Christians For Biblical Morality

CHRISTIANITY -- A BURDEN AND A SACRIFICE?

2011-04-28T16:10:00.000-04:00

Text: Matthew 16:24,25

Some people consider Christianity a burden, a series of unpleasant sacrifices such as continually going to ch. and having to give money. Or, unpleasant necessities like reading the Bible and praying. Or a weight such as giving up pleasures of the world. To some people, these are a heavy sacrifice and burden. Christians who have those feelings do as little as is absolutely necessary. They attend church little as possible, give only minimumally,and do little studying, praying, or working.

Andrew Jackson once decided to become a church member. He approached the Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. The pastor asked him a number of questions such as, “Do you forgive your enemies?” Jackson, a military man and political leader had enemies. “Is that absolutely necessary?” he asked the pastor. “Yes it is”. After a pause Jackson replied, “Then, I forgive them.” If it was absolutely necessary, he would forgive them.

That feeling among some that they will do only what is absolutely necessary leads me to these thoughts. There are many others who do not become Christians because they consider Christianity a burden, it's sacrifices too heavy. To them, it takes too much time and money. It interrupts normal life and impinges upon their freedom.

The early Christians did not feel that Christianity was a sacrifice or burden. They gave up much more than modern Christians give up to wear the name of Christ, yet they did not find Christianity a burden. Let's see Christianity in its true perspective.

Our beginning point is Romans 3:10,23 - "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." A similar Scripture is I John 1:8,10 - "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Since Adam and Eve rebelled against God and opened the flood-gates to sin, our world has been engulfed by it and all men are sinners. We were lost and in need of redemption.

Ephesians 2:12-13 brings our lost condition to a greater reality. "That at that time ye 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: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Underline the phrase “having no hope and without God in the world.” That was our condition before Christ came and gave us the way of escape so that we might be saved. See also Romans 5:5,8-9,11.

We were separated from God, lost and without hope. Then Christ came and reconciled us to the Father. I Peter 1:18-23: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

Christ paid our penalty and brought us from the bondage of sin. Until He paid the price, we were without hope and destined to eternity in hell.
Colossians 1:13-14, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." We were in darkness.God transported us into the kingdom of light. In speaking to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20:28, Paul used the expression, “the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood”. Hebrews 10:24,25 says: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
I Corinthians 6:19-20 states: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

We’ve been purchased by the blood of Christ. We belong, not to ourselves to do as we wish, but to the Lord to do as he wishes. That is not burdensome since He has sacrificed so much for us. It is only right and proper. Just as a man who has been saved from drowning feels a life-long gratitude to the one who saved him, we should have feelings of gratitude to our Lord who saved us for eternity.

II Corinthinas 5:17-19 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." Christians are new creatures. We have a new eternal destiny, set of goals, values, and a new view of life. Years ago, one of Auto makers introduced its new models with the slogan, “An old name has a new car.” That’s exactly what happens when one becomes a Christian. Friends still call him by old name and a picture reveals the same appearance as before. But, inside, he is a new creature. Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

One of clearest examples of what it means to be completely made new is Gal. 2:20 - "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

In view of the fact that we’re new creatures, it is logical that we would live a different type of life. Colossians 3:1-3, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
Romans 6:16-18: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Romans 6:2 asks, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 8:9,14, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” I John 1:6-7, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” True Christians are a different kind of people, living on a higher level, because they are bought with the blood of Christ and are changed.

Matthew 16:24-25: "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:37 - “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Imagine a young man spending thousands hours training to be a champion athlete. See him later wearing the Olympic coat as a representative of the USA at Olympics. See him perform flawlessly and watch him stand on top of podium and receive gold medal - he is the world’s champion. Did he have to sacrifice a great deal in order to get there? His answer, “In a sense, I did. I worked long hrs in training. I passed by a lot of rich food that others ate. But none of those were really sacrifices. This training has been a great blessing - it has enabled me to achieve something of real
importance. As I look back, my training was no sacrifice but a great blessing.”

Christians are running in a far greater Olympics. We really give up nothing of importance. Christianity is pure blessing. When we realize the whole situation - our sin, redemption, & newness of life - Christianity is not a burden or a sacrifice. It is a joy.

The Tithe

2011-03-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

Not long ago, one of our church attendees approached me. He wanted to ask a question about my message. It had evidently gotten him thinking, and he wanted my input. He went on to say that for some years now he had been giving only a portion of his tithe to the church, dividing the rest among a variety of para-church ministries. He wanted to know how I felt about this. My answer of course was that how I feel is of little consequence. What really matters is what the scripture says. In the Old Testament, in Malachi 3:10, scripture clearly says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." In the New Testament, Paul instructed the church at Corinth (I Corinthians 16:2) to give each week on the first day of the week, and they were to give at their local church. While para-church ministries may have many wonderful aspects, they cannot and should not be expected to replace the local church. It is the local church that reaches people. It is the local church that assimilates them into Bible studies and into the fellowship. When people need someone to visit them in the hospital, to bury their loved one or to walk with them through a difficult time in life, they turn to the local church, especially the local church pastor. While the teaching and preaching of para-church organizations may be wonderful, you cannot find one of them in scripture; in scripture what you will find is ministry being done by and through the local church. There are many reasons people would rather give to things other than their local church. Perhaps chief among them is the element of control they feel when they give ‘their’ money where ‘they’ want to give it. When they begin to see it as God’s money they will have no problem giving according to a biblical model - tithing through their local church.
As I told the brother who asked the question, my understanding of scripture leads me to the firm conviction that the Lord has already told me where my tithe belongs. My tithe and my offerings belongs to my local church. May God give you the faith to trust Him in this area of giving and the understanding of His word which will help you see this issue more biblically.

Sermons

2010-11-02T15:44:00.000-04:00

Check out new and frequently updated sermons on our church website. Listen to them or download them. www.heritagebapchurch.org

Eternity's Greatest Moment

2010-06-19T15:39:00.000-04:00

Amos 4:6-13; Verse 12
People haven't changed much over the years. People back then were just like people today. Many would not listen to God. God did a number of things to get them to listen to Him, to repent, to turn to God. Yet they wouldn't repent. He sent a famine - verse 6. He sent a drought - verse 7. Crops dried up and the ground became parched, dry, dusty. Notice the phrase - "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."(vs.6,8, etc.) He sent pestilence. Verses 9,10. "Ye have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."
I believe that sometimes the only way that God can get a nation to pay attention to God, to pray, to go to church and listen to preaching, is to allow them to be plunged into war. We have seen that since Sept. 11th. Verse. 11 says, “I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.” Five times in our text you read, "yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."
So, God gives a solemn exhortation - "...prepare to meet thy God." (12). "Prepare" is an important word! Our greatest weapon of defense is to be prepared. In education, educators have long said, "The way to prepare for life is to get an education." In a spiritual sense, it is a vitally important word! Everyone of us is going to meet God and must be prepared to do so!

I) WHY SHOULD YOU PREPARE TO MEET GOD?

There are 5 reasons given in the Bible:
First, God's Word demands it. God doesn't leave us without warning. Over and over He tells us that every man and woman is going to meet God someday. Isaiah 55:6 - "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" Note the word "WHILE". There can come a time when you cannot find God. Go to a hospital to visit an unsaved person. They're close to death. The stare of death is in their eyes. The death rattle is in their throat. You try to witness to them, but they cannot hear you. They are past finding God! The Bible says to seek Him while He may be found! Acts 17:30 - "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" You are to prepare to meet God because God's Word demands it.
Second, you must seek God because your lost condition demands it. "Lost". Jesus came & died because people are lost! Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus said, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mt. 16:26). I remember watching a business man weep uncontrollably on Sept. 11th. His bond business was in the Trade Towers upper floors. He kept crying, "It's all lost! Over 700 of my people are lost! Lost! What am I going to do?' It is a horrible thing to be lost spiritually! Your lost condition demands that you prepare to meet God.
Third, the reality of Hell demands it. People think of Hell as nothing more than a slang word. Even some Christians have hazy thinking on the matter of Hell. They do not think there is such a place. Forget what you think or feel, because this Bible teaches that there is a literal Hell. Psalm 9:17 - "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Jesus said in Matthew. 25:41 - "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" "Depart" means to be separated, cut off, from God forever. "Ye cursed" - think about having the curse of the Holy God upon you because you refused Jesus Christ. "Everlasting fire" - no end to the torment. Hell has no exits.
Fourth. the Day of Judgment demands that you prepare to meet God. It's coming! Romans 14:12 - "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Revelation 20:12 - “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Hebrews 9:27 - "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" A group of young soldiers sat around a fire during the Civil War. One was obviously trembling and afraid. The others mocked him saying, "He's afraid to die." He replied, "No, I am not afraid to die. I am afraid of what comes after death." If you are unsaved, you have to fear what comes after death! Judgment day demands that you prepare to meet God.
Fifth, the death of Jesus demands that you prepare to meet God. Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." If you die unsaved, Jesus died in vain as far as you're concerned! He shed His blood to save you! There is power to save you in the death of Christ! An old drunkard coal miner got saved. His home had been a brothel and a hellhole. After he got saved, he shared his faith in Christ with other miners. One day one of them asked him, "Do you really believe that you're saved?' He said "Yes." The miner then asked him, "Do you believe all the Bible?" He replied "Yes, every bit of it." The worker continued, "What about the part where Jesus turned the water into wine, believe that?” The new believer replied, "Yes, I believe it and here's why. In my case, Jesus turned beer into bread; hate into love; fighting into affection; a brothel into a paradise. If Jesus could do that for me, I know He turned the water into wine." The death of Christ and it's power to save people from sin is a reason for you to prepare to meet your God.

II) HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE TO MEET GOD?

First, repent of your sins. The Bible teaches repentance. It is not outdated. Acts 13:19 - "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out," Acts 20:21 - "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." You cannot be saved without repentance. Unless in your heart there is repentance toward God, there cannot be faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why there are more church members than there are Christians. Many have gone thru the motions but have never truly been saved because they never repented of their sins.
Second, trust the finished work of Jesus Christ. Put your absolute trust and cast your soul entirely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. On the cross of Calvary Jesus said, "It is finished." (John 19:30). That was a shout of victory, not defeat. He meant that the plan of salvation was absolutely complete. Isaiah 53:6 explains it - "the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Satan will tempt your mind concerning whether or not all your sins are really forgiven. Simply point back to a finished work - a complete work. Cry with Jesus - "It is finished." It has all been paid in full. It is forever settled.
Third, not only repent, not only trust the finished work of Christ, but also reckon yourself as being His forever. You belong to the Lord! John 5:24 - “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

III) WHEN DO YOU PREPARE TO MEET GOD?

Now is the time. Why?

First, the Holy Spirit limits His striving. Genesis 6:3 - "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man." That’s true!
Sometimes He says, "I am no longer going to strive with that person." He may stop struggling with you to get saved!
Second, your life needs saving as well as your soul. I love seeing people get saved when they are old, but I would rather see them saved when they are young. Your life needs to be saved! Don't waste all those years in sin! You will never be able to undo them. Your influence is important! A 68 year old man got saved. He had 2 sons and several grandsons. He became concerned about them. The next Sunday morning, he went to their house & invited them to come to church with him. Their reply? "Dad, you waited until age 68. When we get that old, we will think about it too."
Third, because death is unpredictable. "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Prov. 27:1) Think about September 11th. Death is not a respecter of age! All the money in the world cannot guarantee you another breath.
Prepare to meet God right now! Why? Because Jesus invites you right now. II Corinthians. 6:2 - "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Isaiah 1;18 says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

You may say, "Not now." God says, "now." Prepare to meet thy God! Now.

Appreciating Your Church

2010-04-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

The Lord is in the midst of His church, which is His body on earth. We show our appreciation for the Lord by valuing His body. If you don’t appreciate and value the local church, it is you who will be the loser. God has mightily blessed those who have valued their local church and who have been thankful for what they have received from the church.

I can testify to this personally during the time my children have grown up in the midst of our local church. I don’t have words to express my thankfulness to God for that privilege. My children were all helped by them. Let us learn to appreciate the tremendous protection that we and our children have in our church.

The young people will never realize how much the church has protected them from accident, danger and sin. Only when they stand before the Lord will they realize how the strict standards in the church kept them from going astray in to the world and destroying themselves. In that day they will see how something they heard in the church many years earlier protected them from danger much later. The Lord will also show us in that day how many dangers our children were saved and protected from because of what they heard in the church.

Yet, inspite of these and many other blessings, how little all of us have appreciated and valued our church or pastor.

Do you want to progress to the point where you become a blessing to others? Then, first of all, learn to be thankful to the Lord for what He has done for you and for the church He has given you. Don’t take the church for granted. Many of us are like children who realize the real worth of their parents only after their parents are dead.

Why is it that you find it difficult to value others in your church? May be you see many faults in them. When people have a problem with their eyes, sometimes, they see spots in front of their eyes all the time. It can be the same spiritually too. In the eyes of some people, every brother’s and sister’s face is spotted. If that is so with you, the problem may not be with those other brothers and sisters, because those spots are in your own eyes. Your vision will never become clear until Jesus heals your eyes.

Jesus valued the loyalty of His disciples very highly. Once He told His disciples that even though all of them were going to forsake Him, yet He would not be alone, because His Father was going to be with Him (John 16:32). He did not need those disciples. Yet He told them in Luke 22:28 that He was thankful that they had stood by Him. He was the Lord of glory. He did not need anybody to stand by Him. But even though, He did not need their support, He appreciated their loyalty.

I hope the Lord will be able to say to us too in the final day that we stood by Him and were not ashamed of Him, that we loved the local church He placed us in and gave ourselves for it, that we were not critical of the church like many others were.

May the Lord teach us to be thankful for one another in the local church now, before it is too late.