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
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).
“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
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.
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
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.
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”
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.
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
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).
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
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)