7 THINGS JESUS LEFT BEHIND [ASCENSION] Acts 1:1-11 (MAY 20, 2012)

7 THINGS JESUS LEFT BEHIND

 [ASCENSION]
Acts 1:1-11

What Jesus Left Behind?
Acts 1:6-11

Goodbyes aren’t easy, especially if the one leaving will be gone long.

In Acts 1 Jesus is saying goodbye to His disciples…for 3.5 years they’ve been intimately intertwined, thru good times and bad! He had changed their lives! They’d never be the same.

They spent 40 incredible days together after He arose…and now it’s time to say goodbye, He’s leaving, He’s going home…and He tells them to do His work in the meanwhile (v. 8) He has given them His great commission, to go into all the world with the gospel.

v. 9 This is real…as real as the virgin birth, perfect life, sacrificial death, burial, glorious resurrection…it was as real as if you’d seen it w/ your own eyes that day!
v. 10 He’ll return the same way He left, physically!

As He left the earth ascending into heaven He left behind some things. In our text passage for today I want to point out 7 things that Jesus left behind when He ascended to heaven. Jesus said in John 19:30, “...it is finished...” He was saying that the atonement for sin was finished. That tells us that nothing more need be done. Salvation is complete in Christ. But the first thing He left behind was:

I. AN UNFINISHED TASK. Vs. 1.

(Acts 1:1) "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,"

A. His Task Was Not Finished.

 (Luke 19:10) "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
As long as there is one person who has not heard the message, the task is not finished.

B. He Left The Task To Be Finished By His Churches. (Mat 28:19)

1. The mission fields cry out, “unfinished”.
2. The remote areas of every city and town cry out, “unfinished”.
3. The whaling of the unsatisfied soul cries out, “unfinished.”
4. The voices of your neighbors cry out, “unfinished.”
5. You have some loved ones who cry out, “unfinished.”
6. Perhaps your own soul is crying, “unfinished.”

Are you actively participating in carrying out His unfinished task? If you don’t help, much of it will go undone.

(John 9:4) "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

II. AN UNCHALLENGED MESSAGE. Vs. 3.

(Acts 1:3) "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

The message of salvation can’t be challenged.

A. Man can’t challenge it.
1. Liberalism has attacked this one area more than any other.
2. Man has attempted to produce numerous other methods of salvation.
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: [7] Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. [9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

B. Satan Can’t Challenge It.
1. The Gospel lives on.
2. We see an everlasting Gospel in Rev 14:6 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"

C. The Cults Can’t Challenge It.
1. It is a fool proof Gospel.
2. (Rom 1:16) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
3. When the cults come knocking on my door, I tell them that I am born again by the shed blood and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that I am going to live forever in heaven with Him.

That blows their mind, and they go on their way saying, “This guy is crazy.” They can’t challenge the Gospel of Christ.

D. Everyone Who Challenges the Gospel of Jesus Christ Will Be In the Number That Is Mentioned In Rev. 20:14-15.

Rev. 20:14-15
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

E. You Can’t Challenge It And Still Go To Heaven.
1. If you attempt to go to heaven any other way than through Jesus Christ, you will go to hell.
2. If you challenge the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the gospel of baptismal regeneration you will go to hell. (I saw a church that teaches baptismal regeneration with a large sign on the front that said, “Gospel Meeting”.) That is not true.
3. If you challenge the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your good works, you will lose and go to hell.

III. AN UNQUESTIONABLE LOVE Vs. 3.

(Acts 1:3) "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

No one can question the love exhibited by the Son of God.

He who gave His life that you and I might live forever.
He who gave His body at the whipping post.
He who shed His blood for an uncaring world and a generation of perverts.
He who left His home in heaven and came to a world of sinners who rejected Him and nailed Him on a cross.
He who in love cried out to the Father, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
He who bowed His head in shame and suffering and then died for a world who hated Him and wanted nothing to do with Him.

That’s unquestionable love. There is no one in this room who would do that for a world of people who do not care. Unquestionable love. He died for you. He loves you.
IV. AN UNMISTAKABLE PLAN. Vs. 8.

“...and ye shall be witnesses...uttermost part of the earth.”

A witness is sworn to tell the truth of what he / she saw or experienced. Sometimes we get the plan wrong. It is an unmistakable plan. We are to be witnesses--not a super salesman, attempting to persuade the person with our ability. Man can’t persuade another man to be saved. (John 6:44) "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." It has to be Christ in us. We witness to that which has happened to us.

Here’s the plan:
A. We Are To Witness First In Jerusalem. That is our surrounding area.
1. Our neighbors.
2. Our co-workers.
3. Our friends.
B. Judea - That is farther out from home base, into some of the outlying towns.
C. Samaria - That is still further out…our nation.
D. The Uttermost Part Of The Earth - That is foreign missions.
Let’s not mistake the plan.

V. AN UNSHAKABLE TESTIMONY. Vs. 10.

(Acts 1:10) "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;"

If we could just get the professing Christians to “look steadfastly toward heaven,” our task would be much easier.

A. Your Testimony Will Either Exalt Christ, Or It Will Shame Christ.
1. If you are looking for Him to come soon, you will cleanse yourself. (1 John 3:3) "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
2. He who has no thought toward the coming of Christ is not living a testimony for Him.

Christians, don’t live like the world will go on forever. You are sitting on a ticking time bomb. It could go off at any time.

B. You Can Lose Your Testimony In A Moment Of Time. (1 Pet 5:8) "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"


VI. AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE Vs. 11.
“....ye men of Galilee...”

(Luke 24:49) "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
(Acts 2:4) "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost....”

This group of men returned that day to the upper room, and there with some of the other saints began to call upon the Lord in prayer; and then we see them in Acts 2 where 3,000 got saved. In Acts 4:4, 5,000 more got saved. In (Acts 5:14) "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)"

A. The Fear Of Man Didn’t Stop Them. (Acts 5:28) "Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine..."
(Acts 5:29) "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
1. They took their command personally. “Go into all the world...”
These people weren’t going to let some two-bit official hinder their work.
We are part of an unstoppable force.

2. They had the power of the Holy Spirit on them. (Acts 4:31) "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."

When people of God fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and yield their bodies to the control of the Holy Spirit of God, you have an unstoppable force. The gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

(Acts 4:13) "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

The N.T. Church suffers today because those who would oppose us cannot see Jesus in our lives. These disciples had “JESUS” written all over them.

It makes a difference when you are doing the work of God through the power of ‘the God of the work.’

B. Persecution Didn’t Stop Them. (Acts 8:3) "As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."
(Acts 8:4) "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."
1. They were scattered because of persecution. They had to literally run for their lives. Saul (who became Paul) was leading the persecution against them.
2. Persecution allowed them to take the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”

That thing which they feared became their greatest tool in accomplishing their task.

(Acts 19:10) "And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks."

We haven’t yet gotten hold of this thing like they did in the 1st Century. We seem to huddle up and hunker down trying to protect our little flocks.

When we wake up and realize that we are an unstoppable force that the world must reckon with and we are willing to go out on the limb a little farther, then we can begin to see the fruit of N.T. results.

VII. AN UNFAILING PROMISE. Vs. 11.

(Acts 1:11) "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

When I think of this I am reminded of Gen. Douglas McArthur. He was in charge of the S. Pacific Theatre and was stationed in the Philippines. During the latter days of WW2 Gen. McArthur’s men had taken a beating and he withdrew them and moved them to Australia for a time of rest and retraining. As he boarded that DC9 in the Philippines those people looked to him as their saviour. He made his famous statement in saying, “I shall return.”

Several months passed by and one day the people of the Philippines heard the roar of airplanes and looked up into the sky and saw the sky was filled with American airplanes. Gen McArthur kept his promise.

2,000 years ago Jesus stood on a mountain overlooking Jerusalem and said to His disciples:
John 14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

I know the battle gets tough. Don’t be discouraged, one day soon that trumpet is going to blow, (1 Th 4:17) "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

That’s an unfailing promise. If it wasn’t so He would have told us so. I believe it. I am holding on to it. I am looking for Him to come today. Are you ready? If He comes today, will you go with Him? Until He comes, you are part of what He left behind to do His work!
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WALKING WITH GOD

WALKING WITH GOD

Physical exercise is good for anybody. No doubt about it. We’d all be healthier if we’d walk and do some strength exercises and especially, as we age. Physical exercise is good but there’s something better and it will last forever!

I Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

The fleshly body will some day fail no matter how healthy we are. Jack LaLanne is 96 years old and the man many have called “the godfather of fitness,” but some day, just like everybody else his flesh will fail and he will go into eternity. BUT WHERE WILL HE SPEND ETERNITY?

Since we’re entering a new year it seems only reasonable that we need to think about godliness and our walk with God, because this will benefit us the most in the coming year. Paying attention to God always pays!

Everyone lives or walks the road of life, but how do we walk? How do we live? And for whom?

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

There are two ways to walk in life: either with God or with the sinful of this world. Walking with God leads to life and blessing. Walking with the sinful (or in sin) leads to trouble, judgment, and condemnation.

ILL.- Bernie Madoff had plenty of this world’s riches because he “made off” with other people’s money, but look at where he is now: in prison for life. And consider where he may be some day in the future! (Matthew 16:26) We can choose to walk with God in this life or else we will walk with the world. It’s our choice. It’s one or the other.

BUT BLESSED IS THE MAN, whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

ILL.- George Muller once said: “The first three years after my conversion I neglected the Word of God. Since then, I have read the Bible through 100 times, and each time with increasing delight. When I begin it afresh, it always seems like a new book to me. I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God.”

The person who walks with God also spends time in His Word.

PROP.- In this message, let’s think about three men who walked with God.

1- Enoch’s walk of evangelism
2- Noah’s walk of obedience
3- Abraham’s walk of faith

I. ENOCH’S WALK OF EVANGELISM

Genesis 5:21-24 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Enoch walked with God. How did he do that? What did He do in order to walk with God?

There is a good possibility that he literally walked with God. Anything is possible with God, you know! God could have come to him in a something of a human form, after all, Jesus came to earth in human form! He was God in the flesh!

Normally, we think that Enoch had such a close relationship to God (walk with God or fellowship with God) that he talked to him all the time. I would bet he did.

Brothers and sisters, when you talk to someone a lot you get to know that person fairly well and I think I know Truman Brady fairly well. But I need to know God even better.

We do a lot of talking to people, but how much do we talk to God? In order to walk with God we must spend time with Him communicating and He is awfully good listener; far better than we are!

Where do I get the idea that Enoch walked with God in regard to evangelism? The word evangelism is not found in our text, but I do believe that Enoch walked with God and found joy in this walk. And because of this I think that he tried to get other people to walk with God AND THAT’S EVANGELISM!

Genesis 5:21-22 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.”

Enoch was the father of Methuselah and what is he known for in the Bible? He was the oldest person in the Bible at 969 years. And get this: HE WAS ALSO THE GRANDFATHER OF NOAH! And Noah also walked with God (Gen. 6:9) And this made Enoch the great-grandfather of Noah.

Could it be that Enoch had influenced his whole family or at some of his family to walk with God? I think that’s highly possible. What we parents do affects our children for good or evil.

Could the same thing be true with a parent’s walk with God? YES, INDEED! Many of you are in the church today and walk with God because of your parents, and likewise, your children do the same. But I suspect that Enoch’s walk with God didn’t stop with his family. I would bet that he also tried to get the people around him, at work, friends and neighbors, to walk with God as well!

If your walk with God is what it ought to be you WILL influence your family and others for the Lord! Something good will rub off on them!

That’s what a walk with God will do and IT WILL AFFECT OTHERS!

II. NOAH’S WALK OF OBEDIENCE

Genesis 6:5-9 5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Ah ha, he walked with God.

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

In holy fear Noah built an ark. God told Noah He was going to send a flood and he’d better prepare for it. IN HOLY FEAR HE DID PREPARE BY BUILDING AN ARK. He obeyed God!

If you thought your world was going to be destroyed in your lifetime, how would you feel? Or if you were thought you were going to die in the immediate future, how would you feel and respond? I would think that in holy fear you would do some things differently!

ILL.- Neil Simon, who wrote The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park, was asked on the Dick Cavett Show whether making a lot of money concerned him. The studio went dead silent when Simon answered, "No...what does concern me is the fear of dying."

With the thought of death looming near, it seems to me that many people would be willing to take stock of their lives and obey God. In holy fear they would want to do anything God told them to do. BUT WHY DO WE WAIT? Why do we wait as if we had all the time in the world? Every day people leave this world without much notice. Many old and also, many young people.

ILL.- When I was a student at Ozark Bible College we preacher boys were told “to preach as a dying man to dying men and women.”

In holy fear we all need to be doing some things differently! In holy fear we need to obey God. In holy fear Noah built an ark in order to save his family. What do you need to do in holy fear to save yourself and your family? In holy fear we all need to walk with God. We need to do whatever it takes to walk with God.

In holy fear we all need to be faithful in our worship of the Lord! An hour or two on Sunday is not a great sacrifice of time to give to God, but still, it’s something we all should do! In holy fear we all need to spend time in prayer! In holy fear we need to listen to God as Noah listened to God and the only way I know to do that is to read His Word more! In holy fear we need to set aside some time every day to read God’s Word! In holy fear we need to obey God like Noah obeyed God!

III. ABRAHAM’S WALK OF FAITH

Genesis 17:1 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”

God said to Abraham, “Walk before me and be blameless.”

What did God mean by those words? God may have been saying, “In your walk in this life, walk with me and you will be blameless.” That could well be meaning. And no one can live a blameless life without a relationship with God. We get our goodness and/or our holiness from him.

To the best of my knowledge, Billy Graham has always walked with God in a blameless manner. I’ve never heard of any accusation against him. How could he live such a blameless life?

He would be the first to say that it can only happen when you walk with God in faith. He would not say, “Well, folks, I did it my way.” No, he would say, “God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:5-6)

Graham’s blameless life came from his walk with God. No man, no human being can be his very best without God’s grace and blessing on his life.

Billy Graham is something of an Abraham when it comes to living by faith. Although I believe that Billy Graham would be humble enough to say that his faith doesn’t even come close to that of Abraham. Billy Graham has preached Christ to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings.

In Abraham’s walk with God he exercised great faith. Abraham’s faith was evident when God called him to leave his home country and go to a foreign land.

Genesis 12:1 “The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” V. 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

It took a lot of faith on Abraham’s part to leave his home country for a place he’d never seen. But he trusted God. He walked by faith. When Billy Graham traveled to those 185 different countries he knew where he was going and his traveling method was quite different from Abraham’s means of traveling. But there was more to come that would test Abraham’s walk of faith. The greatest test of all was yet to come!

Genesis 22:2 “Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Wow! Amazing! But Abraham also had amazing faith in God.

Hebrews 11:17-19 17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Abraham’s faith was so strong that he believed that God could or would raise his son Isaac from the dead! HOW’S THAT FOR FAITH?! DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?

At the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said these words to Martha in John 11:24-25:

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

AND DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? That’s the faith that Abraham had and we should have!

CONCLUSION
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, sang the little boy.

Christmas is over and whether you got you wanted or not, what we all need more than anything is to walk with God more/better in this new year. Walking with God will bring countless blessings that we never thought possible.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

This is the walk we need that will bless our lives. We must walk in faith, trust, obedience, etc. Then our paths will be blessed with good.

THREE TRUTHS (Hebrews 9:27-9:27)

THREE TRUTHS

Hebrews 9:27-9:27

Introduction:

Hebrews 9:27 (READ).
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

As I look at this passage of Scripture, I am reminded of three truths:

1. Death is a Certainty
2. Final Judgment is a Reality
3. God’s Eternal Salvation is a Possibility

I. DEATH IS A CERTAINTY

“Just as man is destined to die once…” Death is a certainty. In Ecclesiastes 7:2 the Word of God tells us that, “Death is the destiny of every man.”

It doesn’t matter how well you feel or how in shape you might be. No one can escape the certainty of death. That’s why it’s so important that we live each day to the fullest. We need to live each day as if it’s our last. How are you living out your life? Are you living each day as if it could be your last or are you taking this life for granted? My friend, I hope you take advantage of everyday God gives you and that you use each day to make an eternal difference in someone’s life.


II. FINAL JUDGMENT IS A REALITY

The Word of God tells us that after death each of us will certainly face judgment. God’s Word speaks of two different types of Judgment. First, there’s the Judgment Seat of Christ which we read of in

2 Corinthians 5:10. It’s important that you understand that this Judgment is for Christians. Here we read, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Paul was not saying that Christians should not enjoy certain wholesome, earthly things, but that they should glorify God in them and spend most of their energy and time with what has eternal value.

Speaking of the Judgment Seat of Christ, look at what Paul said beginning in 1 Corinthians 3:13 concerning the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Word of God says, “Our work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.”


Which brings us to the second type of judgment the Word of God speaks of and that is the Great White Throne Judgment and we read about in Revelation 20:11-15. As you turn there, please, understand that this judgment is for those who never committed their lives to Christ. For those of you that are here this morning or maybe watching by television and you have never asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart—if you die without Christ, you will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment.

In Revelation 20:11 we read these words, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Wow! What a terrible day that will be for those who stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. You see, on that day it will be too late to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Matthew 25:41 tells us that if you stand before God on that day you will hear the words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” He did not prepare it for you but because you were ashamed of Him, He’ll be ashamed of you.

III. GOD’S ETERNAL SALVATION IS A POSSIBILITY

28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Did you notice that God’s Word says, “Christ was sacrificed once (that He died once) to take away the sins of many. Underline that word many. You see Christ’s death doesn’t take away the sins of all. Not everyone receives salvation through Christ’s death because not everyone believes in Him. That’s why eternal salvation is only a possibility.

If I could receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for you I would, but the reality of the matter is that each person must decide for themselves to either accept Christ or reject Him.

In Romans 10:9 the Word of God says, “That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him form the dead, you will be saved.” Not you might be but that you will be saved!

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;

Please don’t put Christ off any longer. Heed the words of
James 4:14, which tells us that our life is like a vapor, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

THE THREE PARADOXES TO A FRUITFUL LIFE (John 12:24-26)

THE THREE PARADOXES TO A FRUITFUL LIFE
John 12:24-26

People struggle for their life. They fight for their right and wrestle for their greatness - only to find that it is the other way around that we can find them. Jesus said:

John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

John 12:25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.

What was this amazing paradox which Jesus was teaching? He was saying three things:

I. IT IS ONLY BY DEATH THAT YOU CAN GAIN LIFE.

John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The grain of wheat was ineffective and unfruitful so long as it was preserved, as it were, in safety and security. It was when it was thrown into the cold ground, and buried there as if in a tomb, that it bore fruit.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:

• It is by dying to sin through repentance and total surrender to Christ that we can gain eternal life in God

• It is only when we buried our personal aims and ambitions that we begin to be of real use to God

• It is by the death of our personal desires and ambition that we become servant of God

• It is by surrendering our own ways to God’s way that we become fruitful and effective for God

It was by the death of the martyrs that the Church grew. In the famous phrase: "The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church."

II. IT IS ONLY BY SPENDING LIFE THAT YOU CAN RETAIN IT.

John 12:25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The man who loves his life is moved by two aims, by selfishness and by the desire for security. Not once or twice but many times Jesus insisted that the man who hoarded his life must in the end lose it, and the man who spent his life must in the end gain it.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

• People usually choose personal safety and avoid risk. But it is by taking the risk of being called Christian and ridiculed for the same faith that we can retain life with God

• People are resisting rules and cry for freedom. But it is by spending life according to rules of God’s word that we can gain real happiness freedom and peace

• People avoid danger and persecution so they choose what is generally accepted. But it is by living and dying for Christ that we can really gain eternal life

We have only to think of what this world would have lost if there had not been men prepared to forget their personal safety, security, selfish gain and selfish advancement. The world owes everything to people who recklessly spent their strength and gave themselves to God and to others.

No doubt we will exist longer if we take things easily, if we avoid all strain, if we sit at the fire and husband life, if we look after ourselves as a hypochondriac looks after his health. No doubt we will exist longer--but we will never live. (Barclay)

III. IT IS ONLY BY SERVING THAT GREATNESS COME.

John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

• People aim for the throne but it is through the feet of the cross that greatness start

• People trick and deceive others to be number one but it is by loving others and thinking of their welfare that we become great

• People tend to become proud once they got money and power but those who found the real power in God become humbles as they found their nothingness without God

The people whom the world remembers with love are the people who serve others. It is all too true that in the modern world the idea of service is in danger of getting lost. So many people are in business only for what they can get out of it. They may well become rich, but one thing is certain--they will never be loved, and love is the true wealth of life. (Barclay)

CONCLUSION:

Jesus came to the Jews with a new view of life. They looked on glory as conquest, the acquisition of power, the right to rule. He looked on it as a cross. He taught men that only by death comes life; that only by spending life do we retain it; that only by service comes greatness. And the extraordinary thing is that when we come to think of it, Christ’s paradox is nothing other than the truth of common sense. (Barclay)

The Fruit of the Vine (John 15:1-17)

The Fruit of the Vine

John 15:1-17

 In Hampton Court near London, there is a grapevine which is about 1,000 years old. This grapevine has one root which is at least two feet thick, and some of the branches are 200 feet long. Despite its age the vine produces several tons of grapes each year. Although some of the smaller branches are 200 feet from the main stem, they still bear the sweet and delicious fruit because they are connected to the vine. Life flows from that single root and through out the vine bringing nourishment and strength to each of the branches.

Jesus promises to do the same for us. He is the “true vine” bringing life to each of the branches. The purpose of the vine is to bring nourishment to the branches in order that they might produce fruit. When separated from the vine the branches wither and die. The vitality of our spiritual life is dependent upon our connection to Christ the “true vine.”

Each of us must answer two questions this morning. First, are we connected to the vine, or is the life of Christ flowing within us? Secondly, if we are connected to the vine and we are joined to Christ, then how much fruit are we producing through our lives; is there no fruit, some fruit, or an abundance of fruit?

+ John 15:1-8 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (NIV)

1. JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE. (Verse 1)

Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the true vine.” Have you ever wondered why Jesus may have said that? I think I may know why. Think with me a moment about what has happened and where Jesus and His disciples most likely are.
If you remember this is the night of Jesus’ betrayal, but before that happens Jesus and the disciples have been in the upper room. As they celebrated the Passover in the upper room, Jesus had washed the disciples feet and spoke with them about the events that were to take place. After a great deal of discussion with His disciples Jesus ends chapter 14 saying, “Come now; let us leave.”

Matthew, another one of the disciples says that following the Passover meal Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). I believe that it is as they are making their way from the upper room to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus continued to instruct this group who had walked with Him for the last three years. Jesus knew that time was running out, but He still had much that He wanted to share with the disciples.

John 15 continues Jesus’ teaching with, “I am the true vine” Jesus was a master teacher. He didn’t talk over people’s heads; He used things which were common to those He taught so that they could understand His teaching. So I believe that as Jesus and the disciples were making their way they walked beside something familiar to everyone in Jerusalem–a grapevine.

In this way then Jesus can walk up to the vine and tell His disciples, “I am the true vine.” Now He had their attention; now Jesus was using something that they were familiar with and could understand as an “illustrated sermon.”

In the upper room Jesus had told His disciples some things that would be difficult to understand, but now Jesus could help them to comprehend what He had told them. Two things stand out from what Jesus had told His disciples in the upper room from John 14.

First, Jesus had told His disciples that He was “the life” (John 14:6). Second He said that the Holy Spirit, the “allon parakleton” that is another of the same kind coming with strength, would come to be in them (John 14:16-18). Jesus clarifies the upper room teaching with an illustration that we can all understand when He says “I am the true vine.”

Everyone living in Jerusalem, and even those rough fishermen among the twelve who walked with Jesus knew that life flowed from the vine into the branches. So Jesus uses this common sight around Jerusalem to bring further understanding to what He had said earlier.

Therefore, Jesus is showing His disciples and us that He is the source of spiritual life. Jesus is the source of life, a resource made available by the Holy Spirit when He comes to dwell within the believer. John spells it out plainly for us:

+ 1 John 5:11-12 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (NIV)

Now before we move any further we need to stop and deal with our first question, “Are you connected to the vine?” If you are not connected to Jesus through the forgiveness of your sin, if you have not let Jesus rescue you from drowning in a turbulent sea of sin, then you are as good as dead. The life you are living is empty and meaningless because your aren’t connected to the source of life.

+ Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

The choice is yours. You can either stay the way you are, or you can choose to be grafted into the life giving vine. All the other vines are lifeless; the branches have no real fruit because there is no life in the vine. But when you are connected to Jesus, suddenly everything will be made new and alive.

2. THE LIFE SOURCE PRODUCES FRUIT. (Verses 2-8)

Jesus is the life source and His life within the believer is for one purpose–to produce fruit. The question we need to think about for ourselves is, “How much fruit is being produced, is there no fruit, some fruit, or an abundance of fruit?”

Remember, Jesus is talking with His disciples. Jesus is the true vine and His disciples and those who believe in Him are the branches. So when we think about the quantity of fruit in an individual’s life we are talking about believers– that is those connected to the vine. As we said, anyone who is not connected to Jesus cannot bear fruit.
Therefore, the question as to how much fruit is being produced in your life does not deal with your salvation; if you have been saved then you are connected to the vine. Rather the quantity of fruit deals with the issue of what you are doing with the life source that is within you.

Now before we deal with that question, let’s quickly THINK ABOUT THE FRUIT. Some of you may be wondering exactly what is this fruit we are supposed to be producing.
· Some have taught that the fruit Jesus is talking about is OBEDIENCE. This fits with the context, those who love Christ will obey His commands.
· Others have taught that the fruit is to REPRODUCE OTHER BELIEVERS. One of the signs of life is that it reproduces itself. Fruit carries within it the seed which has the ability to reproduce.
· Others have taught that the fruit is the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is the fruitful evidence that you are connected to the vine.

So which one is it? Let’s have Jesus answer that question.

+ Matthew 7:16-18 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (NIV)

Jesus says you will can recognize the fruit; we are fruit inspectors. So let’s check out the fruit.

· Is OBEDIENCE to Christ’s word something that the life of Christ would produce within the life of a believer. YES!

· Is REPRODUCTION of new believers something that Jesus’ life within you will yield as fruit? YES!
· Is the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT a byproduct of Christ’s life at work within a believer? YES!

So what is the fruit of the believers’ life that is connected to Jesus, the true life-giving vine? ALL OF THE ABOVE! Those who are Christ’s branches should desire to produce more and more of ALL His fruit.

That brings us back to the question of quantity. How much fruit is your life producing; is there no fruit, some fruit or an abundance of fruit?

1. The branches that produce NO FRUIT. (Verses 2a, 6)

Does it surprise you that there can be branches connected to the vine which produce no fruit? I believe Jesus identifies two such branches. On the surface we may think both receive the same treatment by the gardener. The fruitless branch is cut off and thrown into the fire; isn’t that right? Don’t jump to any quick conclusions; look with me at what Jesus said.

+ John 15:2, 6 2He cuts off [takes away (NKJ)] every branch in me that bears no fruit. . . 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (NIV)

Now lets start by asking, “Are these the same kind of branches?” Both are branches without fruit but notice the difference between the two. In verse two Jesus says the branch is “IN ME,” but in verse six the branch “DOES NOT REMAIN IN ME.”

· A healthy grapevine puts out new shoots which grow into branches. However, these new branches often grow along the ground; they get covered with dirt and are shaded from the light of the sun. Although they are alive, they can’t produce fruit. The gardener will wash the dirt from the leaves and lift these branches up onto the trellis to get the needed light from the sun. The branch is cleansed, lifted up and trained to grow in a place where it can produce fruit.

The fruitless branch in verse two is like the believer who has not been discipled or trained how to live the Christian life. Would the Father cut off such a branch? NO!
+ 2 Peter 3:9 [He] is not willing that ANY should perish (KJV)

Jesus said the Father’s desire is that all who are in Christ will produce fruit bringing glory to the Father. The Father receives no glory by cutting off branches that are in Christ. The Greek word “airei” translated “cuts off” or “takes away” also means “LIFT UP.” That’s what a gardener does for the new branches; he lifts them up giving them the support and training that they need in order to produce fruit. Jesus uses another word all together in verse six when He talks about what happens to the branch that does not remain in Him.

Left to ourselves we all would remain branches IN CHRIST, but unfruitful because we are growing in the dirt of this world. The life source is within us; God’s Holy spirit is in our lives, but God does more to make us fruitful. God lifts us up; He disciples and trains us in order that we might grow and produce fruit. How does God lift up these fruitless vines?

· He places us in relationship with other believers. We need each other to grow effectively and be fruitful; none of us can make it alone. I believe this is the single most important thing that God does for us. Being a part of a church and sharing in loving relationships with other Christians is vital to your spiritual health.

· He instructs us in His Word. The Holy Spirit is our teacher; through our personal devotions, sermons, teaching and interaction in small groups the Holy Spirit will cleanse and strengthen our lives through the Word of God.

· God renews our minds so that we no longer conform to the ways of this world but pursue His kingdom; He teaches us to hate sin and desire righteousness in our lives. When we have sin in our lives we want to be restored in our relationship with God and He is faithful to forgive us.

If we don’t let God lift us up then we are in danger of becoming a fruitless branch that chooses not to remain in Christ. If we don’t enter into relationships with other believers, if we don’t apply His word to our lives, if we don’t let the Holy Spirit renew our minds, then we are cutting off the flow of Christ’s source of life that He places within us.

+ Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (NIV)

Now don’t miss this warning! These are branches that were once in Christ, but they do not remain in Him. These branches once had the source of life flowing within them; they have produced fruit in the past but not now. They are cutting themselves off from the source of life believing that they can find life in other vines; the deceitfulness of sin has ensnared them. If we turn away from Christ and do not remain in Him then we become a withered fruitless branch that will ultimately be thrown into the fire.

2. The branches that produce SOME FRUIT. (Verses 2-4)

Not all branches are as fruitful as others. Some branches may have bushels of fruit while another branch may only have a single bushel or a peck or two, and still other branches while not barren have very little fruit at all.

NOW DON’T CONFUSE QUANTITY AND QUALITY. As a believer you are joined to the vine. The life of Christ within the vine is what produces the fruit. Therefore any fruit produced in your life, obedience, reproduction, or the Fruit of the Spirit, IT IS ALL GOOD FRUIT. Christ’s life in you will not produce inferior fruit. Christ, the true vine, only produces the best quality fruit.

However, each of us as branches can restrict the quantity of fruit produced in our lives. Look again at what Jesus said.

+ John 15:2-4 2 . . .every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (NIV)

What is it that restricts the production of fruit? In a word it’s SELF.
We love Christ; His Spirit is within us, and His fruit is evident in our lives. But from time to time, more often for some and less for others, we stop relying upon Christ and His life within us and live our life in our own strength. Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself!”

In those times when we stop depending on Christ and rely upon our own strength and ability, it is then that the branch is unable to continue to produce fruit. Often times we may fall into sin once again simply because we didn’t depend upon Christ the source of life to help us.

What does the Father do for the branch that only produces some fruit? Does He cut the branch off and throw it away? No, the Father’s desire is that each branch produces an abundance of fruit; that’s not possible if the branches are cut off of the vine. What did Jesus say the Father would do? “Every branch in me that doe bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

What is the Father doing when He prunes the branches? He is causing us to stop depending upon self in order that we might rely fully on Christ and bear more fruit.

Have any of you noticed, PRUNING IS PAINFUL. But have you also noticed that although pruning is painful, PRUNING IS PRODUCTIVE. When the branches are pruned back more fruit really is produced. The pain of cutting accomplishes what the Father intends–FRUITFULNESS!

+ Hebrews 12:7, 11 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? . . . 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV)

3. The branches that produce an ABUNDANCE of FRUIT. (Verses 5, 7-8)

+ John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (NIV)

These are the branches that have been properly trained through the discipline of pruning. They have crucified self and have learned that apart from Christ they can do nothing.

+ Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

+ John 15:7-8 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (NIV)

Why can Jesus say what He does in verse seven? Those branches that remain in Him and His word remains in them will not ask selfishly. They have died to self and the passions of the world; they live for Christ. Therefore whatever they ask for is what Jesus would ask for.

Finally when we mature as believers that we bear an abundance of fruit the Father is glorified as we show ourselves to be Christ’s disciples.

Conclusion:

Jesus, the true vine is producing fruit within His branches. Christ’s fruit is good; it alone will endure. How much fruit are you letting be produced through your life? Is there no fruit, some fruit or an abundance of fruit? 

THE DYNAMICS OF BAPTISM IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER

THE DYNAMICS OF BAPTISM IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER
MATT 28:19-20; 3:13-16; ROM 6:1-7; ACTS 2:41-47

INTRODUCTION: During the earthly ministry of Jesus, there were two, maybe three activities He considered vital to the walk of a believer in Christ. Not essential for salvation, yet essential in a growing relationship with Jesus Himself. The disputed one, meaning some will practice it, and others will not is “foot washing”. Foot washing was one of the last activities Jesus did on the evening He was to be betrayed. At the end of this act, He encouraged his disciples to serve likewise. The second act activity important to our growing as a believer is that of “communion” The remembering of the death of Christ affords us the opportunity to keep our relationship with God and with others clean and open. It was NEVER God intention that we refrain from communion, but that we examine ourselves before participating, making the necessary adjustments so that we CAN participate openly and without hesitation. The third activity, we celebrate today, is that of “baptism”. This is a personal act, yet one that is rich in meaning. This is what we will be looking at today – The dynamics of Baptism in the life of a believer!

ILLUSTRATION: Baptism is a lot like a wedding ring. Baptism is symbolic of the washing away of our sins. It is also symbolic of a new way of life. It has been said that Baptism is to the Christian faith what the wedding ring is to a marriage. It is a symbol. "Like the wedding ring, baptism draws a mark on the ground between the past and the future. Like the wedding ring, it says, "From this day forward, I stand with God."

I THE PLACE OF BAPTISM IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

A The basis for baptism is the authority of Jesus

1 Jesus had the authority from God the Father to send His disciples out into the world
a They were to make disciples – Salvation
b They were to baptize – Public declaration of salvation

ILLUSTRATION: Dr. M.R. DeHaan put it this way: In the early days of the church. . . , baptism was a declaration that the believer was definitely identifying himself with that group of people who were called Christians and were despised and hated. To be a Christian meant something. To identify yourself with those who were called Christians meant persecution, maybe death; it meant being ostracized from your family, shunned by friends. And the one act which was the final declaration of this identification was BAPTISM. As long as a man gathered with Christians, he was tolerated, but when once he submitted to baptism, he declared to all the world, I BELONG TO THIS DESPISED GROUP, and immediately he was persecuted, hated, and despised. In baptism, therefore, the believer entered into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. A person might be a believer and keep it strictly a secret and thus avoid unpleasantness and suffering, but once he submitted to public baptism he had burned his bridges behind him. . .” (Pamphlet, Water Baptism, p. 27).


1) Few instances in Scripture where salvation was not followed by baptism, nor where the new believer sought to be baptized.

c They were to teach – instruct them in the Word of God

B The Foundational Place of Baptism

1 Baptism was commanded by Christ
2 Baptism was exampled by Christ

Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.

a Jesus identified Himself with us
b Now Christ asks us to identify with Him!


II THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BAPTISM IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST Romans 6

A Baptism is SYMBOLIC of our freedom from sin.

Romans 6:3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:7-8 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

1 Our identification with Christ (salvation) broke the hold sin had on us.
2 Baptism is an illustration of that spiritual event
a Going down into the water – death of Christ
b Under the water – Burial of Christ
c Up from the water – Resurrection of Christ

B Baptism is a PERSONAL PROMISE of Godly living

Romans 6:2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

ILLUSTRATION: Several years ago Rick Stacy, a pastor in Michgan, baptized a man in Lake Superior.

It was late October and about 9:00 PM. Rick had been talking with Myron and his wife about accepting the Lord as their personal savior and sealing that decision with baptism into Jesus. Myron was hesitant for a long time and then finally said, “Yes, I want to accept Jesus – and I want to be baptized tonight – right now in Lake Superior. In case you don’t know Lake Superior is cold. The average temperature (year round) is about 38 degrees. This was late October and the gales of November (remember the Edmund Fitzgerald) had come early. The waves were running 3 feet high.
The water was very cold. They were going to walk out waist deep into the water, but only made it about knee deep. Rick laid Myron down and the waves washed over him as he was baptized in the name of Jesus. When they went back to Myron’s home for some hot cocoa and a hot soak for their cold feet, Rick asked him why it was so important that he do this that night in Lake Superior.
His answer: “I was in the army, an officer in the infantry during Viet Nam. I saw and did things that no man should see or do. I wanted my sins buried in the deepest and coldest place…”

SOURCE: Rick Stacy, Senior Pastor, Meridian Christian Church, Okemos, Michigan, October 2001.

1 Does not mean we are perfect.

a We will always struggle with sin
b We do not have to follow our sin nature any longer

Romans 6:6-7 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

2 It does mean we have a new master

a Sin is no longer our master (we died to sin)
b Jesus is our master

Romans 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

C Baptism is a DIVINE PICTURE of our Eternal Destiny

1 We can NEVER be separated from God again

Romans 6:8-9 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
a We started out this life dead spiritually – “the wages of sin is death”
b Salvation brings us spiritual life, a life that never ends.

1) This is why we are spiritually “EVERLASTING” beings.
2) The condition of our spiritual life continues on after our physical life ends
3) The time of our physical life is the time to determine of spiritual life.

Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

2 We have an ETERNAL existence with Him

Romans 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

III THE FUTURE AFTER BAPTISM IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST

Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

A We are to live our lives as “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”

1 Living in Christ is not continuing our present way of living.
2 Living in Christ is living so that sin is not the ruler of our lives.
a The sense is do not let it continue to exercise the influence over you it once did
b It is a command of God – something you are able to do!

3 “But” – a word of contrast
a Can’t do both
b Either one or the other

B We are to live our lives as offerings to God

Romans 6:12-13 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

1 We do that by “not offering ourselves”

a The image of something offered for sacrifice.
b “crawl off the altar”
c Don’t put yourself in the position where you are exposed to the same activities you once did.

2 We are to be “instruments of righteousness”

a Our bodies are not the source of sin, but the instrument sin uses to manifest itself.
b We are to make ourselves instruments of righteousness – people though whom righteousness can flow.

In the early church Salvation, was followed by baptism, then a devotion to God’s Word, and to the importance of others through fellowship and witness.

Acts 2:41-42 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Baptism does not mark the end of a journey, only a mile marker at the start of a life of obedience for Christ!

7 People Who Ought To Pray (I Sam. 12:23)

7 People Who Ought To Pray

I Sam. 12:23

“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” (I Sam. 12:23)

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."--Jer. 33:3.

Moses cried out to God, and God spared Israel from judgment.
Joshua’s prayer made the sun stand still.

Hannah’s prayer was answered with a baby boy.

Solomon got wisdom in answer to his prayer.

Elijah prayed and fire came down from Heaven and devoured  the sacrifice on Mount Carmel.

Jonah’s prayer brought him out of the belly of the whale.

Elisha prayed for a double portion of the Spirit, God gave it to him.

Jabez prayed for God to bless him, enlarge his coasts, for God’s hand to be with him, and keep him from evil, and God granted his request!

Ten lepers prayed and were instantaneously healed.

Peter prayed, and Dorcas arose from the dead.

The thief on the cross prayed and was saved immediately.

The early church prayed, and the place was shaken where they were gathered together.

Peter got out of jail in answer to the early Christians’ prayers.

Paul and Silas prayed  and the door of the Philippian jail fell off .

So, why don’t we really pray?

It is fascinating to read of the accounts of the prayers of the saints of God in the Bible. But don’t we serve the same God? Shouldn’t we also pray?

Church history books will stir up your soul, too, as you read how God answered the prayers of George Mueller of Bristol and David Brainerd of New England. J. Hudson Taylor and Charles Finney believed the Bible and got the power of God through answered prayer. They called upon God, and He answered them and showed them
great and mighty things which they knew not.

It was Abraham Lincoln who said, "Many times I have been forced to my knees, realizing there was simply no other place to go."

George Washington met the crisis of Valley Forge on his knees in prayer.

In a speech to the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin reminded the delegates of the daily prayer to God for the guidance and protection that they had offered. Stonewall Jackson said, "I have so fixed the habit in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without lifting my heart to God in thanks and prayer for the Water of Life."

The Bible is filled with promises to modern-day Christians, and God still promises to hear and answer prayer.

We read in

John 14:13,14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
John 15:7 says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

First John 3:22 reads, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

First John 5:14,15 tells us, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Matthew 7:7 reads, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

 Matthew 21:22 we read, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

James 5:16 says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

James 4:2 we are told, "Ye have not, because ye ask not."

7 People Who Ought To Pray

1. People in Trouble Ought to Pray. The psalmist said, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (Ps. 34:6).

2. People Who Need Wisdom Ought to Pray. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).

3. People Who Need Power Ought to Pray. Jesus said, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:11-13).

4. People Who Want Revival Ought to Pray. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (II
Chron. 7:14).

5. People Who Want Cleansing Ought to Pray. David prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23,24).

6. People Who Want to Know God’s Way Ought to Pray. Moses prayed, "Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people"
(Exod. 33:13).

7. People Who Want to Be Saved Ought to Pray. Peter cried out, "Lord, save me" (Matt. 14:30). The Apostle Paul admonished us to "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1).

Someone has said, "God waits to do the will of praying men." Remember that prayer is the Christian’s greatest privilege. It is his greatest tool, his greatest weapon and his greatest opportunity. It is the key to God’s storehouse, the switch to God’s power station and the greatest work in which one can become involved. May all of us say, with Samuel, "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you" (I Sam. 12:23).