By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Robert J. Morgan recently sent information about the release of his third volume in the set of informative and inspirational books on hymns, titled Then Sings My Soul.

Maybe you remember reading or hearing someone recite a list of hymns for those of certain professions, or pastimes. These are some of my favorites:

The Dentist’s Hymn – “Crown Him with many crowns”
The Weatherman’s Hymn – “There Shall Be Showers of Blessings”
The Contractor’s Hymn – “The Church’s One Foundation”
The Politician’s Hymn – “Standing on the Promises”
The Optometrist’s Hymn – “Open My Eyes That I May See”
The Gossip’s Hymn – “Pass It On”
The Realtor’s Hymn – “I’ve Got a Mansion over the Hilltop”
The Pilot’s Hymn – “I’ll Fly Away”
The Architect’s Hymn – “How Firm a Foundation”
The Zoo Keeper’s Hymn – “All Creatures of Our God and King”
The Postal Worker’s Hymn – “So Send I You”
The Lifeguard’s Hymn – “Rescue the Perishing”
The Travel Agent’s Hymn – “Anywhere with Jesus”
The Librarian’s Hymn – “Whispering Hope” and
The Geologist’s Hymn – “Rock of Ages”

There should be at least one more “occupational hymn”. It came to me as we passed a land surveyor adjusting his transit on the side of the road. Therefore, allow me to add, The Surveyor’s Hymn – “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”.

In his book titled Near to the Heart of God, Robert J. Morgan writes,

Lowell Mason is among the giants of American hymnody. He was born January 8, 1792, in Medfield, Massachusetts, but he grew up in the Deep South. Though at first he went into banking, eventually he became the first music teacher in the American public school system. He also served as music director for various churches and as a music publisher and complier of hymnals. We know him for composing the melodies for “Joy to the World,” “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” “There Is a Fountain,” and this great hymn by Isaac Watts [1674-1748], “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Lowell Mason [1792-1872] is rightly called the Father of American Church Music.[1]

Our purpose is to provide a Scriptural survey of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

I. First, note the prophetic announcement of the Cross.

From Genesis 3:15 we read God’s word to the serpent,

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) refers to Psalm 22 as “An X-Ray of the Cross.” Here David writes,

¹ My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
. . . .
⁶ But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
⁷ All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
⁸ “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
. . . .
¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
¹⁷ I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
¹⁸ They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots (Psalm 22:1a, 6-8, 16-18).

Isaiah 53 has the designation “The Forbidden Chapter” because it speaks so clearly of our Lord Jesus Christ hundreds of years before His birth. Here Isaiah writes,

¹ Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
³ He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
⁹ And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

Other passages revealing the Cross in the Old Testament are Genesis 22; Exodus 12; Leviticus 16; Numbers 22; and Psalm 69.

In these passages we discover a preview of the plan of the cross.

II. Furthermore, note the historic appointment of the Cross.

Each of the gospels records the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and related events, Matthew 27:1-56; Mark 15:1-41; Luke 23:1-49; and John 19:1-37. Although each of the gospel accounts share information differing from the others, each serves a great purpose. For example, Matthew focuses on the Jewish mindset; Mark focuses on the Roman mindset; Luke focuses on the Greek mindset; and John is a universal gospel.

Down through the years several Bible scholars published their harmony of the gospels. This provides the Bible student the ability to see the events recorded by each gospel writer together. Kermit Zarley takes a slightly different approach in his compilation called, The Gospels Interwoven. V. Gilbert Beers follows a similar approach in The Interwoven Gospels. Allow me to share a sample from The Interwoven Gospels in a section titled “The Crucifixion” (Matthew 27:34-38; Mark 15:23-28; Luke23:33, 34, 38; John 19:18-24),

Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him. And they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but when He had tasted it, He would not drink it. And with Him, they crucify two robbers, one on His right hand and one on His left, and Jesus in the midst. (And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, “And He was reckoned with the lawless.’) Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part; also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore to one another, ‘Let us not rend it; but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be’: that the scripture might be fulfilled which saith, “They divided My garments among them, And upon My vesture did they cast lots.” The soldiers therefore did these things: and sitting down they watched Him there. Now Pilate also wrote a title and superscription of His accusation, and put it on the cross over His head. And there was written: “THIS IS JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” This title, therefore, many of the religious leaders read; for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Therefore the chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, I am the King of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”[2]

In these passages we discover a view of the picture of the cross.

III. Finally, note the salvific accomplishment of the Cross.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines “salvific” as “Having the intention or power to bring about salvation or redemption.”[3]

From Romans 3:24 we read, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” From Romans 5:1 we read, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. And from Romans 6:1-14 we read,

¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

From 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (emphasis added) we read,

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

And in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 we read,

¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Paul the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17,

¹⁴ Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵ For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Paul writes in Galatians 2:20,

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.

Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-5,

⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” And in Galatians 6:14, he writes, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

John writes in 1 John 1:5-7,

⁵ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

In 1 John 2:1-2 we read,

¹ My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

In these passages we discover a review of the power of the cross.

Conclusion

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe shares,

Some Christian missionaries once visited Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948], and he asked them to sing him one of their hymns. “Which one?” they asked. He replied, “Sing for me the one that best expresses what you are preaching.” It took them but a moment to decide; and together they sang “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” They made the right choice.”[4]

From In Praise of Plodders we read, “Dr. Charles [W.] Koller [1896-1983] called the cross ‘the plus sign on the skyline.’”[5]

Dr. A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) writes,

Remembering my own deep imperfections I would think and speak with charity of all who take upon them the worthy Name by which we Christians are called. But if I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-assured and carnal Christianity whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel, but whose voice is the voice of Cain. The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood; the new cross brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross; before the cross it bows and toward the cross it points with carefully staged histrionics—but upon that cross it will not die, and the reproach of that cross it stubbornly refuses to bear.[6]

Someone shares,

A young boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns were boring to him; too far behind the times, tiresome tunes and meaningless words. His father put an end to his son’s complaints by saying, “If you think you can write better hymns, then why don’t you?” The boy went to his room and wrote his first hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” The year was 1690, the teenager was Isaac Watts. “Joy to the World” is also among the almost 350 hymns written by him.[7]

Dr. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) penned these poignant words,

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God…”

How encouraging it is, when I survey the wondrous cross.

“All I want is what’s coming to me!”

Henry was being obnoxiously persistent in the church business meeting. Finally, in exasperation he blurted out that statement.

An elderly sister in the pew behind him said softly, “Sit down, Henry. If you got what was coming to you, you’d be in hell.”

Henry was demanding justice; Henry needed mercy.

This week driving down Interstate 55 below Jackson, Mississippi, I kept noticing bits and pieces of pink insulation batting everywhere.

After a few miles, we came upon two 18-wheelers pulling halves of a large mobile home. One of the units was shedding, littering the highway. Bits and pieces of the trailer were flying from the open top and being strewn across the countryside.

I dialed “*HP” for the Mississippi Highway Patrol and reported the offender. The dispatcher assured me they would jump right on the matter.

They never showed up.

I was wanting justice. I wanted the cops to pull these drivers over, read them the riot act for the careless way they had secured the mobile home and for littering the countryside, and if they didn’t issue tickets, at least force them to tie everything down.

I suspect this is the way it is with most of us. I want justice to be done when it involves other people. But for myself, mercy is a better choice.

Last month marked the one-year anniversary of the tornadoes that did so much damage and took so many lives across the Southland on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. I remember it for a hundred reasons. For one, I was stuck on the highway in North Alabama soon after some tornadoes had gone through and just before others even worse arrived.

I saw a small example of justice being served.

On US 278, which connects Cullman and Gadsden, Alabama, cars were backed up for miles as highway workers, power company trucks, and EMS teams worked ahead of us, cleaning up the effects of last night’s tornadoes. Traffic would pull forward a few miles, then come to a halt for a full hour.

It took me four hours to get to Gadsden and hit the interstate north; that’s how slow-moving the traffic was. (In Chattanooga, I arrived just as the tornadoes hit, but that’s another story.)

At one point, when all traffic on the two-lane highway had been halted for a half-hour, motorists were outside, standing around talking. Suddenly, from behind–down the road where we had come from–came an 18-wheeler, passing all the stalled traffic. We looked on incredulously.

“Where does that guy think he’s going?” we wondered. This was a two-lane highway and the shoulders alongside were practically non-existent. Even if he passed us all, there was no place for him to pull into the right lane.

Suddenly, the huge truck began pulling over toward the line of cars. But there was no room. What was he doing?

Then we saw what he had seen.

Coming toward him, from the front of the line, was an Alabama Highway Patrol.

The motorists began to laugh. That trucker was caught with no place to hide.

The trooper stopped, gave the trucker a tongue-lashing he will never forget, then walked over to where we were standing. Someone asked, “Did you give him a ticket?”

The officer said, “I did better than that. I made him go to the end of the line.”

Sure enough, the 18-wheeler began slowly backing up the narrow highway.

The end had to be miles behind. The trucker would need all the skills he had ever learned to maneuver that massive transport backward, down that narrow country highway, in what had to be the longest, toughest drive of his life.

It was a beautiful thing.

How often have we thought we’d love to see a cop at this moment in time? But they’re never there. That day, there was.

Justice is wonderful to behold…when it happens to the other guy. But personally, I prefer mercy.

Here’s another one, this one shorter.

A few days ago as our family had gathered in New Orleans for Margaret’s and my 50th wedding anniversary, our son Marty was driving my wife’s car and had a fender bender. The intersection where it occurred is busy and complex, one I try to avoid whenever possible.

Marty says, “I honestly did not know whose fault it was. The damage was not serious, and no one was hurt. In fact, our car had more damage than hers.”

He told the lady in the other car, “Ma’am, let me give you a hundred dollars and let’s just drive away.”

Oh no. She would not do that. It was all his fault and she was dialing 911 and getting the police out here.

The lady was defiant, adamant, insistent.

She dialed 911, the cops came, talked to both drivers, and then wrote her a ticket for an illegal turn.

How sweet that was.

We do love justice…when it happens to other people. But personally, I’ll take mercy any day of the week.

Let’s talk about mercy.

1. Here’s a well-known prayer for mercy.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. According to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1)

David was miserable after the crescendoing effect of his sin with Bathsheba became public knowledge. His little act of seduction led to betrayal, lying, and the death of a good man. When David prayed for forgiveness, justice was the last thing he wanted. Had he gotten what he deserved, the Almighty would have snuffed out his candle in the blink of an eye.

He wanted mercy.

Being a wealthy man, David was willing to make big offerings and huge sacrifices for his sin. But that was not what God wanted. David prayed, “Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

2. Don’t pray for justice; ask for mercy.

The Lord Jesus even encourages us to ask for mercy, not justice.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a publican (tax-collector; they were known sinners). The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I possess.”

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes unto heaven, but beat upon his breast saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and the one who humbles himself shall be exalted.(Luke 18:10-14)

Nothing is more humbling than asking for mercy. If you can humble yourself, you’ve just qualified.

3. The blessings of Heaven are all about His mercy, my friend.

The Apostle Paul told Titus that salvation was the result of God’s mercy. “Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us….” (Titus 3:5)

Once when Jesus was dining in the home of a Pharisee, a woman known as a notorious sinner slipped into the room and began to worship at the Lord’s feet. (The only way to envision this is to remember that dining parties reclined toward the center, with their feet extended away. She’s out of the action, she thinks.)

While the host sniffs at the intrusion and the sheer gall of this woman entering his home, our Lord gave him a good education in how the Kingdom of God operates.

“Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:44-47).

It’s all of grace and mercy. A broken heart, a humble and childlike spirit.

4. The clue to having received mercy is gratitude and love.

Show me a person without love or a thankful spirit and I’ll show you one still in sin.

But the one who has been forgiven–who knows what an undeserving lout he was, how she deserved severe judgment–is the one consumed by gratitude and love.

Lawrence Bryant had lived a rugged life of sin, even though outwardly he was wealthy and successful. Only after Christ saved him at the age of 43 and opened his eyes to all he had been doing and all he had missed did his life change forever. Ten years later when I became his pastor, I was struck by something unusual about the man.

Whenever we prayed together, which was frequently, Mr. Bryant would begin his conversation with the Father something like this: “Thank you, Lord….. O, thank you, Jesus.” He would grow weepy, and silent for a moment. Then, “Thank you, Lord, for saving me. For forgiving me for a lifetime of sin and rebellion and neglect. Oh, thank you, Jesus.”

I was saved at the age of 11. I had never been into the life of sin as Bryant and so many others knew. So, it took me a while longer in living the Christian life to know the depravity of my own heart, to see the record of my own sins, and to learn what I had done, before I came to appreciate all Christ had done for me.

I am overwhelmed by the mercy of God.

David once said, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so great is His lovingkindness (His grace and mercy) toward us” (Psalm 103:10-11).

Indeed.

Clyde A. Walker wrote a gospel song nearly a hundred years ago which I first heard the Chuck Wagon Gang sing in the 1940s, and was struck by the message. “Justice Called, And Mercy Answered” was its title and its message.

One Sunday night when I was pastoring the First Baptist Church of Kenner, Louisiana, I referenced that truth and that song. Tim Walker, assistant minister of music in our church while getting his seminary degree, told me after the service, “Clyde A. Walker was my grandfather.” That week, he brought me a copy of the sheet music.

What are the chances?

Wouldn’t I love to know the story behind that song? Tim’s grandfather is long in Heaven now, and we cannot ask him. But I can guarantee you one thing: He knew about mercy. No one thinks of such a truth in a vacuum. Only by experiencing the great and gracious loving forgiveness of God when he deserves it least, only then does he come to appreciate the mercy of the Lord.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice…. (Romans 12:1).

This article was posted earlier from joemckeever.com, and is reposted here by permission of the author.

Marilyn Stewart is a weekly religion events columnist in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and is a free-lance writer for the Louisiana Baptist Message and other publications.

*names in this article are changed to protect identities.

It’s only Wednesday night, but the strip clubs on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street are busy.

The crowded street is awash in neon light as tourists, some with children, snap souvenir pictures. Inside, tears stream down a dancer’s face when the women of Inward step into her dressing room. God has answered her prayer.

“I asked Jesus to send someone,” she said. Tricia* needed help in breaking free.

Inward, a ministry that is showing God’s love in a place where the need is great, began when women of New Orleans churches felt burdened for the women of Bourbon Street. Without a template and with few ministries to model, they started by simply taking gifts of chocolate to the dancers.

Two years in, Inward is making a difference.

“Our ladies have followed the footprints of Jesus to Bourbon Street and found people in need who want to hear and see God’s love,” said David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist New Orleans.

The ministry has hosted four breakfasts for workers in a room above a club in the early hours of the morning, after closing time. Attendance is growing.

“The word is spreading,” said Maggie Broussard. “People say to us, ‘Oh, you’re that group that does the breakfasts.’”

At the breakfasts, the women share the gospel as they talk to dancers, bartenders, and managers – both men and women. Across town, prayer partners gather at First Baptist New Orleans to pray as text-messaged updates about conversations come in.

Those who attend leave with Bibles, a gospel tract, or information on children’s events at various New Orleans churches in their hands.

“We celebrate the ministry of Inward each week at First Baptist as we hear the amazing testimonies of God’s activity among the people in this marginalized sector of our community,” said Crosby.

Staying grounded is key. The women prayed for three months before setting foot on Bourbon Street. They meet weekly with accountability partners. Two weeks are devoted to prayer for every one night on the street.

Inward is not the ministry of one church, but involves women from many churches in the New Orleans Baptist Association. Prayer partners from around the world support them.

To date, Inward has helped three women leave the sex industry. Two others are in process. Tricia was recently baptized.

It’s a choice, isn’t it?

The Inward women often say they assumed, at first, that those in the sex industry are there by choice, or because of certain life decisions. Soon that perception changed.

“Our hearts were broken in pieces,” Laeken Carter said after meeting Tricia. “I realized then how painful it is for these women.”

College co-eds are drawn in by easy money. One man is a laid-off engineer. A woman started dancing when stranded in New Orleans after her car broke down.

“Many are Moms. Some are wives,” Cole Gilbert said. “These are normal, everyday women. But once you’re swept into [this lifestyle], it’s hard to get out.”

Drugs and alcohol are part of the mix for some. Others, women who wouldn’t be pegged as a nightclub dancer outside the Bourbon St. context, dance as a second job.

“It may start with money,” Broussard said. “But when they realize it’s not what they expected it to be, they have to find some other way to justify it.”

The dancers’ perceptions are skewed, especially in regards to relationships, Broussard said. Some say they provide companionship by sitting at the bar and talking to customers.

“Most have had trauma in their lives – broken families, abuse,” Cole Gilbert said. “Yes, they choose, but is it really a choice when you look at their past and see what they’re dealing with?”

An urgent mission

They’re called “the church ladies.” Inward women have been laughed at, yelled at, and thrown out of clubs.

One manager told them that the dancers make fun of the makeup bags, hand lotion, and other gifts that Inward brings. “That’s okay,” Jennifer Best told him. “We’re not going to stop.”

Recently, a manager showed them civility for the first time, then turned on them in anger minutes later. The interim period gave them time to talk with a dancer. Christi Gibson, Inward director, said the incident was discouraging, yet affirming.

“God had a divine appointment for our girls with that girl, and he wanted us at the club at that moment,” Gibson said. “We don’t need to be liked or favored. We just need to be available. God will give us the access we need.”

While Inward prayed at the beginning for a club to host a breakfast, a woman they didn’t know was praying that God would send someone to her daughter. The club that opened its doors is the place where the daughter works.

Another mother called First Baptist for help without knowing about Inward or that Christi Gibson is the church’s Connections Minister. Inward found the woman’s daughter on Bourbon St. and eventually helped her leave the industry.

Gibson received a phone call one day from another woman who thanked Inward for “going into the ugly places” and showing her daughter love.

Inward starts relationships on Bourbon Street, but grows them outside. The husband of one Inward member recently performed the wedding ceremony for a dancer. The couple continues a friendship with the newlyweds and continues to share Christ.

“I’ve learned that you cannot see a person as a project,” Gibson said. “The girls we have seen come to know the Lord have not received Him during a ten-minute conversation in a club, or even during the three-hour breakfast in the middle of the night. Inward girls have invested time and numerous conversations away from Bourbon Street into these girls.”

Bourbon Street workers often talk of being religious, and even Christian. When one dancer mentioned that she needed to be “more spiritual,” Cole Gilbert said, “What you really need is Jesus.”

“Inward is increasing the dependency that these women [who minister] have on Christ, making them bolder in sharing the gospel in other relationships, including their own family members,” said Chad Gilbert, pastor of Edgewater Baptist Church, New Orleans.

The urgency, and danger, are real. On a recent “blitz,” where Inward carries gifts into a dozen clubs, the women also carried the picture of a fifteen-year old girl reportedly last seen on Bourbon Street.

The positive response is real, as well. Inward arrived for the third breakfast to find the room dirty and in disarray. When they arrived for the fourth breakfast, the room was cleaned and ready.

Justin*, a manager who once opposed them, now welcomes them in. When they thanked him for hosting the breakfast, he said, “You’re welcome here any time.”

The assistant manager told them Justin’s* change of heart was due to Inward’s non-abrasive manner.

“The Bible tells us the gospel may offend,” Cole Gilbert said. “We want to be sure that our manner of presenting the gospel doesn’t.”

The turnover on Bourbon Street is great, and women continue to be drawn in by its false promises.

“They’re not going to come to us. We have to go to them,” Cole Gilbert said. “This is what Jesus did.”

This article was originally published in the Louisiana Baptist Message, and is reposted here by permission.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Do you believe this? You might hear this question as two young boys make their way through an attraction called “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” They bill this attraction as “EVERYTHING ODD, WEIRD & UNBELIEVABLE!”[1] Ten years ago at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, as I perused the personal library of Dr. R.G. Lee, I found a copy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Dr. Lee filled his sermons with interesting anecdotes.

John shares the following account in John chapter 11,

¹ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
⁸ The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
¹⁶ Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
²⁰ Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
²⁴ Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
³⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:1-43).

From our text we read, “²⁵ Jesus said to her [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

Please allow me to share three points from our passage.

I. First, we find a self identification of our Lord.

Some erroneously state Jesus never claimed to be God. Dr. H. R. (Hugh Ross) Mackintosh (1870-1936), a Scottish theologian, states, “The self-consciousness of Jesus, the account He gave of Himself, is, on any terms, wonderful in its coherence, in its complex unity, in its spiritual range and grandeur. There has never been anything like it in the world before; there has never been anything like it since.”[2] You will receive a great blessing reading through all of the statements Jesus made of Himself. For example, “Jesus said to [Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25a). This is one of the seven “I am” statements of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 6:48), “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12, 9:5), “I am the door”(John 10:7), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11-14), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and “I am the true vine” (John 15:1, 5). Jesus made a series of bold declarations about his identity. In Luke 2:41-50 we read,

⁴¹ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³ When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; ⁴⁴ but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. ⁴⁶ Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. ⁴⁸ So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Based upon the claims Jesus made of Himself, we may draw some logical conclusions. There are only four possibilities; He was a legend, a liar, a lunatic, or Lord and God. The next time someone calls Jesus merely a good man or a great human teacher, remind them that is not a possibility. Jesus claimed to be God and proved that He was and is God. Uniquely, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.

Dr. Kevin J. Vanhoozer shares,

In the 1930s, a missionary asked an African girl about six or seven years of age a most pertinent question: “Who is Jesus Christ?” With a smile on her face, she responded cheerfully: “He is my Savior and He lives within my heart.” As it happens, the missionary had previously studied at the University of Berlin with Professor Adolf von Harnack, one of the most renowned theologians and church historians of the twentieth century. The missionary recalled that one day in class Professor Harnack was addressing the same question: “Who is Jesus Christ?” Harnack replied that Christ was the greatest man who ever lived. But the liberal theologian would not acknowledge that Christ was the divine Son of God who had died on the cross for our salvation and triumphed over death through the resurrection. In one sense, the young African girl understood the Gospel far better than the brilliant professor with all his theological knowledge.

Years later, the former missionary frequently recounted the story of the great German theologian and the young African girl. He compared her simple faith in Christ with the vast knowledge of the great theologian. She provided a remarkable illustration of Jesus’ teaching that unless we come to Christ with the faith of a little child, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, indeed, the Gospel is so simple that children do understand it very well. The Statement reads: “The Gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.”[3]

II. Furthermore, we find a spiritual impartation from our Lord.

Among other things, “impart” means, “To communicate the knowledge of; to make known; to show by words or tokens; to tell; to disclose.”[4] Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25b-26a). Here, Jesus makes a bold promise. Please note His affirming messenger, His assuring manner, and His attesting miracles in three passages in the recorded by John. We encounter His affirming messenger in John 1:6-13 where we read,

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We discover His assuring manner in John 3:1-21 where we read,

¹ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

We remember His attesting miracles in John 20:30-31 where we read, “³⁰ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Even if the one making the promise is absolutely trustworthy it means little unless we act upon it.

III. Finally, we find a saving invitation by our Lord.

Jesus asks, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26b) Dr. Mark McClellan, dean of the Joe L. Ingram School of Christian Service at Oklahoma Baptist University, shares the following:

It is clear, if not self-evident, that the Bible commands the proclamation of God’s message. (Luke 4:17-21) While it might appear obvious, we should ask if the Bible presents a call for a “response” that could be identified as an invitation and is a part of the message proclaimed. Jesus did call for a ‘response’ with words such as ‘Repent and believe’ (Mark 1:15); “Follow me” (Matt. 4:17, 19, 23); “Believe” (John 11:26; 12:36); ‘Come unto me’ (Matt. 11:28), among others. Jesus both called and sent His disciples to proclaim a message, a message that in Jesus Christ alone there is salvation, there is redemption. (John 14:6) The proclamation of that message calls for a response, “Do you believe?” Surely, we can and should invite people to respond to that message of truth as a conclusion and part of the proclamation of our message. Jesus called people in both public and private settings. Jesus’ disciple, Peter the Apostle, did the same thing at Pentecost when he concluded his message “Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) An invitation can be a part of extending a call to respond.”[5]

Conclusion

Hendrik “Hank” Hanegraaff affirms,

The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that he does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, or Confucius. He is utterly unique.[6]

John writes,

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:25-27).

Do you believe this?

By Bob Williford, former director of the Hope Migrant Mission Center at the Migrant Farm Labor Center near Hope, Arkansas (a ministry of the Arkansas Baptist Convention), and author of Fence Post Digest blog.

Colossians 2:7-15

⁷ having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; ¹¹ and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; ¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

⁷ having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Two very important aspects of the believer’s relationship with the Christ are given here:

Paul reminds us of the importance of being instructed in the Word of God. Every believer will demonstrate a commitment to the Father and following the instruction of Christ.

The instruction sets the standard for the faith of developing and sustaining a faithful relationship with Jesus. The believer cannot sustain a healthy faith without the support that is found in Scripture.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Nothing has changed since the very beginning of the Christian faith. Enemies of the Cross and the believer are numerous. Paul lists them as being human philosophy, deceptions of every sort and traditions of culture. Each of these finds a commonality in the very basic principles of the world in which we live. Every excuse possible is made to satisfy our personal desires if we are not practicing the teaching of Christ and John clearly states this truth, “rather that according to Christ.” WE HAVE NO EXCUSE BEFORE GOD.

⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Far too often we see the Baby Jesus wrapped in a blanket. We read and study about Him along the dusty Judean country side, busy villages and synagogues. Weeping is heard as we rehearse over and over again the horrible last week of His earthly journey. Standing in awe with the disciples as the risen Lord ascends into glory. But in all of this there remains an incredible gap of understanding that God the Creator lives in the Christ on earth in human flesh. If we could only realize that the Creator of life and universe lives in the heart of everyone who calls Him ‘LORD’……

^10a and in Him you have been made complete

All around us there is the hope for fulfillment in life, no matter the strata of circumstance. The poorest of poor want to own something, and they who can purchase any object they desire are searching for the purpose of their riches. To the amazement of all of God’s human creation He has provided the source of that eternal search in His Son. In Him alone is the abundance of completeness that we need. Note that John writes, You have been made complete in Him. All that is necessary is for every believer is to know the Truth and He will set you free!!!

^10b and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Most likely I am not any different than most who live in our nation who know that something must be done at the highest levels of government in order for our present economic and political turmoil to be corrected. But the reality is that everyone must listen to the Word of God which tells us that  “He is the head over all rule and authority.” With or without our approval God is in control and everything will work out according to His design.

¹¹ and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

Circumcision is an outstanding promise that is mostly misunderstood by everyone. I am not certain that anyone has ever grasped the truth of this. Certainly we are able to read the text, but have we not missed the application? I tend to think so. Please note that by the circumcision of Christ the removal of the heart of flesh has been replaced by the heart of Christ. He is Lord of everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord for Salvation and follows Him.

¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Not enough is said about baptism. I tend to believe that baptism is much, much more than a simple symbol of following the Christ. Paul writes that we put on Christ in baptism…symbolism? Not as the Scripture says that we are raised with Him through our faith in the working of God in our hearts through the circumcision mentioned in the previous phrase. As Christ arose from the grave of death, the new believer also comes from the grave of eternal death to walk in newness of life with the risen Christ. How much better can life be???

¹³ When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Christ has made the believer alive in Him because of the very fact of His act of forgiveness on the Cross. This cannot be made more clear and understandable.

¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

There is no doubt that the cross event is the most important moment in the history of mankind followed by His resurrection a few days later. These two moments are the most single significant event in the course of all human history, period. The condemnation of sin has been removed and the hope of eternal life is provided. But that hope can only be known for those who do choose follow Him.

¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Glory!!!! God has disarmed all authorities and principalities on the planet. Our doubts and fears rest only in our faith in who He is. But God disarmed these fears when we place our faith and trust in Him. Only trust Him and read in Luke 21:28, “…your redemption is drawing near.”

Jesus is Lord

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

The saint’s highest calling is suffering and death. Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) explains, “Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will-even if it means you will suffer-is something very different.”[1]

We read in Isaiah 66:1-6,

Thus says the Lord:
¹ “Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
² For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
³ “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
⁴ So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
⁵ Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word:
“Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
⁶ The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
Who fully repays His enemies!

From our passage we will note several things about God’s people.

I. The Holiness of God’s People

God through Isaiah says,

But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word (Isaiah 66:2b).

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) notes the fidelity and holiness of the saints mentioned here in his classic titled Faith’s Checkbook.[2]

The Apostle Peter writes,

¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
¹⁷ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear (1 Peter 1:15-17).

Isaiah recounts the words of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3b) We read in Psalm 29:2, “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Similarly, we read in Psalm 96:9, “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” Earlier, we read in 1 Chronicles 16:29-30,

²⁹ Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
³⁰ Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon affirms, “Holiness is the royal road to Scriptural knowledge.”[3] Tragically, many attempt to study the Holy Scriptures without the Holy Spirit.

II. The Humility of God’s People

God through Isaiah says,

² “But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
. . . .
^5a Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word (Isaiah 66:2b, 5a).

The Holman Christian Standard Bible renders Isaiah 66:2b as follows: “I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

James writes, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6b).

Jesus’ first Beatitude recorded in Matthew 5:3 reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, / For theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. To be “poor in spirit” is to be humble. We are saved by grace, we are kept by grace, and we will be rewarded by grace. As John writes, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). “Grace for grace” or “grace upon grace”. Paul the Apostle writes in Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Paul confessed, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10a).

III. The Hatred of God’s People

We read in Isaiah 66:5b, about “Your brethren who hated you”. The words “hated you” clearly express the animosity against those who are godly. This situation reminds us of the account in Genesis as Cain killed his brother Abel. Envy churned in the heart of Cain. Those who hate God’s people are evil.

The Lord provides insight into their attitude toward worship in verse 3 and 4, where we read,

³ “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
⁴ So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”

The Apostle Peter writes,

¹² Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ¹⁴ If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:12-19).

IV. The Hurt of God’s People

God through Isaiah instructs the saints about those “Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified’” (Isaiah 66:5b).

The phrase “cast you out” reminds us of Jesus’ words recorded in Luke 6:22-23, which reads,

²² Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

From John 16:1-4 we read that Jesus said,

¹ These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. ² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³ And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴ But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
They do this in the name of religion and in the name of God.

Paul warns Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12-13, “¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon shares the following on Isaiah 66:5,

Possibly this text may not apply to one in a thousand of the readers of this little book of promises; but the Lord cheers that one in such words as these. Let us pray for all such as are cast out wrongfully born the society which they love. May the Lord appear to their joy!

The text applies to truly gracious men who tremble at the word of the Lord. These were hated of their brethren and at length cast out because of their fidelity and their holiness. This must have been very bitter to them; and all the more so because their casting out was done in the name of religion, and professedly with the view of glorifying God. How much is done for the devil in the name of God! The use of the name of Jehovah to add venom to the bite of the old serpent is an instance of his subtlety.

The appearing of the Lord for them is the hope of His persecuted people. He appears as the advocate and defender of His elect; and when He does so it means a clear deliverance for the God-fearing and shame for their oppressors. O Lord, fulfill this word to those whom men are deriding![4]

V. The Hope of God’s People

Isaiah shares a word of hope for God’s persecuted people, when he writes,

⁵ “‘That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
⁶ The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
Who fully repays His enemies! (Isaiah 66:5c-6).

The word “joy” reminds us of Hebrews 12:2-4, where we read

² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

We read in Psalm 16:11,

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy,

⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:5-8).

The Apostle Peter writes,

¹ The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; ⁴ and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Paul the Apostle writes in Romans 12:4, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function.” Paul shares about “the Lord Jesus Christ” in 2 Timothy 4:1b, “who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.”

Conclusion

Oswald Chambers observes,

Look at God’s incredible waste of His saints, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His saints in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.” Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.[5]

In “Where Shall I Work?” an unknown poet prays,

“Father, where shall I work today’
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed me out a tiny spot,
And said, ‘Tend that for me.’
I answered quickly, ‘Oh, no, not that.
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done.
Not that little place for me!’
And the word He spoke, it was not stern,
He answered me tenderly,
‘Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;
Art thou working for them or me’
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.’”[6]

We read in Hebrews 11:35b-38,

^35b Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

George A. Young, an obscure nineteenth-century preacher, shares the following in the third stanza of his hymn,

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
In the chorus he explains,
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
“Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.”[7]

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon confesses,

I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord’s workshop. I sometimes question whether I have learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.[8]

May we understand that suffering and death are the saint’s highest calling.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

“The Servant of the Lord” is a designation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the prophecy of Isaiah. For example, we read of the “Suffering Servant” in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 which is one of the greatest prophesies about Jesus Christ.

Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Jesus also said,

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’ (John 15:18-25).

George Williams (1850-1928) explains, “God’s true servants in all dispensations may, with David use the words of this Psalm as a vehicle of prayer and faith in times of deep trial; but only One could suffer fully the sorrows here revealed.”[1]

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) shares the following comment on Psalm 143,

Why it has been set down as one of the seven Penitential Psalms we can hardly tell; for it is rather a vindication of his own integrity, and an indignant prayer against his slanderers, than a confession of fault. It is true the second verse proves that he never dreamed of justifying himself before the Lord; but even in it there is scarcely the brokenness of penitence. It seems to us rather martial than penitential, rather a supplication for deliverance from trouble than a weeping acknowledgment of transgression. We suppose that seven penitentials were needed by ecclesiastical rabbis, and therefore this was impressed into the service. In truth, it is a mingled strain, a box of ointment composed of divers ingredients, sweet and bitter, pungent and precious. It is the outcry of an overwhelmed spirit, unable to abide in the highest state of spiritual prayer, again and again descending to bewail its deep temporal distress; yet evermore struggling to rise to the best things. The singer moans at intervals; the petitioner for mercy cannot withhold his cries for vindication. His hands are outstretched to heaven, but at his girdle hangs a sharp sword, which rattles in its scabbard as he closes his psalm.[2]

Dr. James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) writes, “Some commentators regard this as a weak confession because it is neither personal nor specific. It does not say, ‘I have sinned,’ as the other penitential psalms do. Nor does it say what sins the writer has committed.”[3] Another commentator concludes, “Since [David] comes as a repentant sinner, this psalm is classed as one of the Penitentials (cf. Ps 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130).”[4]

Dr. Harold L. Wilmington affirms, “No less than five out of seven penitential Psalms were written by David. He wrote 6, 32, 38, 51, 143.”[5]

Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) shares the following in a message titled “Grace Greater Than Our Guilt” based on Psalm 38, “It’s the prayer of King David, who while he was a great sinner, and a great saint, was also a great theologian and a great repenter.”[6]

In this message we will note three things about the servant of the Lord.

I. A Harmful Affliction upon the Servant of the Lord

David, the psalmist, writes about “those who afflict my soul. . .” and he affirms to the Lord, “I am Your servant” (Psalm 143:12).

Paul states in 2 Timothy 4:14, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.” Paul wrote, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Dr. Luke chronicles the conversion of Saul in Acts chapter 9. Interestingly, we read in Acts 9:13 the reluctance of Ananias who recounted, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man [Saul], how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.” Remember Paul who caused “much harm” asked the Lord to repay Alexander the coppersmith for causing “much harm”. The difference is that Saul of Tarsus repented and received God’s forgiveness, as far as we know Alexander the coppersmith never did. We are thankful that it is possible for some like Saul of Tarsus to become Paul the Apostle. Paul exhorts in 2 Timothy 1:8, “Be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God”. David also writes in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, / But the LORD delivers him out of them all.”

II. A Humble Attitude in the Servant of the Lord

Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899), American evangelist, publisher and founder of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, asked the Rev. Dr. Andrew A. Bonar (1810-1892), of Scotland, the secret of his ministry, he replied, “For 50 years I have had access to the throne of grace.”

A. David demonstrates a humble attitude when he writes, “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous” (v. 2b). Here, David cries for God’s mercy.

Rev. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) explains,

[David’s] petition is, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant; do not deal with me in strict justice, as I deserve to be dealt with.” In this prayer we must own ourselves to be God’s servants, bound to obey him, accountable to him, and solicitous to obtain his favour, and we must approve ourselves to him. We must acknowledge that in many instances we have offended him, and have come short of our duty to him, that he might justly enquire into our offences, and proceed against us for them according to law, and that, if he should do so, judgment would certainly go against us; we have nothing to move in arrest or mitigation of it, but execution would be taken out and awarded and then we should be ruined for ever. But we must encourage ourselves with a hope that there is mercy and forgiveness with God, and be earnest with him for the benefit of that mercy. ‘Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for thou hast already entered into judgment with thy Son, and laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for thy servant enters into judgment with himself;’ and, if we will judge ourselves, we shall not be judged.

His plea is, “In thy sight shall no man living be justified upon those terms, for no man can plead innocency nor any righteousness of his own, either that he has not sinned or that he does not deserve to die for his sins; nor that he has any satisfaction of his own to offer;” nay, if God contend with us, we are not able to answer him for one of a thousand, Job 9:3; Job 15:20. David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mere mercy for it.[7]

B. David demonstrates a humble attitude when he writes, “Do not hide Your face from me, / Lest I be like those who go down into the pit” (v. 7b). Here, David cries for God’s grace.

Rev. Matthew Henry explains,

[David] dreads God’s frowns: “Lord, hide not thy face from me; Lord, be not angry with me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with; Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in doubt concerning thy favour; if I have thy favour, let it not be hidden from me.” Those that have the truth of grace cannot but desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case if God withdrew from him: “Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath, for then I am like those that go down to the pit, that is, down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly; thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless pit.” Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath of God, as if they had been damned sinners, Job 6:4; Psa. 88:6.[8]

Dr. Luke records the following in Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector,

⁹ Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

In Hebrews 4:14-16 we read,

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Other than for salvation, when was the last time you heard a proud person seeking God’s mercy or grace? In fact, no one will receive God’s mercy and grace without humility. From James 4:6 we read, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”

Other than for salvation when was the last time you heard a proud person seeking God’s mercy and grace? It will not happen. Unless a person is humble they will never honestly seek God’s mercy and grace. It is humbling to confess that I am a sinner. It is humbling to admit that I cannot save myself and that only God through Jesus Christ can. Tragically, there are countless church members who are seeking salvation without humbly repenting of sin and believing on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Many are attempting to get to heaven by some other way. Countless multitudes do not believe there is a hell. Remember, Jesus had more to say about hell than he did about heaven.

Rev. Matthew Henry explains, “We may more easily accommodate this psalm to ourselves, in the singing of it, because most of the petitions in it are for spiritual blessings (which we all need at all times), mercy and grace.”[9]

III. A Heavenward Appeal from the Servant of the Lord (Psalm 143)

Like an octave of eight notes, David makes a heavenward appeal.

A. David sounds note one, when he prays,

Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness
(v. 1).

B. David sounds note two, when he prays, “Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails!” (v. 7a) David is exhausted as we read in Psalm 142:3,

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.

C. David sounds note three, when he prays, “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust” (v. 8a).

D. David sounds note four, when he prays, “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You” (v. 8b). “The way” refers to the way of safety and righteousness. In a similar way David writes,

³ When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
⁴ Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.
⁵ I cried out to You, O Lord:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
⁶ Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I
(Psalm 142:3-6).

David also writes in Psalm 25:1-4,

¹ To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
² O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
³ Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
⁴ Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.

David writes in Psalm 59:16,

But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.

E. David sounds note five, when he prays, “Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; / In You I take shelter” (v. 9).

In another place David writes,

¹⁵ My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
¹⁶ Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
¹⁷ Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
Let them be silent in the grave.
¹⁸ Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
¹⁹ Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
²⁰ You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues
(Psalm 31:15-20).

F. David sounds note six, when he prays,

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good
(v. 10a).

Dr. Lawrence O. Richards writes, “When you can’t change your situation, make it your priority simply to do each hour, each day, what God wills.”[10]

Dr. G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) reminds us “There is no phrase more often used among Christians than that of the will of God.” Dr. Morgan concludes his classic titled, God’s Perfect Will, in the following way, “There is but one thing that matters, knowing and doing God’s will.”[11]

Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) comments, “‘Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God’’ should be the daily prayer of every child of God.”[12]

If your service is according to the will of God, no matter how insignificant it may appear to men God will reward you. Your service may be invisible to men, but God takes notice.

Jesus warns,

¹ “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ³ But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly (Matthew 6:1-4).

Dr. Luke records, “[God] gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).

G. David sounds note seven, when he prays, “Lead me in the land of uprightness” (v. 10b).

H. David sounds note eight, when he prays, “Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake!” (v. 11)

Notice his last request “revive me” completes the octave and is in fact a heart-cry for a new beginning.

Conclusion

Rev. Dr. Andrew Murray (1828-1917), the Scottish missionary to South Africa of the late 19th and early 20th century, writes in The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life,

Our first lesson must be the sense of our own impotence. Then grace can work in us, slowly and surely, if we give ourselves its training. . . . God seeks men through whom He can bless the world. Say definitely: Here am I; I will give my life to this. Cultivate your faith in the simple truth: God hears prayer; God will do what I ask. Give yourself as wholly to men as to God, and set your eyes open to a sense of the need of a perishing world. Take up your position in Christ, and in the power which His Name, and Life and Spirit give you. And go on practising definite intercession.[13]

From the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary we read, “God’s mercy to His people is often wrath to His and their enemies.” We read in Psalm 31:17,

Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
Let them be silent in the grave
The psalmist states, “I am Your servant” (Psalm 143:12), “as chosen to be such, entitled to divine regard.”[14]

Dealing with “Retribution on enemies” (Psalm 143:12), William MacDonald (1917-2007) explains,

Finally he asks that God search out and destroy his enemies as a display of His mercy. If these things–destruction and mercy–sound irreconcilable to us, we should remember that [according to Dr. Albert Barnes (1798-1870)]: the destruction of the wicked is a favor to the universe; just as the arrest and punishment of a robber is a mercy to society, to mankind, just as every prison is a display of mercy as well as justice:–mercy to society at large; justice to the offenders.[15]

From the files of Dr. Michael A. Guido (1915-2009), an evangelist from Metter, Georgia, who lived to be 94 years of age, we discover a devotional thought titled “My Last Day” by Dick Hills. Herein we read,

THE ALARM CLOCK jingled through the darkness of the winter morning, letting me know it was six o’clock. I crawled out of bed and into the shower.

There, under the stimulating stream of water, my mind snapped into action, plunging down a list of things I had to do that day. As I turned off the refreshing warm water, a disturbing question cut across my thought flow of things to be done: “What if this were my last day? Are there things I would do?”

As I dressed, the thoughts kept working on my mind like a swift current through a gorge. The faster the thought raced, the more challenging it became. Ideas piled until they spilled over.

I have taken my days for granted. This really could be my last day. Any day could be my last day. Who promised I would live to be 60, 70, 80? Even if I live to be 100, shouldn’t I live each day as if it were my last? Work, worship, witness—certainly they all flow through the day, but is my mixture correct? Priorities! If this is my last day, I better check my priorities. Slow down! Life isn’t all noisy, bubbling rapids. Life is a river.

After dressing, I picked up my Bible and asked the Author of Life to make crystal clear the channel along which my life should flow that day—as if it were my last.

“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning” (Ps. 143:8) came first. This was a switch. Normally I did more praying than listening. I should know better. It is more important for me to listen to God—and to obey—than for God to listen to me.

“Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk” (v. 8). If I know His will for the day, I naturally will avoid the whirlpools of activity that constantly submerge me I anguish and confusion.

‘Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies’ (v. 9). Too often I wade through the day, hip deep in trouble, forgetting I have an enemy on my back. Why do I not ask my Father to deliver me?

“Teach me to do thy will” (v. 10). Knowing is “head”; doing is “heart.” Knowing is standing on the bank; doing is jumping in. It is time I jumped.

It all came together. If I will listen to my Father each morning until I know His will, and if I will accept His discipline as He teaches me obedience, I can count on His deliverance in the course of my day’s journey. The day’s priorities suddenly became clear—communion, direction, protection, and obedience. With these I can live each day as if it were my last.[16]

As David and his greater Son, Jesus Christ (Psalm 110:1-4; Mark 12:35-37), may each one of us truly become the servant of the Lord.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Dr. John Ervin Huss (1910-1987), former pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, confesses,

It was so beautiful in Bellingrath Gardens I wanted to stay. I met God there. I can better understand now that if one goes to the Holy City, never would he have a desire to return to this world. Yes, I wanted to stay. God said, “John, I need you to preach My Word.” Yes, I realized again that life’s “Ridgecrest experiences,” and life’s “Glorietas” and visits to gardens has as their real purpose enduing of greater power to serve God in the hard places.[1]

According to the LifeWay website, “Ridgecrest Conference Center, near Asheville, North Carolina, and Glorieta Conference Center, located near Santa Fe, New Mexico, have ministered to millions of guests during their many years of ministry.” For more information, click here.

Dr. Huss further recalls his memorable visit to the palatial home and garden paradise near Mobile, Alabama, envisioned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Bellingrath in his book titled I Met God There (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1956).

Noting a sign in the gardens that simply reads, “Look,” Dr. Huss comments,

Sad to say, the sign is necessary. We can live in a paradise and never look. . . . People live near Niagara and have yet to see its awesome beauty. . . . We can have at our disposal the Word of God, and yet keep its pages closed and never see the Christ the Bible tells about.[2]

Dr. Luke records Jesus Christ’s affirmation of His primary purpose, as He said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul the apostle explains, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). As a sinner, I met God there.

Jesus Christ taught with an astonishing authority attested by the response to His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Robert A. (Bob) Briner (1935-1999) writes about “Jesus Christ, the greatest of all teachers” in The Management Methods of Jesus. Mr. Briner explains,

Jesus was often called rabbi, which means teacher, and he taught constantly. His teaching brilliance is revealed in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are full of his remarkable insights. His ability as a teacher is also demonstrated by the success of his pupils, his disciples as they carried out his plans and programs.[3]

We read in Matthew 7:28-29, “²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹ for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Dr. Alexander Whyte (1836-1921) contends in The Walk, Conversation and Character of Jesus Christ our Lord,

PREACHING has fallen low enough in our church and country sometimes, but it has sunk to such depths of imbecility as the preaching of the Scribes. Their own books, preserved to this day, prove to us that the New Testament plain-spoken as it is, has not told us the half of the scandal of the life and the teaching of the Scribes and the Pharisees. You would simply not believe the frivolities, and the superstitions, and the downright immoralities of the teaching and preaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, as all these things stand written in their own records.[4]

We learn from reading the Sermon on the Mount and the other teachings of Jesus that He did not attempt to make men think wrongly about themselves. For example, we read in Matthew 7:21-23,

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Regrettably, some Bible teachers today try to make people think everything is okay regardless of what they believe or how they live. Jesus Christ shared the truth about man and the eternal truth from His Father in heaven. While the Sermon on the Mount is not the plan of salvation it carries important implications and imperatives for the believer.

From Matthew 6:25-34 we discover Jesus specifically speaks about the issues of life.

I. On living amid fears and failures, Jesus exhorts,

²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
. . . .
³¹Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (Matthew 6:25, 31)

II. On looking at fowls and flowers, Jesus states,

²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
²⁷Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
²⁸And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
²⁹And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
³⁰Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 6:26-30)

III. On learning about faith and focus, Jesus explains,

³²(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matthew 6:32-34).

While reading the words of Matthew 6:25-34, as a saint, I met God there.

Conclusion

May each one of us truly be able to say first as a sinner and then many times as a saint, I met God there.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Professing God is of the utmost importance. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to profess is “to declare or admit openly or freely: affirm: to declare in words or appearances only: pretend, claim or to confess one’s faith in or allegiance to”.[1]

As any God-called preacher, I have a deep concern that you make or have made a genuine profession of God. As Paul the apostle exhorts in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Dr. D. Edmond Hiebert (1928-1995) comments on Titus 1:5,

This verse gives us the historical setting for the Epistle. Titus is working on the island of Crete when Paul writes to him. Crete is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, situated almost equidistant from Europe, Asia, and Africa. A high state of civilization once flourished there, but by New Testament times the moral level of its inhabitants was deplorable. Their ferocity and fraud were widely attested; their falsehood was proverbial; the wine in Crete was famous, and drunkenness prevailed.[2]

The apostle Paul writes in Titus 1:5-9,

⁵ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— ⁶ if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. ⁷ For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

We must beware of those who make an abhorrent profession of God from the pulpit to the pew. Dr. Albert Barnes (1798-1870) explains,

The Jewish teachers particularly, . . . are referred to in Titus 1:14. All those persons were professors of religion, and claimed that they had a special knowledge of God. But in works they deny him – Their conduct is such as to show that they have no real acquaintance with him.[3]

Paul warns Titus about those “[Who] profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:16). Dr. Barnes comments,

It was for this reason; from the character of the people of the island of Crete, and of those who claimed to be teachers there enforcing the obligation of the Mosaic law, that it was so important for Titus to exercise special care in introducing men into the ministry, and in completing the arrangements contemplated in the organization of the churches there. Yet is this character confined to them? Are there none now who profess that they know God, but in works deny him; whose conduct is such that it ought to be abhorred; who are disobedient to the plain commands of God, and whose character in respect to all that pertains to true piety is to be disapproved by the truly pious, and will be by God at the last day? Alas, taking the church at large, there are many such, and the fact that there are such persons is the grand hindrance to the triumphs of religion on the earth. “The way to heaven is blocked up by dead professors of religion.”[4]

It is the burden of my heart for you to know exactly where you stand with God, because one day you will stand before God. Our outline reveals three possibilities related to the profession of God.

I. When the profession of God is absent.

From Romans 1:18-32 we read about a godless society. Here, Paul writes,

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Paul the apostle writes, “At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Dr. William Hendriksen summarizes the teaching of this verse in the following way, “Before the Gentiles became Christians, they were Christless, stateless, friendless, hopeless and Godless.”[5]

It is a dereliction of duty to fail to profess God. God will judge everyone according to their response to the light revealed to them.

II. When the profession of God is abhorrent.

We read in Titus 1:10-16,

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. ¹² One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

Dr. Eugene Stock (1836-1928) explains,

“Abominable,” bdeluktos, does not occur again in the N.T., but we have “abomination,” bdelugma, as meaning something disgusting, particularly in Revelation (xvii. 4, 5, xxi. 27). “Reprobate,” adokimos, means literally not approved, that is, tested, but not passing the test, and therefore rejected. It is “reprobate” in Rom. i. 28 and 2 Cor. xiii. 5, 6, 7, and “rejected” in Heb. vi. 8 and 1 Cor. ix. 27.[6]

Dr. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) observes, “Of all bad men religious bad men are the worse.”[7]

Can you imagine what went through Paul’s mind as he reflected on at least twenty years of ministry? He knew the joy of seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ and seeing people come together under the Lord to form new churches. Although Paul moved on from place to place, he continued to receive reports of the well-being of converts and congregations. It is difficult to measure his emotions as he hears about people who worked their way into the lives of those he loved and led them astray. They completely contradicted his sound biblical teaching and preaching.

From an article in Vantage Point we read,

The heresy of the Judaizers and their distortion of the gospel, (Galatians 1:6-9; 2:4) ‘a different gospel,’ is the same issue present today. The Judaizers, then, as today were seeking to establish a requirement for covenant membership through law keeping, signs and seals (circumcision or baptism), in addition to faith in Christ, thus destroying grace. (Romans 11:6).[8]

Dr. John Gill (1697-1771) shares the following on the phrase, “They profess that they know God” (Titus 1:16),

That there is a God; that there is but one, only, true, and living God, the God of Israel, as professed by the Jews; and that this God is Father, Son, and Spirit, as believed by the Christians: for the persons the apostle speaks of were judaizing Christians. Yet this knowledge was but notional; it lay in theory and profession only; they had not a spiritual experimental knowledge of God in Christ, which only has eternal life connected with it.[9]

On the phrase, “but in works they deny him” (Titus 1:16), Dr. Gill explains,

The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “in their own works”; they were not professed, but practical atheists; they owned there was a God, and boasted of their knowledge of him; but their lives and conversations showed that they had no true knowledge of him, and that the fear of him was not before their eyes; these gave the lie to their profession; they practically denied that faith they professed to hold, and the power of godliness, of which they had the form.[10]

Paul the apostle warns in 2 Timothy 3:1-9,

¹ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! ⁶ For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; ⁹ but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

We read in 1 John 2:4, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Dr. Thomas Secker (1693-1768) warns,

Religion is not to be rejected because of hypocrites: – Many people are offended with the profession of religion, because all are not religious who make a profession. A little consideration will correct this error. Does the sheep despise its fleece because the wolf has worn it? . . . God rejects all religion but His own.[11]

In studying Titus chapter one, it is helpful to read Mark 7:1-23 and its parallel recorded in Matthew 15:1-20,

¹ Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ² “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
³ He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— ⁶ then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
¹⁰ When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹ Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
¹² Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
¹³ But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
¹⁵ Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
¹⁶ So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Jesus warns in Matthew 7:21-23,

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Jesus asks in Luke 6:46, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

From the pen of Asaph we read in Psalm 50:16,

But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,

III. When the profession of God is abundant.

Dr. Vance Havner (1901-1986) states, “Salvation does not come from the assent of the head but by the consent of the heart.”[12] Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34b). There are those like the apostle Paul who abundantly profess God. In Romans 1:16-17 he writes,

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Paul also states in 2 Timothy 1:12b, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Paul shares the basis of his profession in Ephesians 2:8-10,

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

An abundant profession of God involves professing Him in every area of life. Three areas often overlooked involve education, entertainment, and employment. In education we must profess God in history, in science, and in every other academic discipline. Many who profess God, deny Him in their pursuit of entertainment. Every believer has a calling and this has a direct impact upon employment. How we approach the issues of marriage and money reveal much about our profession of God.

While we are to profess God individually, we are also to profess God in community. We read in Hebrews 10:24-25,

²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

In addition, we read in Ephesians 5:19-21,

¹⁹ Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Professing God touches the world as Jesus tells believers in Matthew 5:13-16,

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Rev. Ed Wood shares,

Almost everyone has heard of Mr. H. J. Heinz [of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] whose “57 varieties” of pickles have distinguished his name. One day after an evangelistic service the speaker turned to him and said, “You are a believer, but with all your energy why aren’t you up and at it for the Lord?”

Heinz went home in anger. That night he couldn’t sleep, however, and at 4 o’clock in the morning he prayed that God would use him to lead others to the Savior.

A day or so later at a meeting of bank presidents, he turned to the man next to him and told him of his joy in knowing Jesus. His friend looked at him in surprise and said, “Because I knew you were a Christian, I’ve wondered many times why you never spoke to me about salvation.”

That gentleman became the first of 267 converts — people of different varieties, from all walks of life — that Mr. Heinz eventually won to Christ![13]

Conclusion

Allow me to frame the points of our message in the form of three diagnostic questions to assist in determining where you stand with the Lord.

Is your profession of God absent?

Is your profession of God abhorrent?

Is your profession of God abundant?

May you to know exactly where you stand with God, because one day you will stand before God. It is my prayer you will heed Paul’s warning about professing God.

By Dan Nelson, Pastor,
First Baptist Church,
Camarillo, CA

With Good Friday approaching, we confront the cross and all that it represents. It doesn’t matter if you are in church or not, we all have to confront the cross, where we stand, and how we will respond to what Christ has done for us.

Those secular reporters who wonder why Tim Tebow always gives praise to His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will have to stand before the cross regardless of their opinion about whether people need to be free to express their faith openly.

There is no greater observance to help us realize where we stand before the cross than the supper of our Lord. While it is referred to in 1 Cor. 10:16 of the communion of the body of our Lord, it is also called the Lord’s Table and we’re coming to eat the Lord’s Supper. It is the Lord’s Supper because of the pictorial reminder of the payment for sin Jesus gave on the cross.

Yet, there was problem at Corinth. The abuse at the Lord’s Table was an embarrassment to the church and the most drastic error judging from God’s response to it in light of where we are in the calendar; it is a wonderful time that this supper of our Lord becomes a teachable moment for such a time as this:

For in the supper of our Lord, we see these revelations about it. Paul expresses to the church:

I. The Problem at the Lord’s Table (vv. 17-22)

¹⁷ Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ¹⁹ For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. ²⁰ Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. ²² What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

v. 17 — First, Paul is ashamed at their abuse in the Lord’s Supper. That which was meant for the highest contemplation and encouragement had turned into a fiasco. They were worse off for taking it in the manner they were taking it. So what was meant for their betterment made them worse off for taking it because of the manner in which they were taking it.

v. 18 — Now, Paul elaborates: He says it has been told to him that there are divisions. This revelation is nothing new but it is confounding Paul because the Lord’s Supper should be a time of expressing our deepest unity but the factions were carried over into its observance. This observance may even have featured people taking the supper without even speaking to one another.

v. 19 — The first prohibition on the Lord’s Table is not to allow those with deep-seated unforgiveness to take the supper. Paul said that the participants must be approved. In other words, unforgiveness did not bring God’s means of approval.

So, we have in this picture a disciplined table. It is a church ordinance to distribute to members to partake with God’s approval of their attitudes and lifestyles.

v. 20 — Coming together in this manner was not to take the Lord’s Supper; according to Paul, it was a big farce. So you are coming together to eat bread and drink from the cup. Paul says doing it this way does not make it the Lord’s Supper.

v. 21 — Paul brought up another problem: One takes the supper before others, and there is nothing left while you get drunk. Obviously, this is more than a little piece of bread and swig of juice.

There also was a love feast or meal associated with the Lord’s Supper that was probably a carry-over from the Jewish Passover. Maybe it was like a potluck. I don’t know how they did both together, but it seems they were combining the two observances of the cup and bread with eating a meal.

Those who brought food set it out and the first in line gobbled it down, leaving those at the end to be like that old Country/Western singer “Slim Pickens.” The people who gobbled it down were seen as pigs and drunkards. Some were drunk while others went away hungry. What a reproach to the Lord’s Table.

v. 22 — Paul said you have restaurants for these things. This was the Lord’s Supper. And then he adds a little sarcasm, saying, “You want praise for this?” To continue the thought, he could have added, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

II. The Picture of the Lord’s Supper (vv. 23-26)

²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

v. 23 — Paul said I delivered this pattern of observance taken from that last Passover meal Jesus observed with His disciples. Knowing He would be betrayed, He broke bread and drank the cup with them looking towards the cross, knowing the impact it would have on Him and the world for all time.

This deliverance to the church was one they should take lightly. It was given to them to observe it in a manner that replicated that fateful night.

v. 24 — He broke bread, saying this is My Body. It was not His literal body, for His literal body was holding it as He spoke. It was a picture of His body being broken. We do it to remember what Christ did for us.

v. 25 — Then he says in the same manner, we take the cup (it was one cup, which is more in line with the nature of the observance). You give thanks, take it and pass it. For sanitary reasons, we don’t drink from the same cup. But it is important to do it together as one. Don’t gobble it down when you get it. Hold it until it is all distributed, and then the same effect is given as we eat the bread together and drink from the cup together at one time.

v. 26 — The grand picture is seen in this supper. It shows the cornerstone of our faith in that Christ died for us in our place to bear our sins. So when we believe in it as a payment for our sin, we are saved and it brings about a life-change of service to God as a follower of Jesus Christ.

We are not given a prescribed regularity for taking it. Catholics do it every Sunday because it is their salvation. The Church of Christ does it every Sunday, interpreting Acts 20:7 as doing it on the Lord’s Day. First, we don’t know if this instance in Acts is the Lord’s Supper or a meal. Secondly, they just happened to do it as we are doing it on the Lord’s Day. It does not say they did it every Sunday. Quakers never do it. Some churches do it once a month; others do it once a year at Easter time; still others do it once a quarter.

However many times you observe it is up to your churches choice, it does have special significance during this time of year. We should observe it regularly though. I feel we should not forget its meaning. We do not observe it every Sunday lest we hold lightly its meaning. Knowing this need, we observe it 7 or 8 times a year. We do it as often as we do it to show the Lord’s death till He come.

It shows the Lord’s death. It does not picture His life, His miracles, His teaching. It shows His death. It says the death of Christ was not an accident and has far deeper significance than just a death like any other person. It is a death that has eternal ramifications. It is death in the place of another. It is a death that has opened the door to Heaven, crossed the gulf of sin, and finished once and for all, for every believer, the payment for our sin through death and judgment.

So, it is such an all-consuming event. Thus, we take these elements, never to forget it but always to be reminded of its significance for us.

v. 27 — The pattern is thus revealed that we do it in a manner that is worthy of Christ and what He did for us, not in pettiness and selfishness as the Corinthians were observing it.

We examine ourselves to see if we are a believer in Christ (2 Cor. 13:5). Then we do it to see where we stand in relation to others in the church, and to see whether we have any unresolved difficulties. Then we take the emphasis off us and put it on Christ.

v. 28 — So we must examine the way we take the Lord’s Supper as a church. We must also examine the way we take the Lord’s Supper as an individual.

III. The Punishment for Observing the Lord’s Supper Unworthily (vv. 29-34)

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. ³¹ For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
³³ Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴ But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

v. 29 — Here is the great warning! Of the two mountaintops of sin in the church, this one is probably the highest. The first was the man living immorally in 1 Cor. 5 with his step-mother. This one is abuse at the Lord’s Table. This is the only one God inflicted direct punishment on the church for their sin. It was sin at one of the highest times for a church to observe what brought our salvation.

We must then discern the Lord’s body. Now, many say that we need to really focus in on what the Lord’s Supper represents. But understand the Lord’s Supper has built in vivid images of what it represents.

Instead, the Lord’s body represents the church to me. It is worthy caring for the Lord’s Body (His Church Body) by not abusing its observance in the observance of itself or in a manner in which we approach the Lord’s Table.

It gets worse because Paul says God will judge you if you observe it in a manner that is not worthy of the Lord. You are literally reaping God’s judgment on you every time you observe it in an unworthy manner.

v. 30 — In fact, Paul says God is already judging you. Is this self-inflicting because of their making pigs of themselves? Or was it God judging them? I prefer to believe the latter. God judged no other sin in Corinth in such a severe manner. For some had kicked the bucket and were dying because of this grievous sin.

v. 31 — Paul then states a great principle. There needs to be self-judgment before you approach the Lord’s Table so you won’t get judged by God and even the world.

v. 32 — For when we judge carelessly, we need to let God discipline us so that we will not be a laughing stock to the world.

v. 33 — So Paul calls for civility at the Lord’s Table. Be courteous when you come to eat the meal and drink from the cup. Let others go first and don’t be a pig. If you are still hungry, go home and clean out your refrigerator.

It is hard for us to relate to this picture, for we seldom know hunger. We have all kinds of stuff to get us to quit eating. Food was scarce and this could have been a community meal for those hurting for a decent meal. But the people who may not have been as needy in the front of the line were eating up all the food.

Paul even sees the need for further instruction. He might have given it to them personally when he came. We err, when Paul devotes so much instruction to this and we do so little. Maybe it would be better to have less observance and more instruction, making it a special time of reflection; just a thought.

Our primary emphasis is coming to the Lord’s Table and remembering what Jesus has done for us. We share it wherever we go. We express it visibly so that what we have observed lingers with us and transforms everything we do.

In the movie Saving Private Ryan, a veteran goes to a cemetery in France and kneels before a grave of a soldier who died while rescuing him from the Germans. The soldier gave his life so Private Ryan could go back to his home and family who had already lost three sons in WWII. At the end of the movie the man breaks down and cries like a baby. He asks his wife, “Am I a good man? Have I been a good husband? Am I a good father?” Much introspection goes into trying to sort through why this man would die for him. His greatest sensation is one of unworthiness.

As we stand at the cross, we realize we were unworthy for Christ to die for us, but He did. May we bow before Him in deep resolve to not let His total sacrifice for us be in vain, but to serve Him so that we turn our lives over to Him completely in exchange for what He has done for us. The Lord’s Supper vividly reminds us of this great debt He paid that we owe, and in return we are eternally grateful for this sacrifice.