Darrell Pickle Wed/Thur Messages

April 22, 2009

What Do You Think of Christ?

Matthew 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Christ was both man and God.  The Jews knew from Old Testament writings that the Messiah would be of the seed of David. How could he be the Son of God if He was the son of David?  Physically he is the son of David.  They didn’t understand it. So, what is your opinion of Christ?  Everyone has to make a decision. Not to answer is a negative response.  Is he the Son of God? Is he the Messiah?  Is he the evil one or just a teacher? This is a personal question that is inescapable. It’s the most serious question you’ll ever answer. To answer positive means heaven; to answer negative means hell.

Imagine we are news hounds in Jesus’ day. Let’s ask a few people what they think of Christ.

We’re sitting at the desk waiting for a breaking story. We hear there’s something going on at the Jordan River. We go there and see thousands of people gathered. There’s a man standing on a rock telling people to repent and be baptized. We get his name and ask to interview him. “John, what do you think of Christ?”  He holds out his arm and says “behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” The Jews knew the importance of the lamb. In the Old Testament a lamb pushed back sin. Jesus more than covers it; he washes it away. John baptized Jesus saying he was not worthy. Jesus taught us to be saved and then baptized-his first instruction to us.  If we can’t do this we will have trouble doing the rest.  After John baptized Jesus a dove came and God spoke.

We publish the story and through the years we hear of miracles. We hear he’s upset the Romans, but we don’t follow it.  Three years later the boss sends us to the judgment hall. When we arrive we see that same Jesus with a robe on; he’s bleeding. Pilate is talking to him and trying to reason with the crowd. He asks them what he has done. His wife says not to have anything to do with this matter. Pilate washes his hands of it and gives the people Barabbas.  We get an opportunity to speak with Pilate. We get the cameras set and ask him “what do you think of Christ?” Pilate says “I find no fault in him.” Still today no one can find fault with Jesus. You may find fault with us or the church but not Jesus. His body was like ours yet he never sinned. Why was he tempted?  He wanted to know how it felt so that when we are tempted he can comfort us as a mother would her child. We can find no fault in him either.

A little while later the boss tells us to go to the temple. There is shouting and cursing going on.  Someone is arguing with the priests. The person wants to give some money back to them. It seems there was no backing out on this deal. He threw the money on the floor.  We catch him and ask his name.  He is Judas. We ask what he did.  He says “I arranged for Jesus to be arrested, but I changed his mind about it.”  We ask “well, Judas, what do you think of Christ?”  His answer is “I have betrayed innocent blood.”  The preachers and Christians of today would have told Judas to repent. “Tell Jesus you’re sorry. He’ll forgive you.” The Bible says he repented to himself not to Jesus. He hanged himself and the money he threw back at the priests was used to bury him.  We are not to trample the blood of Jesus under our feet. The only way to get his blood off our hands is to get saved. We are God’s because he made us, and then he bought us.

The boss tells us to go to Calvary. They’re crucifying Jesus. It was dark. We brought candles to see. A centurion was giving instructions to a soldier. He thrust his spear through Jesus’ side, and the last drop of blood and water fell to the ground. As the centurion walks away we ask him what he thinks of Christ. He says “truly he is the Son of God.”  God sees us as orphans bound for hell, and if we trust Jesus, he will adopt us and make us heirs with Christ.  When we are saved we are just as much the child of God as Jesus is. We then know that truly he is the Son of God.

We’ve got our story, so we head home. It’s the Sabbath. The religious orders have to be performed at the temple. Early Sunday morning we’re told to go to the grave yard. When we get there the stone is rolled away from the tomb where Jesus was buried. After a stone was in its tracks it was impossible to get it open; it weighed 800-1,000 pounds. A man in white sat there. We ask what happened. What do you think of Christ? He told us, “he is not here; he’s risen just as he said.”

Things were quiet for a while. Then we hear about a man named Paul. He’s a believer in this Jesus. He has suffered a lot for preaching about him. They’ve shipped him to Rome; he’s in prison.  The boss tells us to go interview him. When we get there, we ask to see him. They take us down into a dark, dreary dungeon. Paul comes to the window. We ask him how he’s doing. He said physically he’s not good, but he sees the Lord. We ask “don’t you know they are going to cut your head off?” He said “don’t feel sorry for me. I am now ready to be offered.” We acknowledge to him that he’s had it rough; his response is that it has been worth it all.  “Paul, what do you think of Christ?” He says, “Getting to know Jesus was worth more than anything I put away. I count all of it but dung.” Jesus must be personal to us too. We can’t only know about him, we must know him. He’s behind and in front of us. He takes care of us, and in return some give him church once a week. We won’t get to know him that way.

We go on looking through the heavens. If we could take a rocket there, we’d see the gates of pearl and the tree of life. We’d also see the altar, the candlesticks and other things of the tabernacle. We get to the throne of God and feel love flowing like liquid from it. We ask God what he thinks of Christ. He says “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”

Many people will be ashamed when they stand before the Lord?  How much do you want to know him? We don’t know when he’s coming, so what do you think about Christ?

April 23, 2009

Things That Accompany Christianity

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

Christianity is simple. People stumble over its simplicity. God loves us. Jesus died for us. It’s simple. When we get saved there are some things that should accompany our salvation.

1. We must confess Jesus Christ publicly. Letting our light shine is good, but Romans 10:9 says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Matthew says we are to confess before man. We need to let others know we’ve been saved. Now days we don’t ask others if they’re saved; we ask them if they go to church. It’s not hard to stand in the church, but outside of church it is different. If you haven’t confessed Jesus publicly, do it. Public confession is not just once. It is done over and over.
2. Church membership is important but does not make us Christians. This is a good place to be. We receive the word. We are baptized. We belong. It’s where we love and serve one another. We find fellowship. No one has ever had to call my house and ask why I’ve not been at church. Good churches are everywhere. There is no excuse.
3. We must concentrate daily on the word of God—the Bible. Studying is different from reading. Peter says as a newborn baby we feed on the milk; the way to get ourselves on the meat is to study. There are lots I don’t understand, but it’s what I do that scares me. People want to hear preaching and teaching everyday. The way to do it well is to study the word. Concentrating on the word helps keep it with us.
4. We should commune with God. Matthew teaches us to pray for our daily bread, not our weekly bread. We are to commune with the Lord daily. We sin, and our account with God should be short. The world gets us dirty, and we need to clean up daily. We obtain things from God by prayer. James says we can ask amiss. Ask God anyway and let him sort it out. Talk to God like you talk to your dad. Most of our praying should be in our prayer closet. Do you pray and find your mind wandering? God may be leading you to something he needs to deal with you about. Ask and it shall be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and it shall be opened. Don’t give up.
5. We must communicate the gospel to others. This is different from public confession. Confession lets people know we got saved. We must communicate the gospel to win others to the Lord. Don’t say they won’t listen for we were like that at one time. We have to do our part. Some water, some sow but God gives the increase. When we communicate the gospel we are telling how a person gets saved. Doing so can be done in several ways. It can be by mouth. We can write a letter. We can hand out a gospel tract. We can live right.
6. We must conquer temptation and sin. Be careful. Paul said we can get off track. Temptation is only sin when we give into it. We can’t pretend we don’t have a desire to sin, and when we do we have to conquer it. James says to resist Satan. Only Jesus can rebuke him. We can’t play with the devil. God gives us grace to conquer it. Paul says there hasn’t been a temptation that is not common to men. Others have gone through what we’re going through. God will provide a way out. We can never let ourselves get to the point of saying we can’t sin. Take heed. We may fall. It’s our duty to conquer. Run. Get out. We have to do that sometimes.
7. We have to contribute regularly to the cause of Christ. We are to attend church on the first day of the week. That’s Sunday. Only the Jews were given the Sabbath. Jesus arose from the dead on Sunday. We should come to church each time to celebrate the resurrection. Don’t come with a chip on your shoulder. Thank God you can be there. Paul said to put it in store so that when he visited them he wouldn’t have to gather it. We must give and not be stingy and greedy. Sixteen of the 38 parables are on stewardship. Malachi 3:8 asks “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Verse 10 says “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Verse 11 says “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.” The 10% is the tithe. The offerings are above that. Sometimes things happen when we rob God. The doctor might get it or the car might mess up. If you help feed someone, you’ve given an offering. If you have given this week, you’ve given an offering. We are not to take it out of tithes; otherwise it is not an offering.

These are only a few things that should accompany salvation. What about it? Do you have these things in your heart and life?