The Absolute Necessity – Version 2

Greetings!

For the past few years, I have been the interim pastor for Ezra Chruch of God. It was a very rewarding and blessed time for me.

I have moved on from Ezra and this past Sunday and next Sunday I will be preaching at a different church.

Due to that, this is sort of a “repeat” of a sermon I preached at Ezra back in December of 2022. You can find the blog post for that sermon here

Below you’ll find the video from April 16, 2023

April 16, 2023 sermon video

God bless you! Have a wonderful day.

When God Came Near

When God came to earth.

Max Lucado wrote a book called “God Came Near.”  I haven’t read it but the title always intrigued me, so I will borrow it for today’s post.  I’m thinking about the time that God became man to save the world.

A group called 4Him sings the song “A Strange Way to Save the World.” 

I’m sure he must have been surprised
At where this road had taken him
‘Cause never in a million lives
Would he have dreamed of Bethlehem
And standing at the manger
He saw with his own eyes
The message from the angel come alive
And Joseph said
Why me, I’m just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here, inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she’s just an ordinary girl
Now I’m not one to second guess
What angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world
To think of how it could have been
If Jesus had come as He deserved
There would have been no Bethlehem
No lowly shepherds at His birth
But Joseph knew the reason
Love had to reach so far
And as he held the Savior in his arms
He must have thought
Why me, I’m just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here, inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she’s just an ordinary girl
Now I’m not one to second guess
What angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

Joseph

In Matthew chapter one, we read that Joseph had learned of Mary’s pregnancy.  They were not yet married but were engaged. In those days, that was as good as a marriage contract.  He knew that he was not the child’s father. Because he was a just man, he planned to “put her away” (divorce) her privately.  Then an angel appeared to him.

Gabriel the angel came to Joseph in a dream.
Gabriel the angel came to Joseph in a dream.

Matthew 1: 18-25 (MEV)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way: After His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, had in mind to divorce her privately. 20 But while he thought on these things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for He who is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, 23 “A virgin shall be with child, and will bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is interpreted, “God with us.” 24 Then Joseph, being awakened from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and remained with his wife, 25 and did not know her until she had given birth to her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

Why?

God became man.  Why?
I want to look at some reasons why He did.

The first was to fulfill prophesy.
The second was to show what God is like.
The third was to communicate with us.
The fourth was to identify with us in our struggles. 
Finally, to be the Lamb of God.

Fulfilling Prophesy

The passage above mentions one of those prophesies. Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: The virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel

That is exactly what took place.  That’s what Christmas is all about. The baby in the manger, born of a virgin, is that prophecy being fulfilled.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as Micah had prophesied.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as Micah had prophesied.

Micah prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)

There are about 300 other prophecies that proclaimed that God was going to become man.  They were all fulfilled with the birth of Jesus Christ. 

King David was told that his descendants would be on the throne forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5-6)

You may wonder who is on the throne today. You can research the genealogy of David down to the time of Jesus. (Matthew 1:2-16, Luke 3:23-38)

Jesus is the king.  We don’t need anybody beyond that.  He’s still the king and will be forever, sitting at the right hand of God. 

Hebrews 1:8-9 

8 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, lasts forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

It was prophesied that King David’s descendants would be on the throne forever.  Jesus, through both Mary and Joseph, is the fulfillment of that prophecy.

What God is Like

Jesus was born to show the world what God is like.
Jesus was born to show the world what God is like.

Bing Crosby played a character named Hank Martin in a movie made in 1949 called “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” which was based on a book written by Mark Twain. 

The main character was somehow transported back in time to the medieval times of King Arthur. He was in trouble because he was dressed in clothing from another century and he thought he needed to do something spectacular to avoid being arrested.

Because people of that time believed in magic and sorcery, the character took his magnifying glass and concentrated the sun’s rays on a piece of paper and burst into flames.  The king believed it was magic. 

They looked at him differently then, and he was in the king’s good graces for a time. 

Later, Hank challenged the king, saying he didn’t know his subjects as well as he thought.  The pair began traveling around the country in disguise. 

The people didn't realize the king was among them.
The people didn’t realize the king was among them.

On their travels, they overheard complaints about the king.  Arthur wasn’t used to that and almost stuck the speaker before Hank reminded him that he wasn’t “the king” right then.

Farther along, they heard some positive comments about the king, and that pleased Arthur. 

 The king was in their midst, but they didn’t know it. 

Jesus came to the earth and the King was present but many people didn’t realize it until after the resurrection. 

Undercover Boss

You may have seen the show “Undercover Boss.”  The owner of the company will go undercover and work as a regular employee and see how the actual employees perform.  Sometimes they complain about the owner, but other times they are very diligent and hard-working. 

Then near the end of the episode, the employees will hear that the owner is coming for a visit. They’re all sitting in a room and in walks the owner.

Some employees are nervous when they realize the things they said and to whom they were said. Others are just happy to see their coworker again and learn that he or she is the boss.  

Sometimes the troublemakers get fired, other times, the boss gives them another chance or more training 

Jesus came to show us what God is like. 

John 14:8-11

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is sufficient for us.”9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. But the Father who lives in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me on account of the works themselves.

If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. 

Communication with the World

Hebrews 1: 1-2


God, who at various times and in diverse ways spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the world.

In the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophets. In the days of the New Testament, God spoke to them, and us, through Jesus Christ His Son.  

Paul Harvey once told the story of a man whose wife and children asked if he was attending church with them since it was Christmas. 

The man declined. He usually just left it at a simple no, but he elaborated on his refusal this time.  

“All this stuff about God becoming man, I just don’t quite get that.”

His family left to go to church and the man was sitting in his living room looking out the window.  As he gazed outside, it began to snow.  He saw some birds on the ground that appeared to be shivering from the cold.  

They didn't understand he was trying to help.
They didn’t understand he was trying to help.

He went out to his shed, turned on the heater, and left the door open so the birds could go inside and be warmed. 

He waited for the birds to go in, but they didn’t.  He attempted to approach them but when he got close, they flitted away. 

There was food on the ground so they didn’t go far, but they eluded him. 

He tried to get near them again, but they flew away again. 

He began talking to them, “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to help you.” He realized they didn’t understand what he was saying.  How can I communicate with them? If only I were a bird.”

Then it hit him. 

That’s why God came to this earth: So He could communicate with us. 

Identify with the Struggles of the World

Another reason, I believe, that He came, is to identify with our struggles. 

Hebrews 4: 14-16

14 Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was in every sense tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then come with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He came to this earth to be able to identify with our struggles. 

You may feel that God is so distant and doesn’t know what it’s like for you.  But Jesus knows.  He came and showed us that He knew what it’s like.  

The story of the woman at the well shows His humanness. John 4:6 says He was “exhausted.”  He knows what it’s like to be tired. He knew what it was like to be thirsty. (John 4:7-8, John 19:28)  

Jesus knows the struggles the people of the world face.
Jesus knows the struggles the people of the world face.

He knows what it’s like to be rejected. He knows what it’s like to have physical pain. He knew what it was like to have to restrain His power.  He could have called thousands of angels to deliver him in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He chose not to. 

Lamb of God to Save the World

John 1:26-29

26 John (the Baptist) answered them, “I baptize with water, but One stands among you, whom you do not know. 27 This is He who comes after me, who is preferred before me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus came to the earth to be the Lamb of God; a sacrifice for our sins. 

Jesus became the sacrificial lamb for the world.
Jesus became the sacrificial lamb for the world.

The Bible tells us that we have all sinned. (Romans 3:23)  We’re all in the same boat. Some of us have what the world would consider “bigger” sins, but they’re all the same in God’s eyes. We have all sinned and come far short of God’s glory. 

The Bible also tells us that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) That’s the bad news. 

Each time you attend a funeral, you’re dealing with physical death The soul has separated from the body. Life has moved out and left behind is the shell. 

There’s another kind of death called spiritual death.  That’s when the soul is separated from God. 

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death. 

We all have a death sentence on our heads. 

But Jesus came, as John the Baptist pointed out, to be the Lamb of God.  

His listeners knew the significance of the lamb because year after year there had been sacrifices of an unblemished lamb to atone for their sins. 

God sent His Son to the earth to be the ultimate sacrifice: the Lamb of God. 

Revelation 20:14-15

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

While everyone faces physical death, you don’t have to experience the second death. 

Jesus came to be the Lamb of God and shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sins.  He made it possible for everyone to be saved!  That’s why He came. 

Bringing Redemption to the World

That’s why God became man. 

Why would Jesus leave Heaven, where they would do His bidding, and come to this earth to be rejected (Isaiah 53;3) and crucified?

Jesus was fully God but also fully man.

Many men have died, but none could take our place.

The divine son of God became human and physically died. But because of His deity, His death covers the sins of the world. 

Jesus' death on the cross covered the sin of the world.
Jesus’ death on the cross covered the sin of the world.

That’s why you and I can be saved.  He made it possible. 

If you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

We strongly, fully believe that Jesus died, rose again, the tomb was empty, and He was seen alive more than once after He was dead. It’s not a fairy tale. 

Because He lives, we have the hope that we will live forever.

If you believe in your heart, you are very close. Romans 10:9 also says you need to confess with your mouth that He is Lord.  

Have you done that?  Do you know that you know that Jesus is your Lord?

If you don’t, today is the day.  The Bible says today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Accept Him today.  

Preparing the Way for the Lord

Prepare the way

John the Baptist said to prepare the way for the Lord. That directive has meaning in our own lives today.

Sermon video

Josh’s Questions

Josh was an older teenager and he was having a problem.  He was trying to figure something out about life. He had three questions. 

The first was: Who am I?
The second was: Why am I here?
The final question was: Where am I going?

He began trying to find the answers to those questions and decided he would do it in church.  He began attending and was very faithful in the church.  Later, he said, “I guess I was going to the wrong church.  I went there every time the doors were open and I was 150% committed to the church, but I wasn’t getting my questions answered.”

He continued, “I actually felt worse in church than I did outside of church.  I started trying to find the answers somewhere else.  I decided I would find my answers through education.”

He graduated high school and went to university.  Again, he was looking for the answers to those three questions. He discovered that most of the students at the university were worse off than he was.  He then looked to the professors.  He found no help there, either.  

After a couple of years, he noticed a small group of people who seemed different.  They were more confident and seemed to have more hope.  Eventually one of them invited Josh to a meeting.  The meeting turned out to be a Bible study.  There were eight students and two professors in attendance.  

Josh wasn't interested in a Bible study.
Josh wasn’t interested in a Bible study.

Josh began noticing something different in their lives and it had an effect on him.  

However, due to his previous experience with the church, he had become hardened in the areas of prayer and Bible study. He was resistant to the idea.

Finally, he told them that he noticed something different about them, and he wanted to know what made the difference.

Although he probably didn’t want to hear the answer, they told him anyway.

Jesus Christ made them different. 

The first time he heard Jesus mentioned in the Bible study, he scoffed at it and pushed the notion away.  He felt he had already tried to find the answer to life through religion and was unsuccessful.  

He was forced to admit, though that something was going on in the lives of the people in the group.  

Again he heard, “Jesus Christ is the answer.”  

Not the institution of the church, but the person of Jesus.

A Challenge

One of the young ladies in the group challenged Josh.  She said, “Why don’t you investigate and see if all of this is true?  Was there really a historical person named Jesus?  Find out if there were people who testified to unusual things being done.  Find out if this man named Jesus really was crucified.  Then there’s the claim of the resurrection, that He rose from the grave.  Investigate that for yourself.”

Josh thought all those answers would be in the Bible, of course, so he started by checking that.
He was very serious about the whole thing.  He decided to try religion again.  He planned to use the tools for investigating and verifying statements that he had learned. 

Josh decided to do some research.
Josh decided to do some research.

He took time off from his classes He went to some well-known libraries in Europe to investigate the claims in the Bible. 

His heart had been hardened and needed to be prepared to get him to the point where he would even consider doing this. 

Luke 3:1-6 (MEV)

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Traconitis, and Lysanias was the tetrarch of Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He came into the region surrounding the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight 5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

John the Baptist was quoting from the book of Isaiah, so let’s look at that passage.

Isaiah 40:1-8 (MEV)

1 Comfort, O comfort, My people, says your God. 2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him who cries out, “Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness, make straight in the desert a highway for our God 4 Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rough places a plain; 5 then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” 6 The voice said, “Cry out.” And he said, “What shall I cry out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is as the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.

Prepare the Way

In the past, dignitaries would visit other cities or countries.  If they were wealthy enough, the dignitaries would send people ahead of them to see the conditions of the roads.  Would the journey be easy?  How wide was the road?  What type of vehicles would the road accommodate?  The visitor may have been in a wagon or chariot or may have been carried on a litter. 

The servants would go in advance to prepare the way for the dignitary.
The servants would go in advance to prepare the way for the dignitary.

They wanted the road to be smooth and the way to be good. 

The Smoky Mountains in Tennessee have steep grades and sharp turns.  The interstate that cuts through them has made those places smooth enough that you can safely take a curve at 70 miles per hour.

Some places along that route don’t go over the top of the mountain but around the side.  There are guardrails along the edge of the road and signs warning you to watch for falling rocks.  The construction crews have made the way easier.

John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Lord to come.  Many years before, Isaiah had prophesied the events.

Four things were to take place to prepare the way for the Lord.

Mountain Brought Low

The first of those events was the mountain shall be brought low.  

To prepare the way, the mountain must be brought low.
To prepare the way, the mountain must be brought low.

This did not mean that the ground and roads into Bethleham were going to be literally smoothed.  I believe the passage means within our hearts.  Our hearts are high, lifted up, and prideful.  

In order to prepare the way for the Lord, the mountain of pride needs to be brought low and humility needs to be present. You have to be humble enough to be able to consider the Lord.  You have to be careful about pride.  

When I was in the 4th grade, the high school basketball coach came and got us 4th-grade boys and brought us to the gym.  He gave us an orange spherical object and, to my surprise, the other boys knew what to do with it.  I actually did know it was a basketball, but that was all I knew about the game.  The other boys could dribble and I could not.  I didn’t know the rules so I was feeling very self-conscious.  

I was standing there with my hands in my pockets when the coach asked if I would like to learn how to play basketball.  I said I would.  

He responded, “The first thing you need to do is take your hands out of your pockets.”

That was my first basketball lesson.

Because I attended a small school I always made the team, but I was never one of the first 5. I wasn’t much of a star.  

I needed to be brought low.
I needed to be brought low.

There was one time when my 4-H club was going to play a game against another 4-H club.  Not everyone in the club was on the basketball team so there was a mixture of varying skill levels.  The other club didn’t have enough people so they took some of our club members who did play basketball and put them on their team.  It ended up: I was the star of the team that night!

I was so excited about that.  A friend was planning on spending the night at my house that night.  All the way home and for probably an hour after we got home, I talked about how excited I was and how great I had done.  

He finally got tired of hearing it and he said, “Yeah, Randy, you were great.  Just great.”  That brought me back to Earth.

Sometimes we get lifted up with pride and it can stand in our way so we need to be brought low.

Filling the Valleys

On the opposite side of that are the valleys.  You might not feel like you’re worth anything.  You might be on the opposite end of the spectrum and feel like God could never love you or care for you.  You feel like no one at all cares for you.  

You feel like even your parents don’t care about you.  You’re just picked on and bullied.  You don’t have any friends.

That can happen sometimes and it can weigh on a person and cause them to be discouraged and feel low  

By discovering your value to Christ, your valley can be filled
By discovering your value to Christ, your valley can be filled

In order to receive Christ, you need to understand that you need to be lifted up and you are not worthless.  How much value do you have?

You are of inestimable worth to God.  He sent His Son to redeem you.  He thought you were of such worth that He sent His Son from Heaven’s glory to this Earth where He was rejected and despised.  

The religious leaders who were lifted up with pride arrested Jesus.

God loves you so much that He allowed that to happen. Jesus loves you so much that He allowed that to happen. 
Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested.
He allowed his beard to be pulled out.
He allowed people to spit on him.

He did that because He loves you and me.  That’s how much He loves us.

You need to get to the point where you can understand that.  When you do, then you’re preparing the way for the Lord to come into your life. 

We are Like Flowers that Fade

If a young man wants to impress his young lady, he will sometimes bring her flowers.  Usually, she really likes them.  She’ll put them on the table.  She likes to look at them.  She likes to smell them.  But after about a week the flowers become wilted and she will toss them in the trash.  

Life fades like a flower.
Life fades like a flower.

The passage says our lives are like that.  It’s here for a while and then it fades away.  Like a flower that’s good for a while but it wilts and fades away. 

You can go to a cemetery and look at a tombstone.  You’ll see the date of birth, the date of death, and the little dash in between those two dates.  That’s what your life is.

Life is like a vapor.  It’s here for a little while, then it vanishes away. (James 4:14)  Imagine steam coming out of a tea kettle.  You can see it for a bit but then it vanishes.  

We need to realize that we are mortal and will not live forever and have time to prepare the way for the Lord within our lives.  A lot of people act like they’re going to live forever and push away all thoughts of eternity.  

To prepare the way for the Lord, we need to realize that we’re going to spend eternity somewhere.  

We’re like the flower that’s here for a while and fades. 

Make the Rough Places Smooth

Some places had rocks on the roads.  To prepare for the arriving dignitary, the people would clear the rocks out of the way.  

Sometimes the roads would be rocky and require clearing.
Sometimes the roads would be rocky and require clearing.

Depending on their circumstances, the dignitaries may build up the road some, shorten it, or find a different path altogether.  They may find the landowner and ask for permission to pass through their property.  

Usually, though, they would go on the established path.  Their laborers would go ahead of them and clear the rocks to make the path smoother. 

Years ago, I worked for Accelerated Christian Education.  I was at their headquarters for about 3 years. 

About halfway through my time there, the company decided to provide a retreat for any employee who wanted to attend.  My family went. We did many different things during the retreat.  

The company (ACE) owned property near Durango, Colorado, so that’s where we went for the retreat.  

Because we were being paid while on the retreat, we had to be productive while we were there.  

There was a dirt road on the property that had a lot of rocks.  Many of them were good-sized.  There were probably about 100 people working on this road.  We went in front, and a wagon went behind us, and our job was to pick up rocks.  

It was rough going for the wagon at first, but finally, we got enough picked up that it was able to go down the road pretty easily. 

Take the rocks and move them out of the way.
The high places are made lower –  pride is brought lower to humility.
The low places are made higher – worthlessness is brought up to the esteem that God has for us.

The Way Made Straight

The crooked thinking of the world needs to be straightened out. Sometimes we have to do some investigating as Josh did.  There is some crooked thinking going on in our world today.  

Crooked roads need to be straightened to prepare the way for the Lord.
Crooked roads need to be straightened to prepare the way for the Lord.

Things that years ago would have been considered crazy are supposed to be accepted as normal today, and the world says that you’re supposed to say it’s normal whether you think it is or not.  

You have to do something to straighten out the crookedness. 

We need to come to a point where when God says something, it is so and if He says it’s not so, it’s not. 

We need to recognize that and believe it. 

Sometimes the rocks get in the way.

Josh’s Discoveries

Josh had thoughts, obstacles, or “rocks”, that were in his way.  He was asked to investigate for himself and when he did, one by one, the rocks were removed.  

First, he checked out the Bible.  He found out that there were 40 different human authors (God is the author of it all {2 Timothy 3:16-17}) over 1400 years and it had an amazing unity to it.  Today, you probably couldn’t find 40 different authors to agree on anything.  In the Bible, there’s a unity of the message.  There’s a scarlet thread of redemption from Genesis to Revelation.  

Over and over again, the fact of the sinfulness of mankind and the need for redemption are portrayed.  

Then comes the fact that Jesus Christ died and paid the penalty for our sins.  

There’s amazing unity throughout the Book.  

Josh had to admit that he could see that.  

Then he looked at history and historical authors.  For example, did Julius Ceasar really exist?  

Josh's research showed that Julius Ceasar did exist.
Josh’s research showed that Julius Ceasar did exist.

He found out how many ancient documents talked about Ceasar’s existence.  

He found many texts that spoke about the New Testament. 

He discovered that there was far more evidence for the truth of the Bible than there was for other books.  

A rock was removed. 

He found out that Jesus really was a historical person who lived. He learned that there were those who saw Him after He was reported dead, alive.  He discovered that there were Roman soldiers who knew about death and said that Jesus definitely was dead. He also found out that the account of the spear being stuck into Jesus’ side and blood and water coming out was the truth,  He learned that Jesus did truly die.  He could not deny that. 

Josh learned that the 12 disciples saw Jesus after He had been dead and their lives were changed.  Before they had been filled with fear but they became bold after seeing the resurrected Jesus.  

The time came when the authorities wanted them arrested, and a couple of times they were.  While imprisoned, they sang!  They couldn’t be stopped.  Their lives were changed.  

Josh couldn’t deny that.

Then he saw that throughout history, there were people who were willing to give their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He could not deny that. 

One rock after another was being removed.  

Josh’s last name is McDowell.  Maybe you’ve heard of him or perhaps read some of his books.  One such book is called “Evidence that Demands a Verdict.”  It’s a collection of evidence so it’s hard to read straight through.  However, it is a wonderful reference book.  It’s a listing of all the things he discovered and put together.  He’s also written a sequel called “More Evidence that Demands a Verdict.”  If you’re looking for a good reference book, I would recommend these two.  

Josh McDowell
Josh McDowell

The books contain the evidence that moved the rocks out of the path for Josh McDowell. 

Lee Strobel

There is another man, named Lee, who lived in Chicago.  He was a journalist.  Like many people, he and his wife were enjoying life without any church attendance or background.  They had similar ideas and lifestyles.  However, their lives weren’t completely full.  Lee’s wife, Leslie, had an emptiness inside, similar to what Josh had in his life. 

So, she began to study the Bible with some friends. Next, she began attending church.  As a result, her life began to change.  She didn’t think she should do some of the things they had been doing before. Lee grew more and more frustrated. 

He began to suspect that she was seeing another man.  He discovered another Man of sorts, but it was difficult to fight against Him because Lee couldn’t see Him. Not to mention, He was a perfect man. 

Lee was very angry and resentful.  

This went on for a couple of years, and then Lee thought, “I’m an investigative reporter.  I’m going to take my skills and use the same techniques and I’m going to refute this ‘Christian stuff’ for my wife.”

Lee and Leslie Strobel
Lee and Leslie Strobel

His usual process was to interview experts in whatever field he was investigating. He approached this project the same way.  

After each interview, his thought was the same: “I can’t argue against that one.  What he said was right.”

Time after time, Lee came to the same conclusion.

The reporter’s name is Lee Strobel and he wrote the books “The Case for Christ,” “The Case for Faith,” and “The Case for Creation” plus many more. 

Lee had all that resentment that was standing in the way.  One by one, through those interviews, the rocks were removed so the path to the Lord could be clear. 

Josh McDowell said after he came to the point where he had all the evidence, he was faced with evidence that demands a verdict.  He was going to have to make a decision.  

Josh and Lee both came to Christ.
Josh and Lee both came to Christ.

Intellectually, he already knew it was all true but he still would not submit to Christ because of his pride.  He would have to admit he had been wrong since he was in high school and those early years in college.  

But he finally did, and then his heart was ripe for Christ to come in.  

Lee Strobel knew these things were true and his heart was ripe for Christ to come in.

Prepare Your Heart

If you have something in your life that should not be there, I pray that the Lord would remove that obstacle for you.  I pray that if there is some type of pride in your life that you would be brought low so you can consider other things.  I pray that if you feel worthless, you will be lifted up and understand that God loves you.  I pray that if you have a crooked road that something will come and help you see that it’s not right and you’ll be straightened out.  As you understand more and more that the Word of God is the truth, it will help straighten out your thinking. Whatever rocks might be in the way, I pray that they would be removed. 

Prepare the way for the Lord to enter your heart.
Prepare the way for the Lord to enter your heart.

John the Baptist cried out, “Prepare the way of the Lord.  Let the high be brought low, the low be brought up, the crooked places made straight, and the rough places made smooth.”

If you’ve never come to Christ, and today you’re at the place where your heart is ready, you can make a decision for Christ today.  The way has been prepared and there’s nothing standing in your way. You can come to Him. 

Thank God for that!

Bearing the Yoke: Good News and Bad News

Break free from the yoke of sin.

The bad news is that the yoke of sin enslaves us all and Satan whispers lies to us. But there’s good news! God offers deliverance.

Beware of Bears

A park ranger was instructing a group that was preparing to go for a hike.  He said, “You need to be careful out there because there are sometimes grizzly bears on the trails.”  He had some items to help them stay safe. 

He first gave them some bells.  He said, “Wear these at all times. They’ll make noise when you move and the bears will know that you’re coming and hopefully, the bears will avoid you if they hear you.”

The second item he gave the hikers was a whistle.  He said, “Keep this around your neck.  If the bells don’t scare the bears, you can blow the whistle. That might keep them away.  At least it could alert someone who may be able to help you.”

Finally, the ranger handed them a can of pepper spray.  He said, “If all else fails and a grizzly is coming for you, try spraying them in the eyes with this pepper spray.”

Concerned, one of the hikers asked, “How will we know if we’re in an area with grizzly bears?”

Watch out for grizzly bears!
Watch out for grizzly bears!

The ranger responded, “It’s simple.  Just look for bear droppings.”

“How can we tell the bear droppings from other animal droppings?” they asked.

“Well,” the ranger replied, “the bear droppings will have bells and whistles in them and smell like pepper spray.”

It’s important to heed the warnings that come your way.

Volcanic Warnings

Recently, the news has reported that a volcano in Hawaii is erupting.  It’s a famous volcano called the Mauna Loa, part of the Kilauea crater.

In 1985 my wife and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Hawaii.  We were living in the Dallas, Texas area and I was writing the science curriculum for Accelerated Christian Education.  

The curriculum was talking about volcanoes and it described a lava tube.  

Inside a lava tube
Inside a lava tube

A lava tube is a tunnel of sorts that is formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. 

I was writing about that kind of thing so when we got to Hawaii, we went to the park that has that crater where the volcano is.  We got to walk through one of those lava tubes. 

The current eruption is shooting lava as high as 168 feet.  The thing that amazes me is the national park is still open for visitors!

There’s one road that is closed.

I think that would be a good warning to heed and not get on that road.

There are some warnings that we need to heed.

History, Parallel, and a Warning from Jeremiah

Jeremiah has some warnings that he put forth to God’s people.  I’m not going to put all three chapters in here, but I will give you the summary and enough information that you’ll be able to see what’s going on. 

You’ll see the historical happenings that Jeremiah was describing and then I want to look at the parallels between that and the entire story of redemption that’s in the Bible from the beginning to the end.  The Bible is a book of redemption.  

It’s a book that tells of the need for deliverance and it tells you how to be delivered, which is through Jesus Christ. 

As I go through this, you’ll see the yoke of sin, the lies of Satan, and the deliverance of God.  

Yoke of Sin

Jeremiah 27:1-8 contains the historical content of this.

Before I continue, I want to give you a little tip that helped me.  In these chapters, there are three names mentioned and I got a little confused.  

The first is Jehoiakim who was the king of Judah.

The second is his son, Jeconiah, who was also a king of Judah.  However, he was taken into captivity.  

While he was in captivity in Jerusalem, Zedekiah was king.

Jeremiah 27:1-2 (all scripture is from the MEV)

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Thus says the Lord to me: Make bonds and yokes and put them on your neck, 

Wooden yoke
Wooden yoke

Yokes were wooden devices that were put on oxen and hooked to carts, plows, or whatever you wanted them to pull.  If you had a yoke on your neck, it would be something that was difficult. God told Jeremiah to put one on his neck as an object lesson and then send some to the kings of the surrounding countries.

Jeremiah 27:6

6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And also I have given to him the beasts of the field to serve him.

God refers to Nebuchadnezzar as His servant  Sometimes God will use people who are not very close to Him for His purposes.

Nebuchadnezzar had moments when he worshiped God and instructed others to do so.  Other times, he became prideful and turned away from God. 

Jeremiah told the kings that they were going to be under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar and they needed to accept it because they were going to be in captivity. 

Now let’s look at the picture of redemption.

We All Bear It

We have the yoke of sin that is put upon us.  Since the Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), everyone has to deal with this yoke of sin.

Each one of us bears the yoke of sin.
Each one of us bears the yoke of sin.

We should be concerned about the yoke of sin.

It was what caused Adam and Eve to be cast out of the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3)

It was the thing that caused the first murder to take place. (Genesis 4:8)

The yoke of sin destroys lives and it destroys families. 

The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

We all know about physical death.  We’re reminded of it often  The body dies.  Physical death came in because of sin. 

Beyond physical death, however, is spiritual death which causes us to be separated from God.  

Jeremiah 27:8

 8 It shall come to pass that I will punish the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, says the Lord. I will punish that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 

God was telling them that Nebuchadnezzar was the world leader.  He had warned His people to “straighten up” or go into captivity.

Judah’s brother to the north, Israel, had already been taken into captivity by Assyria. 

Babylon was gaining power and was going to take over Assyria.  But Babylon was then going to go into Judah and capture the rest of them.  

One of the many lies that were put forth during this time is found in Jeremiah 27:14.

14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” because they prophesy a lie to you. 

The remainder of chapter 27 discusses those who would lie.  

Of course, the people would like to be delivered.  Of course, they wanted to rise up and be victorious over their enemies.

But Jeremiah told them that wouldn’t be the case.  God was going to use those events to punish them.  They had been warned.

The lies continue in chapter 28. 

Jeremiah 28:1-4

1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years I will bring back into this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went into Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, 6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen. May the Lord do so; may the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of the Lord and all that was carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. 

Jeremiah knew what God had told him, but he hoped that Hananiah was correct. 

Jeremiah 28:10-17

10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it. 11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within the space of two full years.” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.  12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying: 13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says the Lord: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also. 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah. The Lord has not sent you, and you make this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord: I am about to cast you from off the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord.” 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

Hananiah was a false prophet.
Hananiah was a false prophet.

You see the lies of the false prophet, and the consequences of those lies, in this passage.

The Lies of Satan

Satan is a liar.  His lies come to us who have sinned.  We have the yoke of sin in our lives.

Satan tells us, “You’re ok.”

But we’re not ok.  We are all hellbound without God. 

Satan’s lies tell us there is no hell, and that there are no consequences of sin.  These lies are very subtle.

Some of those lies seem right to us as human beings. There are people who are openly and brazenly disobeying the commands of God but human nature says, “Oh, it’s ok.  They’re ok.”  That’s one of the lies of Satan.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

The lies of Satan lead to destruction.

Satan's lies sound good.
Satan’s lies sound good.

But the lies of Satan can sound really good because sometimes he appears as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)

The lies of Satan provide a false sense of peace.

The yoke of sin is the fault of all mankind because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Everyone needs to be saved. Everyone needs their sin forgiven.

The lie of Satan is, “You don’t need that. It’s all a bunch of hogwash.”

The truth is that one day we’re going to stand before God and it will matter what we have done with Jesus Christ.  Whether or not we have believed in Him, whether or not we have accepted Him, and whether or not we have trusted in Him.  That’s what’s going to make all the difference when we stand before God and are judged. (Romans 14:10-12, Revelation 20:15)

There’s a yoke of sin that we all carry.  

Satan lies to everyone he can.

But there is the promise of deliverance!

The Promise of Deliverance

Hananiah had promised deliverance but he was dead and it had been 2 years and nothing happened.

While they were in captivity, they weren’t severely treated.  They were allowed to work and have areas where they could build houses for themselves. Considering they were in captivity, they were treated fairly well. 

Jeremiah delivered a message to them

Jeremiah 29:4-14

4 Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all who have been carried away captive whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters; so that you may increase there and not diminish. 7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. 8 For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them, says the Lord. 10 For thus says the Lord: When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you shall call upon Me, and you shall come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You shall seek Me and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.

God provided deliverance. They were to be under the yoke of captivity for 70 years, although the lies of the prophet said it wouldn’t be that long.  

Then God gave them a promise. 

At the end of the 70 years, they would be released and able to go home.

There are reasons to be excited about the deliverance that God provides. 

The Bible speaks of the yoke of sin and of the lies of Satan that tell us that salvation is unnecessary.

But it speaks of real deliverance for those who have had the yoke of sin weighing down on their hearts and minds.  There is deliverance for those who have been the enemy of God and realize that they were wrong and turn their life around.

There is freedom through Christ!
There is freedom through Christ!

This deliverance comes and grabs ahold of someone like the Apostle Paul who had the yoke of sin on his life and was an enemy of the people of God. Then on the road to Damascus, he met the living Christ, got knocked off of his horse, and realized he had been wrong. He acknowledged who Jesus is and gave his life in wholehearted service to the Lord.  (Acts 9:1-19)

There are reasons to be excited about that!

One reason is that you are forgiven of your sins.  Corrie Ten Boom said, “God buries our sins in the depths of the sea and then puts up a sign that reads, “No fishing.”

He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)

As Christians, we have been justified.  There’s a little play on words that says justified means “just as if I’d never sinned.”

Justification through Jesus
Justification through Jesus

That’s something to be excited about.

When God comes into your life, although you are born with the yoke of sin, you become just as if you’d never sinned.

Going Home

There is the promise of Heaven. They had been in captivity but they got to go home 

One of these days, you (if you’ve accepted Jesus) and I will get to go home.

When you visit people in the hospital, they will sometimes talk about going home. You might wonder what they mean. Sometimes they’re talking about going to their physical earthly home, but sometimes they’re talking about Heaven. 

I’m so glad that one day, instead of returning to the building made of wood and rock, I’ll go to a beautiful eternal home. 

These three chapters contain the whole picture of redemption: the yoke of sin, the lies of Satan, and the deliverance of God.

Don’t listen to the lies of Satan.  Believe the truth of God.  Believe in Jesus.  Come to Him. Trust in Him.  The Bible says that if you seek after Him with your whole heart, you will find Him.  (Jeremiah 29:13)

Whosoever

Some know that they have sinned and are on their way to a place that’s not Heaven.  They would like to change that but Satan whispers lies to them.  He says, “You can’t be saved.  What you’ve done is too bad. You are too far gone.”

YOU are a whosoever!
YOU are a whosoever!

But the truth of God is God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

When I was in 6th grade, I overheard 2 boys talking.  They were certain that if they died in a car wreck they would go to Heaven. At the time I thought there was no way they could know that.  I thought about that knowing all week.  Then I read John 3:16, which I probably had memorized.  I realized it was a truth of God that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life. 

I knelt down and said, “God, Jesus, I do believe in You. I do believe you died on the cross.  I don’t know everything about all of this but as much as I know how I give You my life right now.”

The Truth of God comes and brings salvation to your soul.

Had I walked up on those boys’ conversation the next week, I wouldn’t have turned and walked away.  I would have walked up and joined them and said, “Yeah, Me too!”

I couldn’t have said it the week before because I was listening to the lies of Satan  Then I came to Jesus. 

Seek Him with your whole heart and you will find Him. Knock and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7-8)

Of course, they weren’t looking forward to going into captivity.  It was peaceful where they were living and they liked it there. Jeremiah warned them that it would not be good.  

Then they realized that they were suffering the consequences of their sin. 

He told them it wouldn’t be as bad as it could be.  They would be allowed to build some houses and live life normally, But they would long for home 

After 70 years they were going to get to go home. 

We have sinned and we have listened to the lies of Satan. We’ve been confronted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that He died to pay the penalty for our sins.  But if we claim the gift of salvation, we will receive eternal life.

The Time is Now

Have you ever come to Jesus?

Do you know Jesus now?

If you do you have reason to rejoice. Thank God for His promises, but you probably have some friends who need to know about those promises. Maybe it’s up to you to be the one to talk to them. 

In closing, I want to tell you to live life as it comes.  It may be good or it may be bad, but through it all continue to trust God. Trust Him through it all and He will bless you for doing that. 

Ask God remove the yoke of sin from your life.
Let God remove the yoke of sin from your life.

If you don’t know for sure, if you have any doubts, about your salvation, I encourage you to get alone with Jesus and ask Him into your heart.  The Bible says whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

Thank you for reading. For more faith-based posts, click here. You can also watch sermons and other videos on YouTube or Rumble.

God bless you. I pray you have a wonderful day.

Overcoming Fear

Overcoming Fear

Everyone has fears about some things.  

Sermon video

When I have to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night, I try not to turn on the light so I don’t wake my wife. One time, though, just a few feet from the bedroom to the bathroom door, I couldn’t figure out where I was.  I knew I was in my house but that was about it.

Well, we have a picture of our four children hanging on a wall in our bedroom, and I almost knocked it down but I finally figured out where I was.

It was a little disconcerting feeling.   

Personal Fears

When our oldest grandson, Avery, was little, Rusty was having a conversation with him.  Avery was going to go from my mom’s house to our house.  There’s a little path through a wooded area and the circle drive. 

Rusty thought this would be a good teaching moment for Avery so he told him that no matter where he was, he didn’t have to be afraid because God is always with him.

They were going to walk through the dark from one house to the other.  They walked across and got there safely.  When they arrived, Avery looked up and asked, “Were you scared Uncle Rusty?”

Everyone has fears about different things. 

Monk

Some of you may have seen the television show “Monk” about a man named Adrian Monk who was a detective.  His wife got killed and he had a real problem dealing with that. He had what is called OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder.  It became magnified after he dealt with the trauma of losing his wife. 

Adrian Monk
Adrian Monk

The program goes like this: He can see things that other people can’t see and he comes up with the answer.  Sometimes he’ll point someone out and say, “He’s the person who committed the crime.” 

They’ll ask, “How do you know?”
Monk responds, “I don’t know, but he’s the one.”

By the time the program ends, it turns out he was right. 

But, he has a lot of fears. Number 6 on his list was death. Number 5 was milk. 

Laugh Lines

Everyone fears something.

Do you know what the fear of giants is called?
Fe, Fi, Phobia…

Did you hear about the rock who faced his fears?  
He did it and became a little…bolder.  

Then there was the man who had a fear of monsters under his bed.  Even though he was an adult and knew it was irrational, the fear still plagued him.  So he went to a psychoanalyst. He spent months, and then years, in therapy. Still, the phobia persisted.  He finally told the therapist that he thought he should take a break from counseling.  The doctor said it would be ok.

A couple of weeks later, the psychoanalyst saw the patient in the grocery store and asked how he was doing.

The man said, “I’m doing great! I’ve slept better than I have in ages.”
The analyst then asked, “How did that happen?  What have you done differently?  To what do you attribute your success?”

The man responded, “After I stopped seeing you, someone suggested I go see a behavioral specialist.  He told me I should do something.  He took care of my problem in one session!”

Amazed, the psychoanalyst asked, “What did he say?  What did he have you do?”
The former patient answered, “He told me to go home and saw the legs off of my bed.”

Proverbs 28:1&13 (MEV)

1 The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
13 He who covers his sins will not prosper,  but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

The Wicked’s Fears

Today’s scripture says first of all that the wicked flee when no one pursues. 

Sometimes you carry these fears around and might be wondering if you’re being paranoid or if someone is coming after you.  They flee when no one pursues. 

Everyone has something they fear.
Everyone has something they fear.

This time of year, you hear about a big red “elf” that goes around making a list and checking it twice to find out who’s naughty or nice.

There could be a feeling of guilt, knowing that you wouldn’t make the nice list. 

Also, there’s a fear of the unknown; not knowing what’s coming up or what’s happening next. Sometimes the wicked are involved in the fear of the unknown. 

There’s the fear of punishment. They have seen the result of consequences of sin and they know that they’re involved in sin. They know they’re not doing what’s right. 

So they have a fear of those consequences coming to them.  

In verse 13 we read that whoever covers the sins will not prosper. 

The way of the wicked is to go around trying to rationalize sin and trying to blame someone else for their behavior. 

Sometimes they play the victim card, saying it’s not their fault.

Seeking to destroy.
Seeking to destroy.

We know that Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)   He will come into your life and cause terrible circumstances to come.  He will put lies in front of you and you’ll begin to believe the lies after a while. If that happens often enough, it can cause you to want to flee when no one is pursuing.

The verse says the wicked flee when no one pursues.  

If you’re saved, you are in the category of the righteous. Even so, you have to overcome fears that come into your life. 

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

There’s the example of Elijah in the Old Testament who had a contest that he proposed between himself and the prophets of Baal. They went to the top of Mt. Caramel, built two altars, and laid sacrifices on top of the altars. 

When that was done, Elijah told the prophets of Baal to go first.  They spent hours trying to bring fire to the sacrifices. 

Once they were done, it was Elijah’s turn.  He gave instruction for water to be brought and the sacrifice and the wood were drenched with it.  They poured water all around the bottom of the altar. Then he just prayed a simple prayer asking God to light the sacrifice, and fire came down from Heaven.  

Elijah may have been afraid, but he carried on.
Elijah may have been afraid, but he carried on.

Not long after that, the people saw that God was real and Baal was false.  They actually executed the false prophets. (1 Kings 18:20-40)

Elijah had a great victory.  Then he got word that they were seeking to kill him and his fear overcame him and he ran away.

God asked him why he had run.  He told God, “I’m the only one that’s left.(who hasn’t begun to worship Baal)”  

(Have you ever felt like you’re the only one left?)

God told Elijah that there were 7,000 who hadn’t begun to worship the false god. He just didn’t know about them. (1 Kings 19)

After that, he became a great prophet of God again – he overcame his fears.

The Disciples’ Fears

The 12 disciples had walked and talked with Jesus. They spent a lot of time with Him.  He started trying to tell them that something different, that they hadn’t experienced before, was going to happen. 

Each one of them experienced his own fear.
Each one of them experienced his own fear.

They had been with Him, He had preached, and the crowds had loved the preaching. They had seen people healed. Jesus had even sent them out in groups of two and people had listened to their message. The disciples had seen people delivered from demons. They had seen all those miracles.

But it wasn’t always going to be that way.

The great popularity that Jesus had at the beginning of the week was going to vanish. 

Before the week was over, they came and captured Jesus.  

The disciples were afraid.  

The Bible tells us when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of one of them.  

Jesus reached down and put the man’s ear back on.

Peter didn’t know what to do after that.  He was ready to fight to the death to defend Jesus. 

Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Him three times. 

They arrived at the place where they were doing all the false accusations and the false trials.  The same crowds that had loved Jesus at the beginning of the week turned on Him and raised the cry, “Crucify Him!”

Jesus on trial.
Jesus on trial.

Jesus was by the fire and Peter was close enough that Jesus could look at him. Just as Jesus had said, Peter denied Him.  The third time, he swore that he did not know the Man. 

After the third denial, Peter looked up, and the eyes of the Savior fell right on him and his heart melted. (Luke 22:31-60)

The Bible says that all of the disciples forsook Him and fled.  (Mark 14:50)

Peter was close enough to the goings-on that Jesus was able to look at him. 

Persecution

In the early days of Christianity, the new converts were arrested and sentenced to be burned at the stake. 

One such man was waiting for execution in his prison cell.  There was a candle burning.  He was talking to God, telling Him how he knew He was real, but he didn’t know how he was going to get through the execution.  Curious he reached out and held his hand above the candle flame. He quickly had to pull away because the pain was too great.

Early Christians faced many fears.
Early Christians faced many fears.

Those were some of the fears that came to the early followers of Christ. 

Verse 3 also says that the righteous are bold as a lion. 

Why is that?

Miracles

It’s because of miracles that we’ve seen.

Some have seen x-rays that have actually shown “something”, only to go back to the doctor and that “something” is gone.

Only two possibilities exist.  Either it was a faulty machine or something miraculous happened.  I believe it was a miracle. 

Seeing miracles increases your confidence, as a Christian, as you go through life.

I mentioned the problem of guilt that caused the wicked to flee when no one pursues, but guilt can plague Christians, too. 

But Believers need to be reminded that verse 13 also says that whoever confesses their sins and forsakes them shall have mercy. 

The guilt is taken care of and it is removed. 

Peace that Passes Understanding

You will probably have one time, or more than one when you can’t understand how you’ll get through something. You think about how terrible it’s going to be.

But when you get dropped into the middle of that problem, you’re all at once at peace. You can’t explain why.  The circumstances aren’t any better. Any normal person would want to flee. Yet you have an unexplainable peace that passes all understanding. 

Philippians 4:7
Philippians 4:7

That increases the boldness of the righteous. 

Then there’s the resurrection.

He’s Alive!

Peter and the disciples saw Jesus crucified.  They were all feeling terrible for how they had forsaken Him. Yet, the women went to the tomb to anoint His body for burial and the tomb was empty and angels were there.

Peter and John ran to the tomb and found it to be empty. John got there first but Peter ran inside. It was empty. (Matthew 27 & 28:1-8, John 20:1-18)

That would be one thing but shortly after that, they were all in a room together (except for Thomas) and Jesus appeared in their midst.

He asked for food and they gave it to Him. He proved to them that he was not an apparition or a ghost.  (John 20:19-20)

Another time, Jesus appeared to 500 people at one time. (1 Corinthians 15:6)  Usually two or three eyewitness accounts are enough in court.  These were hundreds who saw a resurrected Christ!

They knew that there was the power of life after death. 

What do You Fear?

If you’re afraid of death, as bad things come, your fear can increase.

But if you know for sure that you’re going to come through the valley of the shadow of death and come out on the other side, then death doesn’t hold as much fear for you. 

Elijah was afraid but God spoke to him so he returned and was a great prophet again. 

Peter felt so awful for denying Jesus, but when He arose and gave instructions to tell others, He purposely said to make sure Peter knew.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter, who had been so fearful before, was greatly changed and he preached, and thousands of people came to know the Lord. Part of the reason for that was the awareness of the truth of the resurrection. The other reason was the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that came upon their lives in a wonderful way on the day of Pentecost. That power continued to help them day after day,

The power of the Holy Spirit continues to help Believers after all these years. 

All of that can increase your boldness.

Stephen and Saul/Paul

Then there was a man who thought he was doing right and thought he was doing God’s bidding. There was this upstart group that was talking about this Man they claimed was the Messiah.  He believed there was no resurrection, that His followers had just hidden the body.  

Then he was in the presence of Stephen when he was telling the story from the beginning up until the present day. It was even said that they were responsible for killing the King of Glory. 

The stoning of Stephen
The stoning of Stephen

The crowd grew enraged and wanted to stone Stephen.  Saul offered to hold their cloaks while they did so. 

Saul got letters from the religious leaders that allowed him to go into homes and arrest people who were part of this new movement they called “The Way.”

He was completely opposed to it. 

He was on the road to Damascus with the letters with the intent of arresting some people.  Then a bright light shone from Heaven and knocked him off of his horse.  Those around him said they heard thunder.  Saul heard the voice of Jesus.  The others saw the light but couldn’t comprehend what was said. 

It was the living Christ that came to him and it changed his life. After that encounter, he became known as Paul. 

He wrote much of the New Testament. 

The Missionaries

In the last century, there was a tribe in Africa that had a compound in their territory where missionaries lived. The missionaries would go out and preach to the different tribes.  

Some of the tribes were vehemently opposed to what they were doing, so they had plans to go to the compound one night and break in and slaughter the people who were there. 

But nothing happened that night.  The Christians slept peacefully that night.  

One of the tribal chiefs came to the Lord.  He later gave this testimony: “We were going to come and burn the place down.”  

When asked why they didn’t do it, he said, “You had the guards all around.  Some of them were 7 feet tall. I don’t know how they were divided up so well, but they were!”

A host of angels protected the missionaries!
A host of angels protected the missionaries!

Angels protected those missionaries in that compound that night. 

Then you have those who know that this life is not all there is. As we get older, we learn that there are some things that are far worse than death and some things that can cause even more fear.

You Can’t Scare Me With Heaven!

I was talking to a friend once and said, “Well, at least we know where they’re going.”

My friend replied, “Yes, but it’s the getting there that’s rough.”

My mother knew where she was going, and she was so excited and looking forward to it.  But getting there, for about 3 days, was awful hard to watch.

John R. Rice was an evangelist.  One time, while preaching, he started preaching about particular sins. There were some people in the crowd that day who were making money from those sins.  The crime syndicate got hold of him and took him out of town and pulled a gun on him.  He told them, “You can’t scare me with Heaven.”

The gangsters didn’t know what to do with that so they put the gun away and let him go.

A fellow church member and I went to Mexico on a mission trip.  While there, we met a man named Carlos; a pastor.

In the time since we met him, he had different groups that were meeting in the homes in Mexico. In one of those home meetings, one of the ladies had invited another lady to come. Unknown to her, the lady she invited was the wife of a member of the drug cartel.  Her husband wasn’t very happy about her involvement with Carlos’ church. 

Carlos preached Jesus, in spite of the threat.
Carlos preached Jesus, in spite of the threat.

He decided to put a stop to it.  He kept watching, and one day, he and 3-4 other cartel members caught Carlos alone, threw him in a car, and drove him outside of the city.
After they stopped, they got him out of the car and started to harass him and said, “We hear you preach Jesus. Now, preach Jesus”

Carlos looked around, and they raised up their machine guns.  He then began to preach Jesus.

How could he do that?  He knew that this life is not all there is. He knew that there is life after this.

Because Jesus rose, Christians have the assurance that if we were to die that we would be able to live. 

So Carlos preached Jesus.  The cartel members didn’t know what to do with him.  They could have killed him right then, but instead, put him back in the car and took him back into the city. 

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.   

Boldness in the Face of Fear

The man who had put his hand over the candle and couldn’t stand the heat was not the only one who had been sentenced to death.  The next day, the time came for his execution so they tied him to the post and lit the fire, and God protected him.  His body burned up, but he was able to stand it.

Boldness in the face of fear.
Boldness in the face of fear.

There have been testimonies of others who were able to sing while being burned.  Imagine that. 

How to Overcome Fear

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.  

You may not feel very bold but you can be like the rock who became a little bolder. 

You can do that by trusting Jesus.

Trust Jesus and overcome fear.
Trust Jesus and overcome fear.

Why should you trust Jesus?

If you do not know Him, if you have never called on Him, if you don’t have a relationship with the living Christ, then you don’t have a Biblical promise for boldness. 

But if you do know Christ and the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, then you have that within you that can make you as bold as a lion. 

You might be like the man with his hand over the candle right before it happens, but God watches over and protects His children.

If you trust in Christ and the Word of God, He will make you bold!

The Dash

The Dash

Have you ever been discouraged?  That’s a crazy question, isn’t it?  Everyone has been discouraged at times.  Sometimes you’re only discouraged for a short time, and that’s good, and it’s normal. You go through life and have your ups and downs.  You’ll be discouraged for a while but you’ll have a lot of good times.

Sermon video

Discouragement

But sometimes, the discouragement can go on for a longer period of time.  Sometimes, there can even be a medical diagnosis of depression. If it is a medical diagnosis, you may be given something to help relieve the depression.

Sometimes discouragement comes and it’s not a result of a chemical imbalance or other medical condition.  It may be that Satan wants to come in and oppress and discourage you. In that case, there are spiritual battles going on.

Everyone feels discouraged sometimes.
Everyone feels discouraged sometimes.

Sometimes it’s a mental battle where you need to talk yourself into doing better and give yourself a little pep talk. 

While Rhonda and I were in Japan, I jokingly read out a statement from a book I was reading.  It was a quote from Joel Osteen.  It was something like, “Every day we have opportunities for little things to cause us anxiety and stress.  But when we dwell on these negative emotions, we allow something outside of ourselves to rob us of our joy.  We can choose to not let little things upset us”  (This is a paraphrase of the quote)

I read that for myself but I hope it helped some other family members as well.

Sometimes you can give yourself a pep talk and it will pull you out of your negative emotions and it will help you to be encouraged again. 

There are other times when it seems like it’s just one thing after another and things are just piling up on you.  

You need to think about the fact that God can help you in times of discouragement. 

Psalm 39 (MEV)

1 I said, “I will take heed of my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue; I will keep my mouth muzzled while the wicked are before me.” 2 I was speechless in silence;  I was silent to no avail, but my anguish was stirred up.3 My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned, then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “Lord, make me to know my end,  and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how transient I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as a handbreadth, and my age is as nothing before You  indeed every man at his best is as a breath.” Selah 6 Surely every man walks in a mere shadow;  surely he goes as a breath; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?  My hope is in You. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of the foolish.9 II was speechless, I did not open my mouth, because You did it.10 Remove Your blow from me; I am consumed by the hostility of Your hand. 11 When with rebukes You correct a man for iniquity.  You consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely every man is vapor. Selah. 12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears for I am a stranger with You, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.13 Turn Your gaze of displeasure from me, that I may smile, before I go away and am no more.

A Problem, A Time Frame, and An Answer

The above passage has the word “Selah” in there twice.  It means “so be it.”  I’ve also heard that it’s a musical notation and it shouldn’t be read aloud. 

Discouragement can be for a short time or a long time.  Isn’t it so good that when you come out on the other side, life is good and the sun is shining again?  

Today’s post is about a problem, a time frame, and an answer.

A Problem

The problem is that of vanity or hopelessness.  In verse 5, it says that man at his best condition is vanity. There’s a whole book in the Bible, Ecclesiastes, that talks about Solomon and what he discovered in life.

Solomon had asked God for great wisdom and God gave it to him.  But then he started experimenting and trying to figure things out on his own.  He started using some of man’s wisdom and when it came to the end of the book, Solomon said it was all vanity and emptiness.

People try all kinds of things to fill the void within themselves.
People try all kinds of things to fill the void within themselves.

The conclusion of the whole thing was that you are to fear God and keep His commandments.

Solomon learned through wonderful blessings from God, wonderful wisdom from God, and then from experience. 

Some people say that experience is the best teacher.  I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s the most effective and gets a hold of you the most.  But depending on how you use those experiences, it may not be the best teacher sometimes. 

Man at his best has the problem of vanity or emptiness or hopelessness.  

Verse 6 says that people are restless in vain.  

When I was in high school or college, there was a movie put out by the Billy Graham association called “The Restless Ones.”  It chronicled the idea that young people were restless because their souls were empty.  They were experiencing emptiness and meaninglessness in life. Many of them tried to cope with that by turning to alcohol. 

These days, many people are taking illegal drugs for the same reasons: to remove feelings of hopelessness and restlessness.  

Sometimes people will try to heap up great riches trying to fill the emptiness in their souls.

You Can’t Take it With You

There was a man who made a bargain with God.  He said, “God when I leave this life, I would like to take one suitcase with me.” (Of course, this isn’t how it works, but it’s for illustration purposes.)

God said, “Yes, you may bring the suitcase.”

What would his dash have been?
What would his dash have been?

The time came that the man died, and he stood at the gates of Heaven with his suitcase.  He was told he couldn’t come in with it.

“It’s ok,” the man replied, “I got it approved.”

After checking, it was discovered that God had approved the suitcase and the man was allowed into Heaven with it.

The angel who had let the man in asked, “What is it that is so precious to you, so special, that you had to bring it to Heaven with you?”

The man put his suitcase on the ground and proudly opened it.  When the light hit the contents, piles of gold lit up from inside.  The man had acquired all these earthly riches, and God had allowed him to bring them to Heaven. 

The angel who had let the man in looked at the suitcase, and then all around him and asked, “You brought pavement?”  (Revelation 21:21)

People try to gather material riches to fill the void inside themselves. 

Filling the Void

Everyone has an emptiness inside that they try to fill. Some try to fill it with alcohol, some try to fill it with drugs, and some people try to fill it by pouring themselves into their job. Some people try to fill that void with relationships, good or improper ones. 

Only God can fill that emptiness that is in your soul. 

The Gangster and The Preacher

There was a man named Nicky Cruz who was born in Puerto Rico. His parents worshiped evil beings, so Nicky didn’t know anything about God, or Jesus. 

Nicky Cruz
Nicky Cruz

Nicky was trying to fill the emptiness in his life. He tried filling it through violence and gaining power. It got so bad that his family couldn’t handle him so they sent him to live with relatives in New York. 

Nicky didn’t do much better in New York.  In his quest to fill the void, he got involved with a street gang called the Mau Maus.  Like all street gangs, they were involved in violence.  Sometimes they would have a “rumble” (like a war) with opposing gangs. They would use metal trash can lids as shields and come armed with baseball bats and knives.  There would often be deaths during the rumbles. 

Nicky was seeking power.  Drugs were rampant. 

In 1958, a few states away, in Pennsylvania, was a preacher named David Wilkerson.  One day, he saw a newspaper article talking about 4 young men who had been charged with murder.  At that moment, God spoke to his heart and told David to go speak to those 4 boys. They needed to know about the love of Jesus. 

So, David Wilkerson traveled to New York in an attempt to see the young men.

David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson 1958

When he arrived where they were being held, they would not let him in.  But a reporter saw him and asked his name.  He told them it was David and they asked him to hold up his Bible.  He did, and flashbulbs went off all over. 

He never did get to see those 4 boys, but his picture was in the newspapers in New York. 

While in New York, David Wilkerson heard about the street gangs, and he wanted to see if he could do something with them. 

He heard about the Mau Maus and asked if he could meet their leader. The leader was Nicky Cruz. 

On one occasion, Nicky commented on David’s shoes, saying that they were nice and probably pretty expensive.  David removed them and gave them to Nicky and walked away. 

Another time, David met up with Nicky and the young man pulled out a switchblade knife in an attempt to intimidate and frighten the preacher.  

David said, “Nicky, you can cut me into a thousand pieces, but every piece would cry out, ‘I love you and God loves you.’”

The Cross and The Switchblade
The Cross and The Switchblade

Nicky didn’t know how to handle that, and he put the knife away. But what David had said stayed on his mind. 

David found a local pastor and together, they decided to have a church service and invite many of the local gang members.

They rented a building and rented school busses and the busses went to the different neighborhoods and picked up members of the gangs.

Regular church people were sponsoring the event. They were skeptical if any of the gang members would attend. But to their surprise, the busses began to arrive and members of the different gangs began to get off the busses. Members of the street gangs came in and sat down in the service. 

That was amazing as it was and you may have thought God was really going to do something.  But the scene quickly dissolved into chaos. 

One attendee of the service stood up and lifted his shirt and claimed that a member of a rival gang had stabbed him. The tension began to build.

Then a young lady got up to sing a special. In the movie “The Cross and the Switchblade” (a movie based on the book of the same name by David Wilkerson) a young man stood up on his seat during her song and began to dance.

Then David Wilkerson went to the front.  He didn’t know what to do and didn’t know how to handle the situation. He realized it could be a dangerous situation for the church people in attendance and could lead to an all-out fight. 

He had no words, so he just walked to the pulpit and bowed his head. Amazingly, the room grew silent.

Nicky Cruz was in that service. 

There’s an emptiness, a longing, in your life. 

That’s the problem.

Then there’s the time frame. 

The Time Frame

On your tombstone will be the date of birth, and the date of death. Between those two dates is a little punctuation mark; a dash.

Someone has said that’s what life is like: you’re born and you die and in between is the dash. 

Scripture says that, as well.

When you think about a grain of sand and compare it with all the sand on the beach, one grain of sand is pretty small.  A single grain of sand compared with all the sand in all the oceans is very small.  

Your dash is no more than a grain of sand in the scope of eternity.
Your dash is no more than a grain of sand in the scope of eternity.

People focus so much on their lives here on Earth, but compared to eternity, it’s like a grain of sand or the little dash between the date of your birth and death. 

Some of you have been around for quite a while, but still, compared to eternity, it’s like a grain of sand. 

Verse 4 talks about the “measure of days.”  You can measure your days.

In verse 5 it talked about days being a handbreadth, which is not very wide. (usually 2 ½ – 4 inches)  This is referring to that dash that’s on the tombstone.

In the book of James, it says that life is like a vapor.  It appears for a moment and vanishes away. (James  4:14)

You can look up at the sky and see clouds.  When you get into an airplane and fly toward the clouds but you don’t bump into them, it’s like fog.  You go through it and then it disappears.

You can see steam coming out of a tea kettle when it boils. It’s a vapor that appears for a little while and then it vanishes away. 

That’s what your life is like.

It may seem that I’m adding to the emptiness and discouragement by talking about this, but it’s a reality.

If God is telling you to do something, you need to do it now and don’t put it off.  

That’s one reason why the Bible says today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

You don’t know what the day may bring forth. 

Three feed away from eternity.
Three feed away from eternity.

I often say we come within 3 feet of death when we go to church because we pass vehicles going in the opposite direction. (When we were in Tokyo, I think it was more like 12 inches!)

Life is short.  If you have any inclination of coming to Christ, you need to do it now. Don’t put it off. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

That’s the time frame. 

But there is an answer!

The Answer

Verse 7 says your hope is in God. 

Verse 8 says you can pray for deliverance. 

Verse 13 says you can ask God to spare us.  

God can fill the emptiness within you and give you purpose in your life.

Nicky and David

I left the story of Nicky Cruz with him being in the service with the other gang members. David had just prayed and it got quiet. 

After the prayer, one more event was scheduled before the preaching was to begin: an offering. 

The local pastor was really counting on that offering because his church had gone into debt preparing for this special service. 

Instead of asking the ushers or members of the churches who were in attendance, the Lord impressed upon David to have some of the gang members take up the offering.  He called on Nicky, among others. 

They agreed and were given buckets (think KFC) to collect the money. The gang members started to take up the offering.

When they got to the people who were obviously regular church-goers, they held out the buckets.  If nothing was put in, the gang members would just stand there holding the bucket.

Other times, the amount put in wasn’t satisfactory to the gang members so they would just shake the bucket.

I guess they got a pretty good offering. 

After they were done collecting, they were to bring it back to Pastor Wilkerson. When they got down to the front, he asked Nicky to bring the offering up on the stage to him. 

Nicky had a choice to make.
Nicky had a choice to make.

The other gang members got excited.  See, there was a set of stairs to the side of the stage, a curtain, and behind the curtain was a door that led outside. Nicky could just walk out that door with all the money. The other gang members were sure that’s what he was going to do.

The thought crossed Nicky’s mind as well.  Then it occurred to him that David Wilkerson trusted him. At that point, Nicky made a decision.

He turned away from the door, walked out from behind the curtain, approached Pastor Wilkerson, and said, “Here’s your money, preacher.”

The service continued.  The quiet continued.  David preached about the unsearchable riches of Christ and about how life can be empty and meaningless.  

Then he preached about how Christ can come into your life and give you meaning and purpose. 

Then the time came for the altar call. After just a few moments of hesitation, two or three of the hardened gang members came to the front to accept Christ.  Nicky Cruz was the first one there!

They realized that without Christ, there’s no hope. He came in and filled the emptiness in their souls. They had a new purpose in their lives. 

About 15 years ago, Nicky Cruz came to Carbondale, Illinois (a college town not far from my home), and a group from the church I was attending went and heard him preach.

Having read the story, it was interesting to hear some of it from his perspective. He talked about how “Wilkerson” came and talked to him. 

David Wilkerson and Nicky Cruz in 2011.
David Wilkerson and Nicky Cruz in 2011.

Life at its best, YOU, at your best, are vanity. But God loves you. God loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross to pay your penalty for sin. (John 3:16)  By accepting Jesus as your Savior, He will come into your life and make it new. He can change your life.  He changed Nicky Cruz’s. 

Make the Most of Your Dash

Maybe you haven’t gotten involved in a street gang, and maybe you haven’t lived a life of violence.  But most of the time, when you get in the quiet recesses of your soul, you realize that there is a place there that is just the size of God, and nothing or nobody else can fill it. 

You need to accept Christ. Let Him come into your life and fill your soul. 

If you’ve never come to Christ, I invite you to come to Him today. 

Out of the Darkness

I’m talking today about coming out of the darkness. The passage of scripture I’m using today is talking about one of the six miracles that John use to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

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The man asked to be tied to the helm.

Before I get into the Scripture, I want to tell you about a man who was strapped to the wheel of the ship. The wheel guided the ship and he was at the helm. He was strapped there because a great storm had come up. It had just blown a man overboard.

He asked to be taken to the helm and tied to the wheel, where he hoped he would be able to at least try to keep the ship from capsizing.

As we look at this passage of Scripture together, you will see that this is about a man who was born blind and was healed by Jesus.

I’m talking about coming out of the darkness. All the man in this story had ever known was darkness. So John chapter nine tells the story of this man who was born blind.

I’m going to talk about the doubt. Then the investigation, the fearful confirmation, the troubling testimony, and a great follow-up event to this man being healed.

Today's Scripture
Today’s Scripture

John 9 (MEV)

 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But it happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away and washed, and returned seeing. The neighbors and those who had previously seen that he was blind said, “Is this not he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” But he said, “I am he.” 10 So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “A Man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath day.”Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them. 17 Then they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?”He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of the one who had received his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees, we do not know, or who opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this, because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed that He was the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” 24 So again they called the man who was blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this Man is a sinner.” 25 He said, “I do not know if He is a sinner. I know one thing: I was blind, but now I see.” 26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” 28 Then they insulted him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. As for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered, “Well, here is an amazing thing! You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were completely born in sin. Are you teaching us?” And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is He who speaks with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

The Event

First of all, let’s look at the event, found in verses 1-12,

There are two things related to the fact of Jesus being the Son of God.

One of the last things He says is “I am the light of the world.” But the other world talks about doing the work to stay. If you have someone that you want to introduce to Jesus Christ, don’t put it off until it’s too late

Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with saliva. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam.”

Jesus healed a man who had spent his life in physical darkness
Jesus healed a man who had spent his life in physical darkness.

Now in earlier miracles, He just spoke the Word and the person was healed. In this case, He made clay with dirt and saliva, put it on the man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool.

Maybe He just wanted to see if the man would be obedient. I really don’t know why He didn’t just speak the word in this case, but He didn’t. He told him to go to the pool.

So the man went and washed and returned.

There was the miracle.

The neighbors and those who had previously seen that he was blind discovered that he could now see. They said, “This is not he who said.” While some others said, “This is he.” and still others said, “He is like him, but it is not him.”

Finally, the man spoke up and said, “I am he.”
They asked, “How were your eyes open?”
He answered, “The man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed and I received my sight.”
Then he said to him, “Where is He?”

You’ll see that we’re going to move into an investigation.

The Investigation

Sometimes investigations are for the real purpose of trying to find the truth. Sometimes they’re fishing around to see if something can be found to bring an accusation of wrongdoing. An investigation into the healing of this blind man was about to begin.

In verses 13-18, we see the Pharisees begin to investigate Jesus.

The man who had been healed was taken to the Pharisees.

You see, it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked how he received his sight.
He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I was blind and now I see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God. because He does not keep the Sabbath day.”

The Pharisees felt compelled to investigate.
The Pharisees felt compelled to investigate.

They didn’t realize that they were talking to the man who created the Sabbath day. Jesus said He created the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

Jesus gave us some instructions about the Sabbath day. He said you are to do good on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:12) It was good to heal a man who had been blind from birth…it was good to do that.

But the Pharisees came and were being very legalistic about the Sabbath day, They were actually just using that as an excuse to accuse Jesus, so they said this Man was not from God, because He did not keep the Sabbath.

As I said, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus asked them, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” See, they were looking at Jesus as being just a man.

A division arose among them and then they asked the (formerly) blind man again, “What do you say about Him since He opened your eyes?
He said, “He is a prophet.”

Well, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and received his sight so they needed to confirm that this indeed was a man who was blind from birth and they were going to get the confirmation even though it was a fearful confirmation.

Fearful Confirmation

This part of the event is found in verses 19-23.

The Pharisees spoke with the man’s parents to confirm that it was indeed their son.
They asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
The parents answered, ” We know this is our son. But how he now sees, we do not know. Who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”

The man's parents were nervous.
The man’s parents were nervous.

His parents answered this way because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had said that if anyone would say that Jesus was the Christ, that person would be put out of the synagogue.

There was confirmation from the parents, who knew better than anyone else, that this indeed was their son. They also knew that he was blind from birth. They knew that he was not a con man going around begging, but they knew about him being blind. Now he could see.

What a wonderful miracle they had experienced! But because of the Pharisees, they feared that if they said too much about who Jesus was, they would be put out of the synagogue.

We need to be bold in our witness for Jesus and in standing up for Him.

So we’ve had the events, the investigation, the fearful confirmation here.

Troubling Testimony

Now we’ve come to a troubling testimony in verses 24-34.

You saw that his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.”

So they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man Jesus is a sinner.”
He said, “I do not know if he is a sinner. I just know one thing. I was blind, but now I see.”

There can be a lot of things that people can bring up and try to trip you up about your faith in Jesus Christ, but there is one thing you know: Jesus Christ came to you and restored you.

Maybe you were spiritually blind and in darkness, but you came out of your blindness. You came out of your darkness into His marvelous light.

The Pharisees continued to question the man. They asked again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?
He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?” (I don’t know if he knew that he was playing with them a little bit here but it’s kind of like he was) “Do you also want to become his disciples?”
Well, that infuriated them, so then they turned on him, insulted him, and said, “You are his disciple. We are Moses’s. We know that God has spoken to Moses. As for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.

The Pharisees had some questions for the healed man.
The Pharisees had some questions for the healed man.

Some of them knew that he was from Nazareth. Some of his disciples had said “Can any good thing come from Nazareth?” (John 1:44-46)

The man answered, “Well, here is an amazing thing. You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners but if anyone is a worshipper of God, and does His will, He hears him.”

This man turned their words back on. He said, “You’re saying that this man is a sinner, but we know that from your teaching that God does not listen to sinners. But He listened to this Man’s prayer because my eyes are now open. He hears Him. Since the world began it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of someone blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were completely born in sin. Are you teaching us?” and they threw him out.

That troubling testimony was the man who said “I know one thing I couldn’t see and now I can.”

Salvation and Spiritual Healing

Next, I’ll discuss a true conversion, which is found in verses 35-41

You see, the man received his sight, which is good. That was a glorious day for him – he was no longer in physical darkness. But he needed something else: He needed his sins to be forgiven. He needed to be brought out of that spiritual darkness that we are all in until we receive Jesus.

He needed deliverance from spiritual darkness.
He needed deliverance from spiritual darkness.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. When He found him, He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
He responded, “Who is the Lord that I believe in Him?”
Jesus said, “You have seen Him.” (So it had to be recent because he hadn’t able to see, physically, for very long.) “You have seen Him and it is He who speaks with you.”

You may see a TV documentary about Christianity and some so-called expert religious will make the statement that Jesus never claimed to be God, or that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, or never claimed to be the Messiah.

You can just bring them right to the ninth chapter of John, and tell them that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Remember, if they don’t know what they’re talking about in that regard, then you don’t need to pay attention to the other stuff they’re saying, like trying to downplay the miracles of Jesus or His divinity.

Jesus made the claim here though, that “I. It is He who speaks with you.”
In other words, He’s saying, “I am the Son of God.”

God or Man?

God or just a man?
God or just a man?

Either He made a false claim or a true claim. If He made a true claim, and it was really true, then that’s fine. But if He made a false claim, there are some problems here with people who want to say, “Well, Jesus was not God, but He was a good teacher or a good moral man.”

Let me tell you some problems with that. If Jesus said, “I am the Son of God.” and it was a false statement, you have two possibilities. Either He knew He was making a false statement, or He didn’t know He was making a false statement.

If he claimed to be God and was not, He didn’t know He was not.

Then there is a problem with saying that He was a great teacher. If He didn’t even know who He is. then He didn’t know that.

The other one is that if He truly thought he was God but He was not, people would say that He was crazy.

If He made a false statement, He would have known that it was false, so He would be a liar. A liar would not be a great teacher or a great example of morality.

You can’t have it both ways, saying that Jesus is a good teacher or a good man, but He was not God.

CS Lewis put forth this argument: He said He was either Lord, liar or lunatic. It had to be one of those since He claimed to be God.

If it was true that He was God, He was the Lord.

If He claimed to be God, and it was false, but He didn’t know it was false, then He was a lunatic.

If He claimed to be God, and He knew that His claim was false, then He was a liar.

He was indeed the Lord God.

Out of Darkness

So the man who had been healed had the opportunity to hear. He had come out of physical darkness into the light, and now he had the opportunity to step out of spiritual darkness and to the light of salvation-the light of Jesus Christ.

The man said, “Lord, I believe.” and worshipped Jesus.

Freedom from spiritual darkness.
Jesus offers freedom from spiritual darkness.

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see.”

So those who are walking in spiritual darkness, when they hear the words of God from the Bible, or hear the teachings of Jesus, have the opportunity to see and to have those spiritual highs.

But He also said that those who see may become blind. There are none so blind as those who will not see. The prophet Jeremiah made a statement similar to that. (Jeremiah 5:21) .

But here were the Pharisees. They were choosing to be blind. They were going to become blind because they would not see the truth.

Jesus knew, though, that they were claiming that they could see. He told them that if they were doing this in ignorance, then that would be one thing.

Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words and said, “Are we also blind?” and of course they were, because they were not accepting Jesus.

But He used their words when they claimed that they had great spiritual insight. He said, “If you were blind, you would have no sin.” ( In other words, it would not be a conscious sin. on your part) “But you say you see, therefore, your sin remains.”

So you’ve seen the event, the investigation, the fearful confirmation, the troubling testimony, and the true conversion of the man who was born blind.

Let’s go back to the sailor who was strapped to the wheel that was trying to steer the ship. He was born in the 1700s. Both his mother and father were present in the home, although his father had to be gone quite often because his father was a seafaring man.

Now his mother was a Puritan. She was a Christian. She had songs that were children’s songs. She talked to her son. He was young, and she also had him memorize some Bible verses, but the father had to be gone for a month, two months, and, on one occasion, three years. The young boy did not see his father often but his parents were married, not separated. When the father wasn’t traveling for work, they were both present in the home.

Once, when the father was away during one of his voyages, the boy’s mother got tuberculosis, and the mother who loved this boy so much died.

After that, the boy started getting resentful. Then his father got remarried. So then he has a stepmother. History doesn’t tell us if the stepmother was evil or kind.

She just was not the one that he loved, the one that had raised him.

Then he was sent off to boarding schools, so his resentment continued to grow. He became rebellious and caused problems wherever he was.

By the time he was 11 years old, his father decided to pull him out of boarding school and take him to sea with him.

So this 11-year-old boy started on the sea voyage as well. He spent time around men who were not a good influence and their language was terrible. He picked that up quickly and could cuss with the best of them.

Through all of that, he started drifting away from his mother’s earlier teachings. In addition, he was resentful that his mother had been taken away from him.

Well, this went on for years, until the father retired. THe son had learned the art of sailing, and he was conscripted to be a sailor in the Royal Navy. He didn’t like it. He disliked it so much that he wanted to desert but when he tried, he couldn’t get away with it.

He spent a lot of time at sea.
He spent a lot

Then he got the thought to ask for a transfer to another ship. Now there was a problem with this other ship: It was involved in what we today would call human trafficking. They were going to other countries, buying people, and bringing them back and selling them. We call that slavery. So, he was put on a slave ship.

Well when he got on the slave ship, again, he was rebellious against the captain. He started writing and found that he could write poetry. Well, he wrote derogatory poems about the captain. The problem was that some of the crew picked those up too, and started reciting them.

The captain wasn’t happy with that, so took him and gave him to a slave trader He was put in with the rest of the people that he had trafficked to his country. While he wasn’t a slave himself, he stayed in the situation for two years, until his father heard what was going on and sent a friend to try to rescue him.

I don’t know if the friend was able to negotiate his release, or how he got him released, but he was indeed released.

He then became the captain of a couple of those slave ships but was a crew member at another time. and that’s where we were when I started this post.

He had time to think during the storm
He had time to think during the storm.

He was a crew member, the storm was going the sails had been ripped to shreds, and they were having to manually pump the water out of the ship. They were all exhausted. He saw people swept overboard, and so we asked to be tied to the wheel that would steer the ship.

They complied with his request. The storm went on terribly, and he was there for eleven hours. During that time, he got to contemplate his life. He thought about what his mother had taught him. Some of those scripture verses that he had memorized as a child may have come back to him. Even though he was one of the most profane crew members, in recent weeks, he had read some Christian literature.

He realized that they were not going to survive the storm unless it were for God’s mercy. Somebody cried out for mercy to the Lord. Later on, he pointed to this as his time of conversion.

Some of the cargo in the ship shifted and blocked the hole so the water could not come in with such force, and the pumps began to work better.

Finally, the storm subsided and they were saved.

His spiritual growth was not instantaneous, though. Even though he called upon the Lord, he was still involved in human trafficking.

He was the captain of a couple of more ships that were involved in this, but he became more and more convicted about this not being the proper way to treat other human beings. In fact, even though he was taking people to be delivered, he instructed his crew members to treat them more kindly than he had ever instructed anyone before.

Then he had a stroke and could not return to the sea.

The man’s name was John. John married his childhood sweetheart whose name was Mary, but ent by the nickname Polly.

The two became more and more convinced that the slave trade was wrong. He was no longer captaining those ships, and didn’t know what he could do about it.

He had started studying Latin and Hebrew and Greek. He then felt that maybe he should be a minister, but since he didn’t have a college education, he couldn’t be appointed to one through the official channels.

But remember, his mother was outside of the official channels anyway. She was not part of the Church of England.

John Newton
John Newton

John talked to someone who appointed him to be in charge of a local congregation. In other words, he became a preacher. He met some of the great preachers of that day. John Wesley, George Whitfield, and some of the other great preachers of that day.

Then he met a man who was a high official and the government named William Wilberforce. John Newton told William, “You know, I was not involved in the proper thing. In fact, what I did was terrible. It is legal here in England, but it ought to be outlawed.”

Year after year, Mr. Wilberforce tried to get laws passed that would make slavery illegal. Finally, before John died at 82 years of age, England outlawed slavery.

Let’s back up a little bit though, to 1772. While John Newton was going about this, he met a song leader. He realized that those poems that he could write earlier, he could write for the Lord now, and started writing poems that became songs.

He became friends with a man named William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) You may know him. He is the one who wrote the song “There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood”

He and Mr. Newton started writing poems that became songs, and they had a songbook compiled that had hundreds of their works in it..

I was blind but now I see.
I was blind but now I see.

In 1772, in preparation for their midweek prayer service, John Newton wrote a poem:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost,
But now I’m found
Was blind but now I see.”

John Newton had personally come out of that spiritual darkness into the glorious life of Jesus Christ.

If you are walking in darkness and have never come to Jesus, you can escape the darkness today. You just need to call upon Him. The Bible tells us that if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved. (Romans 10:9) The Scriptures further solidify it by saying that if you call upon the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

I urge you to find a place to get alone with God and call upon the Lord and ask Him to save you and to bring you out of that spiritual darkness and to His glorious light.

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Walking on Water

Walking on Water
Sermon Video

Fishing

Recently, I went fishing with a couple of my friends.  While on the boat, one of my friends said he was thirsty and would go get himself something to drink.  He stepped out of the boat, and, looking very tall, walked to the shore to get his drink. 

Fishing story
Fishing story

The second friend decided he was also thirsty and going to go to shore to get a drink.  He, too, stepped over the edge of the boat and walked to the shore. 

I decided I would step off of the boat too.  I promptly sunk up to the bottom.  The two friends on shore turned to one another and asked, “Do you think we should have told him where the stones were?”

Half Full or Half Empty?

I was thinking about the pessimist and the optimist.  They were both farmers.  One day it was raining.  The optimist said to the pessimist, “Look at the wonderful rain.”  The pessimist replied, “It may be good for now, but I hope it quits before too long, or it will drown my crops.”

A while later, the sun was shining.  The optimist said, “The sunshine is just fantastic!”  The pessimist said, “I hope my crops don’t burn.”

The optimist decided he was going to do something to get the other man to be positive.  

He was always seeing the negative!
He was always seeing the negative!

A few days later, the pair went duck hunting and the optimist saw his opportunity.  He brought along his special dog.  One of the men shot a duck, and the dog took off, just skipping across the top of the water!  He got the duck in his mouth and skipped back to the men across the top of the water back to the shore.  

The optimist thought, “I’ve got him now!” and he turned to the pessimist and asked, “What did you think about that?”

The pessimist answered, “Your dog can’t swim, can he?”

Solid Faith

A missionary was visiting a tribe in Africa.  He told the chief the story of Jesus walking on the water.  The chief told the missionary that it was impossible and he wouldn’t believe until he could find proof, although he didn’t know how he would be able to find proof.  

The missionary called for his assistant to bring a refrigerating device to the village.  They had the chief pour water into a container and they put it into the device and it froze.  The missionary told the chief that was the same water that he had poured into the device.  He took the ice and put it on the ground and stood on it.  The chief then had to admit that man could walk on water.  

A Brief Recap

Today’s scripture is from John 6.  It comes just after Jesus feeding the 5,000.  The Bible tells us that the disciples hadn’t fully comprehended who Jesus was.  It says that their hearts were hardened.  (Mark 6:52)

Could that be like us sometimes?  Could our hearts be hardened?

Jesus discerned that the people were going to try to make Him into the king that they wanted: a king who would deliver them from the tyranny of the Roman government and just take care of things for the moment. (John 6:15)

But when Jesus appeared before Pilate, He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

He had not come to just take care of that one moment in time.  He came as the Messiah, as the Savior of the world.  He came as the Great Miracle Worker and He was indeed God in the flesh.

He performed many miracles including turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, healing the nobleman’s son, healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and feeding the 5,000 with two fish and 5 loaves of bread.  

After feeding the 5,000, Jesus perceived that they were going to try to force Him to be an earthly king.  He instructed the disciples to go down to the boat, and He told the gathered crowd that the day was done and it was time for them to go home. 

Once He gave those instructions, He turned and was quickly gone from their sight.  

He went up into the mountain to pray and the disciples went down the mountain and got into the boat.  (Matthew 14:22-23)

The Sea of Galilee

The Bible tells us that some of the disciples were very experienced with boats.  Peter, James, and John had all worked as fishermen. (Matthew 4:18-21)  They had fished the Sea of Galilee and knew what it was like and what storms were like on that sea.

The Sea of Galilee isn't always this calm.
The Sea of Galilee isn’t always this calm.

That day, a storm did come up.  The disciples were in the boat about 3-4 miles out from shore.  Jesus saw them and walked out on the water to them.  Of course, they were startled when they saw Him and thought they were seeing a ghost. Had they not noticed Him, the Bible says He would have passed right by. (Mark 6:47-48)

How awful would it be if He passed us by?

Sinking

When they realized that it was Jesus, Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You on the water.” and Jesus said, “Come.”  and Peter stepped out onto the water. 

Focused on the storm instead of the Savior, Peter began to sink.
Focused on the storm instead of the Savior, Peter began to sink.

Peter walked on the water, for a little bit.  Then he saw that the storm was raging and got his eyes on the waves and he began to sink.  He cried out to the Lord and the Lord reached down and saved him.  (Matthew 14:28-31)

Now, I don’t know if they both walked back to the boat, if Jesus carried him to the boat, or if He dragged Peter through the water, but they both got back to the boat, and immediately they went to the other side of the sea.

John 6:16-21

16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. 17 They got into a boat and went across the sea toward Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. And they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they gladly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going

The Lord performed a miracle.  He can do that if He wants to.  `

Face Life

Jesus had fed the 5,000.  They enjoyed that and were astounded.  Then Jesus sent them down to the boat and went off by Himself.  He was not physically in their presence.  They had to go to the boat and get out on the sea.  They had to face life.  They had to face it without the physical presence of Jesus.

We have to face life without the physical presence of Jesus near us.  His spiritual presence is always with us.  

Remember what He said to Thomas?  “Because you have seen Me you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed.”  (John 20:29)

That includes you and me.  

We have to go through life without having Jesus’ bodily presence with us like He was in that time; Just like he wasn’t physically present when the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee.  

We have to face life.  We have to be aware of His spiritual presence and by faith realize that He is with us.  

Sometimes it seems like He’s not around, and we wonder what’s going on.  

The Bible tells us that we are to occupy until Jesus comes. (Luke 19:11-27)  We need to be about life and face it as it comes.

Call on The Lord in the Storm

Storms of life come.  It’s not always sweetness and light.  Sometimes there are difficulties.  

The prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a well by evil men who wished him dead.  There was mud and silt at the bottom and he sank down.  

Another man heard about his situation and asked the king to free Jeremiah.  The king agreed and the man took some of his staff and lifted Jeremiah out of the mud and saved him.

Call on the Lord in your storm.
Call on the Lord in your storm.

During the dark times of life, you can call upon the Lord.  

The disciples called on Him when they were in the midst of that great storm on the Sea of Galilee.  

Call on The Lord When You Are Sinking

Peter’s lack of faith caused him to sink just after he witnessed a spectacular display of God’s power.  

Depression can often come just after a great victory.

When Peter began to sink, he knew to call out to the Lord.

Elijah the prophet had a great victory over the prophets of Baal.  Fire came and consumed the altar that had been soaked with water. (1 Kings 16:18-40)  Many of the false prophets were eliminated.  But after that, Elijah was concerned and the depression set in.  (1 Kings 19:4-8)

Peter was on top of the water but began to sink.

You’ve probably had ups and downs in your life.  Perhaps in some of the low points, you’ve begun to sink a little bit.  

I’ve got good news for you. God still loves you!  You can still call upon Him and He will reach down and pull you up.

Call out to God when you are sinking.
Call out to God when you are sinking.

God is powerful, and He cares about everyone. We do need to face life as it comes and do the best we can.  

But when the storms of life come, call on Him.  If you have begun to sink in your spiritual life, call on Him.  

Trust God and His Timing

God's timing is always perfect.
God’s timing is always perfect.

When Jesus and Peter got back in the boat, Jesus decided that it was immediately time for them to get to the other side, so they arrived there immediately.  

Sometimes, God will make the change just that quickly.  Not always.  Sometimes we have to go on through the storm.  

Trust God and His timing.  Sometimes he does things quickly and immediately.  

We know this: we struggle in this body of sin and death, but one day we will pass from this life and when we do, we will be changed immediately, in the twinkling of an eye!  Mortal will put on immortality and death will be swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:51-55)

Face life.
Call on God in the storms of life.
Call on God when you’re beginning to sink.
Trust His timing.

What to Do When Life Gets Hard

What To Do When Life Gets Hard

The year was 1635.  John Elliott had just finished a long day riding his horse in the rain.  Just as he had the past few days, he removed his boots and socks. He wrung the water out of his socks only to put them back on again.  He was concerned about his health after the trip. But he had a mission.

John Elliott
John Elliott

John Elliott was born in England in 1604. Like many others, he had attended Cambridge University.  

He came to America and after a couple of years, was sent to Boston, Massachusetts, which, at the time, was a rural and wooded town.  He became the pastor of Roxbury Church. 

Why America?

Why did people come to America?  It certainly wasn’t for an easy life.  Many had to learn how to farm, something they had never done before. Indians taught them how to farm.  

Some new settlers came seeking gold.  We’re told that’s why the Spaniards came. But the ones that came from England were escaping religious persecution.  They wanted to worship God in the way they felt they should according to their hearts.

Many that came over were already pastors.  John Elliott was one of them. 

A New Mission Field

He had a heart for the Native Americans.  He wanted to share the Gospel with them.  There was a problem, though: they didn’t speak the same language.  So John decided to learn their language.  He discovered what a difficult task it was going to be when he learned that a two-syllable phrase in English translated to a 12-syllable phrase in the Wampanoag (the local Indian’s) language.  He began learning the language, but also had an interpreter who knew enough English so they could converse back and forth.  

The apostle to the Native Americans
The apostle to the Native Americans

There were a few stumbling blocks in the process of sharing the Gospel because the two had to sometimes clarify what the other was trying to say.  But they eventually got the message out.  

They began telling them that all people had sinned and come short of the glory of God. That Jesus Christ had come to this Earth as the Son of God, He lived a sinless life and died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin.  Then He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 

John went on to tell them that Jesus was coming again and it will be as a Judge.  But the ones who accept Him as Savior will escape the judgment.

That is the message he presented to his neighbors.  They were open and many of them wanted to receive Jesus as Savior.

In fact, there were so many that they decided to start their own village.  They called them Gospel Towns.  

In Europe, he was known as the man who printed the first complete Bible in the United States.  It was a Bible written in the language of the American Indians he was ministering to.  

He had preached to so many Native Americans (Algonquins) who then began preaching to their tribes themselves that he wound up with 24 villages.  They weren’t small, either.  The villages had populations of 2,50 – 4,000.  

Endure Hardness

John Elliott was traveling to these various towns when the relentless rain hit and he had to wring his socks out each night.  He may have gotten some shelter in a tent for a time, but again and again, went back out into the weather.  He wondered if he’d develop pneumonia or something worse and wind up dying from it.  While having these thoughts, he was reminded of the verse 2 Timothy 2:3 which says, “ Endure hard times as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

It had been raining for days.
It had been raining for days.

What do you do when hard times come?  There’s your answer.  Endure hardness.

That’s what many of the people who came to America decided to do in those early days.  

There’s a book by Robert J. Morgan called “100 Verses That Made America: Defining Moments That Shaped Our Faith.”  I’ve gotten several stories from it, including the one here.  I would recommend you take a look.  

John Elliott said that when things got hard, Jesus stepped in and brought to his mind the verse in 2 Timothy: “Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Why Endure Hardness?

Why should we endure hardness?  Because hardness is going to come.  The Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust alike.  (Matthew 5:45)  Sometimes it doesn’t rain enough, sometimes it rains too much.  It’s just a fact of life.  Some things are hard. It’s not all easy.  

I think of newly married couples.  The hard times are bound to come.  It’s so important that you endure the hard times and stick it out.  It’s not always you causing trouble with one another, sometimes it’s just the difficulties of life.  

Disappointment comes.  It could be illness, the sudden death of a loved one, financial hardship, or something else.  If you make it through the hardness together, when you come out on the other side, somehow, you’re stronger.

Of course, you wouldn’t ask for those difficult times to come to make you stronger, but you can be thankful that you have become stronger.  

We’re to endure hardness. It will come.

Preparation for battle
Preparation for battle

When a soldier goes into the service, they start off in basic training.  They have a drill sergeant who is usually pretty tough.  One person said, while he didn’t remember his drill sergeant’s name, he did remember that he was always there. At first, he didn’t like that he was always there, but then he grew to appreciate that the officer was always around when he was needed.

The training is preparing you for the hardness of battle. 

The soldiers are sometimes given a backpack to carry.  It may weigh as much as 50 pounds.  Then they’re told to go on a run or hike.  They’re being prepared physically, pushed beyond their limits.  

I once took a class called “physical fitness” at a local community college.  When we started, they brought us all in and had us do different physical tests.   We did pushups, situps, and chin-ups.  They didn’t tell us why we were doing them, so we all did our very best.  

In the next class, they told us that they were going to take our best and cut it in half.  We were all happy with that.  Then they said we were going to do each exercise three times.  We weren’t quite as thrilled then. But we went on, and at the end of the semester, we did the same tests again and found that we had gained in all the areas we had been working on.

We were pushed to our physical limits and grew as a result.

Endure Hardness as a Good Soldier

Endure hardness as a good soldier.

Soldiers are required to make their beds daily.  An officer once said that it’s to establish a routine and develop good habits.  It’s part of being disciplined.

What is a follower of Christ called?  A disciple, which comes from the word discipline.  In Luke 14:26, Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

The part about hating family members is by comparison.  Your love and devotion to Jesus should be so much more than that for your family that it isn’t even close!

Discipline

To be a disciple of Jesus.

A Good Soldier

Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

The verse says to be a good soldier, not one that goes in and destroys the countryside.  A good soldier doesn’t go in and pillage and plunder.  

We're called to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
We’re called to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

A while back, I heard that many people in Afghanistan were coming to Christ. Why?  Because of the good soldiers that were sharing the Gospel. 

Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

We have Jesus as our great Commander.  He’s the greatest leader ever.  Our Earthly leaders will do the best they can but they can only do so much. They have to deal with their limitations.  But when you have Jesus Christ as a leader, He is the Lord of the universe.  He knows everything.  He will make the best decisions.  So as a good soldier, you follow Him.

Even if you don’t understand what your leader is doing, a good soldier completes the mission and sees in the end how it all works out.  That’s how God works with us sometimes.

Joni Eareckson Tada

You may have heard of a lady named Joni Eareckson Tada.  In 1967, she misjudged the depth of a river and dove in headfirst.  She suffered a fracture between her fourth and fifth vertebrae which left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.  She has very limited use of her hands and is able to lift a little bit, but that’s all.  

Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni Eareckson Tada

But she’s painted beautiful pictures by holding a paintbrush in her mouth.  She’s given speeches all over and has been an inspiration to many.  She has endured hardship and come through it. 

Sometimes God allows us to endure hardness so we can help someone else.  

Unbroken

The prisoner could not be broken!
The prisoner could not be broken!

A group of soldiers had been captured and were prisoners of war. One of the camp guards did everything he could to break their spirit.  It was hard to break the spirit of one of the soldiers, though. He had such determination.  At one point, this solder was about at his physical breaking point.  The leader of the camp ordered him to lift a log.  Even on his best day, the soldier couldn’t have lifted it, and now he was ready to drop.  But somehow, he managed to hoist the log over his head.  The camp leader who was trying to break this man wound up the one who was broken and defeated.  

We’re to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

One day, Jesus is coming back.  One day, there will be a war.  All the forces of good and evil will come to battle. Jesus’ forces, including those of us who are Christians, will fight with Him.  It’s called the battle of Armageddon.  (Revelation 16:16)

How will it end?  God, The One who spoke the world into existence will win the battle!

Whose side will you be on?

Armor of God

The Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:11-17)  You begin with the helmet of salvation.  If you don’t have the helmet of salvation, the rest of the armor is useless.  But the verses also talk about the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6:11-17
Ephesians 6:11-17

I want to encourage you, as John Elliott was encouraged, to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

If you have never put on the helmet of salvation, or even if you’re not sure.  You need to be sure!  Feel free to contact me here and I can help you and answer any questions you may have. 

How to Know That You Are Making Good Decisions

How to Know That You Are Making Good Decisions

Jay Austin was, on the surface, a successful used car salesman. Unfortunately, his sales techniques were less than honorable.  He made promises he couldn’t keep, cheated people, and said whatever was necessary to make the sale.  

Sermon video

Jay’s Problem

Two of his employees had learned well how to use those same dishonest techniques.  

Jay needed money!
Jay needed money!

As I said, it looked like he was doing well on the surface.  He was moving a lot of cars and bringing in a lot of money.  But he was buried in debt.  

One day, the bank called him and requested a meeting.  Jay was told that he had 30 days to pay off his loan or the bank was going to foreclose on the business.

Not only were there problems with the business, but there were struggles going on within his family as well.  He was too proud to admit it was his fault.  He wanted to blame others for his problems, 

But his wife and son both knew that they could not trust his word when he said he was going to do something.  They knew about his dishonesty.  He pridefully tried to cover it up.  Occasionally, he would attend church with them, but not often.  Other times, he mocked the idea of going to church.  

But the bottom was dropping out.  It looked like he was going to lose his business.  But his wife had been praying for him. 

On the Right Path

A televised sermon changed his life.
A televised sermon changed his life.

One day, he saw a church service on TV.  He decided that his way of doing things wasn’t working, so he confessed to the Lord.  He admitted his dishonesty, and his lack of support for his family, and told God that he wanted to change.  

He thought he was done, that God would be merciful and he could move forward from that point. 

But something happened inside of Jay because he really had changed.  He realized that he couldn’t continue with his dishonest business practices.  Would the Lord rescue him?

Psalm 37:1-5

(KJV) Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Scriptures for the blog.
Scriptures for the blog.

Proverbs 3:5-6


(KJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

So Jay started off by following the steps in the passage in Proverbs.  He told God that he didn’t know how, but he was going to quit cheating people and instruct his employees to stop as well. 

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  The Bible says that the greatest commandment is “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”(Matthew 22:37)  With everything within you.

You can come to Christ just as you are, but if you really meet Him, you don’t leave the same as when you arrived.  Something starts working in your life.  

The Bible says that there’s a change and we start to bear fruit.  It also says that some do better than others.  Some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold.  

Sometimes the change is obvious and immediate.  People see the change and want to know what’s happened.  Other times, depending on past challenges, the fruit takes longer to ripen.  

Lean not on your own understanding.  

Trust God

Jay was trusting God with all his heart.  But he didn’t know how to glorify God in bringing in money. His former practices of lying and scheming weren’t going to work anymore.  

His employees were doubtful.  They knew that there wouldn’t be as much money coming in as before. They also realized that they’d be losing money on their commissions.  That was a big concern for them.  They didn’t want to go along with this new plan, but Jay pushed for them to be honest.  

If it happened that they were not honest, Jay would go to the customer himself and make it right. He continued his new practice of being honest.  In some cases, he realized he had to go back and return money to some former customers. 

Even though he had 30 days to come up with the money for the bank, he continued in his new course of honesty.  He had made a commitment to God and intended to honor it.  He decided to not lean on his own understanding.

That’s something we all need to do.  Our understanding is shaped not by the Bible, but by the world.  That’s why it’s so important to study the Scriptures.  It ought to become a part of our lives.  We need to get away from our own understanding and into God’s understanding.  

Study the Scriptures to learn the mind of Christ.
Study the Scriptures to learn the mind of Christ.

When you become a parent, you have this tiny human who has been given to you, and it dawns on you that this is an enormous responsibility.  Where’s the instruction manual?  What you do is fall back on what you know, what you have seen, or how your parents raised you.  That can be good.  Your parents may have been instructed in the ways of the Lord and had the mind to follow Him.  

But maybe you had parents who didn’t follow God’s leading and just muddled through and didn’t make good decisions.  

Then there are parents who the world may say that they have no business being parents. Then your resolve will be not to be like your parents.  The problem there is that you keep focusing on them and whatever you focus on affects you.  So lean not on your own understanding but lean on the promises of God.

Good News/Bad News

A local news outlet decided to do an undercover investigation of used car dealers.  They sent a reporter in to pose as a potential employee.  The employees who weren’t happy with Jay’s new system got fed up and left and began working for a competitor.  

The news outlet went and interviewed the two and they told stories of how Jay used to run his business and how dishonest he used to be.  

So the report came out.  It wasn’t good.  Jay told God, “Lord, I’m trusting you.  I’m changing my life.  I don’t understand how this is going to work.”

How to Know That You Are Making Good Decisions

Years ago, in the first decade of our marriage, we were living in Georgia.  We had several decisions to make.  Our desire was to always be in God’s will.  

A flyer came to our house about a conference that was going to be in Atlanta.  One of the bullet points was “how to know you’re in the will of God.”  While I was looking at the new material, that one point really stood out to me.

That one session was the main reason I went.  It was a week-long conference.  Day after day, they didn’t cover that one topic.  Finally, Thursday night was the day for the “Will of God” session.  He spoke for 30 minutes or so on most of the advertised topics, but when he came to this one, he was running short on time, and he only spoke on it for a few minutes, probably only two or three; however, it was long enough and I got the answer I was seeking.  It was the verse, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

Make Christ Known

The speaker said to make Christ known in every area of your life.  Acknowledge that He is the Miracle Worker, the One who cares for you and loves you. If in all your ways, you are trusting Him, He will direct your paths.  

That may not seem like a very “deep” answer, but it’s served me well for 40 years. When you continue to do this, you begin to develop a sense of when God is speaking to you.  You’ll feel a little tug on your heart, mind, or spirit.  It may not be thunder and lightning, but there’s that little tug you feel and know that it’s Him speaking to you. 

If you acknowledge Him in all areas of your life, you can trust that He will direct your paths.  

Does that mean that you’ll always make perfect decisions?  Probably not.  But the Bible covers that as well.  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) 

Results of Change

So, the report had been released.  In it, Jay’s former employees talked about how unfair and dishonest he had been in the past.  It didn’t look good.

Then, people started speaking out.  They talked about how Jay had come to them, admitted his dishonesty, and made things right.  They told of how he’d given money back and apologized to them.  

Jay's commitment to God was successful.
Jay’s commitment to God was successful.

Psalm 37:4 says that if we trust in God, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  Sometimes, though, we don’t get what we want.  One clue may be in James 4:3 where it says, “you have not because you ask not.”

Another reason we don’t always get what we want is that what we want may not be good for us.  We ask amiss, and God, in His wisdom, says no, because He knows what’s best for us.

Good Things

I believe that God delights in giving us good things.  

When we lived in Georga, I was the principal of a Christian school and we had weekly staff meetings.  They were different from any I’ve been in before or since.  We’d start off by spending up to 15 minutes strategizing what we could do to make things better.  We then went around the table and each prayed.  I remember one particular woman who was a prayer warrior.  She and another lady decided her son needed a good wife.  They began to pray and that son now has a wife and children.  

Another time, I recall her praying that God would meet the needs of my family.  The school wasn’t able to pay much, so she prayed that our needs would be met. She prayed that God would give us something that would simply bring us joy.  Her prayers were answered time and time again. 

Prayer warrior
Prayer warrior

Her husband was a dairy farmer, and they were audited by the IRS.  While most people would have been nervous, they were completely at peace.  They got their tax professional, went to the audit, and wound up getting money back!

Around that time, Rhonda was expecting our second child (Ralanna).  We had decent health insurance, but it didn’t pay everything.  We were going to have to pay some of the medical expenses out of our own pocket.  Those people got that money back from the IRS and paid those bills for us. We say that Ralanna is their baby as well as ours. 🙂

God will give you miraculous things.  Lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him.  Trust in Him.  Delight in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart.

I mentioned that sometimes we ask God for the wrong things.  Once you get closer to Him and get to know Him better, the things you ask for begin to change and you start asking for proper things.  

Delivered!

I recently heard a man testify that God was blessing him in his business.  But, he was a functional addict.  Like Jay, it looked like the man was doing well on the surface.  But he was an alcoholic and was addicted to cocaine and ultimately to crack cocaine. 

He really wanted to serve God.  One night he prayed for deliverance from his addiction and that the desire for the drug would be taken away.

When he woke up the next morning, the desire was gone!  Many years later, it has not returned. 

Delight yourself in the Lord and He’ll give you the desires of your heart.  If your desires are wrong, He’ll tell you as long as you acknowledge Him in all ways.

Back to Jay.  The negative news report had come out, but then so many people came and spoke about all the good things he had done.  Because of the positive reviews, more and more people started going to his business to buy their cars.  By the end of the month, enough money had come in that Jay was able to pay the bank the money he owed them. 

Jay’s Story

A little disclaimer: The story of Jay is based on a movie written by the Kendrick brothers.  You may recognize their names from movies like Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, War Room, and several others.  The story of Jay Austin can be found in their first movie, Flywheel.  (You can Google some interesting trivia about the movie.)

Flywheel Movie
Flywheel Movie

Flywheel is actually my favorite of all the movies they’ve made.

In Closing

How do you know that you’re making good decisions?  Are you acknowledging Him in all your ways?  If you are, you can trust that you’re making good decisions. You can also trust that if you aren’t, God will let you know.