time. I am amazed at how naïve we are getting in America when we don’t recognize that the same Muslims in America who are claiming their right to put a mosque anywhere they want are the same Muslims that prohibit us from doing the same in any of their countries. You go over to Saudi Arabia and see if you can build a Baptist church anywhere you want to. Of course you can’t do it. You go over to Iraq or Iran and see if you have some religious freedom over there. And I am going to tell you right now, God has not promised America forever and forever. There is no biblical prophecy that guarantees us a day and age in which it will be illegal to assemble in a large church like this. You let the church of America lose its tax exempt status and see what happens to the church of America.

So here we are. We are reading verse 14 and we are going to decide how this applies to us today. The harass in a manner designed to injure, to grieve, to afflict. These are people who can’t stand your Christianity. They despise everything about what you stand for. They hate the fact that you love God. They hate the fact that you believe that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 literal days. They can’t believe that you actually believe that there is something called sin or a real heaven and a real hell. They are seeking to marginalize Christianity and exalt their immoral lifestyle with a passion. That is the world we are living in. We are living in a world in which text books are being rewritten. Text books that your son or daughter will read in that government school in which it mocks Christianity. And so we need to be aware of what our expected response is.

Unless we think it can never think it could happen in North America. May I remind you the number of times it happens in South America? January 19, 1981 a group of terrorists called the M-19 broke into the summer institute for linguists residents in Bogotá, Columbia and kidnapped this Wycliffe translator, Chet Bitterman. The communiqué from the terrorists read, "Chet Bitterman will be executed unless the Summer Institute of Linguistics and all its members leave Columbia by 6:00 PM February 19." Wycliffe did not budge.

We can’t even fathom that in this room. Let’s just be honest. There is not a lady in this room that can fathom their husband being captured for the cause of Christ and being potentially executed.

Brenda Bitterman and her two little children waited 48 days. On March 7 the terrorists shot Chet Bitterman through the heart and left his body on a bus in Bogota. More than one hundred Wycliffe members in Columbia were given the choice of a new field. None left. And two hundred candidates volunteered to take Chet Bitterman's place.

God used the death of this man to send two hundred more volunteers to the fields. We can’t fathom. We absolutely cannot understand the degree of religious persecution that is happening around the world. And can I say this with as much love as I possibly can? I am amazed when a parent will say that teacher doesn’t love my child. That teacher is persecuting my child. Would you please not use that word? What a joke. Do you know what that really means? I don’t have a perfect life. Everything is always going my way. That is really what that means. I want everything to go my way. I want every teacher to go my way. I want every coach to go my way. I want my boss to go my way. I want my coworkers to go my way. God, aren’t you there for me? I mean certainly it wouldn’t be Your will that Bitterman die? Can you imagine the number of prayers that were offered for Bitterman? Can you imagine the number of people that were on their knees begging God to save Chet? So did God let him down? Absolutely not. God once again demonstrated in a most amazing way how He can take sin and turn it into a good thing. And yet parents, can I talk to you for just a moment? The littlest thing comes into Johnny’s life and you are ready to run in there and defend Johnny and make sure Johnny doesn’t experience anything. Not my Johnny. It is okay for Bitterman to be shot to death, but I don’t want my Johnny to experience anything. Can I ask you, parents, have you committed your son or daughter to the Lord?

What is this picture all about? This is about our persecution level right here. We got knocked over in the sandbox. Someone threw sand at us. That is about our level of persecution in America.
Who is dumping sand in your hair? This is happening in the body of Christ. I know about it. I am not going to call names, but I know about it. We have church members not speaking to church members over the most pitiful things. The most ridiculous things that won’t make a hill of beans in eternity that you will never remember 10 years from now, 5 years for now. But right now you are not talking. I know for a fact that I have church members that are not talking to each other and yet the Bible says, Bless them that persecute you.

The Sermon on the Mount, you have heard it said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy, but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. Let me just say right now, you know why we aren’t making the impact to the unsaved world? It is because we act like the unsaved world. We think like the unsaved world. We talk like the unsaved world. They can’t tell any difference from us. We cop the same attitudes that they do. What does it say, what do you think when we get unsaved referees to come to our basketball games, our soccer games, our volleyball games and there is supposed to be a stand full of Christians and we are acting just like the world at the games? We don’t mind losing our testimony over a volleyball game. We don’t mind losing our testimony over our soccer games. We just completely leave the Bible. Bless them that persecute you, are you kidding me? I am going to make sure that referee hears, “Do you need glasses?” So the secular referee who needs Jesus and is just as lost as can be comes to our games on Thursday, goes to Jack Britt on Friday, and can’t tell any difference between the fans of Thursday’s game and the fans at the Friday game. And we tell him, you sure do need Jesus. He is like, Yeah, right. Sure I need Jesus. What do I need Jesus for? I can’t tell any difference between you Christians and them. That is why we are not making the impact.

What does bless them that persecute them mean? It means to praise and thank God for that person that you perceive that is persecuting you. Wait a minute, are you kidding me? You want me to praise God for the teacher that I perceive is persecuting my little Johnny? Don’t you know, my Johnny is one of the few children that if it wasn’t for salvation they would probably make it into the Kingdom of God? Parents, can I remind you that your Johnny was born with a sin nature and if they don’t repent and follow Christ is faith that they will go to hell. We are so busy as parents wanting to run around with our traveler’s umbrella making sure that no persecution comes to Johnny that they don’t have any clue how to thank God for that teacher that they perceive or that coach or that worker or that boss or that pastor or that deacon, it as though they are not allowed to have anyone come into their life that doesn’t shelter them. Parents, are you listening to me this morning? It has to come to a stop. Because what we are showing our children by our actions is that the word of God really doesn’t have application on the soccer field, or the classroom, or football arena. It really only has application when we come into this room right here and then we set the Bible down, or we put in the back of the car and we are not too worried about when it says Bless them that persecute you.

Can I ask you a question? Do you remember the last time someone cut you off on the highway and the way you responded? Just like the world. You gave them with that glaring look just like the world gives them that glaring look. You said are you an idiot just like the world looks at them like they are an idiot. Bless them that persecute you. Bless them that cut you off. What does this blessing look like? I am going to submit to you that the greatest blessing you ever received in your entire life was forgiveness from God Almighty. A second chance. Eternal life. Mercy and grace. That is the greatest blessing that I have ever received in my life is the fact that God is not going to hold me accountable for the sins because of my faith in Jesus Christ or I would spend an entire eternity separated from God in hell. I don’t claim to be some self-righteous preacher. I admit I have a sin problem. It plagues me everywhere I go. I constantly need to be held in check because of my sin. Are you anywhere like that? Can you relate to what I am talking about? So you know what I need? I need the blessing of a second chance. I need the blessing of mercy and grace. Do you? Well the person that you perceive as persecuting you needs that blessing also.

Parents, can I suggest that you spend more time praying for the teacher that you perceive as persecuting your child than talking to that teacher? Have you spent more time praying for that coach or that teacher or that Awana worker or that Sunday school teacher or whoever, how many minutes have devoted to praying for them? No, we don’t pray about that stuff. We step in and we are going to fix it.

I want to ask this question in this church right now. If God expects us to bless our enemies how do we feel justified in not talking to other Christians? If God’s word tells us to love our enemies how is it that we are okay with sitting on that side of the auditorium because we know they always sit on that side and we actually wait to see them exit through those doors so that we can exit through those doors. This never, ever should happen in the body of Christ. How in the world do we expect an unsaved person to come into our assembly and become part of this worship and if they don’t see that we are different, the gospel, yeah right, so what? Why do you think that our young people are struggling so much with following Christ? Our young people, our teenagers are looking for some people that are real. They are looking for some real Christians. They are looking for some people that really try to live out this, Bless them that persecute you. They are looking for a daddy who actually does this. And we have dads in this room that have been battling getting baptized for 2 years. It is time to step up to the plate and do what is right. How in the world do you expect to be the spiritual leader of your family and you won’t even follow the Lord in believer’s baptism? That is not me. I have been baptized. He must be talking to someone else. There is lot of application in this Scripture.

Curse not. Don’t wish evil upon anyone. Don’t speak anything that is the opposite of well with them. John MacArthur writes, Because of the general tone of religious freedom in America, we don’t experience true persecution. Instead, our temptations to curse are more likely to be in reaction to hostility that does us no life-threatening harm but causes us inconvenience or embarrassment. So what if you are embarrassed. I can’t believe the number of Christians that will say something like this, Does he know who he is talking to? What does that mean? We are all sinners saved by grace. Who do we think we are? I am not going to tolerate that. Really? You are not? Stop. Stop the nonsense. Do you understand what a poor example we are providing our children? We are not showing them that Christianity is real. What they are seeing is Dad acts this way at church and Dad acts this way at home. Then we wonder why Johnny acts this way at church and this way at home. This is cursing without words. Husband, this is where you give your wife the silent treatment. This is where she gives you the silent treatment. Remember these are homes where we are trying to raise godly children. Godly children watch Mom and Dad giving each other the silent treatment. What they are learning is that is how you reconcile differences in marriages. But it is called cursing without words. See, we have this little Baptist idea which means, I didn’t curse because I didn’t say one of those 7 off limits words. Do you understand that you can curse without saying those words? Do you understand that tone is cursing? Do you understand that belittling is cursing? It doesn’t mean, I didn’t say that off limits word. That is not what “curse not” means.

James said it like this, Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Oh, yes, on Sunday morning we are singing Jesus is Mine, Oh what a foretaste of glory divine, blessed assurance. And then on Tuesday at the soccer game, we are ripping the head off of the referee. Out of the same mouth . . . these things ought not to be. We are going to see the teacher that we have decided doesn’t like our Johnny. And so this sister in Christ in which Christ died for gets ripped to shreds. And somehow we feel justified in that because we are taking care of our child. What we are really saying is God is not capable of taking care of our child so we have to step in. Ultimately what we are saying is God is really not capable. God You probably can’t mess with this so I will take over for You.

Rejoice that rejoice and weep with them that weep. This is the complete opposite of difference toward others in the body of Christ. This is where we really care for who is in the body of Christ. Indifference is a lack of enthusiasm, concern for someone else. You don’t rejoice with those who rejoice if you don’t even know who is sitting to your left or right. It is impossible. You can’t weep with those who weep. You can’t rejoice with those who rejoice when you come into the body of Christ late and leave 5 minutes early. You have no who is sitting behind you. You have no clue who is sitting in front of you and quite frankly you really don’t care who is sitting to your left or right. You are not here for them. You are here for yourself. Listen, you can’t rejoice with those who rejoice and you can’t weep with those who weep if you don’t even know their names.

What does indifference look like in the body of Christ? Let me explain. We come in, we find our seat, we don’t say hello to anyone, we don’t learn names, we are not here to learn names, we really don’t care about the person near us, we are here to check our religious block and we are out the door in a few minutes. My goodness! How in the world can you rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those who weep if you don’t even know who is in the body of Christ? Do you know how you are able to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep? You your brothers and sisters in Christ and so they walk in and you see their countenance and you go, you know what, she doesn’t look like she normally does. There must be something going on in her heart. And you walk up to her and you say, Dear sister, are you okay this morning, because you don’t look like you normally do and she says, I am fine. No. She says let me tell you what is going on in my life and for 5 minutes you weep with those who weep. Come on, we are not trying to be the typical Baptist church. There are 475 others. We are trying to be the body of Christ. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

If it is not indifference it is jealousy. You know why we don’t rejoice when Keith scores a goal? It is because we wanted our daughter or our son to score the goal and so we don’t care. We are jealous of the fact that their child scored that goal. Parents, you had your chance to play sports. It is now time to let your son or daughter play sports. You are done. Stop trying to live through your son or daughter’s life. You can’t do it. That is why you aren’t rejoicing with those who rejoice, because you are not there to rejoice with those that rejoice. You are there to see your Johnny score the goal and you really don’t care if anyone else scores. It is all about you. But you can’t do what the scripture says if it is all about you. Because rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep means it is not about you. It is about others.

Jesus wept. And what makes this so amazing is that Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the grave. Jesus wasn’t weeping because Lazarus was dead. Jesus was weeping because there were others weeping and Jesus hurt for others. He knew He was going to raise him from the grave. He took His time to make sure the guy was good and dead. He wanted to make sure there was no doubt. Hey, he stinks by now. Lazarus, come forth. The weeping had nothing to do with Lazarus in the grave. He was compassionate. He cared about others.

John said it like this: But whosoever hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? How can you say that the love of God dwells in you and when someone is hurting in the body of Christ, you are not hurting?

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. I want to take Number 1 first please. Live in harmony one with another. Hey, Christians, could we please start playing well in the sandbox with one another? Do you understand about the fact that Christians are not talking to Christians over the Awana ministry and what happened to their little child at the Awana ministry I am amazed. Okay, what am I missing? Awana is a discipleship ministry designed to encourage children to learn the word of God. Whether they are in 1st place or 2nd place or the green team one or the blue team won, what difference does it make? What do you think our children are thinking when they see adults throwing sand at each other in the sandbox? Oh, we don’t throw sand literally, but we do it with words. It needs to come to a halt. If at all possible, as much as lies within you would you please live together peaceably one with another.

Please turn to 1 Peter 2:21–23 (AV)
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Could someone please tell me why He suffered for us? It wasn’t His sin was it? There was no guile found in Him. Jesus was the perfect Man. He didn’t suffer for His own sins. He suffered for Sean Harris’s pride. He suffered for Sean Harris’s lust. He suffered for Sean Harris’s arrogance. He suffered for Sean Harris’s selfishness. He suffered for my sin. God Almighty poured out the wrath of the Father on the Son not because Jesus was a sinner. He suffered for me and my sin. Do you know what the cup was in this cup shall pass? It was the cup of God’s wrath. Read the book of Revelation. It was poured out on Jesus Christ. So how is it that we are thrilled that Jesus did that and we don’t want our Johnny to suffer one bit? Parents are doing everything that they can to make sure their Johnny doesn’t suffer one bit. They are running through life, sheltering him, protecting him from anything at all. No. Don’t you understand that you are the most precious thing that ever walked on the planet? We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.

What was this suffering all about? Leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps. How in the world ever understand the suffering that Christ went through if we never ever suffer ourselves? How will we understand what Christ did for us in the gospel if we never suffer. God, I shared with you two weeks ago, God led me through an entire week of suffering. It was a God-ordained suffering. You are going to suffer. You will grieve that your mother is in hell. I want you to understand what happens when souls die and they don’t have Jesus. You are going deal with this. You are going to work through this. You are going to be on your knees. You are going to suffer. Someone says, That can’t be the will of God. You are so warped in your theology. It is the will of God. It was the will of God that Jesus Christ suffered. It was the will of God. Suffering draws us closer to Who Christ is. It draws us closer to what He went through. It gives us a better understanding that the God of heaven left the glories of heaven and came on this earth. That is why we do suffer. That is why you have a pistol of a boss. That is why you are going through turmoil. That is why your child got that teacher. It was a God-ordained decision and you need to submit to that and allow God to work in that situation. You say is that scriptural? You better believe it is. I am going to show you.

Who did no sin, neither was there guile in his mouth who when was reviled, reviled not again. Jesus did not answer back a thing. When they were spitting on Him, when they were hammering on Him, when they were whipping Him, He didn’t answer back. You say, He didn’t have a choice. That is not true at all. What He said when Peter whipped out that dagger and started slashing an ear off, He said, you put that thing away. Thinkest not that I can call for myself 72,000 angels? He said 12 legends. A legion is 6,000 fully equipped combat Roman troopers. 6x12 is 72. 72,000 angels could have come at a moment’s notice and delivered the Son of God. But instead He endured. Now listen to what it says, He threatened not. I will pull my child off this team. That is called a threat. He threatened not. I pull my child out of this classroom. I will pull my child out of boy scouts. Don’t you know what I will do? Those are threats. What does He do instead? Instead but committed Himself to him that judges righteously. That is the whole thing. That is all I want you to get and if you get this you have it. If you get this concept you got it this morning. What you are saying is, God, You are in charge. God, that 3rd grade class must be the class you wanted my Johnny in, You are in charge, I am going to commit my Johnny to that 3rd grade teacher. That is just the way it is. And we don’t have any problems going on in 3rd grade. I just picked a number. Please don’t go that route. Whatever it is—at the wreck league, and you say, I can’t believe my child has that coach. Would you please commit yourself unto the righteous Judge? Would you please just say that God is able? Would you just turn it over to a Sovereign God?

How about this? How about if Mommy and Daddy get with Johnny and we say, you know what we are going to do? We are going to pray about this. And you don’t talk to anyone about it. You just pray about it. Johnny, we are not going to go see the principle. We are not going to go see the coach. We are going to watch God work. You know what you are going to do at that point? You are going to build faith into that child. You are going to take God-ordained faith and you are going to pack it into that child. They are going to build a foundation of faith because they are going to see Mommy and Daddy leading them to pray that God is able and then the righteous Judge comes through and then when they are in the crisis they go see the righteous judge. But instead what you are doing, is robbing God of the opportunity of coming through and so in fact they are stealing God’s glory. I am not going to give God a chance to work. We are not praying about this. We are going right to the top. They are going to take care of this right now. I want my way. What we are saying is, God, You are not able. This is something that You can’t take care of. I need to avenge for myself. And what they are doing is they are robbing God of an opportunity to show Himself as all powerful in the life of a child and in doing so they are stealing glory from God.

Book Critique of Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay

2010-11-01T07:00:00.003-04:00

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ENTRY

Fay, William and Linda Shepherd. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1999.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

The most significant thing about William Fay, author of Share Jesus Without Fear, is the fact that God saved him while he was the president and CEO of an unnamed, international multimillion-dollar corporation. He writes “I owned one of the largest houses of prostitution” and “was involved in racketeering, bookmaking and gambling…and I mocked anyone who dare share his faith in God with me” (p. 1). Fay left all that to follow Jesus into full-time ministry. Fay graduated from Denver Seminary where he credits Gordon Lewis for giving him a firm foundation in God’s sovereign work. Fay served as the senior pastor of a church for many years until he went into full-time evangelism. He speaks on the radio and all over the world encouraging believers to share their faith confidently with others.

CONTENT SUMMARY

Share Jesus Without Fear is a comprehensive attempt to motivate, teach, and fully equip Christians to effectively share the gospel by presenting God’s vision for evangelism, plan of salvation, and information on how to start conversations and overcome objections. Fay divides his work into eleven chapters and five appendixes. He opens with a gripping introduction concerning his own salvation experience and a call for Christians to begin sharing the gospel. He makes the point that success with evangelism is not defined by bringing someone to a point of conversion; instead, it is simply sharing the gospel and trusting God to do the rest. He stresses that God is sovereign. (Fay contends that the greatest sin is the sin of silence-that is-not sharing one’s faith in Christ )(p. 6). He deals with how Christians can overcome their fear of witnessing in chapter three. In chapter four, Fay is still introducing the idea of witnessing with what he calls “share Jesus questions” (p. 29).

Two chapters are devoted to teaching the reader how to explain to someone how he can be saved. Chapter five presents the scripture that should be used and memorized as a possible presentation of the gospel. Fay emphasizes the importance of having the person read the scripture out loud and provides a script for the soul winner to memorize. Chapter six focuses upon bringing the person to a point of decision. Fay presents five questions that he believes should be asked in succession to bring a person to the point of a decision (p. 61). The last question culminates in a call to ask the person to invite Jesus into his heart.

Chapters seven through eleven are independent of each other, each focusing on an important point of instruction from Fay’s perspective. In this section of the book, Fay begins with a chapter devoted to following up on the new believer. Then he devotes much attention to providing responses to a person’s objection to receiving Christ. Fay presents thirty-six objections to receiving Christ and answers each objection. The principle message of chapter nine is that Christians must have and maintain friendships with unbelievers. Next, a short chapter explains how Christians should pray for unbelievers. Finally, Fay offers a final push to motivate believers to be better witnesses for Christ with a description of the final judgment.
Five appendixes are used to complement, summarize, and provide supplementary information to what has already been presented. Those who desire to memorize Fay’s “share Jesus” questions verbatim can reference appendix one very quickly. Appendix two is very practical with detailed instructions on how Fay would mark his soul winning New Testament. Appendix three is the longest with a detailed summarization of the thirty-six objections and answers. Appendix four is a commitment to becoming a witnesses for Christ, and the last appendix is the completion of Fay’s testimony from chapter one.

EVALUATION

Several substantial issues that Fay presents in Share Jesus Without Fear make it impossible to recommend his work to other believers without caution. Of all the issues, the most significant is the fact that Fay suggests people get saved by inviting Jesus into their heart through prayer. On numerous occasions thoughout the book, Fay indicates that people pray to receive Christ (p. 39). This is theologically upside down. (The truth is that people believe and the Spirit of Christ indwells them, not because they articulate words, because of their repentant faith in the gospel.) John writes, “But to all who receive him, who believed in his name” (John 1:12). He does not say who prayed to Him. Fay consistently presents prayer as that which one does in order to secure salvation. In example after example, Fay uses the words so and so prayed to receive Christ (p. 58). Fay says God will only enter in if He is invited (p. 59). However, in Acts 2:37 men were cut to the heart and cried out “‘what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them ‘repent…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:28).

The reader should take note that Peter did not suggest that the men had to invite Jesus in to their heart. The only appropriate response to the call for salvation is repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30, Acts 20:21). Yet, Fay’s fifth question teaches the soul winner to ask the potential convert if they are ready to “invite Jesus into their life and into your heart?” (p. 63). Then two pages later, he contradicts himself when he explains that one is saved when he puts his faith in Christ, not when he prays the sinner’s prayer. Yet Fay still leads potential converts to pray the sinner’s prayer because in his words that is “dessert!” (p. 65). Moreover, he instructs the soul winner to add to the canon of scripture by writing in their Bible the model prayer sinners need to pray. He calls “asking Jesus into your heart” the first step to getting saved (p. 90). The problem with this interpretation is that it is not based upon an apostolic example. There is not a single sinner’s prayer modeled in the Bible. “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” is hardly an example of a model sinner’s prayer for all to follow (Romans 10:13).

Fay believes that Revelation 3:20 teaches that Jesus is standing at the door of every unbeliever’s heart—just standing there waiting—for the unbeliever to open the door to his heart and then Gentlemen Jesus will come in (p. 51). The problem with Fay’s interpretation of Christ on the outside of an unbeliever’s heart is that it is contextually wrong. Revelation 3:14-22 is written to the church at Laodicea, not lost people in America. Verse 22 states, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” John does not give any indication that these words are written to unbelievers.

Fay presents a substantially elementary understanding of the indwelling of God in the life of the believer. He teaches that Jesus lives in the heart of the new convert (p. 58). This could become exceptionally confusing when the believer learns that Jesus is on the right hand of the Father interceding for all who believe—when he was told Jesus lives in his heart (Mark 16:19). Fay should be much more faithful to the Word of God and introduce the new believer to the Comforter whom Jesus sent to fill the void of His absence (John 14). Although Paul does make reference to Christ living in the believer in Galatians 2:20 and Colossians 1:27, Christ does this through the presence of the Holy Spirit. This may appear to be theological nit-picking, but it is not.

The soul winner needs to lay a strong foundation in the life of the new believer. If what is initially presented as true is later refined and corrected over and over again, unnecessary questions may arise. For example, when the believer is told to pray a prayer to receive Christ into their hearts and be saved, and then later learns faith in the promise of God-not a prayer-saves him, he may be left wondering what else he now believes that will later be corrected. Surely most men and women can understand that Christ lives in them through His Spirit, not in their heart but in their life, without being confined to any specific location. He lives as much in their thoughts and actions as they submit to His leadership and guidance. Moreover, suggesting that Christ lives in the heart of the believer calls into question the (permanence) of the incarnation of Christ who will return the same way He left the earth in a glorified body (Acts 1:11).

Another significant shortcoming of Fay’s work is his failure to properly explain repentance and how it is related to a person’s conversion. There is a noticeable absence of the word “repent” in Fay’s gospel presentation. Moreover, substitutionary words like “turn” are also absent. Jesus said, “Except you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). The plain understanding of this text requires the soul winner to address repentance in the gospel presentation. Fay’s presentation does not address repentance toward God (Acts 20:21).

Some of Fay’s suggestions are a bit difficult to imagine putting into practice during soul winning. Fay suggests that when someone does not understand what is being read, just ask them to read it out loud again and again until they get it. While it may be difficult to argue with the 25,000 people Fay has witnessed to using this technique, it is also difficult to imagine telling someone to read something again when they express a question about the text. 1 Peter 3:15 directs believers to be able to give an answer to every man that asks a Christian about his faith. What is the point of studying apologetics if the Christian’s trained response is to read the verse again? In response to common objections offered by those who do not believe, Fay suggests that the soul winner needs to follow the example of a modern psychologist by just responding to the unbeliever’s questions with the single word “why?” In the chapter on building relationships with unbelievers, Fay suggests that one attend the local neighborhood watch program and shift to the gospel by pointing out that the thief comes to steal, but Jesus brings eternal life (p. 117). Perhaps this would work somewhere in the world, but it is difficult to imagine where.

Lastly, everyone in Fay’s stories receives Christ. They all receive Christ eventually. So, while the book teaches that God is sovereign and just the sharing of the gospel is all God expects, Fay sets up the reader with a false expection by only sharing stories about people who “get saved.” Moreover, Fay does not know if these people are saved. He does not know if their faith was genuine or superficial (John 2:23-25, 1 John 2:19). He presents a statistic that people are brought to Christ after an average of 7.6 gospel presentations, but this theory is based upon the false assumption that everyone who prays the sinner’s prayer receives Christ (p. 30). The apostle John writes about people who “went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (1 John 2:19). Jesus warned about people who will describe the wonderful works they did in His name, but He never knew them (Matt 7:22-23; Luke 13:26-27). Fay leaves no room for the possibility that people who are led to Christ with his plan may not be genuinely converted.

CONCLUSION

Fay’s book has limited value in the fundamental and evangelical church whose primary concern must be authentic conversions and the discipleship of those who are born again (Matt 28:19-20). Only those who subscribe to the theory that one must pray to be saved would find Fay’s work helpful in equipping Christians, with a plan of salvation, to share their faith. Others would find it necessary to provide clarifying instruction. Share Jesus Without Fear has its greatest value in the amazing way one is motivated to share his faith through the stories of conversion-despite the fact that the book does not contain a single story of Fay not bringing the person to a point of a favorable decision. Fear of providing a person with a false assurance of their conversion from a “pray to receive” understanding of conversion should be of great concern to the church. The warning passages in Matthew, Luke, John, Hebrews, and 1 John concerning those who believe they are converted, but are not authentic Christians require a more careful approach to “closing the deal” and providing assurance of salvation. Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by the Whole People by Will Metzer (Intervarsity Press, 2002) is a much better alternative to Share Jesus Without Fear.

Preach the Word but First Exegete!

2010-10-27T10:33:00.001-04:00

In the second epistle Paul wrote to Timothy, Paul provides the most important reason for preachers and teachers of the Bible to make completing a thorough exegesis of a verse or passage of Scripture their first priority. Paul charges Timothy in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge him when he appears, to “Preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). This charge to Pastor Timothy is precisely why good exegesis is imperative. This essay will articulate why good exegesis of a biblical text is critically important to anyone who dares to authoritatively communicate God’s truth.

The single greatest reason why good exegesis of a text is important is that the preacher is not obeying his call from the Lord to “preach the Word” unless he has done an exegesis of the passage and is confident his interpretation and application is correct. For example, the pastor who preaches from a King James Bible must be especially careful when he preaches from Philippians 3:20 because of manner in which the English language has changed. If he does not identify that the word “conversation” is politeuma, from which we get the word politics which speaks to “citizenship” instead of the act of talking, he has not preached the Word. In order to preach the Word, the preacher must know, as much as possible, that his interpretation of the text is completely aligned with what the author was communicating to the original recipient of the message. If the preacher does not unpack the text within the historically and grammatically correct interpretation, he has not “preached the Word.” He has talked, yelled, or communicated, but he has not preached “the Word.” If the pastor is teaching through the book of James and he leads his listener to believe that James 2:14-26 is teaching a hybrid of grace through a combination of faith and works, he has not preached “the Word.” The only the time the Word of God is preached is when the text is properly explained in a way that the listener is given the opportunity to gain the same level of understanding (and by extension application) the author intended for his reader to gain years ago.

In addition to the commandments to “preach the Word” and “rightly handle the truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), the preacher is responsible to ensure the listener gets the correct “sense” so that the listener understands the Word of God (Nehemiah 8:8). Men did this in Nehemiah’s day. God uses humans to give people the correct understanding of the Bible. While it is true that the Spirit of Truth will guide the student of the Word in truth (John 16:13), it is just as true that God uses scholars, pastors, teachers, and others to give others a “sense” or understanding of the passage. The preacher needs to exegete the passage in order to give the sense. Getting the “sense” is a human responsibility that requires effort guided by Spirit of Truth.

James 3:1 provides another significant reason why good exegesis of a passage is critically important. James warns believers to not be hasty in volunteering to teach the Word of God. Why? James states that people who teach the Word of God will be judged “with greater strictness.” This establishes a higher degree of accountability for getting it right, which is precisely the objective of exegesis. When getting it wrong could have eternal consequences, it is important to get it right. For example, the pastor who does not properly exegete the warning passages in Hebrews could be giving lost people a false assurance of a non-existent salvation (Hebrews 2:14, 3:12). He could lead himself and others astray. This warning is necessary because man is a fallen creature who brings to the pulpit preconceived ideas, prejudices, and bias—good exegesis combats the subjective influences of the fallen culture on the text. In good exegesis—the text is king.

Finally, good exegesis is critically essential to the work and life of the preacher because the author of the Bible is an infinitely supreme being who has chosen to hide truth in a mysterious way in layers of progressive revelation (Deut 29:29). According to Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” Even the Apostle Peter acknowledged that some of what Paul wrote was hard to understand. Which Peter says—when not properly understood—can lead to personal destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

Exegesis is understood to be the careful and critical study of a passage of scripture, with the full intent of discovering the meaning the author originally desired. Obeying his call from the Lord to preach the Word and maintaining a higher accountability for getting it right combine to make a good case for exercising good exegesis. This is perhaps the single most important task of anyone called to preach the Word.

Two Great Quotes from Charles H. Spurgeon

2010-09-21T05:42:00.002-04:00

Charles Spurgeon, the London pastor from 100 years ago said,

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes – that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens – that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence – the fall of . . . leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.

When Spurgeon was challenged that this is nothing but fatalism and stoicism, he replied,

What is fate? Fate is this – Whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says, Whatever God ordains, must be; but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some great end. Fate does not say that. . . . There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man.

And who can argue that God doesn't have perfect vision. Every attribute God has supports the truth that He has good eyes.

He Declares the End from the Beginning

2010-08-23T15:52:00.001-04:00

Isaiah 46:9–10
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Look at this amazing verse with me. Listen to what God says about Himself as He reveals His Sovereignty through the prophet Isaiah.

There is none like me. Aren’t you glad there is none like Him? If there were any like Him, then we would have to worry if our God was going to win. When two teams are evenly matched, the question of who is going to win the contest is in question—but that is not the case with God—there is none like Him. I can’t play basketball—I mean it—I really can’t play. I can foul and double dribble and miss shots like the best of them, but I can’t play to win. So if I were ever to get a chance to play basketball with Michael Jordan there wouldn’t be any question who was going to win our little one-on-one game. Jordan would win because “there is none like him.” (I know some would argue that Jordan is not that much better than others, but he works well for the illustration.)

Now look at verse 10. This is what God does—He declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are NOT YET done. It doesn’t get any more sovereign than that. He is in charge. He declares the end from the beginning. When He wants the outcome a particular way it happens that way and it always happens that way. From the ancient times the things that are not yet done are done.
This is predestination. It can’t be denied. Some stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist. Others try to make it a heresy because of the perception that man loses his “freewill.” Neither choice is acceptable. The Bible says He declares “the end from the beginning.” How He does this while preserving human freedom is a mystery and a remarkable thing that my finite brain struggles at comprehending. However, my inability to comprehend how he: 1) declares the end from the beginning, 2) can be moved by prayer toward certain actions, and 3) I have lots of freedom to make choices does not change the truth of this verse.

And this verse should be of the greatest comfort to all who believe. “How so?” you may ask. My answer is simple, “what is the point of praying to a God who is not powerful enough to declare the end from the beginning?” or is so absent from mankind like a deistic view of God that He doesn’t choose to declare the end from the beginning?” This verse should invoke within me faith. My God for whom there is none like Him has the power to declare the end from the beginning. That is powerful—that is Almighty! His counsel shall stand. He can and will do all He pleasures to do and there isn’t anyone who interferes with His purpose as He sees fit. From the beginning Satan (and all that is evil) have been trying to keep God from accomplishing His counsel and His pleasure but “it will stand!” For 6,000 years of human history God has been demonstrating that He accomplishes His good pleasure as He sees fit. In fact for 6,000+ years God has been demonstrating that He is so powerful He can take what is meant for evil and turn it into good.

For that I am glad. That low view of God will bring no comfort to a soul who is in tribulation.

Must See Movie for the Entire Family

2010-08-15T07:10:00.005-04:00

This movie was not what I was expecting. I suspected it would be some kind of spoof but I was completely wrong. Every Christian family should watch this movie and listen for the application of Biblical truth in a very practical sense as we see the struggles families go through in a fallen world. Letters to God is available at your local Redbox for $1 and you can even go to the Rebox webpage www.redbox.com and reserve a copy so you don't have to waste time driving around town looking for it. Christians need to support those who make movies like this.