11-07-2021 – “What is Your Major Problem?”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |
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November 7, 2021
“What is Your Major Problem?”

 

 

What is the major dilemma facing every person who is living today, and those who will be born in the future?  You either believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and seek to serve Him, or you reject the Word of God, having been deceived by the devils’s lies which are propagated and promoted by the godless world we live in.

We all started out as unbelievers, perhaps some of you still are?

 

See Ephesians 2:1-10… 

Paul, speaking to Christians here, is saying that before repenting of our sins and believing in Christ for salvation, we all were dead to God, without any hope.  But to those who confess God’s Son as Lord and Savior, God shows His love and kindness, so we might bring honor and glory to God, as we do the good works He prepared for us to complete.

 

2Peter 1:2-4…

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

 

Philippians 4:12-13,

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

 

Philippians 4:19-20,

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

 

We have everything we need, so that we might accomplish God’s will on earth.

 

Last Communion Sunday I taught from

 

Matthew 6:9-10, where Jesus instructs us,

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”

 

We are to do God’s will, not ours, not the people’s, and not the judicial, civil, or governmental authority’s will, but God’s will.

 

Christians [children of God] have nothing to fear in this life or the next.  We have been given everything we need in order to know, to serve, and to trust God, now and forever.

 

John 1:12-13,

“As many as received Him [God’s Son], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 

1John 3:2,

“Beloved, now we are children of God.”

 

1John 5:4-5,

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

 

In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to the Father,

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

 

This prayer is on behalf of those who belong to God (having received forgiveness and eternal life), those set apart to live out and proclaim the Truth of God in Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected, and coming again.

 

God wants everyone to be saved

 

(1Timothy 2:3-6),

“… God our Savior, [who] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”

 

God doesn’t want anyone to perish (See 2Peter 3:3-13).  What “promise” is Peter speaking of in 2Peter 3:9?

 

God will condemn to hell those who reject Him; but He will commend to heaven those who receive Him.

 

The OT Book of Joel 2:32, and the NT Books of Acts 2:21, and Romans 10:13 all declare, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

Why is that so, because

 

(Acts 4:12),

“there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

In Matthew 1:21,

the angel of the Lord tells Joseph, Mary “will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

 

Jesus is God’s Salvation; He is the Savior who come down from heaven.

 

John 1:1-3,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” [Word, God of Creation]

 

John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [Isaiah 7:14]

 

John 1:18,

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

 

John 10:30,

“I and the Father are one.”

 

John 14:7,

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

 

You either belong to God, having received forgiveness for your sins and eternal life in Christ, or you remain an enemy of God, guilty of sin, condemned to an eternity in hell.  The choice is yours: eternal exultation and joy in heaven, or eternal condemnation and torment in hell.

 

So-called global warming is not a major problem or threat for Christians, because this world is going to last long after we have been taken up to be with the Lord in heaven; not until the end of the Tribulation Period will global destruction be experienced by earth dwellers.

 

The Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat after the flood waters receded

 

(Genesis 8:20-21),

“Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

 

Genesis 8:22,

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

 

The things that are antithetical to the character, nature, and plan of God, are not a problem or threat to us, e.g., the current pandemic (and most likely future ones); the increasing corruption and depravity of unprincipled men, women, and children of age who seek to eliminate God-ordained marriages, families, and male-female sexuality, while increasing their persecution toward God’s Church

(See Romans 8:31-39). 

 

The major problem and threat for the world today is the growing rejection of the God of Creation, God of Salvation, God of Judgment, and God of Eternity.  The rejection of God’s Love, Grace, and Mercy has always been the major problem of the unbelieving world, while also posing an eternal threat to everyone who disobeys God’s Word, rejecting God’s Son (cf. John 16:8-9).

 

The major problem evidenced by Christians today is a lack of knowledge concerning God’s Word, a lack of diligence in proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord (by the power of God’s Spirit), and an inadequate expression of reverence for God through our daily lives.

 

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.”

 

Most of those who belong to God in Christ may, at times (myself included), become apathetic, discontented, and even desensitized to the Holiness of God, as we allow ourselves to be influenced by the godless philosophies, self-centered attitudes, and flesh-pleasing behaviors of this corrupt world.

 

What then is the remedy for this godless world?  Jesus stated it imperatively

 

(Mark 1:15),

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

Mark 1:17,

“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

 

What is the remedy for God’s people [believers and followers of Christ]?

 

We must repent and do what is right in the eyes of God, according to His revelation given in the 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

 

We must resolve ourselves to the fact that deep friendships with the world’s people will only bring more conflict and chaos into our lives, because unbelievers can’t do anything pleasing to God; and we are at enmity with all things displeasing, and or dishonoring, to God.

 

Romans 12:9,

“Abhor [hate, turn away from] what is evil; cling [hold fast, be committed] to what is good.”

 

We can’t claim Christ as Lord and live comfortably like those who don’t know Him, or worse, those who openly reject Him (See 1Corinthians 6:9-20).

 

May it never be said of God’s children, genuine Christians, God’s Church, that we are willing to partake of that which God hates, or to complacently sit or stand silently by while the majority of those in this world live and die apart from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

 

Jude 3,

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints”

 

(cf. 1Corinthians 15:3-4).

 

Jude 20-23,

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are doubting”

 

[While we are waiting to be joined with Christ in heaven, we are to serve God the Father here by reaching out with the message of salvation to those who have not yet made up their mind concerning Christ and eternal life. We must encourage them to accept the truth of God over the lies of the false teachers.];

 

“save others, snatching them out of the fire”

 

[These people are getting farther and farther down that broad road of belief and practice that ultimately leads to hell, they need direct and immediate intervention, before it is too late.];

 

“and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh”

 

[These people need God’s mercy, but care must be taken that their defiled and depraved lifestyles don’t contaminate us as we reach out to them with the Message of Christ and their need to repent and be saved].

 

Everything we need to live for God and proclaim the message of Christ, has been given to us by God; He will bring us to be with Him, in all His glory, forever.

 

Jude 24-25,

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

 
Pastor Mike
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