[Biblemat] The Messenger Vol 002 Iss 030

Sat Sep 22 20:18:15 CDT 2007

The Messenger

Published Weekly by Main Street Church of Christ

306 West Main Street, Newbern, TN 38059   731-627-3514

bibleanswers at charter.net                                    www.mainstreetcofc.com

Bulletin Editor: T. Sean Sullivan

VOLUME 002::ISSUE 030::September 23, 2007  

ARTICLE ONE: Influenced?

ARTICLE TWO: The Invitation

Article One: Influenced?

We are susceptible to worldly influence. We are warned in the scriptures of this possibility: 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Evil company corrupts good habits". Romans 12:1-2, "Be not conformed to this world". 1 John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or the things in the world". The only direction that worldly influence can take you is away from God (James 4:4). With God we have the hope of all His promises (Ephesians 1:3-10)-every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places.

Worldly influence is effective and dangerous because it gets us with powerful arguments like: "This is what intelligent people believe". "Our "time" is the most enlightened." "There is truth in numbers." How many have been wooed by these worldly arguments into thinking differently than what the Bible says? These influences are strong and we must guard ourselves from being deceived by them (Colossians 2:8). Let's expose these arguments and prepare ourselves to stand against them.

Worldly Argument: "It is what intelligent people think"

First, educating one's self is a good thing-it is certainly not condemned by the scriptures: God's word has been revealed to man by the written word which itself necessitates understanding how to read and therefore education (James 1:17-25). 

The Apostle Paul's education was shown as an attribute to his life (Acts 22:3). Cornelius was said to be a devout man-devout meaning: learned (Acts 10:2). Luke the writer of both the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke was a Doctor (Colossians 4:14). The problem is when our education brings us to a disagreement with God's will. Paul, through inspiration, declares, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1 Corinthians 1:25; 3:18-21a). Remember the ancient proverb: Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right unto a man; it is the way of death." The words of the prophet stand today: Jeremiah 10:23 "It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." One of many influences is Evolution: Evolution: We have been taught all sorts of theories and ideas concerning our origin, our beginning. For at least 100 years the education system has embraced the teachings of Charles Darwin and others who says that we are here through the processes of macroevolution. Christians have stood up against these teachings for just as long, but on the other hand many have tried to establish a common ground.

For the sake of our pride, many not wanting to be seen as ignorant have devised a plan of "God-started-evolution known has Theistic Evolution. Whereas by a process started by God this chain of millions of years of evolution was started. Some who would call themselves our brethren have attempted to reinterpret the Bible to fit this idea of Theistic Evolution by reading many thousands of years into each day of the Genesis 1.

Darwin's Theories and the ideas of Theistic Evolution can be lumped together in the same pile-LIES! God's word declares our "Cause" -in the beginning God (Genesis 1:1). God's word declares the timing of this creation-six 24 hour days (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31).

Worldly Argument: "Our time is the most enlightened"

Our culture is very advance from a perspective of technology. We have made incredible advances in medicine. We understand a lot of things more now than at any other time in our history. However if we refuse God and claim to be enlightened and freed from the bonds of archaic ideas of religion we are suddenly in the dark (1 Corinthians 1:20-31). There is nothing wrong with being "smart" or using the advances of our knowledge to our own advantage, it is when our present day culture influences us to a disagreement with God's will. We are not to be like the world (Romans 12:1-2).

We are to be different-changed mind. We are to be on a different road (Matthew 7:13-14). 

One of many influences from our culture: Modern Acceptance of Sin. We as a culture have conditioned our minds to follow the trends of famous people-Hollywood. We need to realize that the world is trending on a downward slope. Things such as "alternative lifestyles":  What a lie to promote this sin as "just another choice" God declares it as a soul condemning sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). God says that it is not natural (Romans 1: 26-27). Don't honor this sin with its new title: it is not to be promoted as an "alternative" it needs to be exposed for the sin that it is. 

Another modern tolerance is temporary marriages. Our culture has witnessed and participated in a total abuse of the marriage relationship. Too many are accepting that marriages are a trial run. God says marriage is one man and one woman for life (Matthew 19:4-6).  It is supposed to be a life-long commitment (Romans 7:1-2). The only out is death of one partner. Or the infidelity of one partner (Matthew 19:9). 

Worldly Argument: "Truth is found in numbers"

This is perhaps not as much of a voiced argument as the others, but in this world we are influenced toward numbers as the bigger the better. Case in point: How many "dollaraires" have seen on the news? Today the "Billionaires" are the attention-getters.

            To the world more is better. Have our minds been influenced by this mind set. The Lord's church is less than one percent of the population of this country. Other groups are growing dramatically faster and many more members, are they right, are their doctrines truth, are we being influenced by them? The brethren in Galatia were draw away from the Lord by such (Galatians 1:6). Also, in Colossae, the brethren were warned that they could be cheated (Colossians 2:1-9).  How often do we find ourselves believing the teachings of other doctrines: There are those who believe there is more than one way of salvation. God declares "one way" (John 14:6). We are true disciples only if we abide in His word (John 8:31). We are okay only when we live according to the one doctrine of Christ (2 John 9). Any thing else taught or followed will lead to condemnation (Galatians 1:6-8). 

Conclusion:  There are influences surrounding each one of us. We need to understand that God's word is the unquestionable truth. No discovery of man will shake it. No will of make can overtake it. No other plan can help you make it. The Bible is point of fact and absolutely worthy of our trust. When God says it happened.it did. When God says it will happen.it will       . God, who is never wrong, desires that you would be saved. Are you ready to do God's will? ~tss 

Article Two: The Invitation

  Each of our services ends with an "invitation". The words of the invitation are intended to move you to thought, conviction, and response. To some it may be just a "routine"-we hear it every week, it sounds fairly similar every time. Some might even use this time to gather up their belongings to prepare for exit after the final prayer. There are also those who listen, become mindful of their own salvation and long for others to respond. Some hear the words, feel the need, but refuse to act. Others are welled up with fears and uncertainty-there are many reactions.

In our lesson today we are going to offer the invitation. We are not going to lead up to it with any other topic. There will be no additional sermon today. We are going to simply explain the invitation of the gospel. 

Hearing the Gospel

    Romans 10:11-17 proclaims the necessity of hearing. The words of the gospel are carried out and sounded forth. This is the way that God has chosen to convey His great message-the word of the gospel is to be preached (2 Timothy 4:1-5). The purpose of this preaching/teaching is to convince and convict the listeners (Ephesians 2:11-12): Convince them of their need for Christ's salvation (Acts 4:12; Romans 1:16) and convict them to that understanding.

"Hearing" is more than audible signal recognition. To "hear" is to take the message in and to put the message to work (James 1:22-25). Hearing is being influenced by the message. When one hears that Jesus had to give His life for their soul, they should be influenced to action. 

Belief

    Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The need for faith in God and the hope He provides, is clearly stated in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Without faith we cannot please God.

    Belief is faith, and faith is a full assurance-even if the point of faith cannot be seen or touched (intangible). Hebrews 11:1 states, "Faith is the substance of the things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen." This means that your faith is proof of the things that you believe in. Faith is not irrational. It is based on fact-the word of God. 

The point of belief needed for salvation is a full assurance of the gospel (Mark 16:16) and according to the example of Acts 8:36-37 you must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This belief in Jesus goes hand in hand with our trust in the gospel for which Jesus, Himself, died (Hebrews 9:28). You must trust in the message and act on it.

Repentance 

    Repentance stands between a soul and its forgiveness. In Luke 13:1-5 there were some who questioned Jesus about the punishment handed out to some Galileans by Pilate. Jesus used this opportunity to express the need for every individual to repent of their wrong-doing. Repentance is expected from us by God (Acts 17:30-31)    

Repentance is active and direct: Recognize the wrong-doing in your life. Diligently remove yourself from that sinful activity. Determine to return to God and His direction. Repentance is about stopping sin-it is something that we start but must never stop. Repentance is not penance. Penance and repentance become confused often and characteristics of either become mixed in some minds.  Penance is inflicting one's self with physical pain to "pay" for sin. Repentance does not include such punishment: besides, the "payment" for sin is death (Romans 6:23a). You cannot pay for a sin by punishing yourself. You cannot be more forgiven by self-inflicted punishment.

Continued repentance is necessary for forgiveness. To continue forgiven, you must cease from the sin that is forgiven. One who is forgiven of fornication cannot continue in fornication any more than a car thief can continue to steal cars-repentance requires stopping the sin. Repentance is about maintaining one's self away from wrong (Luke 3:8 "bearing fruits worthy of repentance").

Confession

    Confession in a modern religious context usually conjures thoughts of confessing sins. This is not the confession that is found in this point. Seeking forgiveness is a confession of sinfulness, but a confession of individual sins is not required by the scriptures. It is not a prerequisite to becoming a Christian.

If not "sin", what do we confess? We confess our belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus seeks our confession (Matthew 10:32) and proves it true (John 20:30-31). The eunuch exemplifies our confession (Acts 8:35-37). Paul declares the necessity of our confession in salvation (Romans 10:8-10). 

Our confession must be perpetual. We cannot ever deny our faith in Him (Matthew 10:32).

Baptism

    It is strange that so many will graciously accept the need for hearing, believing, changing, and confessing, but then absolutely refuse to see the need for baptism. Is baptism necessary? Jesus said it was (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16). John recorded that it was (John 3:5). Peter said it was (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21). Paul said it was (Romans 6:1-4; Galatians 3:27: tie these to Ephesians 1:3-14). 

    What is baptism for? Baptism expresses your obedience to God's will ("those who gladly received the word were baptized" Acts 2:38-40). Baptism puts you into Christ (Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:3-10). Baptism puts you into "the church"-universal sense (Acts 2:47). Baptism washes away your past sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). Baptism prepares you for becoming a member of a local congregation (Acts 9:26). 

    Why do I need baptism? Without water baptism you are lost in your sins (Acts 22:16). Unless you are forgiven of your sins, you will not see Heaven (Revelation 21:27). Jesus said it was necessary (Mark 16:16).

Conclusion:

    Baptism in water works only as an action of faith upon your confession of Christ and your determination to cease from sin. There is another step that we hinted at in our last point, but must be clarified now.  Baptism is only the beginning, it puts you into Christ (Galatians 3:27) but we must continue to grow in Christ (John 15:1-8; 2 Peter 3:18).

Are you ready? Become a Christian today prepare for the eternal tomorrow that awaits each of us. ~tss

If you are enjoying The Messenger and you know someone else who would like to receive it. Please forward it to them or send me their email address and I will add it to the list.   Sean

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