Having just learned from WND that Rick Warren is advocating the uniting of Muslims and Christians for the purpose of solving world problems I just can’t be silent.

1. There is only one truth and Islam doesn’t have it.

2. There is only One God and Allah ain’t it!

3. There is only one way and that’s Christ’s way not Mohammed’s.

Now to be fair I must say that Pastor Warren is only one of many who are compromising the truth for the sake of unity.  Keith Green once wrote an article titled “Unity, at what cost!”  Someone else made the statement that if you lie down with a dog you will come up with its fleas! This is a true statement.  Now Pastor Warren may be a true Christian, I don’t know the man except for what I have read and heard and therefore I cannot make a judgment based on evidence as Jesus declared we must. I also don’t know the motivation behind this call for unity… is he thinking of evangelizing the Muslims? That is a dangerous task but a noble one. If this is  his reasoning, then I pray he succeeds.

But if he is compromising the truth for whatever reason then he is treading on dangerous ground! Its ok to try to build bridges and such if you can do so in the name of Jesus…without compromising the truth! But we must remember that Christians and Muslims do not play in the same sandbox, don’t have the same standards, the same God, the same book!

People are always trying to make nice with the other side. Is this what Jesus did? In no way shape or form! Indeed it was Jesus’ manner to walk through the countryside, gather a crowd and then say some prettty disturbing things! Things like, I am the Way, the Door, The true Shepherd. Those who teach otherwise are hypocrites, who are seeking to distort the truth for whatever purpose may be on their agenda.

There is only one truth that can ’solve the world’s problems’ and that truth is found in the scriptures, the Holy Bible, and in the person of Jesus Christ. Does this sound narrow minded to you? Jesus did say very clearly that the way to life was through a small gate and upon a very narrow and sometimes very bumpy way! Christ’s way is not inclusive, or user friendly…it is a hard road and those who have traveled on it can tell you the same. To be a Christian may cost you your life…indeed your life may be taken by a Muslim who ‘doesn’t agree with your theology.’ You may, in the very near future, if our government has anything to say about it, be imprisoned for your stand for the truth of the Word of God. The ‘hate crimes’ bill that is in the process of being approved by our new socialistic government has decided that the gospel of Jesus Christ, literally the good news of salvation from the wrath of God, through the shed blood of Christ on the cross, that this is a form of hate speech. People have already been imprisoned, not for shooting guns or throwing rocks at homosexuals, but because they loved them enough to tell them the truth and point them to the only way of deliverance from their sin, which is only one of many.

This is the truth and I will not compromise the truth. Nor will I join forces with the enemies of truth! I will speak the truth in love and declare the whole truth of sin, righteousness and judgment. And I will declare that there is love and forgiveness and grace to be found in the person of Jesus Christ. Hate speech…I don’t think so!

This morning I want for us to look at into the Word of God to see some of the character traits of the people who know their God. Now there are many people in this world who call themselves Christians and they may very well be. There are also many church people, cultural Christians, who have chosen the name of Christian for some fleshly, worldly reason. Of those who are the real thing, some are more mature and stable than others; some are more serious than others. There are some believers who, due to immaturity, instability, or poor doctrine, are very flighty in their study habits; jumping from one subject to another but never getting into any subject very deeply. And the result of the surface type of theology, their lives are characterized by a surface kind of devotion; no strength of character, no depth of biblical knowledge and therefore no ability to defend the faith when confronted by error. They are also unable to explain what it means to be a Christian when asked.

 

As I look through the pages of my life I see much of this type of individual in me. For a time I was really into eschatology, the study of last things; prophesy and the like…but during that time I never got deep into biblical truths so as to be able to form a solid argument for the truth that I was learning and talking about. This was my approach with other subjects as well. I had no depth of root because I had no knowledge of how to dig deep into the Word of God and really had not considered the aspect of prayer; seeking the face of God and asking Him to show me great and wonderful things which I knew not! Because of this I was full of little bits and pieces of wisdom but there was no continuity in or completeness in my theology.

 

Sadly I thought I was doing rather well…that is until I read the biographies of David Brainerd and Robert Murray McCheyne and Keith Green. Then I began reading some of the sermons of Jonathan Edwards and suddenly I realized tha there was a whole new world that I never knew existed. The uncomfortable realization began to dawn on me that I knew nothing at all. I had been spinning my wheels in the dirt thinking I was getting somewhere and then I saw these men who were deeply committed to the study of biblical truth, who applied that truth to their lives in a very real and tangible way…and I had never done that. The realization came to me that I have squandered much time and opportunity in my life.

 

Now I could make excuses all day long for the lack in my life but the reality of the situation is that we are all commanded by God to be students of His Holy Word! God tells us in 2Ti 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Now some would say that this passage only applies to pastors but I don’t see Paul making such a narrow application. Indeed, God has placed this in the scriptures for all of us…we are to labor in the word and doctrine so as to know what we believe…so as to be able to articulate what we believe…we are to be ready to “preach the word; (to proclaim the word of truth at a moments notice) be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” 2Ti 4:2  There are no loopholes for any of us…we cannot get off the hook!

 

More and more I understand that there is a great need for an ongoing discipleship class of sorts in our lives because discipleship is something that begins at conversion and continues on until we leave this life to meet our Lord in heaven. Now ideally, good discipleship habits should start at conversion, being nurtured by godly men and women who know the truth, love Gods children and long to see them grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But this in no way lets us off the hook because, and I am speaking for myself, the lack of a good example is no excuse! As Christians we are to be in constant communion with our heavenly Father and once we are brought to see and understand the truth of our great need to be immersed in the Word of God we are responsible to either seek out godly men who can show us the way to study our bibles or we must look for resources that have been provided by godly men for our use but we must not neglect this vital aspect of the Christian life…of our walk with Jesus.

I am reminded of the words of a wise man who once said that if we ate and drank as often as we prayed and fed our souls with the Word, we’d be dead. And I’m not talking about the ‘getting my bible reading out of the way’ kind of a thing. I’m talking about the actual reading of the word of God where you are being fed, where you are growing, where you are learning and where you are applying what you learned to your life for the purpose of glorifying God. You see, there is a Grand Canyon of a difference between just reading mass quantities of bible verses and actually sitting down and listening to God as He speaks to you from His Word…followed by the writing down of what you have been taught…followed by the actual, purposeful application of that lesson to your lives in a real, visible, tangible way so that others can see that truth being lived out in your life! 

 

Do you see the difference here? Do you understand what I’m saying? Do you understand that this is one of the characteristics of the people who know their God? Is this true in your life? Do you do this? Remember that the true disciple is one who emulates his teacher and as our teacher is Jesus Christ Himself we are to be emulating Him. Remember the testimony of Jesus Christ from the scriptures; Joh 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” And what do the scriptures further teach us but “the one who says he abides in Jesus ought himself to walk (live) in the same manner as Jesus walked (lived).” 1Jo 2:6 It is by our conformity to the life of Christ, our modeling of the life of Christ before men that they will see our lights shining.

 

But to emulate Jesus, we must know Him! We must know how He lived and to learn this we must know what is written of Him in the Book. And we must know what He has commanded us as far as how we are to live for Him! And one of the first things we must get through our heads and then keep on holding up before our eyes as a sign post…to remind us lest we forget is that we are not our own but we have been bought with a price and Paul reminds us of this truth in 1Co 6:19-20 when he says “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” And those very familiar words from the word of God must again ring in our ears as we read from Ga 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

One of the daily battles we must face is the battle against the flesh; our old nature which wants to gain the mastery over us. When you hear a voice inside your head saying, “Hold on a minute, I am somebody, I have self worth, I have self esteem and I deserve to have my fair share…understand that this is the voice of the enemy, the old nature which continually sets itself against the truth of the word of God. I’m going to tell you something that you may already know; there is no such thing as self esteem in the Christian life! Self and Christ are eternal opposites! Christianity is not a mano a mano affair where we get to do our own thing in the center of Gods will! If this were the case then we would have much to boast of…and Ephesians 2:9 would be null and void when it declares that no one can boast…and this cannot be!

 

Keith Green described the Christian as someone who was bananas for Jesus. But it goes further than that doesn’t it. I remember one Pastor giving this description of the Christian, “A Christian is one who is all wrapped up in Jesus…Jesus is all and I am nothing!” Now this is the truth of scripture and it grates against our old nature which hates to be put down and put under. But it is the Truth!

 

Remember that Jesus Christ is the Light, the True Light. And we are to be reflectors of that light! It is like the sun and the moon. The sun has light in itself and the moon has nothing. But when the sun shines on the moon, the moon lights up as it reflects the true light. The only time the moon is dark is when the earth stands between it and the sun and then the light is eclipsed.

 

Are you shining the light of Jesus to the world around you…or is there something eclipsing the light?

 

I want for us to look now at Matthew chapter 5 and the Beatitudes or as Rick Ousley called them, the attitudes to be having or possessing. We are to be “beatituded” he said with these characteristics which bring much glory to God. And what are they? Let’s take a look:

 

Mt 5:1-4 “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

 

Ponder the truth of verse 3 for just a moment. It says “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Now exactly what does that mean? Is Jesus speaking about depression? Is He saying “Blessed are the depressed? I can almost guarantee that there are preachers out there who have tried to make this application to this passage. But Jesus is not dealing with depression here. In fact, if this were the case, everyone who is depressed, who haven’t taken Zoloft or other anti – depression drugs, these people are to be considered extremely blessed…indeed according to this type of theology the depressed are the ones who will be going to heaven. But is this what Jesus is saying? Consider the setting, the events that have gone on before Jesus uttered these words…He has healed a man with a withered hand and for His troubles; the religious leaders have begun to plot His demise.

 

Consider too the character of the Pharisee; a proud, self sufficient, self made man who believed himself to be of a blessed class of men. The Pharisees believed that they had arrived! Indeed, they seemed to be of the opinion that they were so holy and so pure that they were actually doing God a favor by letting Him spend time with them.  This is anything but Christian Character.

 

Again considering the events that have gone on just prior to this, Jesus had been healing men of all manner of diseases. And now He goes up on a mountain and sits down to teach His disciples. And He says “Blessed or, Oh the great blessing and contentment of those who realize their spiritual poverty. The Pharisees didn’t realize anything of the sort. Indeed, before we jump up on our high horses and begin to boast, understand that no man, woman or child on the earth realizes their spiritual poverty…until God rends the heavens and comes down and opens their eyes so that they can see that they are spiritually impoverished.

 

Now why is this a good thing? Why is it a good thing to realize your spiritual poverty? Is it good because admission is the first step on the road to recovery? Does it mean that if you admit you have a problem then you can do something about it?

 

To answer that question let me ask another one: what does it mean to be spiritually impoverished? It means that before God you stand empty, hopeless, helpless and condemned. It means you are lost and undone. It means that God is holy, holy, holy and we are sinners, condemned already because of our wicked nature. It means that if you stand before a holy God as you are, you are without hope! But tell rebellious, spiritually dead men of this and they will look at you as if you were from Mars! “What do you mean I’m a sinner?” They think you are nuts! They may admit to having a few problems but its nothing that they can’t handle themselves, or with a few drugs, or some alcohol or…you fill in the blank!

 

But the man whom Jesus is speaking of here is the one who, like the Prodigal son, has come to the end of himself and has by the grace of God, for the first time seen that he is an empty shell, that he is lost and undone, a condemned sinner before a Holy God; a worm and no man. And having come to this knowledge, which knowledge flesh and blood has not revealed to him but our Father in Heaven, this man stands forth like the tax collector in Jesus parable, beating his breast and pleading with God to be merciful to him…the sinner! And what did Jesus say about that man? He went to his house justified, cleansed of his sin and made a new creature in Christ Jesus!

 

Oh the great blessed contentment of the man who realizes his spiritual poverty. Why? For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven!

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Mourning does not sound like a positive thing does it. I mean, who likes to be sad, who likes to cry? Nobody! But again consider that the great blessing and contentment of those who mourn because of their spiritual poverty because they will be comforted! Notice that the word is “will” not “might.” If God has revealed to you your spiritual destitution and has caused you to mourn for your sins before His throne, then He Himself will comfort you!

 

Oh the blessed contentment of those who are completely broken before a Holy God! The Christian is one who stands before God broken and helpless, but with faith that can move mountains because he knows whom he has believed and is persuaded that He is able to keep that which he has committed unto Him against that day! How blessed to be an utterly dependent new creature in Christ Jesus. And blessed are those who continue to keep this attitude before God for they are the ones who will be used by God for His glory. Such people are mentioned in Da 11:32. Daniel speaks of the coming apostasy, and the results of the loosening of the restraining hand of God. Wickedness will flourish, the antichrist will be in power “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

 

In contrast to this note the misery of those who take their eyes off of Jesus even for a moment…because the moment they take their eyes off of Jesus they will fall into sin, be depressed and have a multitude of problems. Worse still, oh the misery of those who look to men for aid rather than looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith! Consider these words of truth and real wisdom from the word of God. In Jer 17:5-8 we read “Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” 6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. What a world of misery do those live in who do not trust in the Lord God; who will not look to the Lord for help but who are double minded, looking to Jesus one minute and to the world the next.

 

You remember what happened to Peter when he took his eyes off of Jesus just for a moment to see the wind and the waves; he sank! So do we! The world cannot help us. The flesh cannot help us. And horror upon horrors if we would even consider looking to the devil for help. The devil is a liar and has nothing to offer a child of God. Indeed it is his voice that calls us to look away from Jesus to the world for help. This is nothing more or less than the sin of pride. 7 In contrast to this Jeremiah says “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. 8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. Consider too the words of Ps 121:1 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. James gets right to the point in Jas 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” 

 

So what does the man or woman of God look like? They look like Jesus! They follow after Him. They obey His commandments.  They emulate Him and reflect Him to the world! When reading a passage like Mic 6:8 which states; “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God…” the man of God takes it to heart for his has heard the voice of his Master and joyfully obeys. I have heard many people ask the question “What is the will of God for my life?” Indeed I have asked it myself. And here is the answer! Am I truly converted? Have I truly been born again? Well then I am not my own any longer but belong body and soul to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ who shed His precious blood for my soul. I am His property. I am His to do with as He pleases.

I am not without direction for He has written a whole instruction book just for me. And I am to read it. I am to feed my soul with this glorious truth. And I am not merely to be a spiritual glutton, stuffing my face with spiritual dainties…I am to share, spread it around, give it away!

 

Ps 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it or ordering it according to Your word. Verse 105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Rom 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. The people who know their God are those who daily, hourly, lay their lives upon the altar as a daily offering, turning aside from the voice of the old nature and giving ear to the voice of the Lord God!

 

The person who knows God understands that we must plug our ears to the voice of the old nature and we understand that this voice takes many shapes. It may come from within as pet sins rise up to tempt you. And it may come from the mouths of others who are being ruled by the old nature. You see, the devil is very sly and subtle. He may use that inner voice or he may use the mouth of a wayward friend, a parent, a T.V. personality all of which are being used by the evil one himself to lead us astray. And we know that all we have do is relax our guard, give an ear to these other voices…voices which are united with the voice of the evil one himself…and we even know the message of those voices: look away from Jesus! Look to the world, to your government, your teachers, your friends, your parents…your…you can fill in the blank here. But we also know that once we look away from Jesus Christ, wicked, ungodly thoughts will come flooding in and our lives will turn into a raging sea.

 

We cannot fight this battle alone for we are already overmatched even before the battle begins! But this is one of the character traits of the people who know their God; they are walking with God already in a n established relationship and so when evil rears its ugly head they immediately look to Jesus; they look unto the hills from whence cometh their help for they know their help cometh from the Lord! And immediately the Lord calls them to look to Him. His voice of grace and thunder calls them to fix their eyes upon HIM! 2 And He says do not be conformed to this world, do not look to this world for help or guidance, or council or a pattern for living but be transformed metamorphosed by the renewing of your mind, And where does this renewal come from? It comes from being filled with the Word of God, from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God and as you stand before the Throne of God in prayer and have communion with Him. And as you look to Jesus, as you call upon His name you will find Him an ever present help in time of need…and He will say to the storm that is raging in your life “Peace, Be Still!”

 

It is at the throne of Grace when you are filled with His Spirit, where you are walking in His presence, worshiping that you will know the truth, which way to turn…so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Eph 2:12  remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Consider our Lord Jesus Christ who is God Himself, who has stooped to have fellowship with us, who has called us out of the world with a holy calling and has made us sons and daughters. And as sons and daughters we are also disciples, those lives are to be characterized by following after Jesus. And as we follow Him, we will be strong and we will do exploits in His Name.

Our text for this morning is found in Matthew 5:13-16 where, our Lord directs His attention away from the multitudes to the group of disciples gathered closest to Him. That isn’t to say that the multitudes didn’t hear Him but that He was speaking of things specific to those who would follow Him. We read “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

 

Lately I have been convicted and saddened by the lack of concern on the part of “Christians” toward the lost. We go to Church and hear messages of grace and hope, of sin, righteousness and judgment. And then we go away to our homes and forget what we have heard. It is interesting to me how that after a sermon full of truth, someone inevitably says something that is so completely unrelated to the message they just heard that you realize they had listened to nothing that was said. They are like the man who looks at himself in a mirror and walks away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. Consider these words from James 1:22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” That says a whole lot about what is going on inside the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ when men and women hear the truth and then hide it under a bushel basket or under a bed because they don’t want to offend someone or make them mad. They have the attitude of Jonah: their inaction declares that they would rather see so and so in hell than share with them the message of hope in Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus said, as He looked out over the fields, “The field is white unto harvest, but the laborers are few.”  There is a world of lost men sinners just outside this door and we are the laborers. And we are called by Jesus to be salt and light; sweep through the field of the world and speak to those who you know desperately need to hear Christ’s message.” We are salt and light and we are to go and reach out to the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and this is the vital message contained in our Lord’s words. 

 

Now consider that Jesus in our text is following up the Beatitudes in which He has described what Rick Owsly of North Phoenix Baptist Church called ‘The attitudes to be.’ In the Beatitudes, Jesus is saying, “Here is the character I expect you to have, and if you have this kind of character, then you are a child of My Kingdom.  If you have this character, and are a child of my Kingdom, here is your job: sweep through the world as salt and light and make a difference.” Jesus is calling on us to influence the world for His glory, to find the lost before it’s too late.  Having come to know the principles and the qualities that render us effective for God, that bring us into His Kingdom, that make us distinct from the world, He now tells us, “Move out into the world with that marvelous distinctiveness, find those that are lost, and point them to Christ.”

 

Consider a very important truth here; we are the only salt and we are the only light, humanly speaking, that the world will ever know. Notice for instance that the final Beatitude found in verse 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12  ”Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The very thing we are afraid of is that which Jesus says will happen. We are to expect it. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation. But does that mean we are to hide, to run away? Consider this; you already heard that in California you have to have a permit to have a bible study in your home.

John MacArthur relates this account; “there is a little house next door to our church, where our handicapped people for a few hours on a Sunday morning. But some judge somewhere ruled that a house cannot be used for religious purposes without a permit, even if you own the house. Sam Erickson, on our staff, called the city to find out about that and he said this, “You mean, if I want to have some people over to my house to study the Bible, we have to have a permit?”  They said, “Yes.”  He said, “What if I want people to come over to my house to drink beer and watch pornographic movies, that’s fine?  But if we decided to talk about the Bible, we have to have a permit?”  They said, “That’s right.”  I don’t know what that means for the future, but I don’t think it’s going to get any easier.”

 

There is a price to be paid for speaking the truth. That doesn’t mean we should go out to offend people but merely to expect that the truth will offend. Should we hide our light? Just because its going to hurt someone or make someone mad? NO! We are to confront the world with the truth. We are to speak the truth in love, as gently as we can we are to pour the medicine on the wound, expecting it to sting! Just because the world persecutes us, reviles us, and says all manner of evil against us falsely gives us no loophole to disobey God. Yes I said disobey; if we are not shining the light of Jesus Christ by our lives and speaking His truth with our lips, we are in rebellion against His declared will. We are to be like a city set on a hill with lights blazing for all to see. Just because the world makes it tough on us gives us no excuse to crawl in a hole or keep our mouths shut or hide. We are to be salt and light in the world.

 

The very words of our text presuppose the fact that there is decay and darkness in the world. Where you have decay, you need salt, and where there is darkness you need light. That is where we come in; we’ve got to be different. We can’t affect the world unless we are different. And I’m not talking televangelist strange different. Our lives and relationships and homes have to be different.  Just as it was in the days of Noah, the wickedness of man is one again great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is still only evil continually. The stench of sin is rising up to the heavens. We live in a dark and debauched world!

 

Notice again in verse 13 that we are the salt, in verse 14, we are the light.  In verse 16, Jesus tells us to “Let your light so shine.” What is God’s plan to deal with this darkened, decaying world? It’s us! The job is ours! “You are the salt. You are the light. Now I’m speaking of our responsibility as Christians. But we are not alone. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and Jesus Christ lives through us. And in His strength we are to be salt and light. Consider that salt speaks of influence. Salt is the living testimony of our holy lives which stand in stark contrast to the darkness of sin. Salt has five basic functions: purity, flavor, sting (in a wound), thirst, and preservation.  We are to be pure, glistening white against the darkness of the world. We are to flavor life with the wonder of God’s presence in us.  We are to sting and convict the sinful wound of the world. We are to create a thirst for Christ by the very way we live, as Israel is to be provoked to jealousy by the church. We are to be a preservative; we are an antiseptic in the world to retard the spread of its corruption.  If it weren’t for Christians in the world, it would be far more corrupt that it is now; we preserve it.  The earth is like a carcass, slowly but relentlessly deteriorating, rotting and in great need of some power to restrain that corruption, to create a thirst for God, to sting sin’s wound, to flavor life, and to bring purity to some dark and decaying soul.”  We are that salt.  This is the impact of the witness of a godly life. 

 

The way to change the world is to infiltrate it with godliness, righteousness, and holiness, and affect it from the inside out. Martin Lloyd-Jones says this, “Most competent historians are agreed in saying that what undoubtedly saved England from a revolution such as was experienced in France at the end of the 18^th Century was nothing but the evangelical revival. This was not done because anything was done directly, but because masses of individuals had become Christians and they were living this better life. They had this higher outlook. The whole political situation was affected, and the great acts of Parliament which were passed in the last century were mostly due to the fact that there were such large numbers of individual Christians found in the land.” What he’s saying is that they dominated the land by the power of their testimony. It’s wonderful to think of the fact that God can turn around a whole nation, a whole world, by using us. God uses simple, mundane, everyday, routine, common things for the most amazing purposes.  When He made man in the Garden, He didn’t use gold, silver, or even iron; He used dirt.  That ought to give you an idea of how He works right from the start. When God delivered Israel from Goliath and the Philistines, He didn’t use Saul, the great king, decked out in armor; he used a shepherd and a couple of stones. When He came into the world, He didn’t enter the family of the wealthy and noble, He wasn’t born in a castle; He chose a peasant girl and a stable. When He chose the Twelve, He didn’t choose the elite, educated, and affluent.  He just chose a group of regular guys. The Bible says, “Not many mighty, and not many noble.”  That’s the way it always has been, because God gets the greater glory in the humbleness of the one that He uses. 

 

So He uses us, grains of sand, to influence a corrupting world.  But it doesn’t stop with influence. 

 

We now come to the second thing, light. In verse 14 Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” IT is interesting how salt and light balance each other in this sense.  Salt is hidden; you don’t see it at all.  It just melts away into whatever it flavors or preserves. It works secretly to preserve from the inside, but light shines on the outside, and light is open and working visibly. In other words, salt is the influence of Christian character; it is quiet but powerful. Light is the communication of the content of the Gospel. So there are two sides; on one hand, we live the gospel, on the other hand, we preach the gospel. We affect society from the inside, by the power of our lives and we turn on the light so that everyone can see the message we are preaching. 

 

It isn’t just in our words, but in our very clear, open godly conduct.  We are not to be just a subtle influence like salt, but we are to be a very open and blatant influence like light. Remember the illustration about the believing wife influencing here ungodly husband by her godly life? That is an illustration of salt. But then you must have the light too! You can’t shirk your responsibility for God has left us no loopholes. You see, salt doesn’t change corruption into incorruption, it only retards the corruption. That’s only a negative function. Salt holds back the corruption; but then we must turn on the light of the Gospel to transform that corruption into incorruption. 

 

We are to be light bearers, shining the light of Jesus to the world. And we are to do so with purpose. This purpose is summed up in verse 16 “Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Note the statement, that they see our good works.  Secondly, they glorify our Father in Heaven; and so it implies both a life lived and a message spoken; it means they’ve heard something about our Father in Heaven FROM US! 

 

In Acts 1:1-2 , Luke writes, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2  until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. Ever and always, those two things go together – the living and the speaking.  Our light is a matter of living a godly, Christ reflecting life and the speaking forth of the truth. Throughout the Bible light is related to the true knowledge of God.  For example, Psalm 36:9 says, “For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” John in his epistle declares that God is light. In Him is the fountain of life, and in His light will we see light; God is light.  So if we are to be light, then we must be walking with God so that the light of the glory of God is revealed to those around us.

 

Then in Psalm 119:105 we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  God is light; the Word is light.  In Joh 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” God is light. The Bible, the Word of God, is light. Christ is light, and that is the light that we are to shine on the world. We are to tell them about God, God’s Word, and God’s Christ. That’s letting the light shine. It has to be spoken and then supported by a life that is consistent! Psalm 27:1, declares that “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” 

So the fact is, light is in the Bible refers to God’s revelation of Himself, His Word, and His Son. That is light. So we are to proclaim the message of light in a dark world, as well as to be salt in a decaying one.

 

In Luke 1:77, we read of the purpose for which Christ came: “To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins…” That’s why Jesus came, to give light to those in darkness.  So what our Lord is saying to us in our text this morning is that, collectively, we are to manifest His light.  He’s the sun, we’re to be like the moon. He is the real light, the essence of light; we are to be reflectors of that true light. John 1:9 says that Christ is the light that lights every man that comes into the world.  He’s the only true light, but we are to be reflectors of that light. 

 

The primary duty of the church is to be light in the world. We are called to spread the message of salvation, not just to sit around talking to each other. Yes we are to assemble with each other as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to gain strength from one another as we fellowship together in the Spirit but that is not all there is. As Del Tackett said, we are not here to just fill up our notebooks and get a bunch of clinical knowledge for ourselves. I am here, all pastors stand forth in their pulpits to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. And then the congregation is to go out and do the work of the ministry! It is wonderful to have fellowship with one another. It is wonderful to sit and hear a pastor unfold to us the riches of the Word of God. But sooner or later, we have to be light in the world and salt in the earth. We’ve got to get out from being wrapped up in ourselves. 

 

In IICor 4:6 we read “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Let me paraphrase that: God, who first ordered the light to shine in the darkness has flooded our hearts with His light. We now can enlighten men only because we can give them knowledge of the glory of God as we have seen it in the face of Jesus Christ. 

 

The Jews claimed to be light but the Apostle Paul denies that. He declared that their light had gone out.  They weren’t lights anymore. The Jews used to say that Jerusalem was a light to the Gentiles. In fact, a famous rabbi once called the city of Jerusalem ‘the lamp of Israel.’  But it wasn’t true anymore when Jesus spoke these words that day on the hillside; Jerusalem wasn’t any light. God’s light wasn’t there anymore, it was no lamp. The world was in darkness, so Jesus says, “It isn’t Jerusalem that is the light anymore, it isn’t Israel anymore.  It isn’t the Jewish people anymore that are light, but you only are the light.” The church would be the light, the ones who followed Jesus Christ are to be the light! 

 

Phil 2:14 puts it this way. “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15  so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,.” Did you hear that! You have to live a life that glorifies God, that reflects Jesus Christ. The life has to be there. If the world is going to criticize us, let them have to make up something because there is nothing they can use.  If we have to be hated, let us be like Christ: hated without a cause. Why? Because we are to be blameless, harmless children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world.  We are to be lights, holding forth or reflecting the Word of Life. 

 

We’ve got to be visible. We can’t be secret agent Christians. We can’t just be secret influences, we have to be visible.  The light has to shine openly. Jesus declares in verse 14 that “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  It’s amazing to ponder the sad fact that there are those people who call themselves Christians who can say, “I know God’s light has shined in my heart, but I don’t see that I have any need to shine anywhere else.” Such a statement is in direct rebellion to the word of God! If you are a Christian, if Jesus Christ has truly saved you then you are light. And light isn’t supposed to be hidden.  You’re a city on a hill.  The point is conspicuousness.  We’re not to be just subtle salt; we’re to be very conspicuous light. In ancient times cities were built on hills for protection.

From that vantage point you could see the enemy as he approached. Every traveler knew where the city was and even at night they could find the place of refuge because the lights of the city sparkled like diamonds in the sky.  Now we’re not Masons in a secret society. We’re not pagans, with mysteries only for the initiated. We don’t have a cult known only to the few; we’re a city set on a hill. The whole world ought to see us. We’re a city set on a hill. We’ve got to be salt before we can be light; we have to have the character and the influence before we have a message that is believable.

 

But there is a problem. We are salt and light, but we need to be very wary because if we turn aside to sin and cease walking in the Spirit, then we will stop being effective as salt and we will be useless as light. Look again at verses 13-15. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?“  Non-salty salt has absolutely no use. “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. The point is this: salt is only good when it has saltiness.  Light is only good when it is seen.  There is no place for a secret disciple; there is no place for a secret Christian.

 

Now consider what Jesus said about salt losing its saltiness. Moraino in the Greek means ‘flat and tasteless,’ if you become flat and tasteless. Now salt in the time of Jesus wasn’t as refined as the salt we know today and the kind of salt that they had at that time had the capacity to lose its saltiness, and that is what our Lord is alluding to. In Luke 14:34, it says, “Salt is good.  But if the salt has lost its savor, with what shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land, nor for the dung hill, but men throw it out.”  Some people teach that Jesus is referring to a loss of salvation, saltiness being salvation. But in keeping with the context of salt being a preservative influence, what is being stated here is that you’ll lose your ability to influence. 

 

If sin enters a Christian’s life, he will lose his influence.  If sin is in your life, you have no influence; you can’t retard the corruption of the world because you’re walking in step with it. You can’t be purity against an impure background because you’re impure too. You can’t be stinging in the wounds of other people’s sin because you have your own. You’re not going to create in someone a thirst for God, because there is nothing there to make them thirsty for what you have. When you turn aside from the truth, when you look away from Christ you become conformed to the world and you are just like them in your behavior. You’ll lose your saltiness, and make no contribution to retard their corruption. You’ll make no pure statement against an impure background. You’ll create no thirst in anyone for God. 

 

The point is, you are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that God has ordained beforehand for you to walk in them. This is the divine plan for the Christian. We are to be salt and light but to be salt and light you have to stay away from that which corrupts you. Jesus is saying, “How foolish it would be to get your lamp trimmed, the wick clipped, fill it up with oil, and stick a basket on top of it so no one could see it.” It would render the lamp worthless. Someone one said that most Christians are like an Arctic river – frozen at the mouth.  Listen, if you’re going to light, you have to get your light where people can see it. 

 

Notice verse 16 and the command: “Let your light so shine before me that they will see your good works.”  He’s saying, “Let it shine.”  If Christ lives in you, He is the light and you can’t change that. Nobody can blow it out.  That’s right!  There isn’t anybody who will blow it out, because the light is there. But you can put a bushel basket on top of it so nobody will ever know. It may be the basket of fear, or wanting to be acceptable, not wanting to offend or make waves, or whatever. But whatever it is, it needs to come off.  You don’t have to light it and you can’t put it out, you but you are called to let it shine by the way you live and the things you say. Let it shine before men, in the presence of those who hate you and would kill you, reject you, and deny you. Let it shine and let them see the beauty of your works. You know, when you hide your testimony, you’re not doing anything but preventing someone from seeing the beauty of God Himself. 

When you don’t testify to the truth, you’re just withholding from someone that which they desperately need to see if they’re ever going to come to God.

 

What do we see, then?  What is the one single reason that over arches the whole universe? There is one single reason why you should be salt that is salty and light that is manifest, and it is this: that you might glorify your Father who is in Heaven. If you don’t do it, then you are more concerned with your reputation than His glory. That’s always the issue. ”I don’t know if I should stick my neck out. I might lose my job or reputation.” Then you have just ascended the scale and what you have and what you want to get is more important than the glory of God. 

 

But the scriptures are clear: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us but unto Thy name give glory,” said the psalmist. And so I ask you, can you lose yourself? Can you be salt that is salty? Can you be light that is lit and manifest? You can if you only care about the glory of God. Brainerd, McCheyne, Edwards, Luther, Calvin, Whitefield, Wilberforce; these are just some of the luminaries who cared nothing of themselves but poured out their lives for the glory of God. They were no secret agent Christians but were beacons of light to a dark world. The other side of the scale is comprised of those who let their own personality and popularity, and prestige, and reputation get in the way. When this is done, then the glory of God is dragged down, your flag goes up, and you say, “I reign.  I’ll do what appeals to me.” 

 

Note how this last mindset is in direct opposition and rebellion to the very words of Christ who calls us to let our lights shine before men so that they will “Glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” That is the reason we are to live; to glorify God!  It is said of Robert Murray McCheyne that his face was sometimes lit up with a hallowed expression, so that people who came to see him fell on their knees to accept Jesus Christ when they saw his face.  Others were so attracted to the indescribable beauty of holiness manifested on his countenance that Jesus became, to them, irresistible. This is the influence of a godly life. Here is salt and light in action.

 

It is said of Fenelon, another great Christian of ages past, that his, “Communion with God was such that his face shown.  Lord Peterborough, a skeptic, was once compelled to spend a night with him in an inn.  In the morning, he hurried away saying, ‘If I spend another night with that man, I’ll be a Christian in spite of myself.’  Fenelon’s manner, his voice, and his face reflected so perfectly the glory of Christ that he was irresistibly attractive to even the worldliest and vilest of humanity.” 

 

What about you?  Are you the kind of salt that retards corruption? Are you the kind of light that attracts in the beauty of holiness, as the shining of your goodness and beauty, the power of God shining through you, touches the people around you? I call upon you to look to Jesus, to humble yourselves before the throne of Grace and repent of you faithlessness and for your suppression of the truth in unrighteousness. I ask you to pray that God would blaze forth from you in Holy light and that He would unlock the doors of your lips: that utterance would be given to you in the opening of your mouths to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which we are ambassadors…that in proclaiming it we may speak boldly, as we ought to speak.

 

1Pe 3:15  but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

There is a saying “You are what you believe.” Indeed your life does reflect that which is most important to you. From the heart you speak and the words that come out reveal your innermost being. Your view of God: your theology, dictates how you live. If your God is almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, working all things after the council of His own will or He is the Creator then you will live a life of humility, understanding that every breath you take is a gift from God. You will be thankful for the grace that He has lavished upon you and will breathe prayers of thanksgiving. If however you believe God is a manipulatable being who, yes created the world but who then stood back, relinquished His position of authority to man and now waits for man to ‘decide’ before He can act, well, this will be manifested in an attitude of pride and arrogance.

Your view of man and his standing before God gives a clear indication of your anthropology (the study of man) for this reveals either that you believe man is finite, a vessel created by God, the divine Potter, for His own purposes: that man is fallen, dead in trespasses and sins and unable to do anything to restore the relationship which was severed in the Garden by the presumptuous sin of Adam and Eve or contrariwise you will view man as having been created by God to practically a demigod: a being who has authority even over the Creator of the Universe. Those who hold to this teaching state that God is a gentleman who would never force Himself on anyone, who indeed cannot do anything in the hearts of men but who merely beckons to His creation, having provided a way for man, should he so choose, to unite with God, to ‘join with Him’ as a co-regent of the earth.

This second view of course is blasphemy, heresy, and wicked. But it is a view that has been embraced but many.

What I am about to do is to relate to you a scenario, a conglomeration of ideas which make up the doctrine of many ‘church people’ ‘pastors’ and ‘evangelists’ who are propagating another gospel. I say another ‘gospel’ because what is being taught by these men and women is a false ‘gospel’ that damns its adherents to the fires of hell because they have not believed the scriptures which exalt God and humble the pride of man. For indeed, the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ humbles the pride of man, exalts God and His glorious message of grace, demonstrates that God is God and we are not, that it is He who has saved us and not we ourselves; that we are His people, the sheep of His pasture, that He has chosen us before the foundation of the world and has written our names in His book of life; all to the praise of His glorious grace. This alone is the true Gospel which is able to save to the uttermost, all who come to Jesus Christ, having been drawn to Him by God the Father.

Now sit back and listen as I paint this picture and understand that this picture is widely accepted by multitudes simply because it exalts man and demotes God.

“Once upon a time, long, long ago on a faraway planet there lived a good god. This god was very much like you and me; a being who stands about 6’2” or 6’3”, weighs a couple of hundred pounds and has a hand span of 9 inches. The wisdom and power of this god were so great that he could visualize beautiful images and then turn the images into reality by utilizing a special power called the ‘force of faith.” 

One day this god had a cosmic brainstorm. He decided to use the force of his faith to create something superb and special. He decided to bring a whole new world into existence; and not just any old world. It was going to be the most fantastic world imaginable. In fact, this wonderful world would be an exact duplicate of the mother planet where God lived.

After carefully visualizing every detail of this wonderful world, god went into action. Releasing the force of his faith, god spoke into existence the planet he saw in his mind’s eye. And was god excited. Looking down with fondness upon this new creation god named the planet, earth.

But this was only the beginning. Suddenly a host of brilliant new ideas began to flood god’s created consciousness. He began to visualize vast oceans and springs of water. He saw magnificent mountains and fertile fields. His mind produced flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder and plants, flowers, and trees blazed into existence. This god began to visualize life; birds, and animals of every shape and size. Yet there was more to come. After five days of vivid visualizations, god’s mind moved into yet another dimension. It was day six and in god’s mind’s eye, he saw the crowning jewel of his creation. As the details coalesced in his mind, god suddenly found himself focused on an exact duplicate of himself. So god spoke and suddenly out of the pristine soil of planet earth there arose another god…one exactly like himself.

As the image of this ‘god’ took form, god saw that he had outdone himself for there, before his eyes stood another ‘god’ with a body just like his own including the exact size and shape. Well, god had finally done it. He had thought the unthinkable and by the word of his faith had created a creature that was not even subordinate to himself. (Sound familiar?)

This new creation was nearly equal to his creator for he could think like god, be like god and do almost everything god could do! God called his carbon copy ‘Adam’ and gave him complete dominion and authority over all of creation. This creature had some much power that his creator could not do anything in the earth realm without first obtaining Adam’s permission.

Adam was truly a super being! He could fly like a bird; swim like a fish and even zoom through the universe without a space suit. With a single thought Adam could transport himself to the moon.

But god was not well pleased for even after creating this super being he realized that there was a piece missing from this puzzle. Brainstorming again, god finally figured out that Adam was as much female as he was male and so, why not separate the two. After obtaining permission from Adam, god caused a deep sleep to fall upon him and, opening him up, god removed the female part from the male part and poof; there before him stood a being of surpassing beauty. He had created woman…man with a womb…and he called the ‘womb man’ Eve.

Little did god know that these two beings were about to get him thrown off of his own planet. There were sinister plans afoot that God did not know about. You see, before he had created this planet, god had created a spirit world full of beings called angels and one of these angels was a being of surpassing beauty; Lucifer the morning star. Lucifer had great ambitions; he wanted to take over everything god had created and so he tried to overpower god only to be thrown off the planet. Also, god changed his name to satan.

Tumbling from his mother planet satan landed on earth where Adam and Eve would live one day. And he began to make plans to get back at god. Well, wouldn’t you know it, one day opportunity came knocking in the form of Adam and Eve who were wandering around the Garden of Eden. Satan instantly transformed himself into a serpent and cunningly tricked the two little gods into committing cosmic treason. For the price of a piece of fruit Adam and Eve sold their godhood to the devil who became the god of this world. He now had the title deed to the earth and all the legal rights to its inhabitants. 

But god wasn’t ready to give in yet.

Realizing that he needed man’s permission to get back onto the earth, god immediately went to work. And after thousands of years, god finally found a man named Abraham who took the bait and became the vehicle through which god, if he was lucky, might one day win back the world he had lost.

You see, through Abraham, a second Adam would eventually come and if everything went according to plan man would be restored to godhood and god would get his earth back.

Now Abraham could had just told god to bug off but instead he decided, through a series of inducements, to by into the plan. They forged a covenant which would make Abraham healthy and wealthy and give god a foothold in his world.

In keeping with his promise, god made Abraham very, very wealthy and once again he began to visualize a brand new Adam who would banish the devil and give god back the authority he had lost. On the set day god’s spirit hovered over a woman named Mary and using the power of faith and positive confession the second Adam began to take shape with arms and legs and eyes and hair. The second Adam was named Jesus and as Abraham’s descendent he became very prosperous; living in a big house, handling big money and wearing designer robes. (The robe with out seams) Jesus was so wealthy he had to hire a treasurer (Judas) to keep track of all of his money.

Jesus too could speak things into existence using the power of faith and was able to overcome every trick that the devil threw at him. Even though he never claimed to be god, Jesus was able to live a life of sinless perfection and passed the test that the first Adam had failed. While He hung on the cross he became sin and when He died the devil took him to hell. But the devil had blown it on a technicality. He had not taken into consideration that Jesus had never sinned and so took Jesus to hell illegally. But suddenly Jesus began to come back to life as god spoke faith filled words into the bowels of the earth. He began to flex his spiritual muscles and after beating the devil up, took the keys of the earth and emerged from hell as a born again man.

And since Jesus was recreated from a satanic being to an incarnation of God, you too can become an incarnation of God, exactly like Jesus. As such you can have unlimited health and wealth. In fact it is God’s will that you have health, wealth and all good things. By using your tongue you can speak whatsoever you desire into existence and live happily ever after. The End!

Now is any of this true? In no way shape or form! Everything you have just heard is conglomeration of false doctrine; a false gospel which exalts man and demotes God. This doctrine turns men into little gods and makes the God of the bible, a poor, helpless creator who can only wait and hope that men will want to be with Him. Such a doctrine has proceeded from the filthy dungeon of the hearts of men who don’t want anything to do with the God of the Bible.

And what does the Bible say of heart of man? “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? Jer 17:9 It is in the heart of man that false doctrine is born and all false doctrine can be seen in one main characteristic; the exaltation of man and the demotion of God. The God of all false doctrine is an idol and in back of all forms of idolatry is the devil, who from the beginning has appealed to the heart of man and promised that man can become as God! 

Now the truth of the matter is that whoever is born again, whoever is a believer in and a lover of Jesus Christ is so because God the Father had mercy upon that dear soul and in mercy has spoken life into what was a spiritually dead frame, has performed heart surgery granting the dead sinner a spiritual resurrection, a new heart and a new spirit, has raised the sinner up from the dunghill of sin of wickedness by the power of God. God the Holy Spirit drew the dead sinner to God the Son, by the sovereign good pleasure of God the Father and in all of this God and God alone has received all the glory and honor and praise for He has done great things.

This is the plain, God honoring, God exalting, man abasing truth of Scripture. And men hate this message! Sinners hate it because there is no place for them to receive glory. Church people hate it because there is no room for sinful man to get any credit at all and ‘we just don’t do things like that around here.”

Sinners of every stripe long to boast of what they have done and therefore the true message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is anathema to them for the scriptures leave no room for boasting. In fact the scriptures are so clear when they teach us this truth that the true child of God will be humbled into the dust and praise the God of heaven for His marvelous works to the children of men. This is a trustworthy statement; No flesh, saint or sinner, will glory in His presence; no one will boast of what they have done for when we all stand before the Great White Throne, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.  

Why do men and women rail against God and shake their rebellious fists in His face when confronted with the truth of scripture? Why do ‘preachers’ contrive many ways to heaven? Why do men submit themselves to the ‘doctrines’ of demons rather than bowing before the Holy God of the Universe in humble adoration and submission to His divine decrees? It is because as Paul states in 1Co 1:18-30 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; THEY THINK ITS STUPID!

I am reminded of the account of the fiery serpents which had come at the command of God to kill the rebellious children of Israel. Follow along as I read the narrative found in Nu 21:5-9 “The people spoke against God and Moses, (Hint; Speaking against God is bad news) “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” Did you get that? There is no food or water (a denial of the facts as every time they needed water God provided it) and then an admission that yes there is food (Manna) but they don’t like it. They want something else. In other words, they are not satisfied with the provision of God.

Now some would say that the people were just exercising their civil rights and God really needed to bend a little. Does He? 6 “The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. The scriptures teach us that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 1Sa 15:23  and we read in Revelation 22:15 “Outside (of heaven) are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. You can be sure that your sin will find you out and you will pay…unless you repent.

Picking up at verse 7 we read “So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”

Now I’m going to speculate here but I am sure that there were some rebels who would not look at the bronze serpent…”How’s that going to help me? I’m dying here! These too thought God’s way was stupid and they died in their rebellion.

19  You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. Rom 9:19-24

The salvation of sinners is the prerogative of God not man. God chooses, God calls, God saves. The order of salvation is spelled out in Rom 8:29-30 where we read “For those whom He foreknew, (knew beforehand) He also predestined (accompanied that foreknowledge with previously determining the destiny of them) to become conformed to the image of His Son, (He saved them, regenerated them, made them new creations in Christ Jesus by His sovereign mighty power so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

And when did all this take place? Paul spells it out for us in Eph 1:3-14 when he gives us that great doxology of praise to God for His wonderful works to the children of men. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8  which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9  He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10  with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11  also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12  to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

And so we who are alive in Christ understand, by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit that God has had mercy on us. He has revealed Himself to us and so rather than seeing the cross as foolishness …unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, (speaking of worldly wise-men who have exchanged the truth of God for a lie) and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. When it comes to the truth of the word of God, 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Think for a moment of the man Solomon. He was a mere man but God granted him wisdom that confounded all. There was no problem that he could not solve. His wisdom can be compared to the strength of Samson. Remember that his enemies thought they had him trapped in Gaza but when he was ready to leave, he walked outside, went to the city gates and lifted them, posts and all and carried them some 20 miles and deposited them on top of a hill that faces Hebron.

Now these are men who were empowered by God to do mighty feats. But we are talking now of a direct dealing with God Himself who makes all men look like stupid animals in comparison. Now there are worldly wise men who claim to know God and they also claim to have the key to unlock the mysteries of God. But they are merely deluded fools whose god is their bellies, whose end is destruction for like Simon the sorcerer, they too have set their minds on earthly things.

The truth of the matter is that apart from the grace of God it is impossible for men to know Him. Strive as they might they are merely groping in the dark for, like Cain, like Nadab and Abihu, they have refused to follow His direction. 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. In Ro 10:14 we read; “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?  15  How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

16  However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” 17  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18  But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.” 19  But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.” 20  And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.” 

God is the Author and finisher of our faith. But again, men will not listen to the truth for it is foolishness to them and instead they follow after omens, have their palms read, read their horoscopes all to find a larger meaning to life. Paul says in verse 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

We have heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ from the word of God today. And lest we should be puffed up, remember that we used to believe some of the false things mentioned today. But in mercy God took us aside and explained to us the way of God more accurately. And because of the grace of God we can say with Paul  1Co 13:11 “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” 

The Christian life from beginning to end is a journey in Grace. We were saved by Grace, we are kept by Grace and we will be carried home to heaven because of Grace. And all praise and honor and glory belong to Him who sits enthroned above the cherubim “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Ro 11:36

As we have been dealing with the Book of Romans we have seen that there are people who use God’s grace as a license to sin. Others, like the Pharisees took God’s law and added to it what they thought He was really trying to say and ended up with a legalistic, works based religious system that buried the practitioner in a sea of do’s and don’ts to the point where, if you even breathed wrong, you were condemned. So this morning we must ask the question of ourselves: Have we gone the way of rules and regulations to the point of being legalistic? 

Are You A Legalist? 

Consider: have you ever noticed how a certain mind set or behavior pattern can creep in almost unnoticed? It may be something like a change in your taste of music. Using myself as an example, I used to enjoy nothing but Beatles music. To me, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and classical music like Mozart was strictly for old men. In other words, if you listened to the stuff I didn’t like, you stank as far as I was concerned. Now today I would rather listen to ‘old man music’ than anything else. So where does that leave me? In the world of Stinkydom! 

There are people, who have always had a quiet and gentle spirit; nothing ever bothered them. But then something happened; the reflection in the mirror changed from quiet and peaceful as the day is long, to moody, irritable, and angry. When did this happen? How did this happen? When did Dr. Jekyll move in permanently? Consider too that similar things take place in our spiritual lives. Look within your own life and consider the changes that have taken place over the years. Perhaps when you were first saved you were diligent to defend yourself against sin. But now that diligence has been eroded and once forbidden behaviors have found a place in your heart. They have moved in slowly, unnoticed, like the false teachers of the book of Jude. And now they have taken root and have become a deep seated problem. Worse still, since it was such a subtle invasion, coming in through the back door with no fanfare, announcement or slamming of doors, you woke up one morning and KAPPOW! you’re in trouble! 

This is how sin works…sneaking in subtly without our being aware.  And legalism is one of those sins that it seems is easiest for us to fall into. It’s not that we have set out to mix law and grace, so as to deprive ourselves of peace and joy. Instead we just kind of find ourselves in the depressing world of legalism and we don’t recall the steps that we took to get there. We wake up one day and find ourselves deeply entrenched in a mindset that saddens and repulses us. We began well but we have somehow decided, either consciously or unconsciously to wander off into bypath meadow where the going seemed to be smoother. But Giant Despair has caught us and we are now in prison wondering what happened.  

Now what does a legalist look like? Well let me start out by saying that these folks use the language of grace and would never outwardly admit that trusting Jesus was not enough. But their feelings and actions betray “a legalistic frame of mind.”  They are driven toward better and better performance, not out of love for God, but out of fear that they may not do enough to get into heaven. The professing Christian who is a legalist fights against sin in his life, denies himself many pleasures, keeps himself from bad company, attends church, and helps the poor IN ORDER TO MAKE GOD HAPPY WITH HIM.  He may or may not be conscience of his trying to gain heaven by the works of the Law.  But this is legalism. The professing Christian who understands and lives by grace also fights against sin, denies himself many pleasures, keeps himself from bad company, attends church, and helps the poor, but he does so for an entirely different reason. This person does NOT work to make God happy with him, he works BECAUSE God has forgiven his sin and has made him part of the family of God based on the works and righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ.

 THE CHILD OF GRACE LIVES AND WORKS AS HE DOES OUT OF GRATITUDE AND LOVE FOR THE GOD WHO HAS GIVEN HIM SALVATION APART FROM HUMAN WORKS, BY FAITH IN CHRIST.  This is grace. The difference between law and grace for the unbeliever is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. The difference between law and grace for the true believer is the difference between realizing joy, peace, and assurance of salvation as compared to living with no assurance of heaven, no joy, or peace on earth. 

Our text for this morning is found in Galatians 2:11-14 where we find Paul seeking to correct a problem in the Galatian church: they were guilty of turning away from the truth of the gospel to follow the fable of righteousness gained through keeping the law. Interestingly: this recalls a time when Paul had to rebuke Peter for just this sin. He says in verse ¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; That is, he enjoyed fellowshipping with the gentiles with a clear conscience, sharing meals with the gentiles; eating when they ate and what they ate EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS NOT LAWFUL FOR A JEW TO DO! Because of the clear vision he had received from God (the sheet let down from heaven with all kinds of animals on it and the command from God to call nothing unclean that HE HAD CALLED CLEAN!) because of this freedom that he had in Christ and because of his love for the brethren Cephas abandon the Jewish dietary laws which do not save one or keep one saved.  

But this life of freedom was short lived. It would seem that Peter had a fear of men; he feared the opinions of men when it came to such things because we read, but when they (Jews from James) came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. In short, he feared the Judaizers who believed that you must trust in Christ but also perform the works of the law in order to be right with God. They held that you needed to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ but then in order to keep yourselves in the favor of the Lord, you had to obey the Jewish dietary laws, observe the feasts and be circumcised or you would be finally lost. 

But when one goes off in the wrong direction he seldom goes alone. 

Notice how Peter’s sin caused a ripple effect which brought others into the bleak universe of legalism. ¹³The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. Now you’d think that Barnabas would have known better. But we see that he too was silently, quietly, subtly, pressed into this sin against the grace of God by Peter’s example. And Paul would stand for no compromise of the truth. We read in verse ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, (the truth being that it does not matter what you eat or drink or who you eat with, food has nothing to do with ones salvation) I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you (now) compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?  

The public chastisement of Cephas had to do with the purity of the Gospel. By Peter’s actions he was saying that the saved Gentiles would not be right with God unless and until they ate, acted, and worshipped like the Jews. And they would not be good enough for him to eat with! It seems as though he had forgotten the lesson learned in Acts 15:10 Here Peter himself said ¹⁰“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  Through the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified, but those who seek to follow the law as a means to an end will be burdened to death in this life and endure hell fire in the next. The Christian Gospel says that sinners are saved from wrath and made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord PLUS NOTHING.  Our Creator designed salvation so that all human contributions are excluded, both at the point of one’s salvation and during one’s Christian life as well. Sinners are saved by grace and kept by grace through faith in Jesus; it is not of themselves, it is the gift of God entirely, so that God gets all the praise and glory and men get none!

Circumcision is nothing, yet some saved Jews tried to make this rite a requirement for being saved. Baptism, church membership, observing the Sabbath, the length of your dress, or eating lunch with an Idolater-whoremonger, all are of no consequence when it comes to salvation!  For salvation, from beginning to end, is by faith alone, in Christ alone, by the power of God alone, plus nothing. That is what Peter preached with his lips and believed in his heart.  But on this occasion he contradicted his usual message without saying a word. He turned away from the truth for fear. It was the fear of confrontation, of human disapproval, of rejection by one’s countrymen. Peter was taken down in a moment by a common human weakness, the fear of man, the want of approval. In a moment he became what he despised, a hypocrite. 

Peter did not plan to be hypocritical he just suddenly found himself playing the part.  He lost his mind, as it were; he failed to think clearly when these men arrived.  The result of that failure was that he led others into HYPOCRISY with him. Being an Apostle, one who had walked with Christ and had heard the truth from His own lips Peter was someone that people looked to for leadership. They respected him, believed what he taught verbally and watched how he lived so that they could emulate him. Therefore, they concluded, if Peter has broken fellowship with the Gentiles so must we.  BY HIS ACTIONS, Cephas had taught another gospel.  He might as well have announced, “Yes, you must believe in Jesus, but you must also observe the Jewish traditions, get circumcised, keep the Law of Moses, and watch what you eat OR YOU’RE NOT A REAL CHRISTIAN!”  

Peter claimed one thing with his mouth but did the opposite with his life: thus he became a HYPOCRITE.  He was no longer “straight forward about the Gospel.” To be “straightforward about the Gospel”, means that one must preach and teach the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But it goes beyond that to include living out the truth we teach and believe.  Peter had it right when he spoke but contradicted the gospel by his behavior. He did this by breaking off fellowship with the Gentiles when the Jews from James showed up.  

When he moved from one side of the room to the other he effectively declared, “There is something wrong with you Gentiles, there is something lacking in you.” That something had to do with circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses. By siding with the Judaizers, Peter took the place of a legalist and, because of who he was, an apostle, a leader of the church, he laid the yoke of the law on the shoulders of many real Christians.  Salvation is by grace through faith but in this moment Peter was clouding that truth, he was not straightforward about the gospel. 

The true message of the gospel is captured in Rom 10:1-4 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them (speaking of the Jews) is for their salvation. ²For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 

Every sinner who subjects himself to the righteousness of God by trusting in Christ will be saved from the wrath to come. For Christ is the end of the law, that is, He fulfilled the law on our behalf.  He met all the requirements of the law, He is perfect and acceptable TO God FOR everyone who believes in Him.  This is the Good News! Jesus saves all who come to Him by faith!  And I repeat that this is what Peter believed and taught the Gentiles in his charge and this is what he should have said to his Jewish visitors when they came. He should have ended his lesson on grace with “whether you like it or not here I stand, I will not hinder the Gospel of free grace with your laws and ceremonies.”  But he didn’t and Paul was right to rebuke him. 

What would Paul say to us?  Whether Pastor, Elder, Deacon or a Christian with no official title, all believers must search their hearts and ask, “Am I straight forward about the gospel in what I say and how I live?” Or do I hinder the good news with legal requirements? If I somehow make people think that baptism is essential to salvation I have preached another gospel.

I can do the same thing with my comments or bad attitude concerning the way a person dresses, or the form of entertainment he prefers.  I can pollute the truth of the gospel message of Free Grace by the way I respond to a smoker, or a person with a ring in his nose. Say for instance that I teach or in some way infer that one’s salvation requires personal reformation BEFORE God will accept them.  I have just preached a lie, another gospel. The scriptures teach us that a man cannot change the color of his skin, a leopard cannot change his spots, and one who is accustomed to doing evil cannot, by the grit of his teeth, become righteous. Whores, thieves, drug addicts, burglars, rapists, murderers, terrorists, and the little old lady down the street who has never harmed a flea, are saved WHILE THEY ARE ACTIVE, LAW BREAKING, SINNERS.  They are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ who fulfills the law on behalf of all who believe. 

Let’s look a little deeper at Paul’s rebuke of Peter. We read in Gal 2:14-21 “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, (when no one else is around) how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? (Peter might have objected, “I compelled no one to live like the Jews!” But in fact, he had done exactly that by refusing to fellowship with the Gentiles when his fellow Jews had arrived. Paul continues saying ¹⁵“We are Jews by nature (born Jews) and not sinners (literally the ungodly or even the heathen who are) from among the Gentiles; ¹⁶nevertheless knowing (as we Christian Jews do) that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we (Jews) have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.  

In this short text Paul restates the doctrine of justification by faith when he says that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus,… and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified!” He is saying what must be said again, and again; that sinners are made right in the eyes of God by looking away from themselves to the perfect person and work of another, Jesus Christ.  He is the justifier of the ungodly by faith! Consider Rom 3:21-28 which states But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²²even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; … ²⁸For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.  

Paul continues in Galatians 2:17-21; “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, (as Paul, Peter, and the other believing Jews were) we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! God had declared believing Gentiles clean, saved, and forgiven by faith in Christ, equal to any saved Jew.  But Peter now acts like they are unclean, like it is sinful to enjoy their company. The question Paul asks is this, “When Christ told you to embrace believing Gentiles did He send you into a sinful relationship?”  Of course not!  Peter had momentarily lost his mind, he had returned to that “works based religion” that had been destroyed by Christ. Paul continues in verse eighteen “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. ²¹“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

The first four verses of Romans eight explain that beautiful phrase found in verse twenty of our present text where Paul says, ²⁰“… the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Christ’s giving of Himself for us and the result of that sacrifice are found in Romans Rom 8:1 – 4 ¹Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (the law that exposed sin and condemns you to death)

³For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: (He did this by…) sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

Therefore we must reason, “If Christ gave Himself to fulfill the demands of the law for me, and if His work was effective in fulfilling that requirement then I HAVE NOTHING TO DO FOR SALVATION BUT TRUST IN HIM with the faith that He gives me to exercise toward Him who loved me and called me according to His holy purpose. Peter knew, believed, and taught this wonderful truth but when he walked away from the Gentile believers to stand with the Judaizers he declared that Christ’s work was ineffective without the addition of human works.  He effectively said, “If you hope to be saved you can’t eat pork, you men must be circumcised, you can’t dance or drink wine with you dinner, you must keep the Sabbath, and tithe your spices!” 

Such mixing of law and grace NULLIFIES the grace of God.  Hear the word of the Lord from Romans 11:6 “But if it (salvation) is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ plus nothing.  There is no other way to be made right with God! It had to be hard for Paul to rebuke his dear brother in public. But it had to be done. The peace and comfort of these Gentile Christians was at stake. More importantly, the truth of the gospel was at stake.  What Peter had done, without intent, and without saying a word, was to declare that Jesus death was not enough to save the lost, they must make a contribution of good works, and so Paul stepped in to make the correction. 

When you and I are dealing with truth we must understand that the slightest adjustment in the Good News will turn it into a lie. We must be careful not only with our words but with our behavior.  We must not play the part of the legalist, the hypocrite: teaching, by our silence, what we would never say with our lips. We must never twist the truth of the gospel with our own foolish, man-made messages which include things like this: “In order to become a Christian you must clean up your life, be baptized in our church, increase the length of your dress, speak in tongues, and never ever mow your grass on Sunday”, otherwise, Christ will be of no value to you.  “You must quit all of your bad habits completely and live a perfect life. Then and only then can you be part of OUR CHURCH!” Is this the Gospel?  Is this Good News to slaves of sin, self and the Devil?  Is this Good News to people who know their lives are ruined and have tried for years to reform themselves?  IT IS NOT! 

The Good News is that Jesus saves the ungodly from their ungodliness and the wrath due them for sin. The Good News is that sinners can come to Jesus just as they are, dead in trespasses and sins, filthy and smelly, enslaved to their passions knowing that He is the Savior of all who come to Him by faith.  The Good News is that sinners are saved in spite of themselves and because of Jesus Christ.  1Cor 1:30 -31 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, ³¹so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” I hope you can see the seriousness of these issues; that they require prayer and the spiritual discernment that only God can give.  May He grant us the strength and courage to be patient with weaker brothers and to be straightforward about the Gospel in both our speech and practice at all times and in all situations!  May He guard us against the fear of man and enable us to live gracious lives that speak to men of God’s mercy to sinners through faith alone in Christ alone and apart from the works of the law.

Mt 22:7:1-14 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. 11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

As is our practice for Lords Supper Sunday, our lesson for this morning will be one of self examination. This is a command from the Scriptures! We must constantly examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. And what we are looking for is evidence. We are looking for actual real, tangible evidence that Jesus Christ lives in us. If there isn’t any, we have failed the test.

It is frightening to think of the myriads of people who have ‘made a decision’ or ‘had some religious experience’ or ‘performed many good deeds’ who believe that these things will get them into heaven. Consider that many, standing before the judgment seat will list their credentials before The LORD. Jesus spoke of this happening in Mt 7:22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

It is interesting to me that the ones who are performing these religious acts believe that the deeds they perform should have enough merit to get them into heaven. But Jesus sees their ‘religious deeds’ as ACTS OF LAWLESSNESS! Our best deeds are sin in the eyes of God. They have no merit whatsoever and to even consider the thought that they do is sin. Paul says in Tit 3:5 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, Why? Because there is no work that we could ever perform, which would attract Christ to us or make Him choose us. In fact the scriptures paint a very clear picture of the men and women of this world. In Isa 64:6 the prophet declares; “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Do you see the truth here? We are void of righteousness. We are sin and all we want to do is sin in some form or another.

Paul, in the 5^th chapter of the book of Romans tells us that we are helpless! We haven’t got a leg to stand on before a righteous and holy God who is of purer eyes than to look upon sin. Outside of divine intervention we are guilty, condemned already before the Righteous Judge of the universe. But God! Pastor John’s two favorite words! We were without hope, being without God in this world…But God! We were lost and undone; an unclean thing and our iniquities have taken us away…But God! We were dead in trespasses and sins with no hope of ever bridging the mighty chasm that stands between us and God!

But God! “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” Tit 3:5

The grace of God is truly amazing. The scope of salvation is breathtaking to behold as we begin to comprehend the truth that God has saved us with a complete salvation. In Heb 7:25 the writer says “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Peter tells us that we have inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us who love Him; who are have been called by God out of darkness and into the realm of His amazing grace!

The truth of scripture is that there is none righteous, no not one. But sinful men and women continue to seek ways of circumventing this truth. Just consider “Jude” the woman preacher from the truth project. Because the scriptures condemn her she has rejected them and has embraced the doctrines of the religions of the world to justify herself. This is always the way of the world. Congress is trying once again to legislate its idea of morality which involves protecting the rights of pedophiles to practice their wickedness, of homosexuals to propagate their disease and any other brand of monstrous evil. At the same time they are violating the first amendment rights of the people of this nation in that they are restricting the free exercise of religion. How? By declaring the preaching of the gospel to be hate speech! If a preacher declares the whole truth of the Word of God and in doing so declares homosexuality to be a sin as stated clearly in the Word of God, he could be thrown in jail for a hate crime.

Truly this world is upside down.

But the world has always been upside down. And the world doesn’t like to be confronted with the truth. The new ‘philosophy’ of the day is called ‘post modernism’ which believes in a nutshell that there is no such thing as truth, absolute truth. This is why you hear people say, “I’m glad that’s working for you” or “what’s true for you is not true for me.”

And then there is the modern ‘evangelical church’. Much of modern ‘Christendom’ has embraced a watered down version of bible doctrine which is mixed with the plans and schemes of ravenous wolves whose sole purpose is gain. The modern church offers trinkets and baubles, free breakfast, a free ride to and from church and anything else the pastor and deacons can dream up; all for the purpose of gaining a following, of being known as the ‘happenin place’ where the pews are full and Baptist math is practiced in all of its ‘splendor.’ All these things appeal to the worldly nature of sinful man who loves to have his ego stroked by things.

Now consider step by step what Jesus is saying in our text for this morning. Mt 22:7:1-14 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. What is this? Well in Re 19:9 it is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. “Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” Here is a picture of the bounty of heaven, of the rest promised to the people of God. Consider what a marriage feast is; there is great joy because of the glorious union that has taken place, there is happiness and food a-plenty. Now try to multiply the joy of human union infinitely and you begin to get an inkling of what is occurring in heaven as we are granted to be in the presence of Him whom our souls love. It is a picture of union with God!

From Eternity Past, God has decreed all that will come to pass. He has chosen His children, knows them by name and has written their names down in His book from the foundation of the world. If we believe that God is truly Sovereign then we must conclude that He has decreed the fall of man in the garden by His appointed instrument, the devil. He has also decreed their redemption in the sacrifice of His own dear Son who is Himself God! Now contrary to the doctrines of the modern church, man is not good and perfectible. Instead He is fallen and cannot get up. He is helpless to do anything to accomplish his salvation.

I remember a question asked by one dear friend and mentor, Dan Caffese. We were standing around during an intermission between speakers at a bible conference when he asked: “Why do men believe in the Arminian version of salvation in which man has a part in the process?” Surprisingly, I actually had an answer for this. My answer came from something I had been pondering for a while. There is a product called nicorette gum and in one commercial for this product the statement was made, “I’m participating in my own deliverance from the addiction to cigarettes.” In the same way the Arminian version of salvation men believe that salvation is mano a mano and he gets to have a mano in there somewhere. Infinite God does all He can but then it is up to finite man to finish the job.

But notice again what is being stated in our text: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. God is giving a wedding feast for His Son. Now this implies that there is a bride, I mean, you can’t have a wedding without a bride can you? I don’t think so!

Now notice the next verse. 3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. God had sent out an invitation to come to this great feast of Grace! And further He has decreed that His servants call to those who had been invited to the feast. Who had been bidden first? Was it not the Jews? Were they not God’s chosen people, who are a picture of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Abraham had been called to leave all he knew to follow after God. He was given the sign of circumcision to identify God’s chosen ones from the pagan world.

But as we go through the scriptures we see how time after time the Israelites were unwilling to follow after God. They loved the world more than they loved the One who had delivered them from bondage to Egypt. Understand that the whole nation of Israel had been delivered from bondage but not all Israel loved the God who had delivered them. Indeed there was a faithful remnant who loved God while the others were just hangers on or clingers. Follow the wilderness wanderings of Israel and you will see time after time how the clingers raised their fists to the God who led them through the trackless deserts and kept their clothes from wearing out, who provided food and water and all things necessary for life.

And then consider the church. In the visible Church of the Lord Jesus Christ we have the faithful remnant, who truly love God and His Son Jesus Christ and you also have the clingers: those who attend Church for whatever reason, be it social status or because they are the recipients of free rides or free breakfasts or whatever other trinkets and baubles are being passed around. If it’s free, the clingers want in. But when you begin to dig deep into the word of God and reveal the precious gems of His glorious truth, they say “That’s legalistic” or “My god is a god of love who would never do what you just said.” And when you point out that you have merely read a passage of scripture they deny the truth and the authority of God and His word over the souls of men.

Notice that God’s servants called men to come to the feast. You’d think that the rabble from the wilderness and the clingers in the church would latch on to this freebie like a leach. But now their true nature is revealed. Oh they want the stuff but they don’t want anything to do with the LORD of the stuff.

Notice the mercy of God in that He calls again. 4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ Everything is ready!

You’d think that people would come running to the feast. But I ask you to remember Adam and Eve. When God came to visit them in the Garden they would come running out to meet Him. But after they had sinned, they couldn’t stand to be near Him. His Holiness repelled them. And even though they knew He was gracious and merciful they still hid themselves among the trees. They had chosen evil and now couldn’t stand the good! Even more, they hated His message and His messengers. Notice how they responded to the ones He sent.

5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. When Jesus came to His own, the nation of Israel, His own did not receive Him. Instead He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. They looked at Him as if He were afflicted. How many times, after hearing Jesus speak as never a man spoke before, did the Jews say, “He has a demon.” Many paid no attention to Him but went about their business like those of Noah’s day, not knowing that destruction was coming.

In the same way when Jesus sent prophets to speak to Israel, how many did they kill? Isaiah was sawn in two, Zechariah was killed between the Temple and the altar. Heb 11:37-38 “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

From the time of Jesus’ resurrection how many of Christ’s messengers died a natural death? All the disciples except for John died as martyrs. The inquisition slaughtered thousands, perhaps millions of true disciples of Christ. In John Bunyan’s England, if you were not part of the official Church of England you were imprisoned. Many were so badly beaten while there that when they were released they were invalids who could neither see, hear, nor speak, such was the hatred of the truth of God.

Today in the Sudan it is against the law to be a Christian and the penalty is death. And now in our own country, the preaching of the gospel, the proclamation of the whole council of God is in danger of being forced underground by the homosexual/pedophile/feminist agenda which has found its champion in Barrack Obama and his minions in the three branches of government which have united in their hatred of God and His truth. We too are in danger of being mistreated and killed for the sake of the gospel.

But this danger is only for those who truly love Jesus Christ, who are living for Him and who refuse to compromise with the world no matter what! Is this you? Are you living for Jesus in an uncompromising way? Are you willing to take a stand for the sake of Jesus Christ even if it costs you your life? Because that is what is on the very near horizon! Christians here in America will be rounded up and thrown into prison simply because they preach Gods message of love and grace and truth. The Sodomites have risen up and their hatred knows no bounds. The Feminists cannot stand the God ordained order of marriage and will have nothing to do with the sanctity of live. They are a bloodthirsty lot who kill for the sheer pleasure of it. And their champion will do everything in his power to establish laws in their favor.

But will they not be dealt with? Has God cast us off forever? I doth say thee nay!

Notice how He dealt with those who rejected Him. It is interesting to me how men try to make God like them; a Ruler whose laws have no teeth. But throughout history, God has judge those who have risen up against Him. Note how He dealt with those first invited. 7 But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. I want you to remember the destruction of Jerusalem where the people were slaughtered wholesale and the city was burned with fire. Remember how at Jesus condemnation before Pilate the Jews had shouted, “His blood be upon us and on our children.” Spurgeon says: “Never did any other people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves and upon no other nation did such a judgment ever fall. We read of Jews crucified till there was no more wood  for making crosses; of thousands of people slaying each other in fierce factions within the city; of so many of them being sold as slaves that they became valueless (too many and not enough buyers) and of the fearful carnage when the Romans entered the doomed capital.

And though this is an indictment upon the Jews but remember that only those who truly belong to Jesus will be saved. Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Only His true servants will enter in.

8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. In other words, the wedding feast is going to occur. Nothing will alter this fact. But only those who are worthy, who have been called and drawn to Jesus by the Father will enter into the joy of their Lord!

Verse 9 deals with the call of the gospel. As I have said before, during the proclamation of the gospel from the pulpit there are two separate gospel calls occurring simultaneously. There is the general call of the gospel which everyone hears. All who attend church services, if they haven’t fallen asleep hear the words uttered by the preacher. But then there is the effectual call of the gospel. What is this? It is God the Holy Spirit who drives the Word of God into the soul of the sinner, convincing him of sin, righteousness and judgment. The sinner is crushed under by the weight of his sins and cries out to God for mercy and compassion and grace.

Here is the difference between the general call and the effectual call. Now the Word of God is no less the Word of God in either case but since the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God, since he sees them as foolishness, because they are spiritually understood only by those who have been awakened by the Holy Spirit, we once again see the scriptural truth; that it is God who saves us and not we ourselves. This is why God speaks thus in Ps 100:3 when He says through the Psalmist “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

Note that in the preaching of the gospel there is no ‘target audience’ which we are to limit ourselves to. We are not to ‘gear our message to the youth because they are the future.’ We are not to direct our message to the Gen Xers or the Post Mods or even to those who are successful in business so we can fill up the coffers of the Church. This is what many churches have done. They have selected who they believe to be the target audience and then they go after this group compromising the Word of God to gain their goal which boils down to numbers and money.

Now in contrast to this God directs His servants to ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; that is, without making any distinction between open sinners and the morally correct. The Gospel call fetched in Jews, and Gentiles, religious and heathen alike and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

Note what happens next.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, God does not care about the outward appearance; HE LOOKS ON THE HEART. That is He looks deep within the soul of a man and the Lord knows those who are His. The redeemed of the Lord will say so with their lips and by their lives.

Note that as our Lord looks upon His dinner guests he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, this is a reference to Zep 1:7- 8  ” Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests. Then it will come about on the day of the LORD’S sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons and all who clothe themselves with foreign garments.

Now what is the wedding garment that is spoken of here? It is the robe of Christ’s righteousness. In Isa 61:10 we read “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. We will not come to the feast in our own goodness, by our own merit. But as the Isaiah passage states; we will be robed, clothed in the righteousness of Christ by Christ Himself. It is by His merit that we can enter boldly into the throne room to find help in time of need.

But apart from Him we can do nothing and all our righteousness is as filthy rags which take us away. Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

With this in mind we now have an understanding of what goes on in verse 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. He had no answer but stood self condemned before the Host. There is a parable by a rabbi about a king who set no time for his feast. Some of the guests arrived early waiting in proper clothing while others who had been at work when the summons suddenly came, had no time to dress properly and came in their work clothes. These were made to stand and watch while the others partook of the feast.

Note in verse 13 that no one will be sneaking into the kingdom of heaven. None of the goats will create a disturbance so that God will not notice while others mingle with the sheep. There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. He is the only door, the only way, the gate by which anyone entering will find life. But to those who have tried to go their own way, who have sought to tear off His fetters and cast His cords off, the King of Heaven laughs. And then He will have them in derision which means He will make them look ridiculous.

How ridiculous? “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Re 22:15 “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

The darkness which is outside is a horrifying place.” To be “outside” at all, to be “without” the heavenly city, excluded from its joyous wedding festivities; this is sad enough by itself, without adding anything else. But not only does the awful vengeance which awaits unrepentant sinners involve exclusion from the brightness and glory and joy and happiness of the heavenly kingdom above, but those who were unwilling to come, those who have ignored the message of salvation in Christ and those who have counted this world as their treasure, these will be thrust, flung, thrown, cast into a region of “outer darkness,” with the lake of fire and all of its horrors.

 14 “For many are called, but few chosen.”

 Is there evidence in your life to convict you of being a Christian? Consider that there are probably millions of hearers of the Gospel every Lord’s Day who gain no benefit from it whatsoever. Oh they may listen to sound doctrine Sunday after Sunday, and year after year, but they do not believe to the saving of their never dying souls. They feel no need to be saved. They see no special beauty belonging to Christ. They may not hate Christians; they may not oppose Gods word; they may not even scoff at it. But neither do they seek salvation in Christ Jesus. In fact they like other things far better. Their money, their lands—their business, or their pleasures, are all far more interesting subjects to them than their souls. It is a dreadful state of mind to be in, but awfully common. Let us search our own hearts, and take heed that it is not our own. Open sin may kill its thousands; but indifference and neglect of the Gospel kill their tens of thousands. Multitudes will find themselves in hell, not so much because they openly broke the Ten Commandments, as because they made light of the gospel. Christ died for them on the cross, but they neglected Him. And how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation!

Understand this fact; All false professors of religion will be detected, exposed, and eternally condemned at the last day. The Lord Jesus tells us, that when the wedding was at last furnished with guests, the king came in to see them, and “saw a man who didn’t have on wedding-clothing.” He asked him how he came in there without one, and he received no reply. And he then commanded the servants to “bind him hand and foot and take him away.”

There will always be some false professors in the Church of Christ, as long as the world stands. In this parable, one single castaway represents all the rest. It is impossible for us to read the hearts of men. Deceivers and hypocrites will never be entirely excluded from the ranks of those who call themselves Christians. So long as a man professes subjection to the Gospel, and lives an outwardly correct life, we dare not say positively that he is not clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

 But there will be no deception at the last day. The unerring eye of God will be able to discern those who are His own people, and who are not. Nothing but true faith shall abide the fire of His judgment. All counterfeit Christianity shall be weighed in the balance and found wanting. None but true believers shall sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. It shall avail the hypocrite nothing that he has been a loud talker about religion, and had the reputation of being an eminent Christian among men. His triumphing shall be but for a moment. He shall be stripped of all his borrowed plumage, and stand naked and shivering before the bar of God, speechless, self-condemned, hopeless, and helpless. He shall be cast into outer darkness with shame, and reap according as he has sown. And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth as they are tormented for eternity in the flames of judgment!

Let us learn wisdom from this parable, and give diligence to make our calling and election sure. We ourselves are among those to whom the word is spoken, “All things are ready, come to the marriage feast.” Let us see that we refuse not him that speaks. Let us not sleep as others do, but watch and be sober. Time moves on very quickly. The King will soon come in to see the guests. Have we put on Christ? Has He clothed us His robe of righteousness? Can we produce evidence? These are the questions we must ponder this morning. May we never rest until we can give a satisfactory answer! May those heart-searching words ring daily in our ears: “Many are called, but few are chosen!”

Last week we looked at the subject of flippantly observing the Lord’s Supper. As we saw, it is a serious thing to come before the Lord and we know how He feels about those who take such a thing for granted. The names of Ananias and Sapphira, of Nadab and Abihu, of Uzzah, all bear witness to the seriousness of the matter.

 

Now building on that idea consider that there is no such thing as casual Christianity. There is no such thing as armchair Christianity. I dare say that we are either for Jesus or against Him. Our lives bear witness of the level of devotion that we have for Him. Consider too that faith is an action word. It is a verb. We are known by our fruits; the evidence of our lives tells the tale of our love for Jesus or our lack of the same.

 

Look with me to (Rom 4:3) “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” The word believe means to trust, to rely upon, to cling to. Now these are actions, overt actions that we deliberately undertake. The Christian faith can be measured. It can be seen. It is tangible. This is why Jesus said; “You will know them by their fruits.” So the matter of faith is a sure thing. It is clear. And it should be unmistakable! As I said in last week’s sermon, if we are hauled into court on the charge of being a Christian, we should be able to be convicted on the first try…or else there is a problem. Now we know that there are many who name the name of Christ; who call themselves Christians, who claim to love our Lord. But their lives tell a different story.

 

But there is another group of people I want to speak about this morning. I want us to look at some selected texts of scripture dealing with Moses because it is very applicable to the subject matter that we are dealing with. Please turn to (Ex 33:18-) and notice what Moses wants more than anything! “Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” The thing that we see here is that Moses loved God and wanted to know Him more, wanted to see Him and probably embrace Him. This is what many people say they are going to do but I don’t think they know the True God or they wouldn’t have such notions.

 

But on the other hand, have you ever prayed that our Father in Heaven would show you His glory? Have you ever prayed; Lord, reveal yourself to me? It is not wrong to pray thus if your desire is to know God better, if you desire a closer walk with Him. Many true believers have spent hours on their knees before the throne of Grace just worshiping. And it is a truly glorious experience to be in the presence of the One whom your soul loveth!

 

Where is your heart on this? Do you know the wonderful presence of the Father? Can you say this? Do you know this by experience? Or have you merely heard of it? Job said; “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; (Job 42:5). “The knowledge which I had of Your Divine nature, and perfections, and counsels, was previously dark, and doubtful, and conjectural, being grounded chiefly, if not only, upon the instructions and reports of other men. But now it is clear and certain, as being immediately inspired into my mind by this thy glorious apparition and revelation, and by the operation of Your Holy Spirit; which makes these things as certain and evident to me, as if I had seen them with my bodily eyes.” So says Matthew Poole.

 

Now Job was a godly man, one in whom God Himself boasted to the devil…“Have you considered MY SERVANT JOB!” But this godly man was brought into a closer, clearer understanding of divine things. He was as it were, brought face to face with God almighty and He was a better man for it. So it is not sinful to desire a deeper, clearer understanding of God. It is not wrong to want to be closer to Him, to know Him better. This, I believe, is Moses’ hearts desire.

 

And our Father is very gentle with him. But He also clearly lays out parameters concerning how close we can get to Him while still clothed in sinful flesh. We read in verse 19 “And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 20But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” There is a boundary we cannot cross for God is Holy and we are sinful. God is God and we are but flesh, God is the King of kings and we are His loyal subjects.

 

Also seen in this verse is the truth that any one who has ever said, “I saw God’s face” is a liar. If anyone has seen God’s face, they have been removed from this life and that is that. And to boast of such things is wicked as it reveals the audacity of the evil heart of men who want to build a tower that will reach unto heaven. (Ro 10:6-7)  “But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)

 

Having now set the stage 21 Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Moses was about to be given a gift that as far as I can see, no one else has ever seen in this life. Men were allowed to see ladders spanning heaven; they were allowed to see horses and chariots of fire: they saw the throne of God but God’s face was not seen.

 

Remember what God said about His relationship with Moses; The context of (Nu 12:6-8)  is the boasting of Aaron and Miriam and their complaining against Moses. The Lord heard it and “He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. 7  “Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; 8  With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?” Moses indeed had a wonderful close relationship with the living God!

 

Skip to (Ex 34) and we will take up the text at verse 5 where we see that wonderful instance when Moses beheld the form of the Lord. “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. 6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.   

 

I think that a key item to notice is Moses’ reaction to this glorious vision. God had allowed him to see as much of His Wondrous Glory as in this mortal life anyone was able to see. And Moses worshiped. There was nothing half hearted about Moses’ devotion to God. He was sold out to His Lord who had so graciously called him from darkness to light.

 

Now what was the result of this glorious ‘beatific’ vision? (Ex 34:29-35) “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone (literally sent out rays of light) because he had been talking with God. 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and is it any wonder that they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.”

 

In (2Co 3:13) we are told why Moses put the veil over his face. Paul is speaking of the ministry of the proclamation of the gospel saying “and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.”

 

Now we are partakers of the fellowship of the saints, a fellowship that includes our brother Moses. As children of God, we are looking forward “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1Pe 1:4) “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1Pe 5:4)  

 

These are glorious promises and infinitely beyond our ability to comprehend. Now as we are here on the earth we are to store up treasure in heaven. We are standing upon the foundation of Christianity, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who purchased our salvation with His precious blood and who rose again for our justification.

But we are to be about something! We are to be doing something. We are to be making our calling and election sure. We are to be examining ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. We are to be about our Father’s business. We are to be walking as Jesus walked. We are to be shining as lights in this dark world, evangelizing the lost by our lives and by our words as we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, being ready to give a reason for the hope we have within us, with meekness and reverence! And we are to be keeping ourselves unstained by the world.

 

As you can see, the Christian life is really a full time job. It is a lifetime of labor under the SON as we fight against sin and strive for holiness of life, ever yielding ourselves, ever submitting ourselves under the mighty hand of God Who will exalt us in due season.

 

But there are those believers and so called disciples who are literally starving themselves before a banquet table of infinite store! Consider Moses again. He loved to be in the presence of God. He longed for that fellowship. And when he was in God’s presence, he was literally lit up!

 

The scriptures we looked at said that he put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t see that glow fade. But did Moses just sit back and think about the ‘good ole days’ of the evidential glow of the glory of God? NO! He went back again and again. He couldn’t get enough of God and longed to be lit up by His presence! His was a true and abiding love for God. And as you ponder the life of Moses you see that He loved what God loved and hated what God hated. The evidence is in concerning Moses. He was a true believer!

 

Now think about your own life. Oh I’m sure you pray. I’m sure you read the Bible. But when was the last time you were lit up in the presence of God? When was the last time you were filled to overflowing with His Spirit? And how long have you tried to ride our the afterglow of those wonderful times? I’m sure by now, the embers are getting pretty dim if not cold!

 

Think of it this way; have you ever been camping? And if so have you ever sat by the fire on a cool night and bask in its warmth? Its wonderful isn’t it. But after a while the fire begins to die down and if you don’t put another log on the fire soon it will begin to fade out. The embers will glow for a time but soon even they will go out. And then it will be cold!

 

Now go back to praying and reading the bible. You may ‘say your prayers’. You may have a ‘quiet time’ where you read the scriptures and pray. But think about it for a moment. You pray but are you really communing with God? You use all the right language, God, in Jesus Name, etc. You open up the bible and you read the words but do you hear the voice of God? Are you worshiping at the Throne of Grace and basking in the blazing light of the glory of God or are you ‘just doing the best you can?’

 

The Christian life is more than you know. Job was a man of integrity and a true servant before God but he was allowed to draw closer and have more intimate fellowship.

I am reminded of the saints of God from the scriptures and from Church History and I see a Grand Canyon of a difference between true Christianity and the modern ‘quicky’ version.

 

True Godly devotion is something that is ongoing. It does not occur at salvation and then fade away never to be heard from again. Devotion to God is a daily yielding up of ones members as instruments of righteousness to God. It is born on the day of salvation but must continually be heated in the forge of the Holy Spirit and stirred up in the fellowship of the saints.

 

I say with Dr. Tackett that if we truly believed that what we believed was really real, then we would turn the world upside down. Our lives would reflect the glory of God. The beams of the light of His glory would literally shoot out from our faces as we walked in the Spirit of the Living God.

 

If we really believed that the Bible was the Word of God and not open to ‘interpretation’ if we believed that God spoke those words for our good, then our lives would reflect that belief as we sought to implement the commands of God into our lives to be better conformed to His image. And we would bow in prayer before the God we love and plead that He would work that work of grace in us to conform us to the image of His dear Son, that He would grant us power to live for Him knowing that apart from Him, we can do nothing.

 

How long have you tried to ride out the afterglow? Have you possibly lost sight of the fact that our faith is a living faith? How long has it been since you pondered the word of God who spoke through His servant James and said in (Jas 2:18), “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

 

Godly living is not an option! A life of true, demonstrable faith is the characteristic of true Christianity. The Christian should stand out in a crowd like a sunbeam through dark storm clouds.

 

In these dark times and I am speaking spiritually of course, in these dark times we must shine as never before. Ugly things are on the horizon if God should withdraw His restraining hand and the floodgates of unbridled wickedness pour forth. The scriptures are clear and true and ring truer everyday as we hear men like the Apostle Paul reveal the spiritual powers behind the ‘push’ toward unification of nations and dissolving of former truths and whatnot in (Eph 6:12) when He says “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places..

 

Monstrous evil is afoot today in the form of progressivism and modernism and post-modernism and whatever other isms there may be. We are being told many, many lies in the name of ‘moving forward’ in our ‘evolution as a species.’ Doesn’t this sound familiar? How about “Sacrifices have to be made for the good of the proletariat.”

We are told to bow down at the altar of government and to place our faith in our government and to rely upon them for our needs. But our government is a godless government and indeed they want to replace God in the minds of the people. They think that if they can just give people enough ‘stuff’ that the people, the little people, the plebes will be placated.

 

What is at stake here is the truth.

 

It’s time to scrap out the ashes, put fresh logs on the fire and light it up for the glory of God. And that is the key. We must be zealous, not for America, but for God. We must call upon God and God alone to rend the heavens and come down. We must call upon our Heavenly Father to once again reveal Himself to the people, not merely of our country, but to the world. We must call upon God to call men and women to Himself in saving faith, to once again exalt His Name in our land and to once again cause us to stand firm on the unshakable ground of His Word. We must pray for revival and reformation!

 

Consider that when Martin Luther nailed his famous ‘Ninety-five Theses to the door of the University Church in Wittenberg, he had no idea that he was being used by God to launch the greatest recovery of the gospel in history. What Luther was doing, in his own mind, was issuing a challenge for debate. Later on, he admitted that when he drafted these theses in 1517, he was still a mad papist which can be seen by some of the statements concerning Mary.

 

But consider that the action of this one man, seeking the reformation of the Church, was the spark, the catalyst that God used to call men and women out of the darkness of the dark ages and into His marvelous light. God’s truth had not left the earth as so many cults would have you believe, but rather there were only a faithful few, a remnant if you will, who held up the standard in the face of darkness.

 

But God moved and light dawned. Today we are living in darkness that at least equals if not surpasses the darkness of Luther’s day. And there are a faithful few who still preach the pure unadulterated word of God. There are, spread across our land, a faithful remnant who cling to the truth in the sea of darkness.

 

What are we to do? We are to remember the former things, long past, that our Lord is the true God and there is no other. He will not give His glory to another, nor His praise to idols.  The scriptures promise us that “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. (Isa 59:19) This must be our prayer! And we must remember that glorious promise of God found in (2Ch 7:14) where He Himself says “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  

 

Get up from before that dead fire and renew your devotion to the God you love. Call upon Him, pleading for forgiveness for yourselves and your nation! And plead that He will heal our land to the praise of His glorious Grace! Amen!

Our text is found in Romans 6:8-14 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

 

I once attended a Karate seminar which was taught by a 9^th degree black belt by the name of Mr. Adler. I remember my first impression of the instructor; his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head as he stared at those in attendance. In a word, he was scary! But he turned out to be a real nice guy for the most part; very entertaining and extremely skilled at what he did.

 

I remember one illustration in particular that he us gave concerning the realities and the limitations that must be taken into consideration in a self defense situation. The illustration was in response to the misinformation that was being propagated by another 9^th degree black belt; Angie Uezu. It seems that Mr. Uezu was telling people that they would be able to defend themselves against up to 15 people at once. He said “when you are practicing Seisan Kata you are practicing to defend yourself against 15 people.” Mr. Adler said in his Brooklyn accent “If you are fighting against 15 people YOU’RE DEAD!” 

 

Now the Christian life is made up of two things; death to self and life in Christ. We die to ourselves and our self-seeking-ness and we live for Christ, to do His will. Now I have to go on a rabbit trail for a moment…many people say that when you are saved you are still you; you still have your same personality and your same desires. But if this is true then you are not saved. To be saved is to die to self and to be born again into Jesus Christ…it is no longer you who live but rather it is Christ who is living in you. Christ is all and you are nothing.

 

Now we struggle against this. This is part of the battle. The old man: the old nature, your old desires for recognition or for some sinful escapade, these things still dwell within you. These things long to gain the mastery over you. God told Cain in Ge 4:7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Here is the battle that we face but the fact that our old sin nature exists, that it longs to exert control over us is no excuse for us to sin. If we are children of God we have been set free from the tyranny of the devil. We have no excuses to make before the Throne of Grace for when we sin we sin willfully, against knowledge, against a merciful Savior.

That Savior gave His all for us. What characterized His life while on earth? It was obedience to His Father’s commands. He always did what was pleasing to His Father. “But He was God and I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect!” And yet we have those uncomfortable words in Mt 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  “But that’s the Old Testament Pastor Mike!” And yet here Jesus quotes it in the New Testament. And He goes further saying that not one jot or tittle will pass away. Jesus gave us no loopholes in which to indulge our sinful desires.

 

We are to be dead to our old life, to our old desires, to our old habits! This is the way it must be. This is the road we were placed on when Jesus called us and saved us from our old way of living. Our old manner of living consisted in storing up wrath unto the day of wrath when Christ will be revealed from heaven to destroy the wicked; banishing them from His presence in the lake of fire. Here is where all sinners go!

 

But we were called out of the world, out of our old life. We were called to die upon the altar and be reborn with new life; God’s life. Christians are those who have the Lord Jesus Christ actually living within them. Their lives are spent seeking and doing the will of God for the glory of God!

 

And I have to say something here; THEY IS US!

 

Do you understand this? Do you understand what it means to be a Christian? Our text is very clear I believe. We have already seen that Christians are those who were baptized, immersed into Jesus Christ. That is what the word baptize means. We were immersed, engulfed into Jesus Christ and it is no longer we who live. Paul declares that Christians have died and their lives are hidden with Christ in God.

 

Verse 8 I believe has a double meaning. “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, Now the first meaning that I see here is that if we are really new creatures in Christ Jesus, we have the assurance that when we die we will go to be where Jesus is. Jesus was very clear when He spoke those words of comfort in Joh 14: 1-3 when He said; “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe (trust, rely upon) in God, believe also in Me. Jesus is saying that as we believe in, trust in, rely upon God, in the same manner, we can believe in, trust in, rely upon Him. Why? Because He is God!

 

He is the great I AM who spoke all things into being. In Him is life. He upholds all things by the word of His power. His throne is an everlasting throne. He is God. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.

 

Jesus has prepared a home for us to dwell in heaven. We have an inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, that will not fade away, reserved in heaven for those who love Him. I cannot even begin to fathom this glorious promise. Can you? The only thing my feeble mind can come up with is 1Co 2:9 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

 

But I see this verse going in a different direction as well. Look at it again; “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, Take this first and consider it along with what Paul said in Ga 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. And Col 3:1-25 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him 11 in which there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. 22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

 

You see, real Christians live with Jesus! He is the most wonderful part of the life of a true child of God. The true Christian cannot get enough of Jesus. Even though plagued by the old nature and the misery that entails, the Christian truly loves Jesus with all of his heart and he longs to be free from the body of this death; free to pursue the love of his life; Jesus Christ! He loathes the sin that rises up within him and his prayer life is characterized by continual repentance before the Throne of Grace. The Christian clings to the confident assurance that 1Jo 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

It is not that we in our new nature want to rebel against God, but Paul describes the battle with the old nature, the world the flesh and the devil, saying; “The good that I would I do not, and the evil that I would not, that do I. The pull of our old nature is strong, like a raging forest fire “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Ga 5:17 And because we are finite, sinful beings, many times we succumb to the call of the old nature, to our old pet sins and we rebel against the revealed will of God.

 

But there is hope for the child of God that the unredeemed sinner does not have. Listen to these words of comfort; 1Jo 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” Therefore when we do stumble and sin, we can say confidently with Job 16:19 “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.” Our Daysman, our Umpire, our Advocate, our heavenly Attorney, our Mediator stands before the Throne pleading our cause before the Father. And the bible tells us that if we confess, He will forgive. But He will go further and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will scrub us clean from our iniquities and restore us to fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

 

Note further in verses 8-11 as Paul states the facts for us: and I have done something with this verse. If you will notice, Paul is making one complete thought here and bible translators have included punctuation that seems to be in error. Now I have not changed any of the words here; the text is the biblical text. I have only changed the periods into comma’s because as you will see, this is one complete thought that Paul is trying to get through our thick skulls. He says, beginning with verse 8 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 for the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God, 11 even so (or in the same way) consider yourselves (emphasis mine) to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 

Do you see what Paul is saying here? Jesus Christ has died once for all. His sacrifice was a completed sacrifice, perfect and acceptable to God on our behalf. And in saving us, He killed us from our former way of life. As He has been raised from the dead, even so we too have been raised to walk in newness of life. And as death no longer has any power over Him, (He laid down His life willingly, it was not taken from Him) in the same way, we have been raised from the dead after first having died to our old manner of living.

The old life was crucified with Christ and now we are alive to God. We have been given new life from the dead. How grateful are you for the marvelous gift bestowed upon you by Jesus Christ? Prove it! Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The word ‘consider’ means;

1. to calculate
2. to compute
3. to regard
4. to consider with confidence
5. to rely upon the fact
6. to count as a done deal
7. to base your life upon the fact

 

Basically this can be boiled down to a nutshell statement ‘Don’t plan on sinning anymore. Think of yourself as dead to sin. Quit hanging around with people who will tempt you to return to your old manner of life. Avoid any area that will affect your weakness. The devil knows our weak points and calls and points them out. Our flesh longs to once again experience ‘the pleasure.’ And we are not to give an avenue to gratify the lusts of the, flesh or the eye for even a moment because once we yield to it we are sunk!

 

Is it any wonder that after the exhortations we read in the book of Hebrews, the writer Heb 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

 

We didn’t save ourselves; had nothing to do with that at all. But we are called by God to “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1Ti 6:12 Hear this exhortation from Php 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

 

Note that we are called to fight, to work, to strive for holiness of life. We are called as those who are alive from the dead to strenuously exert ourselves in the pursuit of holiness of life and conduct. And there is an order to this. Jas 4:7-10 tells us to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Jesus told us that apart from Him we could do nothing but through Paul He declared we could do all things by His strength.

 

Through Him we can stand firm in the faith being thoroughly equipped for every good work. Through Him we can live the crucified life, crucified to the world and its desires, habits, mindsets, attitudes… But apart from Him we can do nothing. We must cling to Jesus as a drowning man clings to a life preserver. If we are going to resist evil we must resist in the strength of the Lord God! We must fix our eyes on Jesus. Anything else we look at must be a mere glance: indeed we must be constantly looking away from the world with all of its allurements, looking away from them and unto Jesus; our eyes are to be fixed, focused…we are to be “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”

 

“The cloud of witnesses mentioned in this passage is not the object on which our heart is fixed. These hero’s of the faith, this roll call of the faithful testify of faith, and we cherish their testimony, influence, and example of godliness with gratitude, and we walk upon firmer ground because of the testimony of their lives. Our eye, however, is fixed, not on many, but on One; not on the cloud of witnesses, but on the Leader; not on the servants, but on the Lord. We are to look to Jesus Christ alone, and from Him we obtain our true strength, even as He is our light of life.” In all things Christ is supreme: He is placed here not among the other “racers,” but as One who, instead of exemplifying certain characteristics of faith, as they did, is the “Author and Finisher” of faith in His own person.

 

Our text presents the Lord as the supreme Example for those who are running the race as well as being the great Object of our faith, He is revealed as the One, who Himself began and completed the whole course of faith, so as to be Himself the one perfect example and witness of what faith is. It was because of “the joy set before Him” steadily and trustfully held in view that He ran His race. His “enduring of the cross” was the ultimate trial and the most perfect exemplification of what true, God honoring faith really is. And having finished His task of redemption He is now seated at the right hand of God, as both the Pattern and Object of faith, and His promise is “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Re 3:21

 

But to overcome we must resist the temptation to yield to sin. Back in our text Paul tells us that, because of what Jesus has done, because we are now the redeemed of the Lord, because we have died to sin when we were born again to new life in Jesus Christ 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

 

This is the summation of the text. Since we have died to the old life with its evil desires, since we are new creations, since we are now immersed in Christ and His Holy Spirit dwells within us, since we were bought with the terrible price of the blood of Jesus Christ and are now His own purchased possession we are called by God Himself to cease from practicing sin. It is no longer king of our lives. The devil is no longer our master. Our pet sins no longer hold the mastery over us for we have been raised to walk in newness of life.

 

Our bodies are not our own but they belong to Him who purchased us from the slave market of sin. They are His to do with as He wishes. We are His to do will and to do of His good pleasure. But as we are the recipients of a new heart and a new spirit and new life in Christ Jesus we actually want to serve Him. We actually love His word for we love the sound of His voice that sings to us from the pages of Holy Writ. And though we still battle the old nature, we want to serve Him from a heart of love to Him for the grace that He has lavished upon us. And therefore the call to service is at the same time a hard call and an evil call. Hard because it goes against the old nature that dwells within us and easy because it is the call of Him whom our soul loveth!

 

As those who have been resurrected from death to life I call upon you to present yourselves upon the altar of service to God. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Col 4:6 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” Col 3:17 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1Co 10:31 The next time some sinful desire rises up within you, whether it be to give someone a piece of your mind or to think evil thoughts or to ponder evil actions, remember what Mr. Adler said: “You’re Dead!” You are to be dead to those things that displease God and alive to the Spirit of God who dwells within you. Sin of any kind is a dead end road that leads to misery. And it is no longer your master! Jesus set you free from all of that so live like it. Live like you’re dead to sin and alive to God, dead to the old man and alive to the new life of grace and peace in Jesus.

(This message is based upon the sermon given by Father Mapple in the book “Moby Dick”)

 

Today’s message deals with obedience; a hard thing for many of us to put into practice! Now we claim to love Jesus…we claim that we are His disciples…but what is a disciple? A disciple is one who follows for the purpose of learning. As Christians we claim to sit at the feet of Jesus, learning of Him. But I’m here to tell you that learning isn’t enough…because the true disciple then seeks to emulate his master/teacher/leader.

 

So what are we to think of those who say but do not do? Well first of all we can say that they either have very little or no love at all for Jesus Christ for He Himself declared in Joh 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” You see, there is a correlation between words and deeds. If we say, we will do! Remember from the scriptures that whatever we practice demonstrates what we are, who we love, where we are going! James hammers the point home in Jas 1:22 saying, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. Are we deluding ourselves? Jesus said in Re 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 

 

The example I want to use this morning comes from the book of the prophet Jonah for in him we see both disobedience and obedience. We see both a proper heart and a rebellious heart. Now look with me to chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” for the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the LORD and said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.” 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. In keeping with our practice, today’s message will be a soul searching message. Our text is found in the last verse of the first chapter of Jonah- “And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”

 

This book, containing only four chapters- is one of the smallest in the mighty canon of Scripture. Yet what depths of the soul does Jonah’s life reveal! Pastor John would say “What a pregnant lesson to us is this prophet!” What horrors of the human soul can be seen in the rebellion of Jonah!

What fear and reverence we can discover as we see the awesome Sovereignty of the Living God. What magnificent truths are revealed in Jonah’s prayer from within the fish’s belly! And what a glorious illustration of grace and forgiveness do we see as God delivers the undeliverable. As we read of the judgment upon Jonah We can actually feel the floods surging over us as we descend with him to the bottom of the sea. And what is this lesson that the book of Jonah teaches? It is a lesson of revelation for it reveals the sink of sin that is the human heart! It is a lesson of divine Sovereignty: when the Sovereign of the Universe speaks, we have no choice but to obey! It is an illustration of the results of trying to kick against the goads! If you try to fight against God YOU WILL LOSE!

 

But oh what a blessed place it is to be in His will, to be walking in obedience to His commands, to be filled with His Spirit and to enjoy His presence.

 

God lays our hearts bare in this account of Jonah for here we see our own hearts if we are honest. This is an account of sin, hard-heartedness, suddenly awakened fears, swift punishment, repentance, prayers, and finally deliverance. As with all sinners among men, the sin of this son of Amittai was in his willful disobedience of the command of God which he found to be a hard command. But all the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do- remember that. To obey God means we must deny ourselves…disobey ourselves…turn our backs upon our human nature or the old man. Paul tells us in Ga 5:17 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” “The good that I would, I do not and the evil that I would not, that I do!”

 

Now get this truth deep into your being. God doesn’t seek to persuade or to suggest: He Commands! His call is His divine edict.

 

In verse 1 God issues a command “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2  “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” Now who is Jonah? He is a prophet of the Lord God who delivers God’s messages to whomever God directs. This is Jonah’s calling. It’s what he does. But Jonah doesn’t like Nineveh for they have enslaved the Israelites. He wants them dead and he has a sneaking hunch that God has a plan that doesn’t involve destruction. Note verse 3 “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah’s response to the command of God…He refuses. Then he goes further and with a rebellious heart of disobedience in him, Jonah thumbs his nose at God further by seeking to flee from Him.

 

Isn’t it interesting that Jonah believes God is somehow finite, limited to certain localities! How often do we act like God doesn’t see or know what we are doing? We forget that “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.”Pr 15:3 He sins further in exalting man above God in that he thinks that a ship made by men, will be able to carry him into countries where God does not. So he skulks about the wharves of Joppa, and seeks a ship that’s bound for Tarshish.  

 

Now geographically, Tarshish is the modern city of Cadiz which is found in Spain. This was basically as far way from Joppa as Jonah could possibly have sailed in those ancient days for these were the days when the Atlantic was an almost unknown sea. Because Joppa is on the most easterly coast of the Mediterranean, in Syria; and Tarshish was more than two thousand miles to the west from that, just outside the Straits of Gibraltar; do you now begin to understand what Jonah had cooked up in his mind?

 

Consider this illustration from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: “What a miserable man! Oh, most contemptible and worthy of all scorn; with slouched hat and guilty eye, skulking from his God; prowling among the shipping like a vile burglar hastening to cross the seas.

So disordered, self-condemning in his look, that had there been policemen in those days, Jonah, on the mere suspicion of something wrong, would have been arrested before he ever touched a deck. It is so plainly that he’s a fugitive! He has no baggage, no trunk, suitcase or even carpet-bag. He has no friends accompany him to the wharf with their farewells. At last he finds the Tarshish ship receiving the last items of her cargo; and as he steps on board to see its Captain. All the sailors for the moment desist from hoisting in the goods, to mark the stranger’s evil eye.” Jonah sees this and vainly tries to look at ease and confident. He vainly tries to smile but it is a wretched smile but it is evident that he is anything but innocent. Indeed by his very presence he is a marked man.

 

As he descends below decks he hears a voice. “‘Who’s there?’ cries the Captain at his busy desk, hurriedly making out his papers for the Customs- ‘Who’s there?’ Oh how that harmless question mangles Jonah! For the instant he almost turns to flee again. But he rallies. ‘I seek a passage in this ship to Tarshish; how soon sail ye, sir?’ Thus far the busy Captain had not looked up to Jonah, though the man now stands before him; but no sooner does he hear that hollow voice, than he darts a scrutinizing glance. ‘We sail with the next coming tide,’ at last he slowly answered, still intently eyeing him. ‘No sooner sir?’  ‘Soon enough for any honest man that goes as a passenger.’ Ha! Jonah, that’s another stab. But he swiftly calls away the Captain from that scent. ‘I’ll sail with you,’- he says,- ‘the passage money how much is that?- I’ll pay now.’

 

Jonah wanted to get away so badly that he paid the fare in advance! All dressed and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his cabin below decks which interestingly will be a foretaste of the trial he will shortly undertake in the belly of the great fish. And soon he is fast asleep. The time has come as the tide rises and the ship casts off her lines and the journey to Tarshish has begun. But soon the sea rebels; it will not bare this wicked burden for we read in verse 4 “The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. The sea begins to reel and heave in omnipotent frenzy and the winds slam against the ship in terrifying power and might so as to break it apart.

 

5 “Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.” First the sailors are afraid and this must be noted for doubtless they are experienced sailors who have weathered many a storm. I am reminded of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Remember that they too were experienced seamen but when the storm arose on that Sea the disciples too became very afraid. That storm had arisen to test their faith. Jesus had said, “Let us go to the other side of the Lake.” They had seen Him perform miracles. They had declared their belief that He was the Son of God. But did they really believe it? This storm was a test of their faith! And when they came up short, Jesus rebuked them Mr 4:40 “And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

 

Something about the storm in our account from Jonah terrified these men too. I would venture to say that it is the very presence of God who has scared the living daylights out of them. They seemed to understand that this was a divine judgment and so they each 5 … cried to his god,. But this was an exercise in futility for stone and wood cannot do anything. They can neither see, hear, nor speak! And this storm has been sent by the one true and living God who created heaven and earth and all the things that dwell therein. Finally they think to lighten the load of the ship and so begin to throw the cargo overboard. Now understand that this cargo included the provisions that would have sustained them on their voyage to Tarshish. Can you see the desperation involved here?

 

And all these things are going on right over Jonah’s head.

 

But we read that “Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.” While the sailors are fighting for their lives, Jonah sleeps his hideous sleep of rebellion. He sees no black sky and raging sea, He does not feel the reeling of the ship. And he has no idea that even now a mighty whale is on its way to meet him. He is ignorant of all these things.

Psalm 73 speaks of the wicked and how nothing seems to affect them. Note that passage with me: 1 “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! 2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pains in their death and their body is fat. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them. 7 Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot. 8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high. 9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. 11 They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Here is the heart of Jonah. In the midst of the storm he sleeps. He is not moved. He has sought to run away from the presence of God to a place where his conscience will not be troubled.

 

But now the frightened captain comes to him, and shrieks into his rebellion deafened ear, 6 “So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” The moment has arrived. Jonah is jerked awake and the reality of the situation has come flooding in along with the water that flows down the stairs into his cabin. He has come face to face with the fact that you cannot run away from God. Jehovah will not let you get away. When God calls you to do something, when He commands you in the scriptures to obey Him, you will-you must obey. You cannot-will not be able to do otherwise.

 

Jonah has escaped from the presence of God for as Psalm 139 declares; 7 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10  Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”

 

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.” Pr 15:3

 

Joe Louis, the Heavyweight Boxing Champ was challenged by light-heavyweight champ Billy Conn.  Conn declared that he would dance around and be too elusive for Louis to hit. Conn said, ‘You can’t hit what you can’t see” to which Louis replied “You can run but you can’t hide.” Joe was right. Conn danced around for several rounds and was ahead on points when he got careless…got too close…and was knocked out by Louis. “You can run but you can’t hide.”

 

But with God, you can’t even run! There is nowhere to go. God is everywhere. He fills His creation. Wherever you go, God is there already. Jonah would learn this lesson the hard way!

 

Now interestingly the sailors had come to the conclusion that someone on their ship had sinned against God and they were determined to find out who it was. So we read in verse 7 “Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.” It is interesting to me how that the scriptures are fulfilled in the scriptures for we read in Pr 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.” Here in Jonah, this passage from Proverbs finds a fulfillment. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever you sow you shall also reap.

 

Jonah wanted to get away from it all and he was about to, big time!

 

The lot has fallen to Jonah and then the questions begin to flood in. 8 “Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation?

And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” But mark now the behavior of Jonah. The eager mariners have asked him who he is, and where he is from. To these questions they receive an answer. But another unasked question is also answered. 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

 

10 Then the men became extremely frightened Now why would these men who were crying out to stone and wood suddenly become extremely frightened? Again you see the parallel of this account and that of Jesus and the disciples sailing across the sea of Galilee are interesting. Remember that when Jesus calmed the storm the disciples became even more frightened than when they feared death by drowning. So these sailors are even now being tossed about on the ocean like a cork, and suddenly they become extremely frightened!

 

Why?

 

It is because, even to this day men were still talking about how God destroyed the Egyptians, how He had split the Red Sea, how the giant, Og, king of Bashan had fallen, and how Sihon king of the Ammorites had been destroyed along with his armies; how He had thrown down the walls of the mighty city of Jericho. God, the true God, is a God to be feared…And they said to him, “How could you do this?” for the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. “What were you thinking Jonah? You are attempting to do the impossible. There is no place to go from the presence of this God whom you serve and fear. Even we know that!

 

11 “So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”

 

From Melville again; “‘I am a Hebrew,’ he cries- and then- ‘I fear the Lord the God of Heaven who hath made the sea and the dry land!’ Fear him, O Jonah? Aye, well mightest thou fear the Lord God then! Straightway, but still are pitiful. For when Jonah, not yet supplicating God for mercy, since he but too well knew the darkness of his deserts,- when wretched Jonah cries out to them to take him and cast him forth into the sea, for he knew that for his sake this great tempest was upon them; they mercifully turn from him, and seek by other means to save the ship.

 

 But all in vain; the indignant gale howls louder; then, with one hand raised invokingly to God, with the other they not unreluctantly lay hold of Jonah.

 

“And now behold Jonah taken up as an anchor and dropped into the sea; when instantly an oily calmness floats out from the east, and the sea is as Jonah carries down the gale with him, leaving smooth water behind. He goes down in the whirling heart of such a master-less commotion that he scarce heeds the moment when he drops seething into the yawning jaws awaiting him; and the whale shoots-to all his ivory teeth, like so many white bolts, upon his prison.”

 

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord out of the fish’s belly. Observe his prayer, and learn a weighty lesson. Jonah 2:1-9 “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the LORD, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. 3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains.

The earth with its bars was around me forever, but You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. 8 “Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, 9  but I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.”

 

Sinful as he is, Jonah does not weep and wail for direct deliverance. He feels that his dreadful punishment is just. He leaves all his deliverance to God, contenting himself with this, that spite of all his pains and pangs, he will still look towards God’s holy temple. And here is true and faithful repentance; we do not behold a man shrieking for some supposedly deserved pardon, but we see a man broken of his rebellion and one who believes he is receiving his punishment justly. And how pleasing to God this demeanor of Jonah was, is shown in the eventual deliverance of him from the sea and the whale.

 

God has placed Jonah before us as an example of what happens when we rebel as well as how to react when we are chastened for our rebellion! Sin not; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like Jonah.

 

I have spoken to you by the light God has given me concerning what Jonah teaches to all sinners; to you and to me. And I stand before you as a sinner saved by grace who has ringing within my ears this truth, 1Co 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” Like that anointed prophet of old I too stand behind this holy desk as a speaker of truth and bidden by the Lord to declare those unwelcome truths in the ears of the wicked unrepentant sinners of this world.

 

Note that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance for we read in verse 10 “Then the LORD commanded the fish, and from the shuddering cold and blackness of the sea, it came shooting up out of the depths of the sea, towards the warm and pleasant sun, and all the delights of air and earth; it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.” And when the word of the Lord came a second time; Jonah, bruised and beaten- his ears, like two sea-shells, still echoing the sounds of the ocean- did the Almighty’s bidding. And what was that? To preach the Truth to the face of falsehood! That was it!

 

This is the second lesson for us and woe to that disciple of the living God who seeks like Jonah to avoid it. Woe to him who shrinks from Gospel duty! Woe to him who seeks to lessen the commands of God to sinners or as Father Mapple would say, “Who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale!” Woe to him who seeks to be a man pleaser rather than to dismay with the Truth! Woe to him whose personal reputation is more to him than the righteousness of God which comes by faith! Woe to him who seeks to be honorable in the eyes of this world, he may gain the whole world but he will lose his soul! Yea, woe to him who as Paul said, while preaching to others is himself a castaway!

 

There is true delight, true honor, true peace only in the presence of God and in the doing of His will! Ps 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Therefore delight yourself in Him who will break in peaces the proud gods and rulers of this earth. Delight yourself in Him whose strong arms support hold you and protect you against the wiles of the wicked one. Delight yourself in Him whose truth gives no even to the Senators and Judges of this world. Those who know and love their God will be able to stand firm in the face of falsehood; no storm of falsehood will defeat him; and no boisterous mob will ever shake him from this sure Rock of Ages. Eternal delight and peace will be his, who coming to the end of his life will be able to say with his final breath- O Father!- known to me by thy gracious gift of faith, here I die. I have endeavored to be totally yours more than this world’s, or even my own. Yet this is nothing. All is of grace and by thy grace “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” 2Ti 4:7 I leave eternity to Thee and therefore, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.

(Psalm 30:4-5) “Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.  Does this passage not just sing with the beauty of the resurrection? What glorious truths are stated here! I want you to consider how this passage applies to us.

 

First we are called to sing praise to the Lord because we who were afar off have been brought near.  Though we were once enemies of God, though we once breathed out cursing and bitterness with every breath and with every beat of our hearts, now, by His grace we have granted mercy. We have been transformed; a metamorphosis has taken place. We who hated God and all He stands for have been made new creations in Christ Jesus. We were once rebels; now we are His godly ones. Once we had our place among the children of wrath and were subject to His wrath every moment: but now, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we have been shown mercy and compassion. Instead of giving us what we deserved which is eternity in the fires of hell, God has given us life and a future and a hope (a confident assurance) that He who has begun a good work in us will continue to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

 

According to His mercy He saved us. His anger was for a moment but having been appeased by the application of Christ’s blood, we are recipients of His favor, His divine love which is for a lifetime, for eternity. Though we were once without hope, being with out God in this world, God has granted us joy and peace and an inheritance that will not fade away, that indeed has been reserved for all who love Christ Jesus. We who were once hopeless are now filled with THE blessed hope, the confident assurance that one day our Lord who has saved us from the wrath of God will return and bring us home to be with Him and then we shall ever be with the Lord. Even now we can say with Job that we know our redeemer lives and will again stand upon the earth. And though this body is destroyed, one day in our flesh, we will see God!

 

Secondly it is a historical fact, a fact which will be demonstrated in this lesson that the resurrection has occurred. Jesus said that He would rise again after three days and He did so. Even though His disciples were not expecting it, and were basically hopeless; hiding out in an upper room somewhere, when Jesus revealed Himself as having been risen, they were at once filled with joy. It took several times for the truth to sink in but their faith gradually grew until on the Day of Pentecost, they became lions of the Faith and turned the world upside down.

 

Isn’t it interesting, in light of this glorious truth, how joyless many Christian people are! We who are called by His Name ought to be the most joyful people on the planet. We ought to be constantly singing praises to the Lord for His marvelous grace. We ought to be constantly giving thanks to His holy Name. We ought to be the most thankful, grateful, joyful people around. But many Christians, rather than exhibiting joy, are terribly gloomy. Rather than being thankful for all the blessings of God, rather than looking at all the events in their lives as being brought about by God for our good and His glory, rather than trusting God for all things and living and working as unto Him, many Christians spend their days looking at the wind and the waves.

 

Indeed, many Christians are filled with bitterness towards those whom they should be witnesses of the grace, mercy and patience of God. Rather than doing whatever they do as unto God, which would be a witness of a transformed life, they look with bitterness at their lot in life and complain before the Throne of Grace in the same manner that the children of Israel complained in the ears of God during their time in the wilderness. In this they conform to the world, look like worldlings, act like worldlings, in the Name of Jesus!

These things ought not to be this way! We must take our eyes off of the winds and the waves of this world and fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb 12:2 .  Paul issues a command to us in Ga 6:9 saying “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” But to do so we must fix our eyes on Jesus. We must stop thinking that somehow we are owed something; that we deserve better. Let me tell you that we deserve nothing but wrath and instead God has lavished grace upon grace in our lives.

 

As we look at what God would have for us this morning, let us determine to take our eyes off of ourselves. Let us determine as Paul did, to know nothing among anyone but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Let us not be like the worthless slave who lived wickedly and was caught unawares when his Master returned. But instead let us have Paul’s attitude: “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1Co 15:10 Rather than having the attitude that we are owed something better, let us consider that we are living in grace; that everything we have and are comes from the hand of God; that we are owed nothing and therefore “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.” Lu 17:10   

 

Let our lives reflect that of our Master, Jesus Christ who humbled Himself before the Father. The scriptures tell us that though He was and is God, He did not cling to this; did not sweep His enemies away in the Garden; but rather humbled Himself, laid His life down willingly or as Php 2:7-8  declares “But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The terrifying demonstration of God’s wrath toward sin and sinners was poured out upon His own Son. Only Omnipotence could bear the crushing load of the sin of multitudes. Isa 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

 

The stage is set; the awful night of betrayal and trial was over. The horror of the Crucifixion of the Lord of Glory was over. The disciples were hiding in fear that they were next on the list. Only Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, a Pharisee, had been brave enough to bury Jesus’ body.

 

It is interesting to me that the Chief Priests actually feared that something was going to happen. Now they voiced it in terms of fearing that the disciples would come and steal the body and then claim that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. But the fact that they feared at all speaks volumes about how they viewed Jesus. 

 

Accordingly they went to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, the man they forced into crucifying Jesus and releasing the murderer Barabbas, and they made a very strange request; probably no such request had ever been made before. They actually asked him for a Roman guard to protect the tomb from the disciples; they had no idea that the disciples had less faith than they did. Pilate gave them a Roman guard to protect the tomb and a Roman seal was placed on the tomb to further secure it.

 

Consider the elaborate measures that were taken; very sophisticated precautions for a dead man don’t you think? The Roman army was the most efficient, most fearsome fighting machine in the world: their skill on the battlefield was legendary and only the Parthian cavalry had been able to hold them off temporarily because of their skilled archers. These soldiers were the most disciplined men one could have used; any violation or infraction of their duties was punished by death. And so we have these valiant, disciplined, powerful men; the most powerful guard man could muster, now standing guard over the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman Seal, whose breaking by any unauthorized person or persons meant death, was intact over the door of the tomb.

But even these powerful legionnaires with their fearsome weapons and their Roman Seal were not ready for what happened next.

 

Events were about to unfold which would shake the foundations of the earth, all the way to the Imperial throne of the Roman Emperor. Consider that Jesus had been placed in Joseph’s tomb on the day of Preparation, which would have been Wednesday evening since the Religious leaders didn’t want anyone hanging on the Cross upon sundown when the Passover began. And we are going to be looking at all the Gospels to get a clear, complete picture of all that took place; kind of like the life of Christ in Stereo. Let’s begin with (John 20:1) where we read thus…¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came^* early to the tomb, while it was^* still dark, Turn now to Matt 28:1-2. “Now after the Sabbath, (which would be Sunday) as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Note the picture here; it is of mourners going to pay their last respects at the grave rather than those who have come to see a resurrected Lord. These have come to pay their last respects to one whom they loved. Luke’s Gospel says that the women were coming to anoint the body of Jesus with spices which is what one did at a burial.

 

It is plain to see that they didn’t believe that He would rise again even though He had told them on several occasions. In their minds they believed that this was the end of wonderful experience. It’s over and now they are planning to go back to their old lives. But something had happened! Events were unfolding that would cause them to forget their sorrow for the joy that would fill their souls. Verse ² tells us “And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 

 

Remember that Joseph of Arimathaea had a tomb in a garden where he buried the body of Jesus and we read in Matt 27:59-60 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. Was this the shroud of Turin? Many people think so. But the scriptures clear this up as John specifically declares that Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped the body in strips of cloth soaked in spices. This was the same manner that Egyptian mummies were wrapped. Soaked in the mixture of myrrh and aloes the strips of cloth would harden into a cocoon shape. The body was wrapped to the neck and a separate cloth was used to cover the face. No shroud of Turin!

 

After preparing the body thus, we read in verse ⁶⁰and (Joseph) laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. These grave stones were in a track that went downhill so that gravity would roll it into place. Then the Romans had come and had set an official Roman Seal on the stone. The average weight of these stones was somewhere between 1½ to 2 tons. Humanly speaking this is as difficult as it can get. Roman Guard, Roman seal, 2 ton stone; in the circumstances now facing the mourning women, this stone was an obstacle that stood between them and the body of Christ: or so they thought. 

 

But for God, nothing is impossible. In John 20:2 we see that while the women were approaching the tomb they looked and saw^* the stone already taken away from the tomb.  Matthew’s gospel tells us that the Angel of the Lord had come down and rolled the stone away and sat upon it. We understand that this was done, not to let Jesus out but to let others in to see that He was risen indeed. Matthew gives us a vivid description of the Angel saying…³And his appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. This angel literally blazed with heavenly glory.  Note the result: ⁴The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. So much for the invincible Roman Army!  “What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when He visiteth, what shall I answer him?” Job 31:14 

 

Do you want to know how you would act if Jesus showed up at your door? Look at the Roman Soldiers. Oh, you say, I’m a Christian. I will not be struck dumb with fear. John, “Beloved disciple” a very real Christian fell down at Christ’s feet as dead.

These guards have the same reaction.  And the Angel speaks no word of comfort to these terror stricken men. He just lets them shake and lie there. 

 

But to those who love the Lord, ⁵The angel whom the writer of Hebrews describes as …ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Heb 1:14 said to the women, “Do not be afraid; Lovelier words could not have been spoken.  The emotions of these women had been tossed about much like the disciple’s boat on the Sea of Galilee. And when Jesus appeared, walking on the sea, their fear grew more intense. But then He spoke these wonderful words, “It is I, do not be afraid.” When He had spoken, peace flooded their hearts as surely as the storm calmed and the sea grew still. 

 

The Angel didn’t stop there. His next words gave them renewed life and hope and joy as He said…for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. I know that you saw Him dead upon the cross. I know that you watched a Joseph and Nicodemus prepared His body for burial and laid Him in this very tomb. I know that you have been filled with sorrow and despair at the loss of your Friend. But I have news for you. He has risen! In Luke 24:5-7 we read “and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ⁶“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, ⁷saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” 

 

Matthew 28:6 reads “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come; see the place where He was lying. Now seeing the place where our Lord had lain was an experience. Not only was the body not there but the wrappings which, soaked in the spices had hardened into a cocoon of sorts, was lying there in a manner in which you could see the shape of the body; but without a body. In other words, you could look down the hole and see emptiness. Jesus has risen just as He said.

 

The angel then sent these first witnesses of the resurrection to the disciples. We read their instructions in verse ⁷“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” Notice that the women didn’t stay around to ask questions. Instead we read ⁸And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. Remember our opening passage; their weeping endured for a short time. They had experienced the dark night of the soul as they mourned the death of Christ. Oh but joy came with resurrection morning and how great was their joy.

 

As they were going we read in ⁹And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰Then Jesus repeating the words of the Angel said^* to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Turn now to John 20. John focuses on Mary Magdalene. Some commentators say that Mary left before the other women and did not see the risen Lord. Having departed from tomb we read in verse ²So she ran^* and came^* to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said^* to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”  Though women were not considered reliable witnesses in those days, the disciples, who also were grieving, were moved, at least by curiosity to the point that Peter and John decided to check it out.

 

Verse ³ tells us So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. ⁴The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; ⁵and stooping and looking in, he saw^* the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.  ⁶And so Simon Peter also came^*, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw^* the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.  The Shroud of Turin has been debunked by the Word of God! Peter saw the cocoon shaped wrappings and was filled with wonder.

⁸So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. Not that He was risen but that something had happened…⁹For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰So the disciples went away again to their own homes. They went away scratching their heads and wondering but not realizing all the ramifications of the wonderful event that had just transpired.

 

Now Mary Magdalene, who had followed the men stayed behind, filled with despair at the lost of the body of the Lord. We read in verse ¹¹But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; ¹²and just as the other women had, now she saw^* two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. In her great grief she did not realize that these men were angels. ¹³And they said^* to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said^* to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter and John hadn’t believed. She had turned to them for an explanation but they went away without giving her anything.

 

But now the time of revelation arrived.

 

Before the angels could respond Christ appeared by her side for God now speaketh to us by his Son; none but he himself can direct us to himself. Mary longed to know where her Lord’s body had been taken, and now, behold He is there. ¹⁴When she had said this, still filled with anguish she turned around and saw^* Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.  John Gill says that this may be due to the fact that she was weeping and her eyes were clouded by the tears. But the scriptures again tell of the compassion of the Lord. In (Psalm 34:18) we read that The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

Here was one who was crushed in spirit and broken hearted. See how Jesus delivers her from her anguish and opens both her physical eyes and the eyes of her understanding. ¹⁵Jesus said^* to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said^* to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said^* to her, “Mary!” With the speaking of her name the lights came on. He said it in that familiar tone He had always used. And just like when He broke bread before the two whom He had journeyed with on the road to Emmaus, so here too was that familiar mannerism which opened her eyes. She turned and said^* to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said^* to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

 

Again we see a transformation; the tears of sorrow were gone, replaced by shouts of joy. Instantly she was off to tell the disciples. ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came^*, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. For Mary Magdalene all doubts were dispelled with the last shades of night. Though weeping endured for the night, the darkness was dispelled as Jesus revealed Himself to her and she too was filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

 

Turn to Matthew 28:11-15 where we find the second group of witnesses, hostile witnesses at that; the Roman soldiers. “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. It is interesting how the guard came to the Religious leaders for help. But the reason is clear; they had failed in their duty and the penalty was death by burning. They had the sentence of death hanging over them. ¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they came up with a plan. Note first that “they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,” they bribed the soldiers who were only too eager to comply if their lives were saved. Here was the plan ¹³and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ Now I have stated before the absurdity of this statement.

When you are asleep are you aware of what is going on around you? No! But no one, it seems ever questioned this statement. Now the question must be asked; why, if Jesus hadn’t risen, didn’t the Pharisees and the Roman soldiers just go and get the body and end this whole charade? That’s all they had to do. Joseph of Arimathaea was a member of the Sanhedrin and so they would know where the tomb was. It wasn’t in a secret place. Now we must speculate that either the Pharisees went to the tomb themselves and say the empty grave-clothes or they took the word of the Roman guard whose demeanor spoke volumes about what had taken place. And so they came up with a plan to spread a lie about the disciples and the body of Jesus saying ¹⁴“And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, it was time for Jesus to reveal Himself to the disciples. Note; they had been told by Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, that Jesus had risen from the dead and still they were unmoved. Peter and John had seen the empty tomb and the hollow grave clothes with their own eyes; nothing! The two men had told of seeing Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Still nothing! Though they were filled with wonder at the information they remained unmoved.

 

But this indifference was about to end.

 

Back in John 20, we read in verse ¹⁹So when it was evening on that day, notice that all these events happened in one day…the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, (as I stated before, they believed they were next on the list, that it was open season on those who followed Jesus and they were full of fear…Jesus came and stood in their midst and said^* to them, “Peace be with you.” Luke 24 gives us the reaction of the disciples and it wasn’t “Hey look guys its Jesus guys. Nice to have you back man. We’ve been waiting for you.”

 

Consider that the men from the Emmaus road had just burst in and ³⁵They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:35) when suddenly…³⁶While they were telling these things, (remember that they were behind locked doors) He Himself stood in their midst. And He spoke those words of comfort. Now again, notice the reaction of the disciples; which would be the reaction of anyone who thought they were safe and secure behind locked doors and who suddenly realized they weren’t alone!  ³⁷But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 

 

³⁸And He seeking to bring comfort to their sorrowful, fearful hearts, said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Consider that Jesus had sent at least 3 groups of witnesses to the disciples. They had all delivered the same message, Christ’s message. “I have risen from the dead. You saw Me crucified and buried but here I stand before you alive. I told you that I have power over life and death. I told you that I would be betrayed into the hands of wicked men who would crucify Me. But I also told you that I would rise 3 days later. Now look! ³⁹“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (John 20:20) tells us “And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  (Back in Luke 24) ⁴⁰And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; ⁴³and He took it and ate it before them.

 

Now it was that they believed though their belief, their faith would be complete on the day they saw Him rise into heaven. Now it doesn’t say so but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t dance around the room singing praises to God and worshiping their beloved with shouts of joy. I believe that at that moment, their happiness knew no bounds.

 

 

Now consider this: this same Jesus Christ is our Lord too. He has come to us, relieved us of our burden of sin, translated us from the kingdom of darkness and made us sons and daughters of God. He has removed our filthy rags and clothed us in the robe of righteousness. He has removed that horrible, unfeeling stony heart and replaced it with one of flesh. He has revived our dead spirits and the scriptures tell us that He has made us to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

 

With that Holy, once for all sacrifice has come freedom and deliverance from a bondage that was far worse than any slavery that man could ever devise. Divine favor has been lavished upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord who has washed away our sins in the cleansing stream of His precious blood.  Where once there was only weeping and bitterness and a fearful looking forward to the wrath that we have incurred for our sins, now there is joy for the Glorious Lord of Hosts has delivered us from our slavery to sin, self and Satan. Where once there was misery now there is grace upon grace!

 

As we ponder these truths let us do so with the renewed desire to live for Jesus with all of our hearts. Let us take our eyes off of our petty troubles and remember that God is directing all things that come to pass in our lives: that all things are working together for our good and His glory: that He is indeed at work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. I call upon you to “Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; of a truth weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:4-5