Tag: Hope

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Bible Teaching

The Shepherd’s Assurance and Care

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 10/31/2023 | 7:00 PM

Text: Psalms 23:1-6, A Psalm of David

(1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

(2)  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

(3)  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

(4)  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

(5)  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

(6)  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

The beauty of living for Jesus and having an intimate relationship with Him is the reassurance that He gives us as He leads us.

Life is full of extremes, but His assurance is always with us. Our Shepherd, our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Savior looks over us and He sees the end from the beginning.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “(1) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  (2)  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  (3)  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  (4)  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  (5)  A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  (6)  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  (7)  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  (8)  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Jesus is a present in the good times as He is in the bad.

He is just as present in our yesterday as He is in our today and is already awaiting us tomorrow.

It does not matter what the day may bring, He is there…present.

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).

Did you catch that?

  • Fear not, I am with you…I am present.
  • Don’t be disheartened, or alarmed, I am your God
    • I will reinforce, brace and support you
    • I will help you to bear your trial
  • I will do this because I am faithful

Four Ways the Shepherd Assures Us:[1]

  1. The Shepherd is present
    • “…he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
    • Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
    • Throughout Psalm 23 David reminds himself of God’s assuring presence:
      • He is present in Death Valley, in the green valleys, beside still waters, paths of righteousness, when enemies present themselves.
      • Following close behind His Goodness and Mercy.
      • He is present to restore your soul; anoint your head with His oil; comfort you in the midst of your anxiety and fear.
      • He is present to guide, comfort, restore and assure you
    • Since He is so willing and caring enough to be present with you, then you should develop that intimacy with Him that comes from time spent with Him.
      • It is possible to be with someone and for them not to be with you.
      • To be in the room, but miles away.
      • Not our Jesus, He is every where present at the same time.
    • Henri Nouwen wrote, “the mystery of God’s love is not that He takes our pains away, but that He first wants to share them with us…God is not a distant God, a God to be feared and avoided, a God of revenge, but a God who is moved by our pains and participates in the fullness of the human struggle.”[2]
    • Jesus said, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mt. 28:20).
  2. The Shepherd Guides
    • He leads me beside still waters
    • He leads me in paths of righteousness.
    • He leads me…
    • Three Hebrew verbs that define the way the Shepherd guides us[3]
      • Nahal – leading with tenderness…bringing a flock to a place of rest and refreshment.
      • Nakhah – straightforward guidance
      • Nahag – the kind of directive herding accomplished from the back of the flock, when the shepherd’s will has to be imposed.
    • Trust the Shepherd. He knows the way you need to go.
      • Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heat…”
  3. The Shepherd Provides
    • Lush green pastures, refreshing still waters, rod of correction, staff of protection, lavish table of food, oil, overflowing cup.
    • He daily provides all your needs
    • 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
    • Jehovah-Jireh. He sees and provides
  4. The Shepherd Gives Hope
    • You may be discouraged and disappointed, Discouraged and despondent, but God will provide
    • “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”
    • Romans 8:35-39, “(35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  (36)  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  (37)  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  (38)  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  (39)  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus, our Shepherd, is present, He guides us, provides for us, and He gives Hope.

[1] Much of this is derived from Tom Nelson’s book The Flourishing Pastor.

[2] Henri J. M. Nouwen. (1992). Show Me the Way.

[3] Tom Nelson. (2021). The Flourishing Pastor.

Categories
Consider this...

Stephen’s Defense

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 8/14/2022

Whenever an anointed man of God hits a nerve in individuals, or groups, when preaching, there is usually a positive or a negative response. We call this “being convicted,” or, simply, “conviction.”

We observe these opposing responses in two passages in the Book of Acts:

1. Those who respond positively – Acts 2:37, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

2. Those who respond negatively – Acts 5:33, “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”

One hears and obeys, the other hears and rebels.

One hears the message and desires to hear more from the messenger, the other hears the message and then seeks to destroy the messenger.

Unfortunately, whenever there is a desire to silence the voice of God’s messenger many actions take place that are often dishonorable and that was the way the unbelieving Jews acted towards Stephen.

His defense against the accusations of blasphemy towards God and the Temple shows us that he had an advanced understanding of Judaism and Christ that was on the cutting edge of Divine revelation.

Stephen hit a nerve with the unbelieving Jews of his day and they sought a way to shut him up.

Pastor and author Mark Copeland provides the following outline of Stephen’s Defense before the Sanhedrin:

STEPHEN’S DEFENSE (Acts 7:1-53)

A. GOD’S DEALINGS WITH ABRAHAM (7:1-8)

1. The call to leave Mesopotamia

2. The sojourn in Canaan

3. The promise of possession to his descendants

4. The covenant of circumcision

5. His descendants: Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs

B. THE PATRIARCHS SOJOURN IN EGYPT (7:9-16)

1. Joseph sold into Egypt, becomes governor

2. Jacob and his sons move to Egypt during the famine

3. The patriarchs buried in Canaan

C. GOD’S DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL BY MOSES (7:17-36)

1. The children Israel in Egypt become slaves

2. The work of Moses, deliverer of Israel

a. Raised by Pharaoh’s daughter

b. Kills an Egyptian, but despised by his brethren

c. Flees to Midian where he lives for forty years

d. The Lord appears to Moses in a burning bush at Mount Sinai

e. Returns to Egypt, delivers Israel and brings them into the wilderness

D. ISRAEL’S REBELLION AGAINST GOD AND MOSES (7:37-43)

1. Moses is the person:

a. Who said God would raise up another prophet like him

b. Who spoke to the Angel on Mount Sinai

c. Who received living oracles to give to Israel

d. Whom the fathers would not obey but rejected

2. Israel is the nation:

a. Who turned back into Egypt in their hearts

b. Who pressured Aaron to make a golden calf

c .Whom God gave up to worship the host of heaven for 40 yrs in the wilderness:

1) They may have offered sacrifices to the Lord

2) They also worshiped Moloch and Remphan – cf. Amos 5:25-27

E. GOD’S TRUE TABERNACLE (7:44-50)

1. The fathers of Israel had the tabernacle of witness

a. In the wilderness, built according to the pattern shown Moses

b. Brought into the promised land by Joshua

2. They also had the temple

a. Asked for by David, who found favor before God

b. Built by his son Solomon

3. Yet the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands

a. For heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool

b. His hand has made all these things – cf. Isaiah 66:1-2

F. ISRAEL’S RESISTANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (7:51-53)

1. Stephen charges the council of resisting the Holy Spirit, as their fathers did

2. Their fathers persecuted & killed the prophets, and they killed the Just One

3. They received the law, but did not keep it

As Stephen ended his defense, the men present were convicted: “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth” (Acts‬ ‭7:54‬, ‭KJV‬‬).

This episode ends with the men stoning Stephen as he looks to heaven and sees a vision from heaven’s throne room while a young man named Saul watched over the coats of the men who stoned Stephen.

Many would consider Stephen’s defense and death a sign of failure, but I like to think that this event was a catalyst (a prick) for change in the life of Saul, who would later be called Paul and became the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Saul’s persecution of the early church might just have been his rebellion against the conviction of the message Stephen delivered.

How else could he drown out the voice of that first martyr of the way who lovingly forgave and sought God for the forgiveness of those complicit in his death?

Jesus knew that Saul was convicted, which is why He came to him on the road to Damascus, and, finally, Paul responded positively:

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts‬ ‭9:3-6‬, KJV‬‬).

The best response to anointed preaching and conviction is: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

So, if someone tries to destroy you for the Word of God you are preaching, or because you are simply obeying the Holy Spirit, don’t take it personally, they are not attacking you…they are attacking Jesus.

Because they’re attacking the message and attempting to destroy the messenger it is a sign of hope that they will eventually turn to Jesus and say, “Ok, Lord, it’s too hard and I can’t resist anymore, what must I do to be saved?”

God’s requirement for success is different from ours and on that last day of Stephen’s life God took a moment that appeared to be a failure and turned it into a future victory of eternal significance.

How do you respond when God’s Word preached by God’s messenger convicts you?

Categories
Bible Teaching

Anchored In Hope

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 1/22/2023 10:00 AM

Text: Hebrews 6:13-20

(13)  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

(14)  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

(15)  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

(16)  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

(17)  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

(18)  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

(19)  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

(20)  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hope, in the New Testament, is generally defined as “anticipation, expectation, confidence, faith.”[1]

However, in this passage it is best defined as that which we “have, hold, own, or possess.”[2]

Another way to view hope in our text today is “to hold one’s self to a thing, to lay hold of a thing, to adhere or cling to.”[3]

George Beverly Shea wrote “In Times Like These,” and it contains these words:

In times like these you need a Savior

In times like these you need an anchor

Be very sure, be very sure

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the One

This Rock is Jesus, the only One

Be very sure, be very sure

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

With all the uncertainty of our day, it is abundantly clear that we need something, or someone to hold on to.

Something, or someone, to cling to.

That Rock is Jesus, He is the one we anchor our hope upon.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

On Christ the solid rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

All other ground is sinking sand

At some point everyone will have a testing of their faith.

When those tribulations come, you need to be anchored in Jesus.

You need to anchor into Jesus from several points.

Six anchor points are suggested when you moor a boat.[4]

We need multiple mooring/anchor points in our lives.

Approach truth from every angle.

You have scripture and an experience to match the Word of God.

Anchor points that help you to hold on to your faith.

Truth comes by revelation from the Word of God.

Reason is not the final authority, but God is the final authority.

Postmodernism = the idea that there is no absolute truth and what works for me “in the moment” is my truth, but it’s relative and may change at any time.

When you don’t have a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ all you have is theology.

Always choose the side of truth, righteousness, & holiness.

How we choose to obey and follow Jesus in our relationship with Him is key to a life of holiness.

When we don’t have a long term goal we often fall short ofour potential.

Live with an awareness of eternity.

What if Jesus were coming today.

Live for today and live for that Day when He comes for us.

Six Anchor Points

Hebrews 6:1-3, “(1) Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,  (2)  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  (3)  And this will we do, if God permit.”

Six Anchor Points:

  1. We must believe there is a God.
    • Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
    • Jesus is the one true God manifest in the flesh to be our Savior.
  2. The Bible is the Word of God.
    • 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “(16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  (17)  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
  3. We must believe, obey, and experience the New Birth.
    • Faith, Repentance, Water Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, and the Infilling of the Holy Ghost Speaking in Tongues.John 3:5-8, “(5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  (7)  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  (8)  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
    • Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
  4. Life in the Spirit.
    • Laying on of Hands = Operation of the Spirit and its Fruit and Gifts.
    • Romans 8:12-15, “(12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  (13)  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  (14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  (15)  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
  5. Life of Holiness.
    • Acts 2:40, “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”
    • How? Living a life of holiness.
    • 1 Peter 1:13-16, “(13) Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  (14)  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:  (15)  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;  (16)  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
  6. The Life to Come.
    • Jesus is coming.
    • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “(13) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  (14)  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  (15)  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  (16)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  (17)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  (18)  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

If you feel adrift today then you need to go back and secure the lines of your hope and reattach your anchor on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Rock.

When you have made sure these six anchor points are secure, then you can weather any storm.

[1] Strong’s.

[2] Thayer’s

[3] Ibid.

[4] David K. Bernard, “Anchor Points (In Our Lives),” May 14, 2015

Categories
Bible Teaching

A Time of Preparation

Esther experienced a time of preparation (purification) before she was introduced to the king and subsequently gained his love and was made queen:

Esther 2:2-18 (KJV), “(1) Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:  (3)  And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:  (4)  And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.  (5)  Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;  (6)  Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.  (7)  And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.  (8)  So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.  (9)  And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.  (10)  Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.  (11)  And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.  (12)  Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)  (13)  Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house.  (14)  In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.  (15)  Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.  (16)  So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.  (17)  And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.  (18)  Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.”

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 2/12/2023

This time of purification was a time of instruction and examining for these young ladies. They learned what their role was to be and how to act and please the king. It was more than just cleaning and preparing the body, but also the decorum and grace of the maiden.

Hadassah? Well, she excelled and her time of preparation resulted in great success.

The psalmist David wrote, “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”[1] 

In this passage, when we read that God “trieth” it simply means that this is God’s way of “examining, scrutinizing, proving, and testing” the hearts of those who are His people.[2]  These tests are for the sole purpose of preparing us for greater responsibility and spiritual growth. 

The apostle Paul makes it quite clear that the process of being approved by God follows a particular process: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”[3] 

As this process takes place we witness the varying degrees of preparation God places us in as they accomplish. Work out, and achieve God’s purpose for our lives.

So, what we think of as pressure, stress, or trial God uses as a means to bring about a patient, enduring, sustaining, perseverant, and steadfast quality to our Christian character.  These times of preparation are purifying our motives and actions through the teaching of grace in our lives.

When this quality is part of our spiritual nature we have become God proven because our character has been tried and found worthy.  This experience results in the establishment of hope in our lives, which is the “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation” and the understanding that because I came through previous trials intact then I’ll make it through this one as well because God is with me.”[4]

This is why, when Esther, as queen, had to go before the King to deal with the threat of genocide her people faced because of Haman’s jealous treachery, she did to with complete faith and hope.

Esther was prepared beforehand “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:4). It likely never crossed her mind in her time of purification that she was actually being prepared to be more than a queen, she was being readied for a role of mediation and deliverance.

Right now you are being prepared through trial and tests and difficulties for a greater work than you can imagine. Let those tribulations purify and prepare you for your own God designed moment.

[1] Psalm 11:5

[2] Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. “Hebrew Lexicon entry for Bachan”. “The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon”. https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/974.html.

[3] Romans 5:1-5

[4] Thayer and Smith. “Greek Lexicon entry for Elpis”. “The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon”. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/elpis.html.

Categories
Bible Preaching

A Gospel Message of Hope – G. T. Haywood

A Gospel Message of Hope[1]
Bishop G. T. Haywood[2]
(April, 1922)

We wish to call your attention to the third chapter of Romans, beginning at verse 1, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” That is, the first opportunity to know God. The law of the Ten Commandments was given to them. God had committed unto their trust the oracles of God, and gave them that they might bring the light of God to the world. And although they failed their God, yet His purpose went forward. Even though some did not believe, “shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” Man’s unbelief does not change God’s word, nor stop Him from working out His purpose.

The word of God is true whether the people believe it or not. God will bring Salvation near. It makes no difference what you say, or what I may say, because, “God hath said.” Our God can work while we are sleeping. And when we are folded away like a garment in our graves, God will still be working. If one man, or one people, fails God, He will take up another and move on. God brought Israel out and made them a great people through a man who was only a shepherd of the plains of Midian and not a warrior, but could speak words of wisdom by the spirit of God. Words, which, even to this day, have astonished the world. God sent His Word from heaven unto this people, and walked in the midst of them with mighty signs and wonders showing His mighty arm. And yet they failed God through their unbelief.

The Lord had no people He could trust. So He declared He would “take a people who are not a people and make them a people of God.” He did this to prove that He does not have to depend on any nation or individual. God Himself never failed, and could not fail. Even the prophets He ordained became weak at points along the line and were filled with fear, or took honor to themselves. “The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment” (Isa. 28:7). 

What if man does not believe the Gospel as it is laid, down in the Book? The Gospel is true regardless of his unbelief. I believe in the Blood of JESUS CHRIST, and that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. But the question is: how shall I get the remission? One may say, “I will just believe,” but to “believe” means more than to just say, “I believe.” Matt. 26:28 says, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

If any people start out with the power of God in their midst and become full of pride and lose their spirituality, God will put them aside and take up another. And if the latter fails, He will set them aside and take up still another. I am satisfied that God does not depend upon any of us to carry His work through, but we are compelled to depend upon Him for without Him we can do nothing.

“For this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Jesus was the greatest preacher the world has ever known, and turned the preaching of the Gospel over to Peter as if to say, “You are next, Peter. You shall begin where I leave off.” Then that preacher in Acts 2:38 said, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” That is the way the Holy Spirit gave it out on the day of Pentecost. In those days the people were always baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins that they might receive the Holy Spirit, which was God’s witness to their faith.  

What is the Holy Ghost? He is a witness to your having received remission of sins. That is what the Apostle said: “There are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one” (1 Jn. 5:8).  He did not say one was any greater than the other. All three of them are required to make one witness. Many people look at water alone, but the proper thing to do is to see the name in which it is administered. Take away the blood, and you have nothing but faith. Take away the water and you make Jesus a liar. The Bible, in the first epistle of John, tells us plainly, “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 Jn. 5:6). I do take notice of this much, there was so much authority in the command of JESUS to baptize, that nearly all the churches (with a few exceptions) try in some way to administer it, if it only be the dipping of the finger in the water. But if it is worth doing at all, it is worth doing rightly. However, a man’s failure to believe and obey does not change the Word of God. You can scarcely join a church in the city without some mode of baptism. There are about as many ways as there are human minds, and all for the lack of following the mind of the Spirit.

The reason some people do not live holy is because they have not been taught it and have been brought up wrongly. But you start a man or woman believing the Word of God and you can bring them out on the Word. Our experiences are so varied that it does not pay to attempt to tell others about it, for they will try to get our experience instead of what is written in the Book. I do not want anybody to be able to rise and say the Word of God is not true. There has always been somebody filled with the Spirit, ever since the day of Pentecost. God has never left Himself without witness. No doubt some did not know just what they had. Luther had it. Wesley, Finney and Fox had it; and they had a hard, severe trial in their days.

We want God to be justified. We have not a thing to boast of this day. There is false holiness and true holiness. The true, is the Holy Ghost in you; and the false, is human efforts without God; self-righteousness. If we acknowledge our own failures God will give us His power to overcome day by day. God does not get behind a man with a whip and drive him to heaven, but He fixes it up so you will follow Him because you love Him.

Who is it that never did sin? Paul shows the whole human family had sinned, and if all sinned, all were condemned. But God had mercy. We could not help but sin. We were born that way. But God said, “You must be born again.” And no newborn child walks perfectly at once. First they crawl, then they totter and fall, but they do not keep falling. By this I mean, when a man or woman is filled with the Holy Ghost and starts out to walk with Jesus Christ, they may stumble and fall at first, but don’t get discouraged. If the devil tries to trip you up God will help you. He is able to keep you from falling, says Jude. I am talking about those who have it in their hearts to live for Christ. Do not let any failure daunt your courage. You know God is able to carry you through. Many have found it to be so.

If God brings judgment upon a sinner for his wrongdoing, some will charge Him with injustice. But how can God then judge the world? God said He would give us a light for our path, and put His angels around us, and give us a pattern in Jesus, and place His Spirit within us. Brother, I would be ashamed to tell God I could not live right with all that help! Then folks will try to tell you, “You can’t make it, Brother!” So we are going to commend the righteousness of God, by acknowledging: “O Lord, we are all failures?”  

It is the grace of God that is able to sustain and uphold any man or woman who desires to be kept by the Power of God. There are people who desire to boast of themselves and never have had a change of heart. And some even go so far as to say, “I am all right. I am good enough. I don’t need that Holy Ghost.” I don’t care if you did not steal, drink, or commit adultery: it is in your heart anyhow! Everybody needs the power of God. Good works never did save anybody. It takes the “power of God unto salvation” (Ro. 1:16). I am not telling a moral man to get worse in order to get saved. No! I am telling him there is no condition so bad but that God has grace to save us from it. 

You cannot make men righteous by legislation for “ye must be born again.” God says to the church, “preach the word,” and makes a fertile spot in the terrible desert of sin, that men may see the water of life along the side of the road. No law can make you live right. God Almighty tried it Himself with the children of Israel, and the Word says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Ro. 8:3). Did you know that when a man becomes saved he will keep the spirit of the law? There is no law against attending to your own business, paying all your debts, and no law against praying.  Do right, and bless God, and pray without ceasing. No law is against doing that which is just and good (Gal. 5:22-23). 

Many homes have been torn asunder. Sorrow and mourning drapes the human heart because of sin. I dislike hearing some people talk because of their disgraceful utterances. But let God get into their hearts and then note the change. Everybody without Christ is guilty. Had God Almighty demanded justice, every living person would have been dead, and brought before the judgment bar to give an account of their misspent lives. The only thing that is going to save a man is the power of God. I am talking about genuine salvation, too! You can go any place and hear everything else but the Gospel of salvation. But men shall be saved. That is our whole service: to save men. The church is ordained for that purpose. 

God sums up the whole human family and declares that it is full of “wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores” (Is. 1:6). To tell a man he should not steal, or covet, or commit adultery is not enough. Tell him how to get saved so he will not do those things. The power of God can save anybody that will believe. The god of carnality has certainly got some folks fast, but, 0, I am so glad I am saved! Saved by the power of God! It is wonderful to be God’s free man, delivered from the power of the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh. It does not make any difference whether a man is old or young, rich or poor, black or white, or brown, just so he believes. If you have never been to school to learn a letter, you can believe. I am satisfied that you do not have to have eyes to believe. You do not have to be able to speak to believe. You may have both hands cut off, but still you can believe. If you cannot hear, somebody will write, or make signs and you can believe. You do not have to weigh so many hundred pounds or write letters, or understand the Bible to get saved. All God said was to believe. Why? Jesus paid it all! The people that are saved today are people that believed the Gospel. And you do not believe God if you do not obey Him! I will prove it to you, too. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).  I will show you my faith (without saying a word) by my works! It is not merely saying, “I believe” it is proving your belief. If you actually believe then you know what Jesus was talking about when He said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,” and prove it by your actions (Mk. 16:16). Jesus declared, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3). If you do not obey, then you do not believe. 

God has fixed the matter so you need make no mistake about it, either. Too many jump over the fifth verse of the third chapter of John’s Gospel: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Moreover, Jesus stated emphatically that He “testified of that which He had seen; and spake that which He did know” (John 3:11), and this is what He spoke: “I know that if a man be not born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” If you have never been baptized in the name of JESUS CHRIST, you have never been immersed properly. This is the only name under heaven given among men whereby they must be saved. If you repent deeply enough in your heart, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, I will guarantee that you shall receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost as you come up out of the water.[3] If people do not believe God’s Word they never get His best. Even if you do not understand, you must believe, before you can see the Glory of God.[4]


[1] SOURCE: http://www.greateremmanuelchurch.com/drsmith/haywood.htm. Accessed: 5/3/2012. (Link no longer works).

[2] Elder G. T. Haywood at the Apostolic Faith Assembly, Indianapolis, Ind., delivered this sermon during a Sunday morning service in April, 1922.

[3] At the end of this sermon seven persons accepted the word, came forward immediately for baptism. Four of them received the Holy Ghost while coming out of the water, and another soon after changing clothes.

[4] Edited by Stephen E. Kuntzman. 5/3/2012.

Categories
Bible Teaching

Why Does God Try the Righteous?

The psalmist David wrote, “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”[1]

In this passage, when we read that God “trieth” it simply means that this is God’s way of “examining, scrutinizing, proving, and testing” the hearts of those who are His people, and these tests are for the purpose of preparing us for greater responsibility and spiritual growth.[2]

The apostle Paul makes it quite clear that the process of being approved by God follows a particular process: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”[3]

As this process takes place we witness the varying degrees of preparation God places us in as they accomplish, work out, and achieve God’s purpose for our lives. Therefore, in the end, what we think of as pressures, stressors, or trials are tools God uses as a means to bring about a patient, enduring, sustaining, perseverant, and steadfast quality to our Christian character. When this quality is part of our spiritual nature we have become God-proven because our character has been tried and He can then trust us for greater measures of responsibility and authority.

This experience results in the establishment of hope in our lives, which is the “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation” and the understanding that because I came through previous trials intact then I’ll make it through this one as well because God is with me.[4]

____________

Sources:
[1] Psalm 11:5

[2] Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. “Hebrew Lexicon entry for Bachan”. “The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon”. http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=974&version=kjv.

[3] Romans 5:1-5

[4] Thayer and Smith. “Greek Lexicon entry for Elpis”. “The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon”. http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=1680&version=kjv.

[Originally posted as God “Tries” the Righteous on 20 August 2007 at http://thepillarandgroundoftruth.blogspot.com/2007/08/god-tries-righteous_20.html]

Categories
Bible Teaching

The Road Home

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 5/16/2021, 10:00 AM
Categories
Bible Preaching

When Two Worlds Collide

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 3/23/2022, 7:00 PM