That’s Not a Problem Here
Heath Rogers
A number of years ago I was reprimanded for preaching a rather straightforward sermon on the sin of homosexuality. The language of the sermon had upset a couple in the church, as they did not want their young children exposed to this subject. When I discussed this matter with two older men of the congregation (one had served as an elder before, and the other would later be appointed as an elder), I was shocked when they advised me not to preach on the subject again. Their reasoning: “It is not a problem here.”
“Don’t talk about that. It isn’t a problem here.” When do we use this kind of logic? Generally speaking, we usually do just the opposite. Elementary schools do not wait until there is a fire to start having fire drills. They have such drills on a routine basis so teachers and students will be prepared for such an emergency. We are familiar with the phrase “Preventive Medicine.” As a child, my dentist had a sign in his office that read, “You don’t have to floss all of your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.” We do not wait until our children get a few cavities before we buy them a toothbrush and insist they brush their teeth. As a general rule, we know it is foolish to wait until something becomes a problem to address it. The same principle holds true for the pulpit.
In First Timothy chapter four, Paul says the Spirit has expressly said that in latter times some will depart from the faith. He goes on to describe the nature of this departure: giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies, forbidding to marry, and commanding abstinence from foods. After identifying this apostasy, Paul says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ…” (v. 6). Timothy was not to wait until this was a problem where he was preaching. He was to forewarn the brethren so the church there would not depart from the faith.
In his second letter, Paul charged Timothy to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” Why? “Because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…” (4:2-3). Timothy was not to wait until this time came to address the problem of apostasy. The way for him to prevent a future departure was with the present instruction of sound doctrine.
There are a number of things every local church will likely have to address at some time, and wisdom demands that these subjects be covered before they become problems. Issues such as divorce and remarriage, the work of the church, the role of women in the church, instrumental music, church discipline, etc. Why does a church need to address these subjects prior to them becoming problems?
Prevention. One way to prevent problems is by addressing the issues beforehand. It pays to earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3), and to forewarn a congregation of dangers lurking on the horizon. If your strategy is to wait until something becomes a problem to address it, then you are inviting problems into the local church.
Defeats Emotionalism. We all know that it is better to address problems when we are thinking clearly. If we wait until there is a fire to talk about escape procedures, no one will be of a mind to listen and follow instructions. However, if procedures are discussed and exercised beforehand, they will be followed in a real emergency. Church discipline and divorce and remarriage are very emotional issues. If we study these subjects in a calm setting, we can arrive at the truth and understand what ought to be done in such situations. However, if we wait until it is a real problem involving members of the church that we love and care about (perhaps even family members), then the plain teaching of Scripture can be misinterpreted or set aside in favor of our emotions.
Paul declared the whole counsel of God while he was in Ephesus (Acts 20:27). In doing so, he set the pattern for preachers and elders to follow today (Phil. 3:17). Let’s not wait until a particular sin becomes a problem before we deal with it. Both the word of God, as well as common sense, instruct us to declare the whole counsel of God.
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“YOU CAN ONLY LIVE SO LONG”
Mike Johnson
“You can only live so long.” According to an AP article, these were the last words of a tenor as he performed at the Metropolitan Opera House during a production in New York City. The man was standing at the top of a ten-foot ladder when he suffered a heart attack. He fell to the stage below and died a short time later after singing the fatalistic line.
A few years ago, in Michigan, a bowler who had been bowling for 31 years died shortly after bowling his first 300 game at the age of 40. Fellow league members had cheered him on and had surrounded him as he rolled his final three strikes. Shortly after the game, the man seemed quiet; then, the color drained from his face, and within fifteen minutes, he suffered a fatal heart attack!
People die under a variety of circumstances and in many different ways. Most do not die under such unique circumstances as the two men mentioned above, although many die unexpectedly and suddenly as they did. However, in spite of how death comes and the conditions under which it happens, it comes to all.
The Bible teaches the inevitability of death and the fickleness of our life here on this earth. Hebrews 9:27 speaks of two certainties we face as it says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Job 14:1-2 says, “Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.” James 4:14 points out that our life is a “vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
People ask various questions when a death occurs. Someone might ask, “Did he leave a family behind?” Another may ask, “Did he have a lot of money?” Some may want to know the cause of the person’s death. Although commonly asked, these and similar questions pale compared to the most crucial question: “Was the person a faithful Christian?” When a person dies, this is the only question that matters.
At the most, life on this earth is short, and death can come at any time. So what are we doing with the time we have? Are we using our brief life here on this earth to faithfully serve God? Are we “redeeming the time” (Eph. 5:16), knowing that our death and the Judgment are swiftly approaching (Eccl. 9:7, 2 Cor. 5:10)?
People do die under unusual circumstances and at unexpected times. However, unless the Lord comes first, we all will die. Are we prepared for this inevitable event? If not, we need to make sure we prepare ourselves by obeying the Will of God.
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What Does Preaching Accomplish?
Bob Waldron
The Old Testament prophet was the preacher of his day. He was inspired, but other than that, he served in the same role as preachers must serve today. There were all kinds: blunt Amos, noble Isaiah, austere Elijah. There were also different purposes served by the various prophets. Some of them made virtually no converts (Jeremiah). Some were very successful, even when they did not want to be (Jonah).
The prophets have messages which refresh us and encourage us. Sometimes they give us sober warning. Consider one of the lessons. Isaiah prophesied 740-700 B.C. He preached in Jerusalem but he saw the downfall of Israel to the north. He saw the terrible signs of decay in his own Judah. Although he had the sympathy and support of Hezekiah, the people of Judah gave little heed to his preaching. Also, some of the time, he dealt with a king such as Ahaz who had no sympathy for Isaiah’s cause whatsoever. A situation like that makes us wonder, “If people will not listen, why preach? What good does it do?”
In Isaiah’s commission (ch. 6), the Lord says, “I need someone to do a job.” Isaiah volunteered. The job was: “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes” (Isa. 6:10). How was Isaiah to do this? By telling them what God said. Isaiah wanted to know how long he should do this. God answered, “Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste” (6:11).
God knew the heart of His people. He knew that they would reject His word. God wanted Isaiah to know that He knew they would respond this way. Yet He told Isaiah to preach to them anyway. Why? Isaiah was to preach with all his heart because he might convert his people. If he could not accomplish this, then he was to leave them no defense when judgment came. Let them drive the nails in their own coffin as it were.
The preacher today is to preach with all his heart to win sinners from the clutches of this sinful generation. Preach with love and concern. But even when it seems that the effort is a failure, realize that this is not the case. We get preoccupied with numbers sometimes and forget that our objective is to do the bidding of God and leave the results in His almighty hand. God wants all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). If, however, a generation turns away from God, then God wants them to have a witness against them that they were taught. He wants them taught again and again, so that their rejection of His will is complete. Whether they obey or whether they are lost, “yet they shall know that there hath been a prophet among them” (Ezek. 2:5).
This lesson is not to say that we should deaden our hearts to the fate of doomed men and women but to help us realize that when we have done our best to preach the word, and the world will not respond, we have not failed if we have faithfully taught the word.
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When The Wind Blows
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. “Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work.
Then, one night, the wind howled loudly from off the shore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.” Enraged by the old man’s response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare, as best he could under the circumstances, for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Obviously, nothing could blow away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand had meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
MORAL: When you’re prepared spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the winds blow through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.
We, as believers in Christ, can secure ourselves against the storms of life if we become God’s child and then ground/anchor ourselves in the Word of God and His Promises therein.
Question: Since the Lord, through His Word (if we are grounded in it), guides and directs our steps, why should we fret to try to understand everything that happens along the way?
Author Unknown
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WHAT SAVES US?
There are several different views on this subject and they all cannot be right. Honesty demands that we look to the Holy Bible and accept all that it says about it. The scriptures teach that there are many things that save us. Some of them are as follows:
- God’s Grace(Acts 15:1; Eph 2:8; Tit 3:7)
- God’s Mercy(Tit 3:5; 1 Pet 1:3)
- The Gospel(Rom 1:16; Col 1:5; Eph 1:13; Jam 1:21)
- Our Faith(Rom 5:1; Eph 2:8; Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31)
- Obedience(Rom 6:16-17; Heb 5:9; Rom 10:16)
- Calling upon the name of the Lord (Rom 10:13)
- Ourselves(Jam 2:24; Acts 2:40; Phil 2:12)
- Hearing God’s Word(John 5:24; Rom 10:17)
- Repenting(Luke 13:5; Acts 2:38; 17:30; 3:19)
- Confession(Rom 10:10; 1 John 4:3; Luke 12:8)
- Baptism(Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; 1 Pet 3:21)
- Faithfulness(Rev 2:10; Jam 1:12; Gal 6:9)
- Blood of Christ (Rom 5:9; Rev 1:5; Eph 1:7)
Why not believe ALL the Bible? This list contains things that God has provided that man must do.
Author Unknown
From “Walking in the Light”
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Sermon Audio
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Editor: Mike Johnson
www.seekingthingsabove.org