There Are None So... Pt. 4

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There Are None So... Pt. 4

Part 4, Sad

March 22, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

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March 22, 2024

There Are None So…

Part 4, Sad

This month we are playing off the theme of “There are none so…”. For example, “There are none so blind as those who will not see!” “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear!” And last week, “There are none so confused as those who will not think.” This week, we’ll consider, “There are none so sad… as those who will not RESPOND.”

We all know the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. It might be best if the horse drank, or even critical that the horse drinks, but regardless of what is healthy or even life-sustaining, it’s the half-ton animal that must make up its mind to do so. We apply this parable to all kinds of human behavior and misbehavior. Regarding the adolescent diet, “You can lead a child to broccoli, but you can’t make him eat!” Regarding the teenage student, you can legally force a boy to attend school. Still, you can’t make him learn!” And regarding our human society, “You can convince a man of his evil, but you can’t make him repent. This is because repentance is an act of the human “heart” and “will”. True repentance convinces us of our sin, repudiates it, turns FROM it, and then turns TO God for forgiveness and empowerment! True repentance is pictured by the repentant publican (in Jesus’ parable of the Praying Pharisee and Publican) who in deep contrition cried out, God be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13). Consequently, many know they ought to eat their broccoli, to study their math, or to seek the forgiveness of God for their sinfulness… but sadly, they will not respond because of their stubborn will and pride. They don’t want to, and they often have the attitude, “And no one can make me; not even God!”

Our world has always been messed up, but it seems that today everyone competes to see just how messed up they can be! Of course, everyone has their definition of “messed up”! Everyone does what is right in their own eyes. So, we need an Ultimate Standard. And the only objective standard that exists is the standard that our Creator—Jehovah God—has provided in His written revelation to humanity: the Bible. God’s definition of “messed up” is the only one that counts because by it He will ultimately judge every soul that has rejected His grace!

The problem, according to God’s standard, is not that you are just a little messed up and I’m a lot messed up. No, God says we are ALL totally messed up. And because we are messed up, we are separated and alienated from Him. And worse yet, in and of ourselves, we don’t have a fix! We can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. God says, …all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that the wages or payment for this sin nature is death (Romans 6:23a)! We see the consequence of sin manifested all around us in physical death. But the most terrifying consequence of sin is unseen to the natural eye! It is spiritual death!

And so, what will you and I do about it? We can respond wisely like that proverbial publican who in deep anguish of soul, smote his breast, and cried out, God be merciful to me a sinner. Or we can, like the proud Pharisee, stiffen our necks in religious self-righteousness and feel content NOT to respond. But I want to ask just one question: How good do you have to be to EARN your way to Heaven? God’s answer is, “You can’t earn my forgiveness… by works OR religion!” Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8, 9, 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, and in Titus 3:5 we read,

Titus 3:3-7 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 NOT by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

How ultimately sad—and dangerous—it is to recognize our dire spiritual need, and yet not respond.

God bless and consider!

Good and Evil, Pt. 4

April 26, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

April 26, 2024 Good and Evil Part 4, The Deadline This month we’ve been musing about the “mysteries” of good and evil, a topic that has caused countless generations to puzzle and question. We started with Part 1, The Dilemma. One of the hardest things for the natural (i.e., non-spiritual) man to rationalize is the very real presence of evil in this World system! In Part 2, The Desire, we discovered that mankind’s desire was his downfall. Eve exercised her free will, she rebelled against her Creator, Adam followed, and we’ve been living in a mess ever since! But God also had a desire, a desire to rescue humanity from their foolish choice and the consequence of rebellion. Eve’s desire brought disaster, but God’s desire brought deliverance through the sacrifice of His own Perfect Son, Jesus the God-Man. In Part 3, The Doubt, we talked about the common question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But we discovered that this question is flawed on both ends! Until we see the end of the matter (1 Corinthians 4:5) we can’t judge what is bad and what is good. And second, there are no “good” people. Jesus said, …there is none good but one, that is, God (Mark 10:18). Paul seconded that motion when under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote, …there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:12). And now we will close this month’s study of Good and Evil with Pt. 4, The Deadline. As much as humanity wants to question God, argue about good and evil, and in so doing absolve themselves of their own guiltiness, there comes an eventual reality check, a reckoning, a deadline. I’ll call it the Personal Deadline: the death of our physical body. The Hebrews author warned, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment… (Hebrews 9:27). When our soul and spirit leave our body at death, our eternal destiny is fixed. And the Bible is plain; there are no second chances, regardless of what “religion” tells us! Solomon taught this austere reality in poetic form in Ecclesiastes 11:3, …if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. In the Luke 18 account of the unnamed rich man and the beggar Lazarus, we discover that at the instant of death, each person was transported directly to their eternal destiny. There were no purgatories or limbos; there was no chance for a pardon, or for penance, or for indulgences. No matter what some religious authority tells us, God says that the unrepentant rich man was instantly in torment in that place the Bible calls Hades or Hell (a holding cell for the final prison called the Lake of Fire). And the repentant beggar Lazarus was instantly enjoying comfort and joy, in a place that Jesus called Paradise. Forgiven Lazarus will come back with Christ to this Earth, He will enjoy ruling and reigning with Christ in the literal 1000-year Kingdom, he will witness the re-creation of this sin-cursed Universe, and then enjoy living on a New Earth forevermore. The big question of life then, is not the mystery of Good and Evil, where they came from, or why our consciences innately know about them… but how God judges as either good or evil! Yes, at that moment, at the last beat of our hearts, we will either inherit God’s goodness (grace) or God’s judgment. Receiving His grace has absolutely nothing to do with what we can DO in life, how “good” we have been, or how many “good leaves” we have turned over. We can’t do enough good to pay for our sins! We can’t earn God’s forgiveness. We are spiritually dead because of our sins and dead people can’t do anything! Penance isn’t possible. We can’t purchase indulgences from religious organizations. If we could somehow earn or buy Heaven, then Christ didn’t need to die in our place! Friends, we can only access God’s grace by accepting God’s FREE GIFT of forgiveness. Again, it has to be free because it’s not possible to earn it. But it’s not cheap! It cost God dearly! The Son of God incarnated Himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Perfect God-Man. Jesus lived a perfect life and sacrificed Himself as a perfect sacrifice. He died in our place, the Just for the unjust. And so, the real question is somewhat like that asked by Pilate some 2000 years ago: What shall I do with Jesus (Mat 27:22)? We appropriate God’s forgiveness as did the praying publican and the thief on the cross by crying out to God in contrition and repentance asking for his forgiveness and grace (For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved – Romans 10:13). THEN God will apply the precious blood of Christ to our sin-debt, washing us as white as snow. God pleads with humanity through His prophet Isaiah,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 (Isaiah 1:18). If we have cried out to God in repentance and faith for His forgiveness, then He will apply Jesus’ righteousness to our account and our sin debt will read, “Paid in Full!” The Lord is, …not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Friends, a deadline awaits us all and it always comes unannounced and often suddenly. At that last heartbeat, we’ll be accounted righteous THROUGH Christ or we will remain as guilty sinners separated eternally from God because of our unwillingness to repent and believe, and consequently, we will pay for our sins eternally. Don’t put it off. Take advantage of God’s goodness and grace TODAY! God bless and consider!

Good and Evil, Pt. 3

April 19, 2024

April 19, 2024 Good and Evil Part 3, The Doubt Why do bad things happen to good people? We talked about this just a bit in this month’s introductory lesson. This is a question that often generates doubt: doubt of God’s concern for his children, doubt of God’s ability to protect and bless his children, and sometimes even doubt of God’s existence altogether. We’ve all heard the emotional challenge, “If God is loving and all-powerful, then why_____?”, and you can fill in that blank. Unbelievers always struggle with this question, often using it as a justification why they choose NOT to believe. And even some believers struggle with it, causing them to abandon worship and service to the Savior. But… God gives us the answer to this question in His Bible! First, everything that natural men (as opposed to spiritual men) label as “bad”, whether it be in the form of disability, disease, injustice, conflict, geologic and meteorological chaos, and finally, death, is a consequence of mankind’s free will choice to sin, to rebel against God. God gave His perfect human creation free will. Our original parents exercised that free will and chose to rebel against their Creator. And with that choice came horrible consequences: an entropic world, entropic bodies, corrupted consciences, people who give themselves over to wickedness (e.g., Cain), and finally death. WE are the cause of “bad”; it is what WE inherited. WE chose it! Second, let’s define the two objects in that question: “bad things” and “good people”. Again, only our Creator, who is working all things for the good of his redeemed children, has the authority to label an event or a condition as “bad” or “good”. What appears, to the natural man, as “bad”, e.g., the congenital blindness of the man described in John 9, might actually have been the best thing that could have ever happened to this man. This man’s congenital blindness brought him into a redeemed relationship with the Messiah. Could it be that God knew, that apart from this man’s blindness, he would never have been born again? I believe this man, who is now in Heaven with Jesus Christ, is still praising God for the GRACE that allowed him to be born blind so that he might come to repentance, belief, and eternal life. Next, let’s ask, who are the “good” people? Again, the natural (i.e., the non-spiritual) man categorizes every person as “good”, if they haven’t robbed banks, abused children, or committed murder. But again, only God is qualified to define “good”, and He says, “There is none good, no not one” (Psalm 14:3; Psalm 53:3; Romans 3:12). So actually, the question itself is fallacious on both accounts. We can’t judge what is bad or good in the scope of the spiritual and eternal, and there are NO good people. We are all sinners; we all live with the debilitating consequences of sin! Third, God is Sovereign, and this means His hands are not tied by man’s choice to rebel and the hard consequences we have earned. God taught Jeremiah that we are like the potter’s clay; He can mold us and remold us as He wishes, and it will always be for our ultimate spiritual good and His glory. God can and will use those things that we consider “bad”—our consequences—for our ultimate good. And for born-again believers, He will use the tests of life to mature us and make us into the image of His Dear Son (Romans 8:29). So… “Thank you Father for loving us and even using the mess we have made to bring us to repentance and to mature us in the faith!” God bless and consider!

Good and Evil, Pt. 2

April 12, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

Good and Evil Part 2, The Desire “Why?” It seems that human beings start asking this one-word question almost before we can say “da da” (oh, I’m sorry… “ma ma”). “Why?”, is a good question because we learn when we ask it. But “Why?”, can also be a dangerous question when it is directed, in a questioning manner, to someone in authority, for example, GOD! After the creation, God made just one rule, just one law for his first man and woman. We can’t even imagine a world with just one law. Our planet is so inundated with laws, regulations, codes, and statutes that it’s often easier to say what we can’t do rather than what we can! But truly, the first couple had just one rule. God said, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:16, 17). Think of it! Every other element of the creation was Adam and Eve’s to enjoy. Just one tree—ONE TREE—was off-limits. Do you think they wondered, “Why?” I’m sure they did! And so, what happened? Eve’s desire got the better of her. With the fallen angel Lucifer cheerleading, and twisting, and deceiving, Eve’s desire to know “Why?”, overpowered her senses and her respect for God and God’s Law, and she violated that one rule! She ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God tells us exactly what Eve was thinking and feeling. Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. As Paul Harvey used to say, “Now we know the rest of the story!” Adam and Eve’s desire caused them to question, and then disobey God’s Law, and it got them and us into an awful fix. But God also has a desire. Jesus Christ, the God-Man, desired to fulfill The Trinity’s plan for the redemption, (i.e., the buy-back, the rescue) of mankind, so that He might bring many sons unto glory by his own suffering (Hebrews 2:10). In Hebrews 10 we read the prophetic declaration of the Son of God: Lo I come… to do thy will, O God (Hebrews 10:7, 9). On the evening[1] of the Passover, Jesus declared to His disciples, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God (Luke 22:15, 16). We call Christ’s sacrifice His “passion”, and the week leading up to the crucifixion “passion week”. Jesus’ loving passion—His desire—was to pay mankind’s sin debt and make it possible for all men and women to be purchased back, to be redeemed. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:14-17). Adam and Eve’s desire brought disaster. But Jesus’ desire brought deliverance! Praise God, we have been made redeemable through the blood payment of the Substitutionary Sacrifice, the Perfect Lamb of God. So, what is your desire? Do you desire to be made free from the curse of sin? God is, …not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). You CAN apply the cleansing blood of Christ’s sacrifice. You CAN become a forgiven child of the King, by repenting (i.e., changing your mind about how to be accepted by God), and in faith (belief), crying out for His loving, forgiving grace! It’s NOT of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8, 9). For whosover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). God bless and consider! [1] The Jew’s day started at sundown, with evening, and then morning. See the Creation account in Genesis 1 and also Psalm 55:17.