God’s Will

Posted by David on November 22, 1998 under Sermons

Paul urged Christians to commit themselves to understanding God’s will for the way they lived their personal lives. He gave this statement to the Christians in Ephesus.

Ephesians 5:15-17 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

In our Family Meeting this evening we all will be concerned about accomplishing God’s will.
1. It is certain that 100% of us will not agree on what God’s will is regarding the Family Life Center.
  1. Christians of devout faith may come to different conclusions.
  2. Christians of deep commitment may come to different conclusions.
  3. Christians with specific spiritual priorities may come to different conclusions.
  4. Christians who have been very prayerful may come to different conclusions.
2. How can that happen if one of the basic things each of us holds in common is the desire to do God’s will?
  1. Each time a Christian makes specific application of God’s will to a specific situation, it is common for that application to be composed of “one part God” and “one or more parts me.”
  2. My perception of God’s will is partly determined by my knowledge and understanding of God and scripture.
  3. But my perception is also partly determined by:
    1. My personal religious history.
    2. My emotions.
    3. My priorities.
    4. My values.
    5. My concepts.
    6. My definitions.
  4. When specifically applying God’s will to a specific decision or situation, commonly our personal, sincere judgments become a part of God’s will.

This evening, collectively, we will use our judgment as, collectively, we pursue God’s will.

It is essential that 100% of us respect 100% of us even if we hold differing judgments.

I think it is appropriate for us to meditate on a statement Jesus made in the prayer that he used to teach his disciples how to pray.

Matthew 6:10 Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

May it be our sincere goal for God’s will to be done in this congregation as God’s will is done in heaven.

Nothing Good ‘Just Happens’

Posted by David on under Sermons

I need your help to preach this sermon. First, listen to my request. Major renovations have occurred in the auditorium, in the foyer, and in the annex.

If you have assisted in these renovations in any way; if you helped paint, carpet, brought food to the workers, cleaned up, provided supplies or equipment, removed pews, hauled pews, helped in any way in the annex, helped with any phase of the planning or building, or did anything else, I need your help right now.

The congregation has no way of knowing how much work has been done by the members. It has no way to know the thousands of dollars saved because so many are willing to get involved.

This is what I want. When I ask, I want all who have helped in any way to stand. I want you to remain standing until I ask you to be seated. By standing, you can say something that I cannot say with words. Would all of you who have helped in any way please stand. [Let them stand about 15 seconds. As they are standing, thank them.] Please be seated.

In this congregation, nothing just happens.
1. This morning you came with definite expectations.
  1. As you came, you did not say, “This is my list of the things I expect today.”
  2. But in your mind you carry that list with you every time you come.
    1. You rarely use your list unless something fails to meet your expectation.
    2. For example, how often have you said, “The temperature in the building was perfect today!”
    3. How often have you said, “I burned up today,” or, “I froze to death today.”
    4. We say something only when the temperature fails to meet our expectation.
  3. Our list of expectations is long.
    1. We expect:
      1. The doors to be open.
      2. The lights to be on.
      3. The foyer to be clean and attractive.
      4. The class rooms to be clean with enough chairs (even if we don’t come to class).
      5. Teachers in the class rooms prepared to teach.
      6. Nursery attendants in the nursery prepared to care for the children.
      7. The pews to be clean and uncluttered with song books and Bibles.
      8. Communion to be prepared and on the table.
      9. Some one to preside over the communion service, and we have specific expectations about how that should be done.
      10. People to serve communion, and we have specific expectations about how that should be done.
      11. Someone to lead singing, and we have specific expectations about how that should be done.
      12. Songs to be sung that meet our approval, and we have specific expectations about that.
      13. Some one to preach a sermon, and we have specific expectations about how he should do that.
      14. A projection script that helps but does not distract.
      15. Prayers to be prayed, and we have specific expectations about how that should or should not be done.
      16. That is not the whole list of our expectations, but we do see that we all come with our lists of expectations.
2. Do you think all of that “just happens”?
  1. Do you ever think about what it takes to “make it happen”?
  2. Do you ever think about how many people it takes to “make it happen”?
  3. Do you ever think about being a part of “making it happen”?
I want to challenge you to think about the fact that “good things don’t just happen” in another area of consideration.
1. Last Sunday’s Southwest Times Record contained an article entitled “Making Churches Family Friendly.”
  1. The article noted these things.
    1. Baby boomer parents grew up in homes that professed the slogan, “The family that prays together stays together.”
    2. Many baby boomer parents believe that it is good to take their children to church.
    3. But, taking the kids to church is not producing the results they expected.
    4. The studies produced by George Barna’s surveys reveal that there is little difference in the morals of young people who attend church and young people who are unchurched.
    5. In behaviors such as lying, cheating, and sexual intercourse, only a small percentage separates the “churched” from the “unchurched.”
  2. Paul Allen stated that parents have wrongly assumed that they could take care of their children’s spiritual training by taking them to church.
2. What should the congregation expect of families, and what should families expect of the congregation?
  1. In spiritual training, can the congregation replace the family? Absolutely not.
  2. Can the family replace the congregation? Absolutely not.
  3. Can the congregation as God’s spiritual family help families? Absolutely.
  4. Can families help the congregation? Absolutely.
  5. There is a desperate need for a powerful partnership between God’s family and family units.
In crucial ways, this congregation’s strength is dependent on the stability of its families.
1. The greater the turmoil, strife, and failure in our families, the greater the instability of the congregation.
  1. That is true of turmoil and strife:
    1. In the husband-wife relationship.
    2. In the parent-child relationship.
    3. Between the family and its in-laws or its extended family.
  2. Can turmoil and conflict in the home become an avenue to the spiritual strength and maturity of individuals?
    1. Absolutely!
    2. When? When those problems cause us to rely on God instead of relying our ourselves, it produces strength and spiritual maturity.
    3. Troubles are frequently the incubator for a faith that depends on God.
    4. Trials commonly give birth to a faith that builds a relationship with God.
    5. Hardship often matures faith.
    6. That is not new; the Bible makes it clearly evident that this has always been true.
2. In building a powerful partnership between the family and the congregation, we immediately confront a very serious problem.
  1. “What problem?”
  2. Many people do not know how to be a family.
  3. Because we do not know how to be a family, we don’t know how to be a spiritual family.
  4. Please understand that I am not trying to put anyone on a guilt trip; I am not trying to offend anyone or discourage anyone.
  5. But please also understand that we must examine reality if we are going to change reality.
  6. Too many of us grew up in a family where:
    1. Father or mother was a workaholic.
    2. Father or mother were materialists.
    3. Father or mother were dependent on alcohol or medication.
    4. Father or mother did not show emotion.
    5. Father or mother was an abuser.
    6. Father or mother never had time for the family.
    7. Father or mother either neglected or resented us.
3. “There you go again; always putting the blame on someone else.”
  1. I am not putting the blame anywhere; I am not talking about blame.
  2. I am not giving any one of us a reason to reject personal responsibility.
  3. Every one of us is the product of our family of origin.
    1. Every one of us had our emotions, our expectations, our self-concept, and our relationship skills shaped by our family of origin.
    2. Every one of us are reproducing at least parts of our family of origin within the families that we establish.
4. Relationship skills in our society are pitiful; relationship skills in our families are pitiful; relationship skills in the church are pitiful.
  1. In far too many instances, family relationships are public performances with little private substance.
  2. Both in our physical families and our spiritual family, our relationships are extremely shallow.
  3. We don’t know each other, and we don’t understand each other.
  4. Much too often we do not know how to be husbands, or fathers, or wives, or mothers, or brothers, or sisters, and we are scared to death to learn because learning means we must be vulnerable.
Someone says, “The solution is obvious: we would solve all our family problems if we would just study the Bible.”
1. At one time in the past, I worked a lot with people who had been abused.
  1. Much of that work was with Christians who were trying to build an adult life after surviving severe emotional, physical, or sexual abuse as a child.
  2. Every person I worked with could trace abusiveness back at least two generations, and some could trace it back three generations.
  3. If just studying the Bible eliminates the problem, it would have been eliminated in the 1950’s when we were so well known for Bible study.
2. We absolutely need to study the Bible, but if we do not understand how to apply the principles there will be little improvement in our lives or our families.
  1. A frustrated Christian recently said, “I understand the problem; I understand the need; I just don’t understand what to do.”
  2. Let there be no mistake: this is a spiritual matter. If you have a husband, wife, or child:
    1. Addicted to alcohol or drugs, you have a spiritual problem.
    2. Destructively depressed, you have a spiritual problem.
    3. Physically or emotionally abusive, you have a spiritual problem.
  3. If we, as a congregation, do not effectively help Christians deal with those problems, we will self-destruct.
    1. You doubt that?
    2. Consider just one obvious problem: where will we find leadership?
Last Sunday we had an exceptional mission’s Sunday.
1. I am deeply grateful for our missions program, and I pray that our greatest missions outreach is yet before us.
  1. An important key to greater mission work is the increasing health of this congregation.
  2. There is an umbilical cord tying missions to the health of this congregation.
2. Having been a missionary living in a third world country, and having worked with the church in this society for decades, may I make these observations.
  1. It is easier to do mission work in a strange culture than it is to practice godliness in your own culture.
  2. It is easier to teach about Christianity in a strange culture than it is to demonstrate Christianity in your own culture.
  3. In a foreign culture you teach people what they should believe.
  4. In your own culture, you teach people how to live.
  5. It is always easier to teach what to believe than it is to teach how to live.

Romans 12:1,2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

[Have someone read Romans 12:9-21.]

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (KJV)

Do not do this. I just want you to think. If I asked everyone who has endured a significant family problem or who has been personally damaged by a serious family problem to stand, would you need to stand?

The first step to improving your relationships in your family is to improve your relationship with God.

We need greater faith in Jesus than we have in ourselves.
Become a Christian. Come to the Savior who can lead us to life in eternity and in this present life.

What Is My God-Given Challenge?

Posted by David on November 8, 1998 under Sermons

When we forget our purpose, we change directions. That is true for us as individuals. That is true for us as families. That is true for us as a congregation.

As an individual, if I have no purpose, my life has no direction. If I have a poor purpose, my life goes in a destructive direction. I have a good purpose, but lose sight of that purpose, my life drifts from a good direction to a bad or destructive direction. If I have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, my life will continue in a good direction.

As a family, if we have no purpose, our family has no direction. If we have a poor purpose, our family goes in destructive directions. If we have a good purpose but lose sight of it, we drift from a good direction to a bad or destructive direction. If we have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, we, as a family, will continue in a good direction.

As a congregation, if we have no purpose, the congregation has no direction. If we have a poor purpose, the congregation drifts in a destructive direction. If we have a good purpose, but lose sight of that purpose, we drift from a good direction to a poor or destructive direction. If we have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, the congregation will continue in a good direction.

Having a good purpose is not as obvious, simple, or easy as any of us think it is. It is not as an individual. It is not as a family. It is not as a congregation.

I call your attention to an examination of Luke 3:1-14.

Luke established the date of John’s ministry in a way that it could be verified by people in or out of Palestine.
1. Since our calendar did not exist, Luke used their “calendar system.”
  1. Luke dated John’s ministry by using a system that was used for many centuries: he dated the event by the reigns of known rulers.
    1. First, he dated John’s ministry by the known ruler of their world, the 15th year of the rule of the Roman Caesar, Tiberias.
    2. Second, he dated it by the tenure of the Roman governor who was responsible for keeping order in Judea, the tenure of Pontius Pilate.
    3. Third, he dated it by the reigns of three regional rulers in that area:
      1. John’s ministry occurred when Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee.
      2. It occurred when Herod Antipas’ brother, Philip, was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis.
      3. It occurred when Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene.
    4. Fourth, he dated it in the region where John’s ministry occurred; it happened when Annas and Caiaphas served as high priests in Jerusalem.
    5. So Luke gave a Roman date, a regional date, and a Jewish date so that the events he shared could be verified.
  2. Luke also designated the person, the place, and the activity.
    1. The person was the prophet John, the son of Zechariah, who received the word of God.
    2. The place was in the wilderness area of the Jordan River.
    3. The activity was that John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
  3. Luke also notes that these events happened in specific fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3-5.
    1. This was a fact that would be of special significance to any Jewish reader.
    2. It was also the ultimate verification that this happening was planned, implemented, and directed by God.
As Luke gives an abbreviated account of John’s ministry, I want you to pay careful attention to what did and did not constitute success to John.
1. People came to John to listen to his message and respond.
  1. The greater majority of Israel’s population was not conveniently located with easy access to the Jordan wilderness.
    1. The greater majority of the population was located in the Jerusalem region, westward to the Mediterranean coast, the region north of Jerusalem known as Galilee, the region around the Sea of Galilee.
    2. The region of the Jordan wilderness was principally desert.
    3. To give you and idea of the inconvenience of the access to the wilderness area of the Jordan River, the elevation of Jerusalem is approximately 2000 feet above sea level.
      1. Almost the entire river bed from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is below sea level as the river flows through the deepest rift on earth.
      2. Jerusalem can have snow in the winter.
      3. The Jordan wilderness is semitropical; the area of Jericho grows oranges and grapefruit.
      4. The trip from Jerusalem to Jericho with over a 2000 foot drop in elevation occurs in 17 miles.
      5. The people who came to hear John made a difficult journey.
  2. If we were conducting an evangelistic effort in Fort Smith attempting to convince people to be baptized for the remission of their sins, and:
    1. People came to listen by the thousands.
    2. The same people came at great personal inconvenience.
    3. The same people urged us to baptize them.
    4. We would say that the effort was incredibly successful.
  3. To John, these facts did not constitute success.
    1. John’s greeting to these multitudes was what we would regard to be a rude and offensive.
    2. “You children of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
    3. “You will not escape just because you have come to hear me and be baptized.”
    4. “You will not escape because you are physically the descendants of Abraham and physically a part of God’s chosen people.”
    5. “If all that God wanted was descendants of Abraham, God could turn all these rocks around you into Jewish people.”
    6. “God is ready to clear the spiritual wilderness. All the trees and bushes that have grown up in His vineyard that produce no fruit worth harvesting will be cut down and burned, and this will happen soon.”
    7. “Only trees that produce fruit worth harvesting will be spared.”
    8. “If you want to be one of the trees that is spared, repent. Demonstrate the reality of your repentance by producing the fruit of repentance.”
  4. To John:
    1. People coming to him was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
    2. People listening to him was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
    3. The baptism of these people was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
  5. To John, there was only one true measure of success: lives that had turned around, lives that were redirected because of repentance.
    1. The fruit of repentance was the changes in the person’s life.
    2. The purpose of their coming, listening, and being baptized was to change the way they lived their lives.
His Jewish audience did not understand his point.
1. To me, that is nothing less than astounding and incredible; and at the same time, to me, that is completely understandable and predictable.
  1. They had studied the scriptures in their synagogues weekly for generations.
  2. They listened to their rabbis analyze scripture, dissect scripture, interpret scripture, and apply scripture every week.
  3. They heard the theological and doctrinal rulings of the high priest and the Jerusalem Sanhedrin all their lives, rulings that had been given in Jerusalem for over 100 years.
  4. They received the heritage of the great restoration movement begun by the Maccabean revolt that liberated the Jews over 150 years prior to John’s ministry.
  5. They were one of the more religious generations of Israelites to exist.
  6. But they did not understand what John meant when he told them that they needed to produce the fruit of repentance.
  7. They literally did not understand that.
2. To me, the parallel is sobering and frightening.
  1. We have been studying scriptures in our church buildings for 200 years.
  2. We have listened to our preachers and teachers analyze scripture, dissect scripture, interpret scripture, and apply scripture on a week basis for generations.
  3. We have heard the theological and doctrinal rulings of those that we hold in high esteem.
  4. Many of us regard ourselves to be a devoutly religious generation.
  5. Do we think success for the church is having people listen to us, accept what we say, and agree to be baptized?
  6. Do we know what it means to repent?
  7. Do we realize that we need to repent?
  8. Do we know what the fruit of repentance is?
  9. Scary, isn’t it?
3. So the multitude who came asked John, “If it is not enough to come, if it is not enough to listen, if it is not enough to accept you as God’s spokesman, if it is not enough to be baptized for the remission of our sins, what are we supposed to do?”
  1. Then John defined the fruit of repentance for them in their situation.
  2. To the multitude, he said:
    1. Those of you who have more clothes than you need, share your clothes with those who have nothing to wear.
    2. Those of you who have more than enough to eat, share your food with those who have nothing to eat.
  3. This is what John said to the tax collectors who came to be baptized and asked what they should do to repent and produced the fruit of repentance.
    1. These were the men who collected the Roman taxes that the Jewish people despised, and they collected those taxes for their own personal profit.
    2. John said, “Collect no more than you have been ordered to collect.”
    3. Isn’t it interesting that he did not say, “Stop collecting taxes for the Romans!”
  4. This is what John said to soldiers who wanted to know what they should do.
    1. “Do not take money from anyone by force,” which the soldiers often did.
    2. “Do not make false accusations against anyone,” which was often done.
    3. “Be content with your wages,” which was not common.
4. This striking emphasis on the importance of repentance was not merely found in John’s ministry, but it is clearly found in Jesus’ ministry and in the early church.

If personally we as Christians repented and produced the fruit of repentance in our personal lives, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If in our marriages, we as Christian husbands and wives repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If in our homes, we as Christian parents and adolescent children repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If on our jobs, in our businesses, in our professions, or in our corporate world, if we repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If Christians repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think God would do with us and our repentance in this nation and in our world?

May I suggest that promoting the Church of Christ is an unworthy goal for us to adopt. May I suggest that multiple baptisms in an unworthy goal for us to adopt. May I suggest that moving ourselves to repentance to produce the fruit of repentance and calling others to repentance to produce the fruit of repentance is a God given goal worthy of all of us.

Mission Work: Why Bother?

Posted by David on under Sermons

In 1971 my family and I lived four degrees from the equator as we did mission work in a rural area of a West African country. At that time, we were in the safest situation that we will ever experience on earth. The people were kind, appreciative, and (in their poverty) generous.

In every consideration, it was a different world. These people had seen little technology. And many of the “new things” introduced to their society were dangerous.

For example, the car and truck were dangerous. Only the elite and foreigners owned and operated motor vehicles. In rural areas, people walked. Most roads were in extremely poor condition. Shoulders on roads or sidewalks were unknown in rural areas. From a hour before daylight to an hour after dark, multitudes were walking in the road. That made the road dangerous for pedestrians and drivers.

Under most circumstances, these people were calm, under control people. But if a car or truck hit a person or an animal, the people instantly were so emotional that they lost control. If a car killed a villager, it was not unusual for the village to burn the car. For that reason, if you hit a person, you were not to stop. You were to drive immediately to the nearest police station.

A mobile medical clinic was a part of our work. Deborah Wilson, who was then the unmarried Deborah Brown, worked as a nurse in that clinic. Ordinarily, five days a week, the clinic traveled in a large Land Rover to a village located in a population area. Most weeks they visited the same village on the same day of the week.

One day as they drove through a village on their way to a scheduled clinic, they met an enormous crowd of people who blocked the road. It was impossible to drive through them or around them. Immediately, the medical team decided, “We have a serious problem.” They quickly begin thinking together. “We have not hit a pedestrian. Did we run over a chicken? a pig? a goat?”

They had no choice but to stop. When they stopped, the crowd engulfed the Land Rover, and a very small man walked up to the driver and presented a piece of paper to the doctor. Then, immediately, the road cleared, and they drove through without incident.

The message on the piece of paper read,

Come over into
Macedonia
and help us.
–Acts 16:9

The small man’s name was Nseudo. In a short time he was converted, began teaching, and established a congregation in the village.

Next Sunday is Missions Sunday at West-Ark.
1. What is Missions Sunday?
  1. As a congregation, we are seriously committed to foreign mission work.
    1. Our missions commitment is diverse.
    2. Each year we take a medical and evangelistic team to Guyana to work for a week. Michael Cole, with lots of assistance, plans that work.
      1. The work is coordinated in Guyana by Steve DeLoach, a missionary.
      2. During that week our medical team treats people who have limited or no access to medical treatment.
      3. As people gather for treatment, another team studies with them.
      4. Each evening there are preaching and teaching assemblies.
    3. Primarily through the ongoing involvement of Jim and Deborah Wilson, we assist the work in Ethiopia.
      1. Jim and Deborah Wilson make visits twice a year to Ethiopia, visits that they personally finance.
      2. Christians and the church are doing an excellent work in that country; they recently began their own missions outreach to neighboring countries.
      3. The circumstances of Ethiopian Christians often are harsh and difficult, and poverty is a significant factor.
    4. Primarily through the personal efforts of Jerry and Meg Canfield, we have an ongoing involvement in Laos.
      1. Jerry and Meg financed much of their work there until the government made it necessary for them to leave the country.
      2. The Christians there exist under extremely difficult circumstances that include the continuing imprisonment of ten of them.
    5. Roy and Joyce Dunavin are involved in several mission works.
      1. They are a part of the Guyana team each year.
      2. They spent one month this year in New Zealand as Roy taught in a preacher training school, and they both worked with and encouraged established congregations.
      3. They both worked in Romania this year for about a month as they assisted the missionaries and congregations there.
    6. We also maintain a medical missions work through a ministry that we call C.U.R.E., The Compassionate Utilization of Resources.
      1. Bob Fisher coordinates this program, but Bob is assisted in a variety of ways by a number of capable people in this congregation.
      2. C.U.R.E. maintains a warehouse at Fort Chaffee primarily filled with medical supplies.
      3. These medical supplies are contributed from multiple sources.
      4. They ship large cartons of medical supplies to medical missions and outreaches in several different countries.
      5. They also serve as a rapid response system when a disaster occurs in this region.
      6. Honduras and northern Nicaragua suffered major disaster when the recent hurricane struck, and we will be quickly involved in the relief work there.
        
        Wednesday the estimates were that at least 7,000 were killed and as may as 11,000 were missing.
        Entire villages were buried by mud slides.
  2. On Missions Sunday, we take a special collection for missions.
    1. This contribution funds the larger part of our missions budget for 1999.
    2. Last year we contributed $140,000 to help finance missions for 1998.
    3. This year the missions committee is requesting a contribution of $109,000 to help fund missions for 1999.
In my personal judgment, the poorest of all reasons for doing mission work is the demand and responsibility created by a commandment.
1. We share our God and our Savior with other peoples and cultures because of our love for and devotion to our God and Savior.
  1. Let me give you an example: which missionary would you allow to teach you?
  2. First is the missionary sees the great commission as a commandment that he is obligated to fulfill.
    1. He is staunchly American, loves America, considers America the only good place on earth to live, and believes that Americans and the American culture and system are superior to every other people.
    2. As a Christian, for his own personal reasons, he accepted “the obligation” to do mission work.
    3. He arrives in the country with an attitude of superiority, and the longer he stays, the worse his attitude gets.
      1. “Dumb country!”
      2. “Ridiculous climate!”
      3. “Ignorant people!”
      4. “Stupid government!”
      5. “Foolish beliefs!”
      6. “Backward society!”
    4. It is impossible to hide this attitude from the people and the government; his arrogance and disrespect is evident in everything he is and does.
    5. Because of an attitude like this, the name of God is blasphemed and Jesus is rejected in many places.
  3. Second is the missionary who loves people because his God and Savior taught him how to love.
    1. He falls in love with the people because of his compassion and respect.
    2. Instead of criticizing them, he learns their culture and their ways.
    3. He tries to understand them in the same way that he wants them to understand him.
    4. He learns to think like they think, see as they see, and feel what they feel.
    5. He teaches because he cares.
  4. Which missionary would you listen to?
2. God loves people.
  1. God does not prefer Americans.
  2. If there is any lesson that we need to learn from the Jewish people of the first century, we must learn this lesson.
  3. The more that I learn through study, age, and experience, the more convinced I am that this is true: God is more impressed with several other peoples than He is with us.
    1. Materially, we have so much.
    2. Spiritually, we are so little.
    3. Many who live in poverty are better stewards than we are.
In my personal judgment, the apostle Paul was the best prepared and most effective missionary our world has ever known.
1. If ever there was “the right man for the right time,” Paul was that man.
2. There is a basic, essential lesson that we need to learn from Paul.
  1. Paul did not forfeit his Jewish heritage when he became a Christian.
  2. The events of Acts 21:17-26 occurred after the Christian Paul spent years in mission work.
  3. That scripture makes it evident that Paul did not forfeit his Jewish heritage because he was a Christian.
  4. But, Paul made it quite clear in Philippians 3:3-11 that his Jewish heritage was not the source of his salvation.
3. Though Paul honored his Jewish heritage, Paul never made Judaism a condition of salvation for anyone.
  1. Other Jewish Christians insisted that people who were not Jews had to accept Jewish practices and customs to be Christians (Acts 15:1-5).
  2. Paul powerfully refuted that claim (Galatians 3, 4).
  3. He championed the truth that salvation comes 100% from Jesus Christ and 0% from Judaism.
4. What does that mean to us? A person does not have to be an American to be a Christian; being an American is not a factor in anyone’s salvation.
  1. Even if a person does not live in a democracy, he or she can be a Christian.
  2. Even if a person has never known freedom, he or she can be a Christian.
  3. Regardless of the form of government a person lives under, he or she can be a Christian.
  4. Regardless of the culture a person lives in, he or she can be a Christian.
  5. A person does not have to speak and read English, sound like a middle class American, act like an American, or know the American way to be a Christian.
  6. All that is necessary to be a Christian is to belong to Jesus Christ.
5. Listen to the missionary Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
  For though I am free from all men I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law so that I might win those who are under the Law to those who are without law, as without law though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ so that I might win those who are without law To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

Why do Christians share Jesus Christ with other peoples? Because we value God’s love. Because we cherish God’s forgiveness. Because we know the incredible encouragement of being a part of God’s universal family. Because the privilege of being a part of God’s eternal purposes awes us.

The most selfish thing Christians can do is share Jesus Christ with no one.

If you share with others what you have with Jesus spiritually, what would they have? We need to share our funds, our blessings, and our opportunities, but nothing we have needs to be shared more than our Savior.

Anyone who tries to share things from an empty heart, doesn’t really have anything worth sharing.

May your joy in salvation grow. May your heart be filled so that you may have something to share.

Does Christ live in your life? Let God do for you what He intends to do for you in Christ. Are you ready to be born again?

Fear Versus Guilt In My Child

Posted by David on November 1, 1998 under Sermons

Typically, areas of specific concern create high anxiety levels in Christian adults. One of those specific areas is our children. The spiritual concern Christian parents have for their children commonly produces a high level of anxiety.

Commonly, a Christian husband and wife want a child. When the wanted child is conceived, their anticipation is enormous. When the wanted child is born, the joy is indescribable. When a few years pass, these parents come to a new depth of awareness. The child they love so much will become a responsible person.

That realization cannot be described. This person I brought into the world is an eternal soul. At some point in this child’s life, he or she will be responsible and accountable to God. That awareness begins a long period of sober concern.

When my children entered adolescence, there was nothing I wanted more for them than their salvation. I wanted them to enter Christ, but I also fervently wanted them to have a sustaining relationship with God. In those desires, I made several continuing investments in their spiritual development. Joyce shared those desires and made her own continuing investments in their spiritual development.

As Christians, we all fervently want our children’s salvation. The thought of our child not being saved is unthinkable. We don’t want a child of ours to ever experience the feeling of being lost. We want our child always to be either safe or saved.

Were it possible for us to believe for our children, or to repent for our children, or to be baptized for our children, we would. But our children must choose to become Christians just as we did.

That creates a major difficulty for us as parents. When should we allow our children to make that decision?

The majority of the children in our society have traumatic, unhealthy experiences in the early years of their childhood.
1. Some of those traumatic experiences are common knowledge to all of us.
  1. The national divorce rate for first marriages is 50%.
  2. The majority of first marriages that do not divorce are not successful marriages or homes.
  3. Children in single parent homes must wrestle with thoughts, adjustments, and situations that are unique to that situation.
  4. Children in blended homes also must wrestle with thoughts, adjustments, and situations that are unique to that situation.
  5. The physical abuse of children is very real.
  6. The sexual abuse of children is very real.
  7. The fears and stresses created by their peers are very real.
  8. A great variety of forces work to either attack or challenge the security of children.
2. When a child’s sense of security is under attack, what can he or she do? Let me give you three examples of a child’s options. These are not their only three options.
  1. The child can react negatively.
    1. He or she can become angry, rebellious, or defiant.
    2. He or she can exhibit destructive behavior.
    3. Or he or she can just withdraw from life and from people.
    4. Typically, the child who spends childhood responding negatively becomes the adult who lives life negatively.
  2. Or, the child can assume the role of a “pleaser.”
    1. The pleaser child accepts the mission of making others happy.
    2. Commonly, he or she is committed to being a perfectionist; he or she must make people happy.
    3. The pleaser is typically a peacemaker (he or she tires to get others to end their conflict or tries to skirt conflicts).
    4. Thus, the most common characteristic of the pleaser child is to be the fixer; he or she is always trying to “fix” things.
    5. Typically, the pleaser child becomes the pleaser adult.
  3. Or, the child can seek a new source of security.
    1. For a child in a religious environment, he or she can turn to God for this new security.
    2. For this child, the concerns in seeking security are different from concerns in seeking forgiveness.
What are we to do about children who want to be baptized for reasons that have little or nothing to do with salvation?
1. There is no simple answer, no simple solution, and no magical course of action that will eliminate this situation promptly and easily.
2. At the foundation of this situation is an education problem.
  1. Our salvation concept is oversimplified, and our oversimplification contains serious deficiencies.
  2. Our salvation concept: a person is either lost or saved.
  3. We commonly accept as fact that a person is saved in the early years of life.
    1. We would say that before birth a child is saved.
    2. We would say that at birth a child is saved.
    3. We would say the same for years one through five, and maybe six.
  4. At age seven some Christian adults enter what I would call “the doubt zone.”
    1. Commonly, the “doubt zone” does not exist when we talk about impersonal categories.
    2. Commonly, the “doubt zone” exists when we talk about a specific person.
    3. For many, the “doubt zone” covers ages seven to eleven.
  5. For many adults, we believe a child is either fast approaching or has entered the lost area from age twelve and beyond.
    1. Most would agree that a person beyond the age of twelve needs salvation.
    2. He or she needs to be baptized.
3. From my understanding, this concept is too simple; it is inaccurate.
  1. Again, I am sharing my perspective; I am neither inspired nor the authority.
  2. I am asking you to think, study, and advance your understanding.
  3. The terminology we use in our salvation concept creates an incorrect impression.
    1. Only lost people can be saved. (To save is to rescue.)
    2. A person who is not lost does not need to be saved.
  4. I would like to suggest that it is a mistake to “label” a young child as saved.
    1. We need to understand that this child is innocent.
    2. Our children need to understand that they are innocent when they are young.
    3. Because of innocence, he or she is secure and under God’s protection.
  5. There is also a period in a child’s life when he or she is safe.
    1. In this period, the child is growing out of innocence.
    2. The child’s abstract thinking (that we discussed last week) is developing.
    3. As we discussed last week, the will is awakening.
    4. But rebellion against or rejection of God (rebellion that comprehends significance) has not occurred.
    5. In the safe period it is common for the child to experience fear, but not to grasp guilt.
  6. Certainly the time will come when the child knows, understands, and feels guilt.
    1. When that time comes, the child needs to turn to God for salvation.
    2. At the time, a believing, penitent person needs to be baptized.
4. I want to suggest that we need to educate children and adults in a more accurate salvation concept.
Time of

Innocence Safety Guilt
If a young child wants to talk to me about being baptized, what do I do?
1. I compliment and encourage the child for his or her concern.
  1. I want the child to know that his or her concern is a good thing.
  2. I want him or her to know that he or she does not have to “pass a test” or please me.
2. I do not ask the child to tell me what he or she knows about baptism.
  1. Virtually every child expects to be asked to do that and has memorized “the right answers.”
  2. If he or she gives the “right answers” and is not baptized, the child can feel rejected.
3. I ask the child to explain “your inside reasons” for wanting to be baptized.
  1. I listen to understand.
  2. I do not challenge or reject answers.
  3. I gently try to get the child to elaborate on his or her reasons.
4. If he or she does not mention fear, I ask, “Are you afraid?”
  1. If the answer is, “No,” we don’t discuss it.
  2. If the answer is, “Yes,” I ask him or her to tell me about the fear.
5. If he or she does not mention guilt (and a young child rarely does), I ask if he or she feels guilt.
  1. If the child says, “No,” we don’t discuss guilt.
  2. If the child says, “Yes,” the concerns of the child will determine the direction of the conversation.
6. We will end our conversation with a discussion about being safe, about fear being a part of growing, and about the fact he or she will know guilt when he or she has it.
7. Most of the time this gives an basis that the child understands for suggesting that he or she wait a little longer and think with Mom or Dad more.

I would like to close with a question and an observation. First, the question. Spiritually, is all that you want for your child baptism? I doubt that any of us spiritually want only baptism for our children. When a your child asks you about baptism, spiritually there is far more to consider than just the act of baptism.

The observation. Being a parent while the children live in our home and depend on us for virtually everything is a vastly different experience than being a parent when they leave home. When they leave home, the only power we have in their lives is the power of example. They must see in us that Christianity produces the most desirable life and person possible, and realize that we have that life and are that person because of our relationship with Christ.

When our children leave home, that is the only power we have. While our children are at home, that is the most important power that we have.

A Complex God For Our Complex Life

Posted by David on under Sermons

I have three children. Jon is two years older than Kevin, and Kevin is three years older than Anita. When Jon was a senior in high school, there were two adults and three teenagers living in the same house. Family transportation was tight. Jon was not the most systematic, scheduled teenager that you ever met. Jon’s use of the family car was pretty well restricted to in-town use.

When Kevin was a senior in high school, there were two teenagers and two adults living in the same house. Family transportation was tight, but not as tight as it had been. Kevin was one of the most systematic, scheduled teenagers you ever met. Of his own choice, he went to bed by or before ten p.m. He could use the car for an occasional out-of-town date.

When Anita was a senior in high school, there was one teenager and two adults in the same house. The family car Jon and Kevin used was worn out–it was so worn out it had almost no trade-in value. So Anita drove that car to school. To give you an idea of the car’s condition, she put a bumper sticker on it that read, “Do me a favor. Steal this car.”

When Anita began driving to school, Jon and Kevin, who no longer lived at home, cried, “Foul!” They were the only seniors who rode a school bus to school. Allowing Anita to drive to school was a gross injustice. She should have to ride the bus like they did.

This is an essential lesson that we understand as parents: we cannot treat our children identically.

This is an essential lesson that we must understand as Christians: God does not treat His children identically.

God always treats people as individuals; He is not “the God of identical treatment.”
1. When the nation of Israel was in the Sinai dessert, Moses met with God on the mountain to receive God’s laws and instructions for the nation.
  1. Several days later, the people said, “We don’t know what happened to Moses. Aaron, make us a god to lead us” (Exodus 32).
  2. Aaron made the image of a calf out of gold and declared that this was the god that led them out Egypt.
  3. This insulted God so deeply that God wanted to destroy all of them.
  4. But, only because of Moses’ petition, God did not destroy them.
2. Aaron’s sons were appointed to assist Aaron as priests, and two of those sons were Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10).
  1. God gave specific instructions for worship in Judaism.
  2. God even specified the source of the fire that was used to burn the incense.
  3. Nadab and Abihu did not take fire from the source that God instructed, and, as a result, God caused each of them to be burned to death.
3. King David committed adultery with a beautiful woman named Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11,12).
  1. When, as a result of David’s adultery, Bathsheba was pregnant, David made earnest attempts to hide his adultery.
  2. When his attempts failed, he had her husband killed and married Bathsheba.
  3. In all of this, David violated at least four of the ten commandments.
  4. God forgave him.
4. The Assyrians were among the most violent, warring people that existed.
  1. God sent Jonah, a prophet, to the Assyrian city of Ninevah to declare that God would destroy them because of their intolerable wickedness (Jonah).
  2. When the Assyrians heard Jonah’s prophecy, the whole city repented and humbled themselves before God.
  3. Because they repented, God forgave them–even though they continued to be idolatrous.
5. Obviously, God’s actions were not identical.
  1. In each case, God’s actions were determined by the situation, the reaction of the people, and the hearts of the people.
  2. In every age, God’s reactions to the failures and the evil of people is determined by the situation and the hearts of the people.
A difficult challenge when preaching sermons is the challenge of addressing an assembly of people who are in diverse situations and have diverse needs.
1. It has always been true that God works with each person as an individual.
  1. God knows each one of us as an individual, just like you do your children.
  2. God relates to and interacts with each one of us as an individual, just like you do with your children.
  3. God works in each of our lives on an individual basis, just as you do with your children.
  4. God uses compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and grace in each of our lives on a personal, individual basis.
2. As children, we tend to view God’s individual interaction with people as unfair.
  1. I never see how much God does in my life.
  2. I am likely to say that God is unfair because He does something for others I do not think He does for me.
  3. As each of us examine God’s actions, it is easy for some of us to compound guilt, and easy for some of us to assume forgiveness.
3. As God works with each of us, He knows our situation, and He knows our hearts.
  1. These situations are a spiritual universe apart:
    1. The Christian who is pursuing an evil and the Christian who is struggling against the same evil are in different spiritual universes.
    2. The Christian who is chasing pleasure and the Christians who is trying to break the control of pleasure are in different spiritual universes.
    3. The Christian without a specific weakness and the Christian with that weakness, but who struggles against it, are in different spiritual universes.
  2. In every person, God knows exactly what the situation is, exactly what the person’s motives are, and exactly where the person’s heart is.
As Christians, each of us are at different places in our personal relationship with God.
1. Some of us have never made the hard, honest decision that declares that Jesus is Lord in and of our lives.
  1. Peter wrote the letter of 1 Peter to Christians who genuinely suffered because they belonged to Jesus Christ.
    1. As they suffered pain because of their faith in Christ, Peter gave them guidance.
    2. First, he told them how to approach their suffering.
    3. Second, he reminded them that Christ suffered for them first.
  2. Listen to how they were to approach suffering.
    1 Peter 3:13-16 Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
    1. If we are devoted to doing good, we are less likely to be abused.
    2. But, if we suffer for being righteous, the suffering produces blessing.
    3. There is one thing a Christian must do to endure suffering caused by faith: he or she must place Christ as Lord in their hearts, and let Christ be Lord no matter what happens.
    4. When we do that, we will be gentle, reverent, and keep a good conscience even when we are abused and slandered.
    5. For those who cause the suffering, this will do two things:
      1. Ask, “What gives you the strength to endure this?”
      2. Put themselves to shame by the abuse they inflict on you.
  3. It begins with the firm decision to place control of my life in Christ’s hands.
  4. Some of us have never made Christ Lord in our lives, and we urgently need to put Jesus Christ in control of our lives at all times.
2. Some of us have not repented, and do not understand the biblical concept of repentance.
  1. When Paul wrote a letter to the Christians at Ephesus, some of them had not repented, and they clearly needed to repent.
  2. Ephesians 4:25-32 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  3. The biblical concept of repentance is turning life around, redirecting life.
    1. Repentance is much more than being sorry.
    2. Repentance includes a decision, but it is more than a decision.
    3. Repentance is changing the way you live your life.
  4. Paul told them they needed to change the way they were living their lives.
    1. Start telling the truth.
    2. Stop letting your anger control you.
    3. Go to work and stop stealing.
    4. Use your mouth to work for God’s values and purposes.
    5. Stop giving the Holy Spirit grief in your life.
    6. Stop giving people negative, ungodly treatment and start being kind and forgiving, just like God through Christ has been to you.
  5. Some of us have never redirected our lives, and we need to get serious about doing that.
3. Some of us are locked in horrible struggles, and we desperately need hope.
  1. Peter began his letter to those suffering Christians by assuring them that the hope of expectation was real.
  2. 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  3. The Christian who is locked in a horrible struggle in spite of the fact that he or she has made Christ Lord, in spite of the fact that repentance is a constant reality of life, needs to know that hope is certain.
    1. The God who in His great mercy gave us life by the resurrection of Jesus will not abandon us.
    2. Satan cannot destroy or diminish our inheritance.
    3. Our heavenly inheritance is reserved for us.
    4. Through our faith, we and our salvation are protected by the power of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead.

“Well, how can I know where other Christians are in their relationship with God?” We can’t. I never know the exact situation or struggles of another Christian. I can never read another Christian’s heart. But God knows, and, when the person is honest with himself or herself, he or she knows.

If you need to put Christ on the throne in your heart, do it. If you need to redirect your life, begin the process. If you need to be strengthened by hope, let it happened. And the grace of God will be at work in all our lives.

[prayer]

The grace of Jesus Christ is at work in us. Not a single one of us is not dependent on that grace. He is working in our lives. Be assured He will forgive your sins as He forgives others. Whatever your situation is, every one needs Christ and His goodness. We need to make Christ more effectively Lord in our lives. Let Him work more powerfully in your life. If you are not a Christian, let Him extend His grace to you. Be born of that living hope by being baptized into Christ.

Children: Baptism Before Sin

Posted by David on October 25, 1998 under Sermons

This evening we consider our second lesson on the baptism of children. My specific focus is children under the age of ten. I am not indicating that above ten is the age for baptism. I use that age because under ten more easily illustrates the situation.

I am only sharing my understanding from my perspective and experience. This is an extremely difficult matter to discuss. I do not ask you to accept my thinking or my conclusions. All I ask is that you pursue a deeper understanding.

Tonight we look at the “big picture.” We are not using a microscope. We are surveying from horizon to horizon. Certainly, exceptions exist.

I want to begin by sharing my basic, “horizon to horizon,” concept of sin.
1. Sin exists in my life when my human will becomes aware and defiant.
  1. When I am aware of the significance of my choices and actions, and with understanding, I intentionally rebel against God, sin exists within me.
    1. I realize that I am talking about children and adults who have a basic knowledge of God and understand that good and evil exist.
    2. I also understand that sin exists in adults even when the adult does not know that God exists and has a distorted sense of good and evil.
    3. However, that is not our children’s situation, and they are our focus.
    4. No child who has zero awareness of God and no awareness of the existence of good and evil has asked me about being baptized.
  2. That moment when sin comes to life in our lives is inseparably connected to the awakening and the exercise of our will.
    1. That moment involves much more than making a choice.
    2. A child can perform an evil act at a time when he or she is not capable of understanding the significance of the act.
    3. As an example, that is the cruel, horrible, continuing consequence of the sexual molestation of a child.
      1. The child has a sexual experience and that makes him or her sexually aware of realities that are not a part of childhood knowledge.
      2. But the child does not understand the significance of the experience.
      3. Because of the experience, the child can “act out” parts of the experience with no awareness of the significance of what he or she is doing.
2. This illustrates a devastating situation we face in today’s society.
  1. Consider another example.
  2. For many reasons, children today are exposed to many forms of violence.
  3. A child can be very knowledgeable in the “how” and “what” of violence and have no comprehension of the significance of violence.
  4. He or she factually can understand acts of violence, but have no comprehension of the impact and consequence of violence on relationships or futures.
  5. In our society some children perform unthinkable acts of violence.
  6. Yet, laws are an ineffective deterrent because children do not comprehend the significance or long term consequence of the violent act.
  7. What is an eight year old’s comprehension of ten years in prison?
A child begins to comprehend significance as the child develops the ability to do abstract thinking.
1. Abstract thinking is thinking that understands concepts, the significance of concepts, and the interaction of concepts.
2. For years a child’s thoughts are based on the oversimplified examination of facts, but not on abstract considerations.
  1. Consider as an example Mom and Dad’s love for each other.
  2. Ask the child, “Should Mom and Dad love each other?”
    1. Declared as a fact, the child says, “Yes.”
    2. Ask the child how Mom and Dad should build and sustain this love, and the child does not understand the question.
    3. There is no “how” to be considered; Mom and Dad just love each other.
  3. Mom and Dad’s love dies, and Mom and Dad decide to divorce.
    1. Have you tried to explain impending divorce to a child?
    2. It is not possible because the child is not capable of understanding an adult’s abstract reasoning.
  4. What are the adult reasons behind their decision to divorce? Consider some common ones.
    1. “I am suffocating in this relationship; I will die inside if I don’t get out of it.”
    2. “I feel totally abandoned, intensely alone, and deeply depressed.”
    3. “He/she treats me like I don’t exist, like I am a non-person–it is as if I am not a part of his/her life.”
    4. “Our marriage is sucking the life out of me; I feel like I am lost in a sea of darkness.”
    5. “I am so tired of hurting; I am emotionally exhausted.”
    6. “I feel so empty, like I have nothing left to give this relationship.”
  5. Do you understand the meaning of those statements?
    1. Most adults understand the meaning of these instantly–even if they totally disagree with the statements, adults understand their meaning.
    2. Try to explain the meaning of those statements to a child.
  6. Because we can’t explain them to the child, we interpret them with a horrible oversimplification: “Mom and Dad don’t love each other any more, so we are not going to live together anymore.”
  7. The child searches for an understandable reason for this devastating news.
    1. In past months, as the marriage grew worse and worse, there was anger, hostility, cold silence, and hot arguments.
    2. The child witnessed every feeling.
    3. In his or her oversimplified world of factual thought, he or she decides, “It is my fault–I see the anger, I feel the hostility, I hear the silence, I hear the arguments–they occur when I am around.”
    4. They tell me, “Be quiet and eat your supper,” or, “Go watch television,” or they refuse to answer my questions–but I see anger when Mom and Dad look at me.”
    5. “I caused this to happen. I didn’t clean up my room, or turn down the TV, or feed the dog, or make less noise, or get my homework.”
    6. “If I do what I am supposed to do perfectly, I will fix it, and it will be okay.”
  8. Then he or she is totally confused when he or she tries hard and can’t fix it.
  9. That often begins a life of anger, or guilt, or rebellion, or all three.
3. A child thinks in factual terms long before he or she has the ability to think in abstract terms.
  1. A child can respond to facts long before he or she can commit to concepts.
  2. He or she is capable of making a serious, short-term commitment long before he or she is capable of making a significant, long-term commitment.
  3. Let me use another illustration.
    1. What was the agreement your child made when he or she wanted you to buy the dog?
    2. “Please, Mom, please! Ple-e-e-ease Dad! I will take care of it! I will fed it, and water it, and walk it, and play with it! I will! I will! Please!”
    3. So you buy the dog, and what happens?
      1. Short term, the commitment was serious and sincere.
      2. But he or she did not comprehend the significance of eight years of dog care (even one!); trips to the vet; conflicts with other activities; that cute, playful puppies become not so cute, not so playful dogs; and that responsibility is work.
  4. When our oldest son Jon was six years old, he declared that he would marry Patti, another six year, and they would live in this huge white house.
    1. Patti’s parents and Joyce and I thought that was cute.
    2. It was cute because it was an impossible commitment.
      1. Neither Jon nor Patti understood the significance of that commitment.
      2. Neither Jon nor Patti understood the significance of marriage.
      3. Neither Jon nor Patti understood the significance of the changes that would occur in their lives before they became young adults.
  5. Aside from baptism, can you think of a long-term or life-time commitment that we leave up to the personal choice of an eight year old?
    1. Even when parents divorce, an eight year old is not permitted to chose the parent he or she will live with.
    2. Why do we withhold such decisions from eight year olds?
    3. We know that they can not comprehend the significance of long term commitments.
There are several reasons for baptism.
1. When John baptized, baptism was:
  1. Based on repentance (Matthew 3:1-2,6; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).
  2. For the forgiveness of sin (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).
2. Jesus himself, who had no sin, was baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:13-15).
3. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who were converted were baptized:
  1. As a declaration of life-redirecting faith in Jesus as the Christ and/or life- redirecting faith in the kingdom of God (Acts 8:12,13; 18:8).
  2. As an expression of repentance (there was a powerful emphasis on repentance: Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 20:18-21).
  3. For the forgiveness or the washing away of sin (Acts 2:38; 10:43; 22:16).
  4. To save a person (Acts 16:31-33; 1 Peter 3:21)
  5. To place a person in Christ (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27).
  6. To let a person participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12).
  7. To place a person in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12,13).
  8. To clothe a person in Christ (Galatians 3:27).
  9. It appears to me that all of those reasons are more than facts to be recognized; all require the comprehension of abstract thinking.
Both the drop out rate and rebaptism decisions are old realities.
1. But, within my experience, there have been fairly recent changes.
2. Twenty-six years of my preaching life were spent working for congregations with college or university programs.
  1. For years, it was not uncommon for college students to request rebaptism.
    1. Typically, dedicated, involved students who were active in the student program and/or active helping lead worship made that request.
    2. The two most common reasons given were, “I did not know what I was doing,” or, “I was baptized because a friend was baptized.”
  2. This was the way I responded to the situation.
    1. We discussed the reality of spiritual growth.
    2. We carefully studied baptism.
    3. I stressed there is no example of rebaptism of a saved person.
    4. I said his or her rebaptism declared that he or she was not a Christian.
    5. The person was to think and pray about it for at least 24 hours; if the person returned requesting baptism, I would baptize him or her.
    6. We did it privately to avoid influencing other Christian students to conclude, “If he or she needs to be baptized again, then I surely need to be baptized again.”
  3. It was always true that the drop out rate among college or university students was much higher than the request for rebaptism. Commonly, the drop out occurred the day they arrived on campus–the decision was made pre-arrival.
3. The change I saw was this: the number of students requesting rebaptism declined, and the drop out rate increased.
  1. I know this is a complex matter; I know many factors are involved.
  2. I have no desire to exaggerate or misrepresent the situation.
  3. This is my observation:
    1. Today, children who are baptized before they develop the ability to use abstract thinking are more likely to drop out when he or she later experiences serious temptation or a sin crisis.
    2. Today, more adolescents who were baptized prior to entering adolescence seem to decide the following when he or she encounters crisis temptation or sin:
      1. “If my baptism had the power to make me a Christian, I would not experience this temptation or sin crisis.”
      2. “If my baptism was significant, God would protect me from this sin or temptation.”
      3. “Something was wrong; something was false; baptism would prevent these experiences if baptism were real.”
  4. To me, this is one of the great dangers of baptizing a child for the remission of sins before he or she comprehends sin, experiences sin, or has sin.

There is an additional factor that makes this matter even more confusing. The book of Acts deals only with the conversion of first generation Christians, all of whom are adults. Most of the epistles are written to first generation Christians. The New Testament contains no information about the conversion of the children of those first Christians.

It is not a simple problem. It is a very serious problem.

A Formula For Spiritual Success or Disaster?

Posted by David on under Sermons

An Israelite man pondered his religious responsibilities. He listened to a prophet of God declare that God was upset with Israel. It had been hundreds of years since the Israelites left Egypt. He knew that he was religiously lax. Then and there he decided that he would learn his religious responsibility, and when he did, he would do it.

He said to himself, “It is time for me to be properly religious.”
1. “I don’t want to upset God–it would be stupid to make God angry.”
  1. “The adults who left Egypt angered God, and they died in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:26-35).
  2. “In the wilderness, the Israelites angered God by worshipping the god Baal of Peor, and twenty-four thousand people died” (Numbers 25:1-9).
  3. “When Korah led a rebellion against Moses, fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from a plague that God sent” (Numbers 16:49).
  4. “It would be stupid to make God angry.”
2. “For some reason, offering animal sacrifices is a big thing to God.”
  1. “I need to figure out the sacrificial system correctly.”
  2. “Then I need to do what I am supposed to do, and do it the right way.”
3. So this Israelite man learned what sacrifices he was supposed to offer, when he was supposed to offer them, and how he was supposed to offer them.
  1. He learned that all Israelites must offer sacrifices at one place only (Deuteronomy 12:10-14).
  2. He learned that you must sacrifice only animals that you owned (Leviticus 1:2).
  3. He learned about burnt offering (Leviticus 1).
  4. He learned about grain offerings. (Leviticus 2).
  5. He learned about peace offerings (Leviticus 3).
  6. He learned about guilt offerings for unintentional sins (Leviticus 4).
  7. That was just the beginning–he carefully learned the whole sacrificial system.
    1. With conviction he said, “I figured it out! I know what animal to offer, when to offer it, how to offer it, and where to offer it!”
    2. “Everything is covered, and God will be delighted because I am doing the right thing!”
  8. He said, “Now I can get on with life! Life is life, and business is business, and reality is reality, and religion is religion.”
    1. He had God figured out and religion covered.
    2. Now he could get on with life.
4. And the godly prophet named Isaiah made an oral statement for God as the voice of God, and this is what he said.
  Isaiah 1:11-15 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies–I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  1. And the Israelite said to God, “Wait a minute! I worked hard to understand Your sacrificial system, and to understand it correctly.”
    1. “I sacrifice exactly what You commanded exactly as You commanded.”
    2. “The what, the when, the how, and the where are absolutely correct.”
    3. “I am doing exactly what I am supposed to do.”
    4. “You react to my religious deeds as though I am a godless person.”
  2. And God said, “If you think that it is the smoke of burning animals that thrills Me, you don’t know Me any better than a person who has no god.”
    1. “If you think worship is just a matter of doing right things, you don’t understand Me.”
    2. “If you think that life is life and religion is religion, you don’t understand Me or anything that I have done.”
    3. “If you believe that godliness can be reduced just to obeying my commands, you know nothing about Who I am, what I have done, and what I am doing.”
    4. “If that is what you think, your thinking is an insult.”
A man who believed in Christ was pondering his religious responsibilities.
1. He just had listened to a godly person discuss how upset God must be over the evil conditions in our society.
  1. It has been hundreds of years since Jesus died.
  2. He knew that religiously his life was lax.
  3. He decided then and there that he was going to figure out his religious responsibility and do it.
2. He said to himself, “I don’t want to upset God or make Him angry.”
  1. “I know that I will give an account of my life in judgment.”
  2. “If I make God angry, He likely will condemn me to hell.”
3. “For some reason obedience and worship seem to be a big thing with God.”
  1. “I need to figure out how to obey God and do the right things to worship.”
  2. “Then I will do what I am supposed to do, and I will do it the right way.”
4. This believing man began an earnest study.
  1. He learned about declaring faith in Christ (Matthew 10:32).
  2. He learned about baptism (Romans 6:1-7).
  3. He learned that early Christians assembled weekly to worship (Acts 20:7).
  4. He learned about communion (I Corinthians 11:23-29).
  5. He learned about singing (Colossians 3:16).
  6. He learned about praying (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
5. He attempted to learn how the earliest Christians did these things.
  1. Finally, he was convicted that he knew the what, the when, the where, and the how.
  2. He thought to himself, “I have it all figured out! I know the what, the when, the where, and the how!”
  3. “Everything is covered! And God will be delighted because I am doing the right things!”
  4. He said with a sigh, “Since I have religion figured out, I can get on with life!”
    1. “I understand that life is life, business is business, reality is reality, and religion is religion.”
    2. “I figured God out and took care of religion; I can get on with life.”
6. But he did not hear God’s voice speaking in Jesus’ life, in Jesus’ crucifixion, in Jesus’ resurrection, and in Christ’s continuing work.
  1. If he could hear God speak of “his religion,” God would say:
  2. “Your baptism means nothing to me; I wish you would quit taking communion; in worship you act like a tourist in an ancient cathedral; your singing is meaningless; I am sick of you pursuing an evil life and the habitual acts of worship at the same time. I hate your Sunday assemblies; they are a burden to me. When you pray, I refuse to listen. You actually believe that you can ignore your evil if you do the right things in worship.”
  3. Romans 6:15-23 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slave to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (New International Version.)
  4. And the baptized man said, “Wait a minute, God! I worked hard to understand baptism and proper worship.”
    1. “I do exactly what you command.”
    2. “I am certain that the what, when, how, and where are absolutely correct.”
    3. “I am doing exactly what I am supposed to do, but you act like I am a godless person!”
  5. And God said, “You don’t understand me any better than a godless pleasure seeker if you think mere human acts elate me.”
    1. “If you think that life is life and religion is religion, you don’t understand Me or anything I do.”
    2. “If you think you can reduce godliness to obeying My commands, you don’t know Who I am, what I have done, or what I am doing.”
    3. “You insult Me and My will.”
There was a man who wanted to find a fine wife.
1. He romanced a beautiful, kind lady that he knew could be the wife he wanted.
  1. He spent time with her every possible opportunity; he called her every day; he sent her thoughtful, loving notes.
  2. He shared his thoughts and his dreams with her; he opened himself to her; he could not spend enough time with her.
  3. He told her how beautiful she was; he noticed everything she did; and he frequently complimented her for her kindness and intelligence.
2. And she agreed to marry him because she said in her heart, “He will always love me, and care for me, and share himself with me.”
3. Two years after they married, he spoke to her infrequently, never called her unless he wanted something, never wrote her, never shared his thoughts or his dreams, and rarely spent time with her.
  1. He never told her she was pretty, never noticed anything she did, never complimented her.
  2. He paid the bills and paid for her things.
4. She was miserable, lonely, depressed, and cried frequently.
  1. One day, with irritation and impatience, he asked, “What is wrong with you?”
  2. She said, “You deeply disappoint me because you never treat me like you treated me before we married.”
  3. With a disgusted, grim face, he demanded that she name each thing that he no longer did.
  4. As she named them, he made a list, and from the list he made a poster that he placed on their bedroom wall.
  5. Each day he habitually did something on his “responsibility poster,” but he did it without love, or desire, or feeling.
  6. Each day, when he did something, he made a check mark on the poster.
  7. Each act insulted and humiliated her, and her love died.

God is never offended when the heart surrenders itself in faith, humility, and love. God is insulted by loveless mechanical habits.

Psalm 15
LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. (King James Version.)

Spiritual Spin Doctors

Posted by David on October 18, 1998 under Sermons

Joyce says that it is more entertaining to watch me watch a tense television program than it is to watch the program. According to her, I “get into it.” With facial expression and body language, I react to everything that happens. For some reason, when I see her watching me, she is laughing.

I do my laughing when I listen to her watch a professional football game. Joyce loves to listen to sports commentators. She enjoys it so much she talks to them. She begins talking to the commentators before the first quarter is over. It terribly frustrates her to hear them discuss why the last play was an awful mistake and why they should run the play that they recommend. Invariably, as she talks to them, she asks, “Are you making as much money as the coach makes?”

We live in a society that has “spin doctors” to interpret everything that happens. We have professional “spin doctors” for politics, social problems, and crises.

What is a “spin doctor?”
1. A “spin doctor” interprets what has happened.
  1. He analyzes the matter for us.
  2. He tells us what we need to understand to be qualified to interpret what happened.
  3. He tells us what perspective we must have to examine what happened.
  4. Then he gives us the “proper” interpretation of what happened.
2. “Spin doctors” declare:
  1. It is never a matter of what happened; it is always a matter of how we look at what happened.
  2. It is never a matter of what actually occurred; it is always a matter of our perspective on what occurred.
  3. It is never a matter of the direct consequences produced; it is always a matter of understanding why it happened.
3. Why are these people called “spin doctors?”
  1. In our society, the majority of us interpret a happening by the manner the matter is presented to us.
  2. If we want to manipulate people’s interpretation of events, we alter their perspective by way we present the information to them.
  3. You must put the right “spin” on the facts to alter the public’s perception.
“Spin doctors” have played an important role in religions for millenniums.
1. Religions always have had their “spin doctors.”
  1. They influenced the interpretation of events by the way the events were presented to the people.
  2. They manipulated interpretations by altering perceptions.
  3. They put the right “spin” on matters to lead people to the interpretation and perception that they wanted.
2. It would be difficult to find a single world religion that did not use “spin doctors.”
  1. In every religion, there are people whose function is to tell us what to think.
  2. These people try to control our conclusions and form our convictions by manipulating our interpretation and perspective.
  3. In religion, the line that separates an educator and a “spin doctor” is a fine line.
    1. An educator informs you to teach you to think.
    2. A “spin doctor” informs you to control your thinking.
The Pharisees were one of the most successful, accomplished groups of “spin doctors” in the New Testament.
1. Though they were a relatively small group in Israel, they powerfully influenced the religious and political perspectives of Israel.
2. The Pharisees had a specific way in which they wanted everyone to interpret and obey the law.
  1. They had a specific perspective of God.
  2. They had a specific perspective of the law.
  3. They had a specific concept of obedience.
  4. They had a specific way to interpret and apply the law.
  5. Their way was the only way, the correct way, the way to be accepted.
3. To illustrate the role of the Pharisees as spiritual “spin doctors,” I call your attention to Matthew 23.
  1. Remember the events that happened before Jesus made the public statement in Matthew 23:
    1. Jesus and his disciples were in the wilderness across the Jordan River. The disciples did not want him to return to the Jerusalem area because they were afraid that the Jewish leaders would kill him (John 10:40; 11:8).
    2. But Jesus did return to the Jerusalem area and resurrected Lazarus from the dead (John 11:30-44), and his popularity exploded.
    3. His popularity was so great that the Jewish leaders, including influential Pharisees, decided that Jesus must die (John 11:47-50).
    4. A little later, the city of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as a king (Matthew 21:1-11).
    5. This marked the beginning of Jesus’ last week of life.
  2. The public statement found in Matthew 23 was given that week.
4. Jesus’ denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 is unique.
  1. Most of the encounters Jesus had with the Pharisees prior to that week were initiated by the Pharisees, not by Jesus.
  2. In my study of those encounters, I conclude that the Pharisees either attacked or tried to discredit Jesus, and Jesus consistently tried to teach the Pharisees.
    1. He consistently used the source of authority they accepted.
    2. He consistently challenged them to evaluate their conclusions by scripture.
    3. He consistently tried to redirect their thinking and understanding.
  3. In Matthew 23 Jesus knew these were his last days.
    1. In his ministry, he had no success in teaching the Pharisees.
    2. Now, he publicly denounces them for their deeds and teachings.
All of Matthew 23 illustrates how the Pharisees functioned as “spiritual spin doctors.”
1. A “spin doctor” is concern about manipulating thinking, not about being an example.
  1. Jesus said that the Pharisees had an accurate knowledge of scripture, but (Matthew 23:10-11):
    1. They did not practice what they taught.
    2. They placed heavy spiritual responsibilities on others, but placed no responsibility on themselves.
    3. They performed religious acts to get personal attention.
    4. Their religious motivations were praise and honor.
  2. They saw themselves as the official interpreters of scripture.
2. Let’ consider three examples Jesus used in Matthew 23.
  1. First, consider verses 16-22: they sanctioned deliberate deceit.
    1. In a world without printing and copy machines, written contracts and guarantees were not the common way of doing business.
      1. Instead, the terms of the agreement were set, and you took an oath.
      2. You bound yourself to the agreement by swearing by something greater than yourself.
    2. The Pharisees said if the oath was not proper, you were not responsible to keep the agreement.
      1. If you made an agreement and swore by the temple, the agreement was not binding.
      2. If you made an agreement and swore by the gold of the temple, the agreement was binding.
    3. The Pharisees put their “spin” on the agreements and oaths that bind.
      1. According to their “spin,” you could deceive if you did it the right way.
      2. You could make an agreement that you had no intention of keeping if you swore the wrong oath.
  2. Second, consider verse 23: they made the least important the most important.
    1. They said honoring God by giving God ten per cent of everything you received was a priority spiritual responsibility.
    2. Since God was the source of every blessing, you acknowledge God is the source of all blessings and thank Him by giving ten per cent of everything.
    3. It even was important to tithe ten per cent of your garden herbs.
    4. Jesus said they stressed the importance of the minor while they ignored the importance of the major.
    5. It is good to do the minor, but it is failure to ignore the major.
    6. God’s spiritual priorities are justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
      1. Protect the widow, the orphan, and the poor from injustice.
      2. Extend the person who does evil mercy.
      3. In all relationships with God and people, honor your word and keep your promises.
    7. According to the “spin” of the Pharisees, spiritual priorities focused on things, not on people.
  3. Third, consider verses 27-33: they said outward appearance was more important than inward reality.
    1. According to their “spin,” what you do and how you behave was important; what you are inside was not important.
    2. They were like bowls that had been washed only on the outside, like tombs that had been painted on the outside.
    3. Outside they had the appearance of righteousness; inside they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
    4. But, according to their “spin,” having a righteous appearance is righteousness.
When we put a spiritual “spin” on some things, we commonly do not realize what we are doing.
1. A few years ago I developed a valuable friendship with a man who preached for a large Baptist church.
  1. Our friendship was so genuine that he felt he could ask me questions that he had never asked.
  2. He asked, “Why do people in the Church of Christ believe that they save themselves?”
2. I was shocked that he had that impression of us.
  1. I explained we did not believe that we saved ourselves and shared my understanding of the role of God and Christ in our salvation.
  2. Then I asked him what created that impression?
  3. He said that everything that he heard us say or write about baptism stressed the importance of the human act but said nothing about God’s actions.
    1. He concluded that we did not believe that God acted in our salvation.
    2. He concluded that we believed that salvation was the result of our actions, not God’s actions.
3. He heard us putting a “spin” on baptism; wonder if others hear the same thing?

No person saves himself or herself. God does not owe salvation to anyone. We are saved because the God of mercy and forgiveness destroys our sins in the atoning blood of Christ and gives us new life in Christ.

Without faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, there is no salvation. Without repentance of sins, there is no salvation. Faith in the resurrected Jesus, repentance of sin, and baptism into Christ provides us salvation for only one reason: the God of mercy keeps His promises.

Never put your faith and confidence in yourself. Trust in what God has done in Christ. It is the Cross, it is God’s grace, it is the forgiveness of God — it is not you. You will never do anything that will put God in debt to you.

Believe with all your being that Jesus is the Son of God. Understand the evil in your life. Turn yourself away from it. Be baptized that He may take your sins away in the blood of Christ.

Baptism must be a faith response to God’s promises, not an attempt to bargain with God.

Saving Children Before They Are Lost

Posted by David on October 11, 1998 under Sermons

This evening I want to consider something difficult to think about or to discuss. These things are difficult to think about for two reasons. First, thinking about them asks us to examine ourselves to see if we are being true in our basic concepts and understandings. Second, thinking about them focuses us on some of the most important people in our lives, our children.

It is difficult to discuss these things because they touch our deepest emotions. In powerful emotions, the heart overrules the mind.

As parents and grandparents, one of our fears is our fear for our children. We fear everything that threatens our children. To Christian parents and grandparents, our greatest fear for our children is the fear that they will reject God.

This fear combined with a fuzzy focus has produced an explosion in the church in the last decade. More and more children seek to be saved before they are lost.

This is a complicated, complex matter to discuss. I am not asking you to agree with me. I do not ask you to accept my conclusions. I ask you to think. I ask you to become aware of a serious spiritual problem developing in the church.

First, I want to focus you.
1. There are concepts that I personally reject because I do not conclude that these concepts represent the total teachings of the Bible.
  1. I do not accept the concept that children need forgiveness at birth.
  2. I do not accept the concept that we are evil from birth.
2. There are also concepts that I accept for biblical reasons.
  1. I accept the concept that a child is born in a guilt free state of innocence.
  2. I accept the concept that a childlike attitude and heart should be the goal of every person in God’s kingdom.
3. But those concepts are not our focus tonight.
Let’s try to think from a common perspective.
1. If a child has no guilt, if a child lives in a state of innocence and condition of safety, if a child does not need to repent, does that child need to be baptized?
  1. If I asked you as Christians if a person who genuinely had no sin needed to be baptized, your answer would be quick and automatic.
    1. You would say, “No,” without hesitation.
    2. Why? Because the combination of faith, repentance, and baptism results in God forgiving us of sin.
    3. If there is no sin, the person does not need repentance or forgiveness.
    4. You say, “But, that is a hypothetical situation–there is no such person.”
  2. In the past, we affirmed that there are such people.
    1. In the past we declared the person whose mental or emotional capacity prevented him or her from distinguishing between good and evil did not need forgiveness.
    2. Because that condition produced childlike innocence, the person did not need baptism.
      1. This person was not accountable.
      2. This person had no guilt.
      3. This person had no reason to repent and was incapable of repenting.
      4. This person was without sin.
      5. Therefore this person did not need baptism.
    3. For that reason we used this phrase: the age of accountability.
      1. What was “the age of accountability?”
      2. It was the age when a person acquired and felt guilt because:
        
        This person by conscious choice rebelled against God.
        This person felt guilt for his or her specific evil decisions and actions.
        This person knew that he or she needed to redirect life.
        Because the person consciously made evil decisions, he or she needed to repent and be baptized.
      3. Therefore, the age of accountability occurs when a person understands what evil is, chooses to do evil, chooses to rebel against God, and acquires the knowledge and feeling of guilt as a result.
        
        Before that point, the person was not accountable and did not need repentance and baptism.
        At and after that point, the person was accountable and needed repentance and baptism.
    4. In what year of life does the age of accountability occur? 15? 12? 8? 6?
      1. Spiritual accountability is not produced by chronological age.
      2. Spiritual accountability is produced by the combination of awareness, decision, and actions that create guilt.
      3. Accountability is not a matter of chronological age; it is a matter guilt.
2. We need to add to an understanding of accountability an understanding of some specific biblical information.
  1. The gospels and the book of Acts contain no record of a child being baptized.
    1. All specific accounts of baptism are adult baptisms; adults who believed or repented and choose to be baptized.
    2. Some baptism accounts mention the response of the “household,” but inferring “household” includes young children is a debatable assumption and certainly not clearly established.
    3. The lessons were given to adults, the situations were adult situations, the teachings were on an adult level, and the responses were adult responses.
      1. The responses came from men and women who understood the significance of Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection from an adult perspectives.
      2. They consciously turned from ungodly lives or actions to accept the Christ and his forgiveness.
  2. An understanding of baptism was commonly preceded by a call to repentance; baptism was to begin a changed life.
    1. Both John and the disciples of Jesus baptized people who responded to the message of repentance.
      1. Matthew 3:1,2,5,6 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      2. Immediately following the wilderness temptations, Matthew 4:17 states, From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      3. John 3:22,23 states of Jesus’ early ministry, After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized– (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      4. John 4:1-3 further states, Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
    2. This seems evident to me:
      1. Repentance was fundamental to John and Jesus’ message.
      2. People responded to their message by confessing their sins.
      3. In response to the call to repent, they were baptized.
    3. Mark 1:4 clearly states, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  3. Consider the context and the specific message of the verse that we commonly use regarding baptism: Acts 2:38.
    1. Acts 2 is the first time people were baptized to respond to Jesus as the God declared Lord and Christ.
    2. To this Jewish audience, Peter proved that Jesus’ death and resurrection were promised in Jewish scripture.
    3. Those who understood Peter immediately realized their situation and their guilt for Jesus’ death.
    4. Their fear of God’s wrath motivated them to ask, “What are we going to do?” By the Mosaic law, they would have been killed.
    5. Peter’s instructions (verse 38): “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. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
    6. These Jews who understood that Jesus was Lord and Christ, and not a criminal pretender, must repent.
      1. Baptism should occur only if they repented.
      2. Believing Jesus’ identity and position was not enough.
      3. Baptism would result in the forgiveness of sins only if baptism was based on belief in Jesus and the repentance of sin.
      4. They would receive the Holy Spirit only if they repented and were baptized.
  4. In only one situation do we set aside those conclusions without question: in the baptism of children.
    1. We reject the baptism of infants because they cannot choose, or have faith, or need to repent.
    2. If a child can make a simple choice, has a simple faith, but has nothing for which to repent, does he or she need baptism?
In the church, why are the number of children requesting baptism rising?
1. There certainly are readily identified, old reasons.
  1. They are afraid.
  2. They have seen other children baptized.
  3. Friends in other religious groups have been baptized.
  4. They come from a family where everyone has been baptized for generations.
  5. They have heard that God wants us to be baptized, and they want obey God.
2. I call your attention to some additional reasons that, in my judgment, are significant factors.
  1. Many Christian homes are either deeply troubled, very unstable, or broken.
    1. Many of our children are in insecure environments.
    2. Between troubled homes, separated homes, broken homes, one parent homes, homes in which there is abuse, and homes that are too busy to nurture and care, many of our children crave adult attention.
    3. One of the few things a child can do to secure immediate, positive adult attention is be baptized.
    4. One of the things that a child can do to seek security is to be baptized in insecure circumstances.
  2. Children are responding to an oversimplified concept of obedience.
    1. Our fear that someone might not understand the importance of obedience often makes our teaching on obedience biblically unbalanced.
    2. So children learn that if you love God, if you believe that Jesus died for you, you need to obey God.
    3. A five year old can understand that, and a five year old do that.
    4. “I love God. I believe that Jesus died for me. I understand a person must obey God. God wants people to be baptized, so I want to be baptized.”
    5. Someone says, “That sounds fine to me.”
      1. Does it?
      2. It has nothing to do with conversion; it has nothing to do with repentance; there is no concept of redirecting life; it reflects no understanding of evil; there is no mature concept of guilt.
      3. How can a person be saved if he or she is not lost?
  3. Parents are scared for their children.
    1. These are wicked times, and our children face wicked environments.
    2. In fear, we never want them to experience the sense of being lost.
    3. We do not want their conversion; we don’t want them to go from sinner to Christian; we want them to go from innocent to saved.

I talked with a young person who wanted to be baptized. We talked one on one maybe 20 minutes. His attention span was 5 minutes. He had no concept of evil. He had no sense of guilt. His most urgent question was, “Can I go play now?”

Communion was being served. I was visiting. A small girl was coloring in a color book. After the prayer, Mom told her to put her coloring book down. She took the bread, then picked up the coloring book, and resumed coloring.

When you read the book of Acts, would you call that conversion?

« previous home top next »

Worship and Class Times

Archives

God’s Will

Nothing Good ‘Just Happens’

What Is My God-Given Challenge?

Mission Work: Why Bother?

Fear Versus Guilt In My Child

A Complex God For Our Complex Life

Children: Baptism Before Sin

A Formula For Spiritual Success or Disaster?

Spiritual Spin Doctors

Saving Children Before They Are Lost

Time of
	Innocence		Safety		Guilt