Category: Sermons

Letters And Papers From Prison

Responses to Trials and Tribulations

Acts 28

Pastor Barry Kerner

The book of Acts gives a unique glimpse into the life and practice of the early church. It describes the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2, the spread of the Gospel outside of Jerusalem in Acts 8 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10, how the church made decisions in regards to doctrine (Acts 15), and much more. The sermons recorded in Acts give us a window into the preaching ministries of Peter, Stephen, Philip, James, and Paul, along with the immediate impact those sermons had.

We’re going to look at the final sermon found in the book of Acts  found in Acts 28, The sermon that we find Paul preaching to the Jewish leaders at Rome I call “Paul’s Last Sermon.” Not that’s it’s truly Paul’s last sermon. We know he’s going to preach many, many more times but the last time we find him recorded is in Acts 28. He has a very pointed word for the people. Paul has been in Caesarea. He is taken prisoner. He appeals to Caesar and they say, “If you want to see Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” He goes through a rough cruise. Have you ever been on a rough cruise? You’ve never been on a rough cruise like Paul went on. This wasn’t Carnival or Princess Cruise Lines with all their amenities. Paul was on his way to Rome but this wasn’t to be a typical Mediterranean pleasure cruise.

A storm comes up, the seas rage, and Paul finds himself he wind shipwrecked. There he is, on a board, paddling past the reefs to a nearby island. After dragging himself ashore, and there on that island he builds a fire. But his troubles just keep on coming. A poisonous snake, bothered by the heat of the fire, jumps out and attaches itself to him. They think he’s going to die. God touches him and brings a miracle of life in Paul and he’s alive and well and preaching the gospel.

From there they get another ship and they make their way finally to the great city of Rome. At that time, there’s about two million people living in Rome. Half a million of those people are slaves. Every other person you’d see in Rome in 60 A.D. was a slave. Now you have to understand they had doctors that were slaves. They had merchants that were slaves. These were not just people working fields. These were people working in every strata of life but they were slaves. It is said of Rome in that 60 A.D. period there were two things that the Romans lived for. Bread and the circus. Bread because they were all but starving and if they could get food it was usually bread. The other thing they lived for was at the circus. Now not the circus that we know today with elephants and tigers but it was the arena event of entertainment. They lived for food and they lived for entertainment. Nero was the Caesar. He was the emperor. Caesar murdered his mother. Caesar murdered his own wife. Nero embarked on a great building project to lend glory to his elf declared status of a God. When Nero embarked on his project or urban renewal he had to move the people from where he wanted to build. It’s said that he had a fire started to burn down much of the city to brutally force the inhabitants out for his new palaces and gardens.  It’s said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire’s first persecution against the Christians.

Paul is there in chains awaiting trial and we find him coming into Rome. There were seven synagogues in Rome and he calls those Jewish leaders together and he’s got a word for the Jews here in the great city of the world, Rome. We pick up the text in Acts 28 and verse 16. “When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him. After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you [these are the leaders of the seven synagogues of Rome and to speak with you], for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.”’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.”

Paul’s come to Rome. He’s preaching his last sermon. He’s called these Jews from the seven synagogues together and they’ve talked. I want to look at three things found in this last sermon? I want to look Paul’s topic, his text, and his turning.  First of all, what was Paul’s topic? We find this topic in verse 23. Look at it right there in your Bible. Here’s what Paul had to say. When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers. He had a big crowd. And he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus. Here was Paul’s topic. The kingdom and the Christ. The kingdom and the Christ. It was about the kingdom of God and Jesus the Nazarene. Paul had one topic. It was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I’m telling you, he was driving home the kingdom of God and Jesus.

Well the question then begs, what did Jesus say about the kingdom of God? Listen to the word of God in Matthew 6:33 where Jesus said, “But seek first God’s kingdom, His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom.” Don’t seek first yourself. Don’t seek your synagogue. Don’t seek the ordinances of the church. Don’t seek love. Don’t seek friendship. Seek first God’s kingdom. Amen.

In Matthew 19 and verse 24 he said, “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” He was saying, “I’m telling you, you’ve got to humble yourself and you will enter this kingdom with difficulty.” You do not come with your chest thrown back and saying, “Boy, look at me. Look at all I’ve done” No, sir. If you’re trusting in the things of this world for your salvation, they will stop you from setting even one foot into the kingdom.

A myth has been promulgated for years that Jesus was talking about the difficulty a camel would have going through a small gate into Jerusalem. Just as the apocryphal Acts of Peter and Andrew refers the saying to a literal camel and needle, we are not meant to reason away the apparent difficulty of getting a camel through a needle’s eye. For the difficulty is not just apparent it is real, and not be solved by textual trickery but by taking the Jesus’ ludicrous language at face value.

What we have is a beautiful Hebrew hyperbole, as in the tree sticking out of one’s eye whilst one is removing a speck in another’s eye! Indeed, Jewish Talmudic literature uses a similar aphorism about an elephant passing through the eye of a needle as a figure of speech implying the unlikely or impossible: “They do not show a man a palm tree of gold, nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle.”

The camel was the largest animal seen regularly in Israel, whereas in regions where the Babylonian Talmud was written, the elephant was the biggest animal. Thus the aphorism is culturally translated from a camel to an elephant in regions outside of Israel.

The aim is not, then, to explain away the paradox and make the needle a huge carpet needle for, elsewhere, the Jewish writings use the “eye of the needle” as a picture of a very small place, The sages said, “A needle’s eye is not too narrow for two friends, but the world is not wide enough for two enemies.”The ludicrous contrast between the small size of the needle’s eye and the largest indigenous animal is to be preserved for its very improbability.

Jesus’ hearers believed that wealth and prosperity were a sign of God’s blessing. So their incredulity is more along the lines that, “if the rich, who must be seen as righteous by God by their evident blessing, can’t be saved, who can be?”. Later Christians have turned this around to portray wealth as a hindrance to salvation, which it can be – but no more so than many other things, when the message is that salvation is impossible for all men for it comes from God alone.

But beyond impossibility is possibility with God for, elsewhere, a Jewish midrash records:

“The Holy One said, open for me a door as big as a needle’s eye and I will open for you a door through which may enter tents and [camels?]”

In other words God only needs the sinner to open up just a crack for him and God will come pouring in and set up room for an oasis. God only needs a ‘foot in the door’, so to speak. 

What’s the rich man have to do? He’s got to change his mindset. In Mark 1:15, Jesus said unto these Jews, he was saying, “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” Stop trusting in your riches and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. How do you come to the kingdom? You repent and you believe the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark 10:15, Jesus said it this way: “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” You don’t come high and mighty. You come like a child who depends on their father. You’ve got to come like children unto God. You haven’t got to figure out all the theology to get saved. You haven’t got to know everything. The essentials are this: God loves you, Jesus died for you, and you must believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s so simple a child can understand it – If you believe, He’ll save.

Paul was hammering home his topic, the kingdom of God. In John’s gospel chapter three and verse three, Jesus said it this way, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You’ll never get in the kingdom of God unless you are birthed not just in your flesh but birthed in your spirit. You must be born again. Paul would write to the Corinthians in I Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 50. “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” He is hammering home to those Corinthians, “I don’t care how high and mighty you are. You’re flesh and blood.” What you do, your job doesn’t get you there. Who your father is doesn’t get you there. It doesn’t matter what your social standing is or what family you’re in. Unless you’re in the family of God you don’t see the kingdom. Flesh and blood won’t get you there.

Then in Romans 14:17 he’s right here in Rome talking about this. He’ll later write to the Romans and he says this, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,” Remember, the Romans lived for bread and entertainment. He said the kingdom is not eating and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That’s what the kingdom is. The kingdom of Almighty God.  What was his topic? His topic was simple. He was trying to persuade them in this text in verse 23 that Jesus was God and that He ruled the kingdom.

Verse 24 says, “And many, some were being persuaded but others would not believe.” Isn’t it amazing how that the same heat will both melt wax and harden clay? That’s what happens when the glorious light of the heat of the gospel comes. Some melt and believe. Others are hardened and believe not. Which one are you today? Has the glory of God melted your heart and you believed and went public with that? Or did your heart get hard? The more times you say no the harder your heart becomes. Some believed and others did not.

When Paul saw that some were persuaded and some were not he then took a text from Isaiah 6:9- 10. In verse 25. Paul said, “I’ve got one more word for you. Just one more thing before you go.” They were beginning to leave and Paul said, “Just before you go, I’ve got a concluding thought and here it was.” The Holy Spirit right there spoke through Isaiah the prophet when he said unto your fathers. Then he quoted Isaiah chapter 6, verses 9 and 10. He said about your fathers, about your Jewish forefathers. “Even during the days of the prophets, the Jews, they would hear but they wouldn’t perceive. They could see but they close their eyes.” They had a heart but it had become dull to the things of God. This is a word of warning, judgment, and condemnation. Paul is saying to the Jews there in Rome. Your fathers and your mothers and your grandfathers and your great-grandfathers, they heard all of this from the judges and the prophets and they too would not believe and many of you are just like them. That’s what Isaiah said. Those Jews in Rome were like many who hear the Gospel. They’ll come listen but they won’t perceive. They’ve got wax in their ears. They come and they see but they choose to close their eyes. Has your heart gotten dull or  have you believed on the Lord Christ? If so, are you sharing that revelation with the world?

Paul’s a Bible preacher and he’s saying, “Listen, look, and learn.” Listen, look, and learn. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.  Paul was condemning them. He said, “You’ve heard all your life. You’ve listened all your life. You’ve seen it all your life. It’s not enough to come listen. It’s not enough to see. Your heart’s got to be warmed and God has got to change you. Paul had a topic. It was Christ and the kingdom. He had a text and it was Isaiah.

In the last part of Paul’s sermon there was a turning. Paul said, “Because you won’t listen I am turning away from you Jews and I’m going to the Gentiles.” In verse 28, “Therefore, let it be known to you to the Jews that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles.” They will also listen. Paul said, “I’m turning.” He preached to the Jews and he said, “Now I’m turning to the Gentiles.” Now listen to me. He is not saying that a Jew couldn’t get saved but that many wouldn’t be saved. They’re steeped in Old Testament and they know there’s a promise of a Messiah but they won’t believe. Paul said, “Not many will believe so I’m turning and I’m going to take the gospel to the world.”

So Paul did three things to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Number one. He preached to the people who came to visit with him in the house. And 24 hours a day, there was never a moment in those two years that Paul did not have a chain around his arm that was attached to a Roman soldier. The Praetorian Guard. The elite military force of Rome. Fifteen thousand of these men were assigned to look after Nero and everything pertaining to Caesar’s house. Every shift the guard on duty the guard assigned to Paul unchained himself and another took his place. God just kept sending the harvest to Paul. It’s hard to get away from the preacher when you’re chained to him.

In Philippians 1:13, Paul talked about how the message of the Gospel went through the Praetorian guard. If you open your eyes you’ll realize that God has chained you to someone. God has connected them to you in such a way that they can’t help but hear what you have to say. You ought to be speaking the gospel wherever and to whomever you’re chained to. If you’re chained to a desk, speak the gospel. If you’re chained to a classroom, speak the gospel. If you’re chained somewhere with people running in and out share the Gospel. Paul was chained to the Praetorian. Paul, first of all, shared the gospel to the people he was chained to. His friends would come. They’d visit with him and they’d talk. Paul would say, “You know.” He’s just sharing the gospel of the Lord. This guy chained to him, he’s hearing every bit of it. He can’t go to sleep. He’s got to stay awake. Why? He’s got to guard the prisoner.

Secondly, Paul wrote letters. Paul wrote papers from prison. He wrote at least four epistles from this two year stay in a Roman house of his rented quarters. He wrote Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon from this Roman cell. There’s a guard chained to him while he’s writing. And you know he’s just got to be reading these letters out loud. He probably asked more than one guard, “Well, did I say that just right?” The Bible tells us that all scripture is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you, the Spirit of the living God was in Paul and on Paul and he’s writing Holy Scripture and this guard was chained to him – what a seat for the kingdom. Some of those guards believed and some of them didn’t believe. Paul preached to who he was chained to. Secondly, he wrote letters. When you share a Bible or a tract with someone you’re doing the same thing Paul did. You’re sharing papers from prison. That’s how the Gospel gets taken around the world.

Third, not only did he preach to who he was chained to and write letters, Paul was released from this Roman jail and took the Gospel with him wherever he went. After his release he then traveled with the gospel to where God would let him go. Eventually he wound up back in Rome and was martyred for the faith. He shared with those closest to him. He wrote letters to the people that he knew and he traveled and shared as God would let him do it. Paul turned from the Jew to the Gentile. To our Jewish friends, God will save you if you’ll believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. To our Gentile friends, He’ll save you if you’ll believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was the 23rd day of May, 1939. America was staring down the gun barrel of entering World War II. Our president was reinforcing the Navy with more ships. One of those vessels that had been built was the U.S. Submarine, the Squalus. The Squalus was off the coast of New Hampshire on the 23rd day of May, 1939 when one of the chambers was breached and water flooded one of the chambers of the submarine, the Squalus. She sank. Of the 59 crew, 26 died in that watery grave and 33 were still alive 240 feet below the surface in a frigid tomb wondering, “Can we ever get out of here?” The commander sent up red dye to mark the water where they went down. They also ran a buoy up with a radio cable so if anyone knew of it or found them they could communicate back. As sovereign grace would have it another ship did find them but now they had to get these 33 out of that submarine and to the surface.

There was a brand new device called the Momsen McCann Rescue Chamber. It was brand new. It was devised to send that rescue chamber to a sunken sub attached to it and let the people get out and in and take it up. So they sent the Momsen McCann device down four times. It could only carry a small payload. There were four Navy divers that all received the Medal of Honor after this. They went down, filled it up and brought them back to the top. Went down, filled it up and to the top. Four times they went and those 33 got into that rescue chamber and went to the top. They made a fifth trip and went in the chamber that had been flooded to see if there were any survivors. None were alive. All were dead.

What amazes me about that story is that not one of the 33 people trapped in that Squalus Submarine refused to get into the rescue chamber. They had never done it before. They didn’t know if it would work. They didn’t know it might be worse in there than it was where they were. They absolutely did not know but not one of the 33 men refused to get in. God is sending a rescue chamber to the world. That chamber is an empty tomb and there’s an extended hand that says you’re sunk without God. If you would but believe you will be saved. Some will say, “I’ve never tried it before.” I understand. Some will say, “I’ve never done it before.” I understand. Some will ask, “Are you sure it’ll work?” To them I’ll tell the what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:20,  “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”  The chamber has come for you. His name is Christ. If you’ll crown Him king, He’ll change your life and set you free.

Christian Obedience

Pastor Barry Kerner

The Bible has much to say about obedience. In fact, obedience is an essential part of the Christian faith. Scripture tells us in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus Himself was “obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Matthew 16:24 indicates that Christians are to be about taking up our cross and following Christ. It would be impossible to emulate and follow Christ without obedience. The Bible says that we show our love for Jesus by obeying Him in all things: In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” A Christian who is not obeying Christ’s commands can rightly be asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Obedience is defined as “dutiful or submissive compliance to the commands of one in authority.” Using this definition, we see the elements of biblical obedience. “Dutiful” means it is our obligation to obey God, just as Jesus fulfilled His duty to the Father by dying on the cross for our sin. “Submissive” indicates that we yield our wills to God’s. “Commands” speaks of the Scriptures in which God has clearly delineated His instructions. The “one in authority” is God Himself, whose authority is total and unequivocal.

Failure to submit to God’s authority are acts of disobedience. Scripture calls these acts transgressions of sins. The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sin as. “any want or conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.” While Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” it is clear that we are responsible for the sins we commit. 1 John 3:4,“Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.”For the Christian, obedience means complying with everything God has commanded. It is our duty to do so.

It is important to remember that our obedience to God is not solely a matter of duty. John 14:23 indicates that the reason we should obey God is because we love Him. The spirit of obedience is as important as the act of obedience. We serve the Lord in humility, singleness of heart, and love. We must beware of allowing a facade of obedience to mask a sinful heart. Living the Christian life is not all about rules. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time relentlessly pursued acts of obedience to the Law, but they became self-righteous, believing they deserved heaven because of what they had done. They considered themselves worthy before God, who owed them a reward; however, the Bible tells us that, without Christ, even our best, most righteous works are as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). The Pharisees’ external obedience still lacked something, and Jesus exposed their heart attitude. Their hypocrisy in obeying the “letter of the law” while violating its spirit characterized their lives, and Jesus rebuked them sharply: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:27–28) The Pharisees were obedient in some respects, but they “neglected the weightier matters of the law.” (Matthew 23:23)

Today, we are not called to obey the Law of Moses. That has been fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 5:17). Galatians 6:2 and John 13:34 remind us that we are to obey the “law of Christ,” which is a law of love. In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus stated the greatest commands of all, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Though it has massively influenced the course of history, Christianity is not a religion of political revolution, Many New Testament passages teach that Christians must obey their government. Jesus famously said: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17) From the birth of Christ, when Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to register at the demand of Caesar Augustus, to Jesus’ trial before Pilate and his death on a Roman cross, our faith demonstrates the need for submission to the governing authorities – whether they are virtuous or corrupt. Romans 13:1 plainly says: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” 1 Peter 2:13 explains: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.” R C Sproul comments that “there is a fundamental obligation of the Christian to be a model of civil obedience. We as the people of God are called upon to be as obedient as we possibly can in good conscience to the powers that be.”

For several months Christians across the nation have had to adjust to a new normal. Rather than jumping out of bed and driving to church, people now tune into the live-streams of church services while eating pancakes and sipping coffee in their pajamas. Since the sudden growth of the COVID-19 pandemic, new social distancing regulations have limited large gatherings—meaning limited church services.

Government regulations vary from state to state and even among neighboring counties and towns. While most churches have opted to obey the government’s wise laws, some churches have chosen to completely disregarded them. Christians are called to be model citizens, obeying the laws of the land as long as they don’t contrast with God’s laws. Churches should set a peaceful example by obeying government regulations and maintaining unity. Not only does this display respect for authorities, but it is also a way to love our neighbors by keeping them safe.

Social distancing laws have been created to protect the public health. There have been over seven million cases reported across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Each day, that number grows. So far, social distancing has proved to be very effective. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, has explained that there is now a “glimmer” of success as a result of social distancing.

Our love for others should be our biggest motivation to remain socially distant. Loving your neighbor is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to a deadly deadly virus,” Relevant Magazine wrote. It’s vital to help our friends and family avoid the virus by evading it ourselves. Churches should seek to protect their congregation, thus it is imperative that they obey social distancing laws.

Some might argue governments are restricting religious freedom, by limiting all gatherings and limiting our opportunities to worship together. I shake my head when I hear complaints such as these. These times of isolation can be a boon to the ones who find more time to pray, study the scriptures, and reach out by phone to comfort those suffering from loneliness. With the surge of online Bible studies, Christian chat rooms and online services there is no need for anyone to forsake fellowship and assembling. It may be inconvenient for a season but these regulations won’t last long. Right now, their goal is to save your life.

Churches set an example for their congregation, and for the communities around them. In Romans, Paul exhorts the believers to honor the government.  God has selected each and every authority figure we have—both in the state and federal government. Churches must respect and honor governmental authority because it sets a God-honoring precedent for the world to witness.

It’s important to remember what the church actually is—the church is a body of believers. Even if we cannot gather physically, we can unite their hearts in pursuit of the Lord. God is limitless. Christians do not have to be in church to worship God, they can do it just as well in their homes! Remember—this is merely for a season. Once these regulations are lifted, it is important to rejoin your congregation. Don’t get too comfortable in your pajamas. There will still be safety guidelines to follow, but for the obedient Christian these minor inconveniences will be something to bear willingly for the glory of god.

God is working in miraculous ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it may be one of the most difficult seasons in your life, don’t forget the importance of following the safety guidelines and continuing to worship God. New COVID-19 regulations have shut down churches—but not God.

If we love God, we will obey Him. We won’t be perfect in our obedience, but our desire is to submit to the Lord and display good works. When we love God and obey Him, we naturally have love for one another. Obedience to God’s commands will make us light and salt in a dark and tasteless world. (Matthew 5:13–16).

Soul Winning: The Secret of the Harvest John 4:35-38

Pastor Barry Kerner

Evangelist Jay Strack made nine visits to the Holy Land. On each of those visits he asked for and received the same Bedouin tour guide. And, on each tour he witnessed to the man. The last time he spoke with him, the guide was interested as to why Jay was so persistent in sharing his faith. Jay explained to him that they were friends and he simply could not fail to share the way of salvation with one about whom he cared so deeply.

The guide looked at him and said, “I understand now. You do not want to commit the sin of the desert.” Jay was not familiar with that phrase, so his friend explained. To Bedouins, who are nomadic people, the ultimate sin is the sin of the desert . . . knowing where water is but refusing to tell others.

The sin of the desert may well be the greatest sin of churches today. We live in a wasteland of spiritual dryness and despair. And we know where the water of life can be found. To not tell others about it is the sin of all sins. That means evangelism is not optional for us. It rather should be the obsessive obligation of the church. But, how do we evangelize effectively?

If we really want to know the secret we would do well to study the Master Evangelist, Jesus. The apostle John, in his gospel, tells us of one of the great evangelistic harvests in Christ’s ministry (John 4:35-36). What he did and what he taught in this experience is the secret to a great evangelistic effort anywhere, anytime.

Jesus and his disciples were traveling through Samaria on their way from Jerusalem to Galilee when they stopped at Jacob’s Well outside the city of Sychar. Jesus rested by the well while his disciples went into the village to buy food. Presently, a lone woman came to draw water from the well. Two things were unusual about this. First, it was high noon and the women usually waited until the cool of the evening to draw water. Second, she traveled alone. The women of the village usually traveled in groups, chatting about the events of the day. Jesus, who knows the hearts of all people, immediately recognized that she not only had an empty water bucket, she also had an empty life.

The evidence, as John revealed later, was that she had been married and divorced five times and was now living with a man who was not her husband. She had flitted from man to man, from marriage to marriage, from relationship to relationship, looking for something or someone to satisfy the deep longings of her heart. She thought, perhaps another lover, another marriage, another affair, would do it. But they hadn’t. Her life was as dry and as empty as ever. Disillusioned, she no longer troubled herself with the legalities of marriage. She now just lived with a man. Jesus viewed her life more as sadness than badness. She was not so much to be scorned as to be pitied. She was searching for something she had never found and, often, it is the one who is searching the most who makes the most mistakes.

Jesus broke the ice by asking her for a drink of water. The woman, was surprised and responded, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink of water?” Then John adds this footnote for the reader, “For the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.” The Samaritans were a mixed race, the result of intermarriage between Assyrians and Jews centuries before. The Jews considered them as half-breeds, mongrels, dogs. So deep was their prejudice toward the Samaritans that they had no dealings with them at all. Jesus, as we know from his numerous dealings with and various teachings about Samaritans, did not share this prejudice.

So, he said to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that speaks to you, you would be asking me to give you Living Water.” The woman was thinking of physical water and wondered how Jesus could give her a drink since he had no rope or bucket with which to draw. Jesus then moved quickly from the physical to the spiritual by saying, “Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13- 14). The idea of water that could forever satisfy her inner thirst captured this woman’s attention and she said to Jesus, “Sir, give me that water.”

Jesus then revealed his knowledge of her past immorality. This convinced her that he was a prophet. Jesus then told her he was more than a prophet, he was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. With this thrilling revelation fresh in her mind she left her water pot and rushed back to the village to tell the men she had met the Savior. In the meantime the disciples, having returned from Sychar, were engaging Jesus in a conversation about the will of God. As they talked, Jesus looked up a saw a great host of people — mostly men — dressed in white robes and turbans coming toward him.

He then said to his disciples, “Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white (men dressed in white robes and white turbans) already to harvest” (John 4:35-36). The men of Sychar began to talk with Jesus and they were captivated by him. So much so that they invited him to remain in their village for a time. He accepted their invitation and stayed with them two days, preaching and teaching. John then adds this commentary: “Many of them believed on Jesus because of the sayings of the woman.

And many more  believed because of his own words.”

Don’t miss those two phrases set side by side: “many believed” and “many more believed.” They speak of the great harvest that occurred that day. This whole experience, what Jesus said and what Jesus did reveals to us the secret of a great evangelistic harvest anywhere, anytime. There are three things that leap out at us: We must see the masses; we must seize the moment; and we must share the message.

We Must See the Masses

The first thing that is essential to an evangelistic harvest is to see the masses. As Jesus saw the multitude of people coming from the city he said to his disciple, “Lift up your eyes and look . . .” Why did he say that? Because his disciples had just been in the city of Sychar buying food and mingling among the same people who were now coming to meet Jesus. But they apparently had not witnessed to a single person. They brought no one to meet Jesus. Now the village, in response to the witness of this woman, was coming en mass to see and hear him for themselves. The disciples had missed one evangelistic opportunity and he did not want them to miss another.

Why had they missed that first evangelistic opportunity? For two reasons — because of preoccupation and because of prejudice. When they first went into the village they were so preoccupied with their own needs they did not think of the needs of others. They had been so interested in physical bread that they forgot to share the bread of life. And, they shared the deep prejudice of their fellow Jews toward the Samaritans. It never entered their minds that God cared about the Samaritans or that the Samaritans might long to know God. The Samaritans were not their kind of people. They were of a different race, a different religion, a different culture. On the basis of preconceived ideas, deep prejudice, they were totally blinded to a whole city of people who were anxious to come to the Savior.

What the disciples did, we are in danger of doing ourselves — missing a great spiritual harvest, an evangelistic opportunity, because of preoccupation and prejudice. Preoccupation is our greatest danger. We can become so wrapped up in making a living, running a business, raising a family, planning a vacation, or even pastoring a church that we crowd out the eternal things of life. We can so focus on our own needs and wants that we forget about the needs of others. We can so focus on the physical that we forget the spiritual.

Jesus warned us of this danger in the parable of the sower. When the farmer went forth to sow, some seed fell among the thorns. The seeds germinated and sprouted and the plants grew but the thorns soon wrapped themselves around the tender plants and choked the life from them. Jesus identified the thorns as “the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world.” We are in constant danger that the cares of this world may choke out the spiritual from our life also. That’s why the apostle Paul, describing Christians as soldiers, said, “No man that goes to war entangles himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4).

Many Christians start out being a faithful witness and a discipler of men. But their entanglement with the world soon draws them away from the battle for the souls of the lost. Their relationships, families, jobs, keep them from the ministry they once had. Before they know it, the cares of this world spring up around them and become more of a priority than winning souls. A piece of advice, “Watch out for the thorns of this world, they’ll get you!”

Prejudice is another obstacle to evangelism. The disciples were so blinded by their prejudice toward the Samaritans that they never saw the need or the opportunity to witness to them. They thought, “These are not our kind of people.” They felt no responsibility toward them. Larry McSwain, provost of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said, “We Baptists are missing the folks who are smarter and richer than we are, and we are missing the people who are dumber and poorer than we are.” The fact is, we’re missing those who are much different from us in any way.

Jesus does not share our narrow views. He tells us we are not to miss anyone. In the Great Commission he commanded: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations . . .” The Greek word translated “nations” is the word “ethnos.” From it we get the word “ethnic.” It literally means every race, every tribe, every culture – ALL PEOPLE. All around us there are ethnicities, people of other races, other cultures, other nationalities, other languages that need to be won to Jesus Christ. And we must not be so absorbed in our own needs or so blinded by our prejudice that we do not see them and reach them.

By the way, the disciples would have missed the woman at the well for the same reason. They would have looked on her immorality as a sign of disinterest in spiritual things. But, how wrong they were. Her immorality was not a sign of spiritual indifference, but a sign of spiritual emptiness. We need the focus and the passion of Mahatma Ghandi, the great Indian leader. The passion of his life was “the last, the least, the lowest, and the lost.” That should be our mantra as we look enter the fields for the harvest.

Phillips Brooks reminds us, “We cannot believe in Christ for ourselves without believing in him for the whole world.” In the business world some companies are “niche marketers.” They target only a small segment of the population and go after them. Those of us who follow Christ can never be “niche marketers.” We must go after everyone. We must seek to win all people to Christ. Someone has said, “We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all see the same horizons.” Some people see things others never see — new potentials, new opportunities, new challenges, new needs. We must lift up our eyes, open our hearts and see the needs of the people around us or we will never do anything to meet them.

We Must Seize the Moment.

The second secret to a great spiritual harvest is to seize the moment. Jesus asked, “Do you say, there are yet four months, and then the harvest will come? I say . . . the fields are white already to harvest.”

1. B. Myers said of this experience, “If those disciples had been appointed a commission of inquiry about the possibility of a Christian enterprise in Samaria, I know exactly the resolution they would have passed. The resolution would have been: Samaria unquestionably needs the Master’s message, but it is not ready for it. There must first be plowing, sowing, and then waiting. It is needed, but it is not ready.” Can’t you hear many of our ecclesiastical assemblies passing such a motion? We are always ready to recognize needy areas, but just as ready to find perfectly good reasons why we should do nothing at the present time.

In meeting the physical needs of the world, James 2:14-16 warns us about faith without deeds, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” How much more important is acting to meet the spiritual needs of those around us. We must beware lest we spend so much time analyzing and organizing and agonizing that we never get around to evangelizing.

Anyone remotely familiar with farming knows that the harvest is seasonal and soon passes. Crops go through three stages: green, ripe, rotten. The harvest is effective only at one stage. Likewise, intervention, at the right time, can produce rich spiritual harvest. When the harvest is ready to be gathered in, you must be ready to act. Urgency is essential. Every indication is that our world today is ready. But too many of our churches are twiddling their thumbs while the harvest is lost. We need to be reminded that any church that is not seeking the lost is lost itself.

In the movie, “Dead Poet’s Society,” Robin Williams plays the part of a teacher, John Keating. In his first class session, Keating takes his students into the hall to the trophy case and shows them pictures of heroes from the past history of the school. He says to them, “All these young men were as you are today — starting life with great promise. All of you will someday be as they are. They are all dead and so will you be. What do you think they would say to you? Get close to the glass.” As the class leans toward the glass, Keating, in a raspy voice, says, “Carpe diem . . . carpe diem . . . carpe diem.” Seize the day! “If we the church have anything to say to the world, we need to say it now!” In the television mini-series, “The Kennedys of Massachusetts,” Joseph Kennedy, the patriarch of the clan, said, concerning time, “There is little enough of it and none to waste.” That must be our attitude when it comes to evangelism. There is no time to waste.

Lyndon Johnson’s father used to say to him, “You must seize the moment.” That’s it! We must see the masses and we must seize the moment.

We Must Share the Message

The third secret to an evangelistic harvest is to share the message. The end result of this experience was that, “many of the Samaritans of the city believed on him for the saying of the woman. . . and many more believed because of his own words.” Don’t miss John’s emphasis on “words” — her words and his words, human words and divine words, the words of a witness and the word of God. Sooner or later all evangelism must reduce itself to words.

Somebody has to tell what God has done and what they have experienced. That’s the secret of a great harvest. This, I believe, is our basic problem. It is not that the harvest is not ready, but that we are not ready. Our job is simply to be faithful in sowing and reaping by witnessing. We all know we are to do that, but the minute anyone begins talking about it, someone says to himself, “The best way to do that is by example. I live my faith.” We ought to live our faith. And everyone knows our lives ought to speak louder than our words. But as a matter of fact they do not, and perhaps cannot. For while our example may be potent, when we face trouble courageously, or live an evidently disciplined and unselfish life, no mere life can give testimony to all the richness of the Christian Gospel.

I cannot, by being good, tell persons of Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection, nor of my faith in his divinity. The emphasis is too much on me, and too little on him. It would be the height of conceit to think that my life could ever become good enough to mirror these things very clearly to other people. Yet they are the verities in which my faith stands. And I must bear witness to them.

Keith Parks, while president of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “As far as I know we are never told in the scriptures that we should prepare the hearts of people. That’s God’s business. What we are told is to busy ourselves at sowing and reaping.” It’s God’s business to prepare the hearts of people and he is always doing that. He furrows the hearts of men through scores of circumstances to prepare them to receive the gospel. Sometimes it’s the birth of a child, sometimes it’s an illness, sometimes it’s a financial reversal, sometimes it’s a marital difficulty, sometimes it’s a tragedy. And often times he’s at work when we don’t even recognize it.

James Gilmour, that heroic and solitary soul, the story of whose labor is more thrilling than any romance, learned this from experience. He said that early in his Christian life he heard the message, “Go to Mongolia,” but when he got there he found that he had been mistaken for the message all the time had really been, “Come to Mongolia.” Jesus had been there all the time waiting for him. He is always ahead of us, preparing the harvest if we will just see the masses, seize the moment, and share the message.

It was June 6, 1944, one of the most crucial times in world history. The high command of the allied forces under Supreme Commander Dwight David Eisenhower were gathered at Portsmouth, England. They were poised for Operation Overlord, the cross-channeled attack from England to France. It would be D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.

The United States, Great Britain, and Canada had assembled the largest amphibious assault force in history. It involved 3 million men, 5,000 large ships, 4,000 small landing craft, and more than 11,000 aircraft. It was the greatest invasion fleet ever to sail the seas. If successful it would mark the beginning of the end of World War II. The invasion had been set for June 5, but bad weather had caused the launch to be delayed at least 24 hours. Now, as General Eisenhower met with his chiefs of staff, all eyes turned to J. M. Stagg, the chief meteorologist of Operation Overlord. General Eisenhower asked, “Mr. Stagg, could you give us an update on the weather?” Mr. Stagg replied, “A fresh weather front provided hope of improved conditions the following day. We will have a corridor of about 36 hours where the ceiling will be 3,000 feet. If we wait beyond that it will be at least a month before the weather will allow us to go.” Ike asked each of his commanders how they thought the forecast would affect the operation. But ultimately, the decision was his. After they spoke Ike sat in silence for thirty, maybe forty seconds. Then he raised his head, looked at his fellow commanders, and said, “The consequences of delay justify great risk. We’ll go.”

Our decision to go affects more than the outcome of a war in time. It affects the souls of men for eternity. We are sowing and reaping for everlasting life. How many hours do we have before the ceiling falls? I do not know, but it’s getting awfully dark outside. God knows we have had enough time already. The time has come for us to say, “The consequences of delay justify great risk. We’ll go.

Pentecostal Purpose And Power

Acts 1

Pastor Barry Kerner

Heavenly Father, how I thank You that by faith in the Lord Jesus, Your Holy Spirit has made me alive in Him and placed me into the family of God and the Body of Christ.
Thank You, that He has set His seal of ownership upon me and taken up residence within my heart, so as to empower me in my spiritual walk, as He gradually transforms me in to the lovely likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide me in all things, and that I would learn to listen to the gentle promptings of His voice, as I read Your Word or commune with You in prayer. Give me grace to recognize His still small voice as I search though the scriptures each day and the wisdom to discern Your spiritual nudges, when godly Christians are prompted to offer direction and give me advice. May I maintain an open heart and develop a teachable spirit, and I pray that I may walk in Your ways and live a life that is well pleasing to You, and glorify my Father in heaven. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen

Today we celebrate the Birthday of the Church -Pentecost.

Pentecost, also called Whitsunday or White Sunday is one of the three major holidays of the church. The most important being Easter, followed by Christmas, and Pentecost. Pentecost is celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day of Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and other disciples following the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, and it marks the beginning of the Christian church’s mission to the world.

The 120 Disciples, who were gathered together in prayer, were infilled with the Holy Spirit and given supernatural power for living and for fulfilling the great commission given to them by their Lord, Jesus Christ. Their charge is found in Matthew 28:18-20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Subsequently they were told to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power which would enable them to fulfill this great task.

Their time of waiting coincided with the Jewish Feast of Shavuot also known as Pentecost. The Jewish feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) was one of the three pilgrimage festivals of Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people would have been present in Jerusalem for the religious holiday. The feast was primarily a thanksgiving for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, but it was later associated with a remembrance of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The church’s transformation of the Jewish feast to a Christian festival was thus related to the belief that the gift of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus was the firstfruits of a new dispensation that fulfilled and succeeded the old dispensation of the Law.

When the festival was first celebrated in the Christian church is not known, but it was mentioned in a work from the Eastern church, the Epistola Apostolorum, in the 2nd century. In the 3rd century it was mentioned by Origen, theologian and head of the catechetical school in Alexandria, and by Tertullian, Christian priest and writer of Carthage.

In the early church, Christians often referred to the entire 50-day period beginning with Easter as Pentecost. Baptism was administered both at the beginning (Easter) and end (the day of Pentecost) of the Paschal season. Eventually, Pentecost became a more popular time for baptism than Easter in northern Europe, and in England the feast was commonly called White Sunday (Whitsunday) for the special white garments worn by the newly baptized. In The First Prayer Book of Edward VI (1549), the feast was officially called Whitsunday, and this name has continued in Anglican churches. In Catholic and other Western churches, priests often wear red vestments during Pentecost to symbolize the “tongues of fire” that descended on the disciples from the Holy Spirit; members of some congregations also wear red in some traditions, and the altar or platform is often dressed in a red cloth.

The word “ Pentecost” means fiftieth and designates the 50th day after Passover, which was a Feast Day. Also known as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) or Feast of Harvest.

It was on this day, in the Book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 Followers of Christ who were gathered in an Upper Room in Jerusalem. It was on this day that the Church was born in a Blaze of Glory.

Some Time ago I read a statement of Dr. Jerry Vines, former President of the Southern Baptist Churches. He wrote, “It said that The Average Christian And The Average Church are Somewhere Bogged Down Between Calvary and Pentecost. They have been to Calvary for Pardon, but they Have Not Been to Pentecost For Power. Bethlehem means God With Us. Calvary means God For Us. But Pentecost means God In Us.”

I believe that the average Christian is much like the Ephesians believers when the Apostle Paul came to them in Acts 19:2 and said to them – “Did You Receive The Holy Spirit When You Believed?” They Replied that they didn’t even know that there was a Holy Spirit. Many Christians do not understand the role of the Holy Spirit and they have not appropriated the power of the Holy Spirit in their own personal life.

1. B. Phillips, who gave us the familiar paraphrase of the New Testament, wrote , “What we need today is again the wind and the flame of Pentecost.”

One Baptist Preacher said, “Pentecost is not a denomination, but is an experience every blood – bought child of God should receive.”

We are privileged to live in a generation when God is again pouring out His Spirit in a mighty way. The Rain of the Holy Spirit though is falling on the hard-packed, dry, religious ground of our day. We need to pray that that ground, hearts, will be softened to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This will bring sweet refreshing to weary-hearted Christians and help prepare the precious fruit of the earth for harvest.

In Peter’s sermon found in Acts 2:38-39 Peter told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

In effect he said this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not a special blessing for a special few in a special age. The Holy Spirit is available to all who been redeemed. Many of us have allowed the devil and religious tradition to rob us of the power of God. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for all people who receive the call to repentance. Since God is still calling men to unto Salvation, THE PROMISE IS GOOD NOW!!!

Dr. John R. Rice, the famous fundamentalist Baptist preacher, said, “There is an experience after Salvation, called the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. All Saved people do have the Holy Spirit. When someone is saved, the Holy Spirit puts him into the Body of Christ. But besides that, Christians ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and special soul-winning power. Saved people are not always filled with the Holy Spirit, They ought to be, and can be, but many are not.“

The Promise of Pentecost was The Pouring Out of the Holy Spirit upon all Flesh, both Men and Women. In Luke 24:49 Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is a definite and distinct experience. A Christian will know whether he has received the Spirit or not.

Ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven He sent the blessed promise of the Father and the faithful ones who had obeyed and waited in the Upper Room were filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter’s Sermon Declared, “This is it!!!” This is the fulfillment of the promise!

God had a purpose behind giving the Holy Spirit to believers. One word portrays the purpose of Pentecost – “HARVEST.” Harvest is at the Heart of Pentecost!!!

Joel 2:23-25 tells us, “Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you– The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.”

Two things were necessary for Israel’s harvest. First, early (former) rain, prepared the soil for the planting at Seed-time. Second, the latter rain matured the crop for harvest.

Joel 3:9 tells us, “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles…” verse 12 says, “Let the heathen be wakened…” Verse 13, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full…” and verse 14, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision…”

It’s Time to Reap the Harvest!!! The Rain of the Holy Spirit is preparing the Fruit of the earth for the Harvest. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, Peter cast the net and 3,000 souls got saved and came into the Kingdom.

God Has Not Given Us The Holy Spirit To Enjoy Alone, While The World Around Us Rushes On Toward Hell. WE DARE NOT FORGET THE NEEDS OF LOST PEOPLE, The People God Loves, The People Christ Died For, The People Christ Commanded Us to Evangelize.

There may be little time left! When are we going to wake up, forget our silly religious games and fulfill the commission Christ has given us? Souls are hanging in the balance. Some will fall and topple into hell unless we go in the power of the Holy Spirit and rescue them.

Pentecost is about POWER! In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples and us, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

That power is available for all  believers  today. The modern day church though, for the most part, has lost the power Of God. Today, most churches are nothing more than social clubs. They’re civic organizations with a religious flavoring. Just like Samson in the Bible, They don’t know that the Spirit of God has left them. They still have the form of Religion but have no power. Samson laid his head in Delilah’s lap. He Lost his power with God and could do nothing but live a defeated life. He was blind, he was bound, and he was powerless.

Religious tradition robs people and churches of the Power of God and leaves them powerless struggling along in weakness and defeat. They are blinded by the Devil, Bound up in Mickey Mouse Religion, Worst thing is they don’t even know it.!!!

But can do a new thing! There can be revival! Our churches filled with dry bones can live again! Consider these three major Powers of Pentecost:

First, there’s WORSHIPPING POWER. The Holy Spirit will help you to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth. The chief aim of man is to worship God. But the Devil has deceived people concerning worship. Many go to church and sit in a cold pew. They stare at the back of someone’s head and barely whisper as they pretend to sing a hymn. They then listen to a 15 or 20 minute message about some religious theme that means nothing to them. They struggle to stay awake, and still call it worship. They are just a spectator, simply an observer. Real worship demands participation. The Holy Spirit will help you to worship God in the Spirit. He will help you lift your soul to God and touch His heart with your heart.

Second, there’s WARNING POWER. The Holy Spirit will help you warn people of the dangers of hell and the Lake of Fire. How in the world can people claim to love God and serve God when they have no concern for the lost people  around them? If the Holy Spirit is living in you and working through you, you won’t be able to sit still while the lost are dying around you. You will have a burning desire to participate in the harvest. A yearning to go and warn people about sin, judgment and the reality of Hell and eternal separation from God.  When you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, There will be a holy drive within you to point people to Christ so they can be delivered and set free.

If your neighbor’s house was on fire, would you just sit back and have a word of prayer for them? Would you just fold your hands and quietly Say, “Lord wake them up before they lose everything and perish in those flames?” No! Of course not! Out of love for and respect for life, you would go warn them and Say, “Get Out, You are in Danger of Perishing, Come to Safety while you Can!!!” In the same way, out of respect for Christ who died for them, and out of love for lost people, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit –filled Christian warns the lost.

Third, there’s WITNESSING POWER. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told His disciples and us the purpose for the power when He said, “ you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can be a fearless, flaming witness for Christ instead of being weak, vacillating, and scared of standing up for Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit will give you BOLDNESS, CONFIDENCE, and COURAGE to witness for Christ and share your faith with others.

I have to ask, “Have You Received Your Pentecost?” In Acts 2:38, Peter said, “The Promise is unto you.” If you are a Christian, if you are saved, The gift of the Holy Spirit is for you! Jesus is God’s special gift for the world, for the sinner, For God so Loved the World that He gave His Only Son … The Holy Spirit is God’s special gift for the Christian. Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” Receiving Jesus will give you power to be a child of God. Receiving the Holy Spirit will give you power to serve Christ by being His anointed witness.

Let Us Not Be Satisfied Until We Receive the Promise. Let us Reach out with arms open wide in Faith, and Say, Yes Lord, I take what you give, Fill me with the Holy Spirit!

Let us pray.

Thank You, Father, for the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who testifies with our spirit that we are Your children.

Thank You for His ongoing work within each one of our lives, and thank You that He has quickened us from the dead, established us in Christ, sealed us in Him, placed us into His body and is skillfully building us up as living stones into a holy temple in the Lord.

Thank You, Father, that Your Spirit teaches us all things, guides us into all truth, is able to purify our hearts and cleanses our minds, when we hand every thought captive to Him, in willing surrender.

Lord, I thank You that no matter what difficulties and dangers flood our hearts and invade our lives, there is nothing that can separate us from Your love and grace.

Give us I pray, that sufficient strength that You have promised to all your children who are facing problems and danger, and let us never forget that greater is He that is indwelling each of Your children than the enemy that is in the world. Endue us with spiritual strength and fortitude as we face the future, strong in the knowledge that we have a heavenly home, secured for us in heaven.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Redeemed – Characteristics of a Christian

Pastor Barry Kerner

Welcome once again to Delphi Falls United Church. I’m Pastor Barry Kerner and I’m excited that you’ve taken the time to join us today.

For the last few week we’ve been looking at what redemption means. First, we discussed the perks of the Redeemed. These benefits are only available for true believers who have become members of the family of God and are now heirs to all the eternal riches of the kingdom.

Last week we examined the concept of redemption. As we said, redemption is more about a man than a plan. Jesus Christ, through his sacrificial death, purchased believers from the slavery of sin to set us free from that bondage which would have resulted in our death. Biblical redemption centers on God. God is the ultimate redeemer, saving his chosen ones from sin, evil, trouble, bondage, and death. Redemption is an act of God’s grace, through His son Jesus Christ, by which he rescues and restores his people. It is the common thread foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament which finds its completion in the New Testament person of Jesus Christ.

This week we’ll be looking at Characteristics of Christians. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;” Peter calls the redeemed of the Lord a peculiar people. There are traits that distinguish one who is redeemed and which sets the true believer apart from the world.

Let’s take a moment and go to the Lord in prayer.

Almighty God, you have kept us alive to praise and worship your holy name. We have gathered to thank you for your grace and praise you no matter where we are today. Your presence brings us strength, peace and hope in our lives. While we may be sinners, we can be washed clean through your mercy. May your grace aid us in our journey toward you. We have gathered to renew the love within our hearts. Allow us to live and serve you for all of our lives. May all of our works glorify you and make you glad to have us as your servants. We ask this all in the name of your son Jesus Christ, Amen.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said one of the most disturbing things found in the New Testament. He warned, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus warned those who professed to be redeemed that not everyone who claims Jesus as their Lord is sincerely saved. This means that many think they know Christ, but will come to find out that they never truly knew Him in a saving way. Jesus foretold that His visible church would be comprised of those who are truly saved and those who are under the delusion that they are children of God.

The false-conversion idea is echoed in three of Jesus’ parables. First, the Parable of the Sower found in Mark 4:1-20. There are four types of soils found in this Parable: one that flat-out rejects Christianity, two that seem to be interested in Christianity but don’t prove genuine (they are distracted by the cares of the world or disinterested after hardship), and one “good” soil that truly believes and bears fruit for Christ. Just like the fruitless seed that fell upon rocky and thorny ground, there are Christians who hear the Word of God and attend church regularly who do not show the signs of being saved and are not genuinely converted.

Second, the Parable of the Mustard seed reveals that while the visible church will grow and spread like a great tree, fowls of the air, will come home to roost. These birds are unbelievers who have made themselves at home in the pews of our churches.

Third, the Parable of the wheat and Tares found in Matthew 13:24-30 tells us that the church, as we know it, is comprised of both believers and unbelievers. The redeemed of the Lord and those who are not truly saved sit beside each other Sunday upon Sunday and are for the most part indistinguishable. But it is the fruit of the wheat and the tares lack thereof which will distinguish the redeemed from the lost.

First of all it’s important to note that John 3;16 and John 1:12 tells us that a person becomes a born again Christian simply by genuinely putting his/her trust in Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior. Romans 6:23 tells us that salvation & eternal life is a free gift of God through His son Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2;8 that we are saved by grace and not by our own merit or works and John 14;6 that Jesus is the only way by whom we can be reconciled to God and have eternal life. We, the redeemed of the lord have not become born again, Christians as a result of our own works or personal merit but we become Christians by the grace of God through placing our faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

When we become Christians we must allow the Holy Spirit to gradually work in us and to change our lives, our thoughts, our desires, our goals so that our lives are more Christ-centered instead of being self-centered. John 3;30 says, “He must become greater; I must become less.” Therefore Christ increases in our lives while we decrease. Galatians 2:20 says “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  

Christians are not perfect. Christians make mistakes. However, in Matthew 7:20, Jesus said that true genuine Christians will be recognized by their fruit and as we looked at earlier that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of Heaven. As we genuinely grow in Christ we become distinguished from those who are of the world; we become distinguished from the hypocrites & pretenders; as the sheep we are distinguished from the goats; as the wheat we are distinguished from the tares.

These are some of the characteristics and traits of true believers who have been redeemed from the world.

(1) A True Christian is Saved by Grace Through Faith In Jesus Christ & Not By Personal Merit or By Works. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

We are not saved by keeping the law or by our own works. We are saved because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross who paid for all our sins. Salvation is therefore by Jesus Christ alone and a Christian must realize that his/her salvation is a free gift. When a person believes that they can be saved because of their personal merit without Christ or by keeping the law, they are in error. Salvation is a free gift for the Christian and through Christ alone. Galatians 2:21 warns, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

(2) A True Christian Imitates God. In Ephesians 5:1, Paul said, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” People in the world love role models. Some look to Hollywood for role models; some look to sportsmen for role models. But the Christian’s role model is Jesus. When Jesus came to earth, He not only came to die for us, but He also came to set an example through His life on earth and through His teachings as to how we should practically live a life that is pleasing to God. Therefore the life that Jesus lived is the life that we should follow and imitate.

(3) A True Christian Obeys The Lord. In John 14:15, Jesus told His followers, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Obedience to the will and word of God is important in the life of a true Christian. Jesus said that our love of Him is proved if when we obey Him. Therefore God desires our obedience to His word.  Luke 6:46 , Jesus said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” We cannot say we love God but yet follow values and philosophies that are contrary to His word.

(4) A True Christian Does Not Conform To The World’s Standards. Romans 12:2 tells believers,  “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The world has its own values; its own systems; and its own priorities that are totally contrary to the values and laws of God. The Lord expects our values as Christians to align with God’s ways and teachings. When we become friends with the world and allow the values and philosophies of the world to influence our decisions, our lifestyle and our character, then the scriptures say that we automatically become enemies of God James 4:4-5 wars, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” A true Christian is therefore a friend of God and not a friend of the world.

(5) A True Christian Exercises Power Over The Enemy. Mark 16:17-18 describes the power held by true believers, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” God has given every believer the authority and power to overcome the world and the enemy. With the position and title of being a child of God, comes the authority to exercise the power that God has given you. Therefore as a Christian, you have the power and authority to pray for the sick; to cast out demons; and to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is not just for the pastor or the prophet or the religious leader to exercise authority – but God has given every person who is a born again believer the authority to exercise the power of God in his/her life for the glory of God.

(6) A True Christian Walks In Love. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul wrote, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” When God sent His begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins it was out of one motivation – His LOVE for us. God is motivated by love, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-11 tells us, “ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

(7) A True Christian Bears Good Fruit. In Matthew 7:18-20, Jesus said,  “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” A true Christian will not live like a hypocrite; The Pharisees for example, were hypocrites because they did not walk the talk; they did not practice the law that they professed to believe in. A true Christian will display the values and character of God in word and deed. Galatians 5:22-25 lets us know, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

(8) A True Christian Glorifies Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:23-25 tells believers, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” A Christian does not live for his church; he does not live for his pastor and he no longer lives for himself. However, a Christian lives for Jesus Christ because Jesus is Lord over his/her life. Therefore the life of a Christian should not be to impress men, but the life of a Christian should aim to please God – even if it means being persecuted for living for God. The Pharisees & other hypocrites, were more focused on being glorified and adored by men rather than focusing on glorifying God. Isaiah 42:8 reminds us that our words and our deeds must speak of the goodness and love of God so that only God is glorified because God will not share His glory with anyone

James 1:22-25 tells the Redeemed of the Lord, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” A true born again Christian is not just a person who attends church regularly and participates in various church related activities. Christianity is a daily lifestyle by which one lives for Christ Jesus and lives to glorify the Lord. Christianity is lifestyle of obedience where the true born again believer is an obedient doer of the word and not simply just a hearer

That Christ told us that there would be some who under the delusion that they are redeemed when they are not should be cause for alarm. First and foremost we should be concerned to determine if we ourselves are truly saved or if we have been deceiving ourselves and trusting in something or someone other than Jesus Christ. Second, we should be genuinely concerned for those who worship alongside us every Sunday. Our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. Could it be that they have been living under false pretenses. Have we and the church failed warn them of the danger of false religion? Although we are not called to Judge we have been given a spirit of discernment. Is the fruit of their lives contrary to the characteristics of a Christian? By failing to speak up, are we allowing them to toe the line between the world and the Kingdom of God without truly ever having made a decision for Christ? If we are truly saved, then in our hearts should be a burning desire for those who we know are truly lost and for those who profess to be Christians but who have been deceived by Satan – the Father of Lies to experience the redemptive power to be found in Jesus Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 13:5-7, the Apostle Paul told believers, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.”

Let’s take some time and look at 12 tests which distinguish the redeemed of the lord. In Matthew 25:34, Jesus tells us what awaits those who pass the test. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Test 1: We know that we are Christian because we walk in the light (1 John 1:4-7). Our style of life is gradually conformed to what God has revealed to us about His nature and will.

Test 2: We know that we are Christian because our lives are marked by sensitivity to sin, repentance, and confession (1 John 1:8-10).

Test 3: We know that we are Christian because we keep God’s commands (1 John 2:3-4). We desire to know God’s will, strive to obey it, and mourn our disobedience.

Test 4: We know that we are Christian because we walk as Christ walked (1 John 2:4-5). We desire to imitate Christ and grow in conformity to Him.

Test 5: We know that we are Christian because we love other Christians, desire their fellowship, and seek to serve them in deed and truth (1 John 2:7-11).

Test 6: We know that we are Christian because of our increasing disdain for the world and because of our rejection of all that contradicts and opposes God’s nature and will (1 John 2:15-17).

Test 7: We know that we are Christian because we continue in the historic doctrines and practices of the Christian faith and remain within the fellowship of others who do the same (1 John 2:18-19).

Test 8: We know that we are Christian because we profess Christ to be God and hold Him in the highest esteem (1 John 2:22-24; 4:1-3, 13-15).

Test 9: We know that we are Christian because our lives are marked by a longing and practical pursuit of holiness (1 John 3:1-3).

Test 10: We know that we are Christian because we are practicing righteousness (1 John 2:28-29; 3:4-10). We are doing those things that conform to God’s righteous standard.

Test 11: We know that we are Christian because we have overcome the world (1 John 4:4-6; 5:4-5). Although we are often hard pressed and weary, we press on in faith. We continue following Christ and do not turn back.

Test 12: We know that we are Christian because we believe the things that God has revealed concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. We have eternal life in Him alone (1 John 5:9-12).

If we have these qualities, and they are increasing in us, we have evidence that we have come to know God and bear the fruit of a child of God. However, if these qualities are absent from our lives, we should have the greatest concern for our souls. We should be diligent to seek God regarding our salvation. We should reexamine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We should be diligent to make our calling and election sure.

Perhaps your listing to this message and have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. Or maybe, you had thought that you were redeemed but after comparing your life to the characteristics of a Christian and examining and testing yourself you find that you not 100% sure of your calling. If you find yourself in either position, remember that salvation is a FREE GIFT. Salvation is not received by works but it is received by FAITH in Jesus Christ. It is that simple. A person must repent & by faith accept Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior because Jesus is the only way, the truth & the life and the only Mediator between God & man.

The steps to redemption and salvation are simple

First, you must acknowledge that you are a sinner who has broken God’s commandments and that you therefore need Jesus in your life. Romans 3;23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This means that we have all broken God’s laws and God’s 10 Commandments like those mentioned in Exodus 20:1-17. For example, if you have told a lie; if you have stolen something; if you have lusted after somebody or if you have coveted. This means you are guilty of breaking at least one or more of God’s 10 Commandments. Breaking God’s commandments makes us sinners. The fact that we are sinners who have broken God’s law means that we are accountable to God who is the Lawgiver. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2. Second, God wants you to repent of sinful values and of sinful living. Luke 13:3 warns, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Acts 3;19 tells us, “Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out.” Repenting means: to change your mind; a sincere turning away, in heart, mind and action. Instead of living for yourself, God wants you to decide to follow Him and to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
3. Third, you must not just acknowledge that we are sinners but that we mus confess our sins. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Romans 10;9 tells us, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) If we confess our sins we will find that God is a forgiving God. God will forgive any sin that you have done because Jesus died for ALL your sins and to set you free from the bondage of all types of sin in your life.

4. Fourth, you must believe. You must believe that ONLY Jesus can save you and restore your relationship with God. You must believe that Jesus is the ONLY way by which you can have everlasting life and escape from eternal separation from God. You must believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and resurrected from the grave. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 1:11-12 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive him, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
   By faith, You must receive Jesus as Your Lord & Savior and therefore; you become a child of God; you become born again; you become a Christian; you restore your broken relationship with God

Why Not Make Your Eternal Decision NOW? Salvation is a FREE gift received through FAITH in Christ. We become born again Christians by GRACE through FAITH or TOTAL TRUST in Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior.

I pray that you have been heartened and encouraged by today’s message and I hope that you will join us again next week. Let’s close today in a word of prayer.

Father, thank you for all the marvelous things you have said today. We thank you for the mighty things you have done in our lives, your love that you have revealed to us, and for the love that we share together as your body.
We pray for all the words that you have sown into our hearts this day will take root, prosper, and bear good fruit which will be a great blessing to many. As we now go our separate ways, we thank you that you will continue to walk with us. May we be alert to your promptings and live in your endless love. For yours is the kingdom, the power and glory, in this age and forevermore. Amen

Redeemed Part 2 – The Redeemed Of The Lord fpr Sunday May 17th 2020

Pastor Barry Kerner

We’ve been looking at what redemption means for the believer. Last week we discussed the perks of becoming a Christian.

Psalm 103:2 reminds us to, “ Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”

Psalm 103 goes on to list the many benefits that are available to members of God’s Family:

• He forgives our iniquities (vs 3)
• He heals our diseases (vs 3)
• He redeems our lives from destruction (vs 4)
• He crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies (vs 4)
• He satisfies our mouth with good things (vs 5)
• He renews our youth (vs 5)
• He executes righteousness and judgment for the oppressed (vs 6)
• He makes known His ways (vs 7)
• He is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger (vs 8)
• He is forgiving and forgetting of our sins (vs 9, 12)

All of these benefits are available to you as well. The only price is that you need lay down your life here on earth by putting to death sin like Jesus did, and living only according to God’s will. God has the ability to give you  everything you could possibly want or need, according to His perfect will.

When the prize is this great, the cost on our part to become a member of the Kingdom of Heaven seems like nothing at all. The only reason that we have this opportunity to die to ourselves and to live for God is because Jesus Christ gave His life for us and died to redeem us. It is only through the shedding of the blood of Christ that we are able to find redemption.

Do you know what it means to be redeemed? Because, if you fully understand what Calvary means in the life of a Believer, then you will be proud and excited to sing, “I AM REDEEMED by the blood of the Lamb!”

When I was growing up we would often find glass soda bottles along the sides of the road. This was long before aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Printed around the neck of the bottles were the words, “REDEEM FOR 2 CENTS.” We would rush them down to Ted’s Variety Store where the owner, Ted, would give us two cents for every bottle we had. We would then spend our money to buy penny candy from the bins along the counter. Simply put, redemption means “to buy back.” At his variety store, the owner, TED, would “Redeem” the bottles and buy them back from us by giving us two cents for each one.

The Bible is the ultimate story of true redemption. Man sinned and chose to break relationship with God and go his own way, but God so loved man He chose to offer reconciliation. The only thing stopping the reunion was the debt incurred by man’s sin and its effect upon the entire creation. That debt owed on account of sin is death! Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages (debt owed) of sin is death.” Romans 6:23 goes on to say, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That gift was Jesus buying back our relationship with God. The price Jesus paid was His death in exchange for our own. We are bought by the Blood of Jesus!

In the Bible, the person paying someone else’s debt is called a “redeemer.” The redeemer is, in fact, “buying back” something that had been taken or lost from its rightful place. In some cases, he was redeeming the debtor from an offended party. The Book of Ruth contains a perfect example of redemption. It is a love story of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz was willing to buy back the property of Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, in order to marry Ruth and have a son to continue the family bloodline.

Ephesians 1:7 gives us a good idea of what redemption is, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

Our redemption must come from the shed blood of Jesus Christ or there is no possibility of the forgiveness of sins. The price to redeem ourselves is beyond our reach but not so with God; it comes from the riches of His grace which are infinite. It is in Him (Jesus) that we have redemption and it is through His blood by which redemption is achieved.

Psalm 107:2, encourages us to, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy…”

When Jesus went to Calvary’s Cross, He willingly traded His flawless life for yours. Your life was riddled with guilt and shame, and yet the stench and filth of your sins was instantly traded for a robe of purest white. You gained the opportunity to have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life by accepting Christ as your Savior and thus earning eternal redemption.

Psalm 111:9 lets us know that God initiated the redemptive process when it says, “He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.”

The psalmist reveals that redemption is not a human idea but is sent from God to His people. He sent the Word into the world; We know from John 1 that Christ had to come in the flesh to live a perfect life because we couldn’t. Jesus’ perfect holiness in a human body made Him the perfect sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God that was on sinners and the payment required which was death.

Luke 21:28 tells us to remember that“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Christians see things differently from the rest of the world.  We are completely backwards to the way the world wants to do things.  Many of the things that Jesus teach just seem off – love your enemy, do good to those that persecute you.  These all just seem the complete opposite of the way the world expects things to go.  And we get another one of those backwards things from Christ.  When the world is ending and crashing down, Christians are to, “straighten up and raise your heads.”

Just think about that for a moment.  As the tragedies come, as wreck and ruin are unleashed, as everything in your life seems to fall apart, that is when you lift up your head. Why? Your redemption is coming. Christ Jesus is coming. While the world sees terror and destruction, you are in Christ, you see redemption, and so you just see a reminder that Christ Jesus your Lord is coming for you.

In Romans 3:23-25, Paul writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.

This is part of the so-called “Roman Road” to salvation found in Romans 3:10-12. The Book of Romans shows the sinner that they can never be good enough to make it into the kingdom because not even one of us is good and every single one of us falls infinitely short of God’s glory. Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18b) and that includes you and me. Thankfully, God has passed over our sins due to our applying the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts and lintel’s of our hearts.

Colossians 1:13-14 makes clear that, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

God makes deliveries. He delivers us out of the kingdom of darkness and then transports us into “the kingdom of His beloved Son” and this is done only by redemption that came through Jesus Christ. This brings the forgiveness of our sins. It took the death of the Son of God to deliver us from the dark domain but the expense of that transference is beyond our reach. It had to be paid by God Himself.

Romans 8:23 tells us, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

The older I get, the more I look forward to the redemption of my physical body. Mine is much like the creation; it groans and moans. My body needs deliverance because it is deteriorating as I write this. The statistics on death are impressive. One out of every one people will die. This physical life is a one-way street…it can only go one direction and that is toward death but Job wrote, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;” (Job 19:25-26).

First Corinthians 1:29-31 reminds us again that redemption is not of our doing but rests solely upon the life and death of Jesus Christ. Paul told the Corinthians, “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

The context of these verses is that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1st Cor 1:27-28). That means we can’t boast in ourselves but only in our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:12 tells us “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Genesis 3:21 records the first death in the Bible, when God made clothes for Adam and Eve out of animal skin. It was a graphic demonstration of the nature of their sin. Because they sinned, they now had to be clothed, or covered. That covering was only accomplished by the shedding of blood, a metaphor for their spiritual death and a foreshadowing of things to come.

It’s not about a plan of salvation but the Man of Salvation. And, that Man of Salvation is Jesus Christ who had to shed His blood for us to be eternally redeemed as it was “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2nd Corinthians 5:21). This shows that the blood of animal sacrifices could only cover sins but Jesus’ death removes sins; it is what redemption is all about.

As sinners, we should have been condemned to die. But Jesus, the precious Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, died in our place. It is the redemption of an nonredeemable people by an unbelievable merciful God that grants us eternal life. We were bought with a price; by the precious and infinitely costly blood of the Lamb of God. 

Psalm 72:14 says, “He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight.”

Revelation 1:18 tells us,  He redeemed us from all unrighteousness and set us free from death, hell and the grave.

Psalm 91:10 lets us know, that He set us free from sickness and death.

Matthew 6:26-34, that He set us free from the pain of the past and the fear of tomorrow.

And, John 8:36, that whom the son sets free is free indeed.

That’s why Paul’s conclusion was “you were bought (redeemed) with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Corinthians 6:20).

In Isaiah 44:22 God tells us, “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”

Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

Luke 1:68, “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…”

Praise God for what He has done! Psalm 90:2 reminds us that His goodness is from everlasting to everlasting

Because of this, Isaiah 63:16 should be ever on our lips and we should be proclaiming,  “…You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.”

Who then is redeemed? YOU are redeemed if you decide to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior! The Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, has the power to redeem all of us, regardless of our past, regardless of our faults. As John 10:10 says, “He came that we ALL might have life, and have it more abundantly.”

And, what does it mean to be redeemed?

 You have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” John 3:16-17).

 You are forgiven. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

 You are righteous! “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

 You have been adopted into God’s family. “In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:5).

 You are at peace with God. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

God, through the Holy Spirit, lives in you. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

When we are redeemed by faith, we are changed. Whether we “feel” it or not, we are forever secure in knowing that we are a child of God who no longer has to bear the weight of fear and guilt again. God has given us, through the power of the Holy Spirit to live life to the full by knowing that He will never condemn us both in this life and in the one to come. We are changed in that we are no longer identified with our past but now with the living God. Sin and death no longer can hold us captive.

I’ll close with this thought and prayer…

In Job 19:23-27, Job said, “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Let us pray,

Father God, by His death and resurrection Christ has conquered the grave and redeemed us from the curse of sin which is death. With the Apostle Paul we can declare, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I pray that our lives speak more than words could ever say. That our lives like the permanence of words chiseled into stone stand as a testimony and a witness to the world that our Redeemer, Jesus Christ,  lives! And like Job we know that though we may die, we will like Christ be resurrected at His coming. And like Job, our hearts within us yearn for that time when we too at that time we will stand and with our own eyes gaze upon the beauty and majesty of our Lord and Savior, our Deliverer and our Redeemer King, Jesus Christ. Continue to strengthen and comfort us through your Word. Let us feel your loving hand upon us and let our hearts be filled with the presence of your Holy Spirit.

We ask this in the precious name of your Son and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Next Week – Living The Redeemed Life