02-06-2022 – “Obedient Faith”

Bible Text: Hebrews 11:8-19 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

February Calendar (pdf)
YouTube Video Sermons
Upcoming Events
FBCW Website Calendar

February 6, 2022
“Obedient Faith”
Hebrews 11:8-19

See Hebrews 11:1-3…

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3 is an awesome description of faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

God’s people, whether in the days before Christ’s coming, during the days He walked on this earth, or since He ascended back into heaven, have always lived by faith. Genuine faith in God trusts and believes Him, and is expressed through action.

See Hebrews 11:4-7…

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

In Hebrews 11:4-7 we are given examples of faith in action: Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to God; therefore he was considered righteous; Enoch pleased God and was taken up into heaven; Noah found favor in God’s eyes and it was counted to him as righteousness.

In Hebrews 11:8-19 we find a lengthy section devoted to the obedient faith of Abraham, of whom

Genesis 15:6 says,

“He believed in the Lord; and He [the Lord] reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

The writer of Hebrews gives examples of faith meant to encourage all who read this letter, from first century A.D. until the end of time.

See Hebrews 11:8…

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going

Abraham called out from his family and culture, was told to go to a new land where he would receive a promised inheritance that he could neither see nor comprehend; and yet, he obeyed and went.

Chuck Swindoll wrote an article titled, Going, Not Knowing [Where]. How about you? When God called you out of sin into salvation, did you have any idea where God would lead you or where you would end up? I sure didn’t!

When I came to Christ on 8.01.78, I was in a 28 Detox Program in a VA Hospital in Los Angeles. In 9/79 I went back to college, where I met Nancy, proposed to her 3/80 and we were married 12/80. Then came children: Hannah 1982, Joshua 1985, Benjamin 1987, Ruth 1994.

I have been teaching/preaching since 1981; I was ordained in 1986. Together, Nancy and I have had several Going, Not Knowing experiences like Abraham, where we left familiar and secure surroundings, trusting God to provide, from: California to Ohio, Oregon, Maine, Idaho, and back to Oregon. God has always been faithful.

See Hebrews 11:9-10…

9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;

10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

It is very likely that the early Hebrew recipients of this letter, because of their belief in Christ, felt like strangers in their own land, unable to fellowship with their families, rejected by their culture, having become outcasts, in order to follow Jesus.

These Jewish believers were meeting together in houses, rather than synagogues, living apart from friends and families and the culture they had been raise in.

As Christians, we can understand that somewhat, for we live in a nation that was founded upon the teachings of God’s Word, a nation where, until the 19th century, the majority of its citizens professed to believe that God exists and that the Bible is His Word. That is not true today; in fact, true Christians are a minority in America.

But then, God doesn’t want us to be too comfortable in this world

(cf. 1John 2:15),

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

for it is not our permanent home; He has something much better for us. We should be like Abraham, looking beyond the cities and houses of stone and wood

(Hebrews 11:10),

“for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

See Hebrews 11:11-13…

11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Both Abraham and Sarah were old when the promise of children was given to them by God; they both thought it was funny

(see Genesis 15:1,

1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 15:5-6;

5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 17:1-8,

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless.

2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you,

And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,

And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,

But your name shall be Abraham;

For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.

7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

8 I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:15-17;

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Genesis 18:10-15).

10 He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’

14 Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

But God did just as He had promised to Abraham and Sarah. God is faithful, and we can trust Him to keep all His promises to us, especially forgiveness and eternal life.

Just as God made the universe from what could not be seen, He made the nation of Israel out of one old man and his barren wife, just like He said He would.

Hebrews 11:12-13…

12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

The author of Hebrews, in verses 12-13, interrupts his list of the obedient faithful, in order to summarize some lessons from their lives, for all who read this.

Think about it, we will not realize the fulness of God’s blessings in this life. We are granted eternal life, yet we will most likely die; although some of us may very well not see death

(cf. 1Thessalonians 4:16-17).

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Our permanent home is in heaven.

Either way, God’s blessings are real and His promises to us will be kept; but we must trust God to bring it about by His own power and authority, in His own timing.

Our life on earth is temporary and we don’t really belong here; our permanent home is in heaven and we can only get there through Christ, not by heritage, works, law-keeping, or religious rituals, but in Christ alone!

See Hebrews 11:15-16…

15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

We have no reason to believe that Abraham wanted to go back to Mesopotamia, but he could have gone back, if he had wanted to.

Have you ever wanted to go back to the life you had before you believed in Christ as Savior and Lord? Have you ever wanted to go back to a different time or place or situation in your past, to exchange where you are now for what you had before you knew Christ? I doubt it!

It is possible that some the early readers of Hebrews were tempted to return to what they had known all their lives, Judaism; with all its ceremonies, rituals, traditions, and heritage, the called out people of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Twelve Tribes.

God, through this book, told the Hebrews, the same things He is telling us; there is something much better waiting for those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ.

We will live in God’s presence in a perfected world, forever; but we must trust God with our here and now, if we expect to trust God with our eternity.

See Hebrews 11:17-19…

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;

18 it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.”

19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

So, how much do you really believe in and trust God? By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac (his long awaited for son) as a sacrifice. Think about it, God said to Abraham

(Genesis 21:12),

“Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”

Abraham believed God, and although Abraham did not know how God was going to make a great nation out of Isaac if he was dead, Abraham trusted that God would keep His promise, even if it were necessary for God to raise Isaac from the dead

(Genesis 22:1-18).

1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

14 Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”

15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

When Abraham took Isaac up the mountain, he told his servants

(Genesis 22:5)

“we” (both he and his son) will return; he clearly did not expect Isaac to stay dead, although he had no idea how God was going to fulfill His promise of descendants through Isaac.

God provided a substitute sacrifice for Abraham’s son, i.e.,

(Hebrews 11:19)

“He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which [figuratively speaking, he did receive him back from death].”

In Abraham’s mind, Isaac was as good as dead, the knife was raised to kill him, then God rescued him, never intending for Abraham to harm his one and only son.

Perhaps some of you were as good as dead to your parents, your spouse, your children, “figuratively speaking,” before you repented and believed in Christ to save you and grant you eternal life?

God has a marvelous plan and purpose for all those who will believe in and seek to obey Him

(Ephesians 2:10),

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Hebrews 11:6,

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Galatians 3:6-9,

“Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

Galatians 3:26-29,

“For you are all sons [& daughters] of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ [immersed, placed in, buried with Christ] have clothed yourselves with Christ [put on Christ, i.e., living for Him, following His example]. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one [as children of God] in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants [offspring by faith], heirs according to promise [salvation’s blessing].

Saving faith begins and ends with Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son, Lord of all, but Savior only to those who believe in and receive Him.

Romans 4:16,

“the promise [forgiveness & eternal life] comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s offspring.”

Romans 10:13,

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

Romans 10:17,

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Listen! Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all revere Abraham. Both Islam and Judaism consider Abraham as the patriarch of their race (Arabs & Jews); but only Christianity reveres Abraham as the patriarch, the father, of all who, by faith, believe in God through Jesus Christ, from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Jesus died for us, but He didn’t stay dead!

John 11:25-26,

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 14:6,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

1John 5:11-13,

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

If you believe that Christ’s death has provided you with forgiveness for you sin, and His resurrection has granted you eternal life, then should proclaim, along with every true believer and follower of Christ, as does Paul in

Galatians 2:20,

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-30-2022 – “Persevering Faith”

Bible Text: Hebrews 11:7 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

January Calendar (pdf)
February Calendar (pdf)
YouTube Video Sermons
Upcoming Events
FBCW Website Calendar

January 30, 2022
“Persevering Faith”
Hebrews 11:7

Read Hebrews 11:7…

Noah was a man of obedient faith, fully trusting in and responding to God’s sovereignty, even about “things not yet seen.”

Noah was the last pre-Flood descendant (nine generations later) in the godly line through Seth; Noah’s father was Lamech

(see Genesis 5:28-29).

28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.

29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

During the early centuries in the life of Noah he watched as mankind rebelled against God, sinking into depravity, becoming more corrupt, until God was sorry He had made man

(see Genesis 6:5-7,

5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

7 The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Genesis 6:11-13).

11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

Through Noah’s obedient faith he became a recipient of God’s grace

(see Genesis 6:8-9),

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Noah responded obediently to God’s command to build an ark, in order to save those humans who would believe, along with animals from every species that crawls or walks on the earth, or flies in the air

(see Genesis 6:14-22).

14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16 You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17 Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark–you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”

22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Noah lived in an arid dry land, where Noah had never seen a flood, and most likely had never seen a boat, but he obeyed the Lord without questioning or complaining.

And what a ship it must have been! Even the most conservative value for a cubit would have been 17.5 inches (from elbow to fingertips), meaning the ark was 438’ L x 73’ W x 44’ H. Modern naval engineers confirm that the ark’s shape and dimensions would form the most stable design for a sea-going vessel, and is fact that which is used for the large cargo carrying ships of today.

Hebrews 11:7

says God warned Noah about things “not yet seen” and yet, Noah believed God and obeyed, building the ark while also warning the people about the coming flood, when God’s wrath would be poured out on the earth.

See 2Peter 2:1-10…

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;

5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;

7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men

8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,

Clearly no one gets away from God’s judgement, and no one who belongs to God will see judgement.

Did you notice in

verse 6,

“God did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.”

Wow! Although Noah was not trained to preach or to build a large ship, Noah did what God commanded him, Noah obeyed and was considered righteous.

Remember how Adam’s son, Abel, was considered righteous because he believed and obeyed God, offering

(Hebrews 11:4),

a better sacrifice,” i.e., he did what God required of him, and God accredited to him righteousness.

Romans 12:1,

“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.”

We don’t sacrifice animals as did Abel, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to please God.

Remember Enoch

(Hebrews 11:5),

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”

But our priority today is to learn about Noah. Preachers often say that Noah built the ark over a 120 year period. Today I want to challenge that time frame and give you a more biblically correct way to think about it.

God said (Genesis 6:3),

“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

We know that Noah was 480 years old God declared this, because Scripture tells us

(Genesis 7:6),

“Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.”

We also know

(Genesis 5:32),

“Noah was five hundred years old, [when he began having his sons] Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

So, Noah didn’t start having sons until at least 20 years after God’s declaration about His coming judgement upon mankind; and even if Noah had a son every two years (for six years), the youngest would have been 16 when Noah was 520 – that is 40 years after God began the 120 year countdown to the flood, i.e., that would only leave about 80 years for Noah to build the ark with the help of his sons; as it is doubtful that the godless generation living at that time would have been willing to help with the construction.

As we read earlier

(Genesis 6:11-18),

“God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark… you shall enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.’”

Out of all who were alive on the earth at that time, only Noah’s family (eight people total) believed, got into the ark, and were saved by God who provided for and protected them — from the cutting down of the first tree, through the last application of the last bit of pitch, to the loading aboard of all the supplies and then the animals; and then their yearlong sea voyage that ended on Mt. Ararat (1 year and 10 days from the time they got into the ark), where they climbed out on dry ground and were given an everlasting covenant from God

(see Genesis 7:1-5,

1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.

2 You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;

3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

4 For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”

5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.

Genesis 7:11-13,

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

12 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,

Genesis 7:17-24;

17 Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

18 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.

20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.

21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;

22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:2-6,

2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;

3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.

4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.

5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

Genesis 8:13-14,

13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.

14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

Genesis 8:18-21;

18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.

19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

20 Then 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.

21 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 9:1,

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:3,

3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.

Genesis 9:12-15).

12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;

13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

14 It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,

15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Talk about a tough assignment! God warned Noah when he was 480 years old, before the birth of his three sons who would help with the building of the ark, while also proclaiming the message that God’s judgement was coming upon all who would not believe and obey God.

Noah was not trained to preach or to build a massive ship; and yet, year after year Noah did what God had commanded him; no doubt, in the face of relentless mocking and ridicule from a wicked and rebellious people who wouldn’t heed Noah’s message of impending destruction and death. But then, the majority of the people, who have or ever will live on this earth, also reject God’s offer of salvation.

Only eight people out of all those who were alive at the time of Noah were willing to believe God and to get on the ark and be saved.

1Peter 3:18-22,

“ For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Romans 6:3-7,

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Galatians 2:20,

1John 1:8-10,

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

In the above passages, Peter, Paul and John are all talking about a person’s pledge of faith based on their belief in God and a sincere desire to please Him,

as did Abel who

(Hebrews 11:4),

“obtained the testimony [from God] that he was righteous”;

Enoch who

(Hebrews 11:5),

“obtained the witness that… he was pleasing to God”;

and Noah who

(Hebrews 11:7),

“became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

Sins cannot be washed away by water, like dirt from the body; nor can sin’s penalty be removed by religious rituals, pious law-keeping, performing good deeds, or ancestral heritage; only genuine repentance (a response to God’s Spirit convicting you of sin) can cleanse your heart from all unrighteousness.

God looks at us through the lens of His Son’s death and resurrection, by which we are made righteous “in Christ”

(cf. Romans 3:10-12,

10 as it is written,

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

Romans 3:23-24,

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Romans 6:23;

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8;

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:1;

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:9-10,

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:13).

13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

2Corinthians 5:21,

“He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him..”

Only those who have repented of sin and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation are considered righteous by God; and by the way, only the righteous go to heaven.

John 11:25-26,

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

John 14:1-3,

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

John 14:6,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

How about you? Are you going to heaven? How are you going to get there?

Noah and his family (8 persons in all) were saved from death, because they were in the ark that God instructed Noah to build; they were saved from sin’s penalty because they believed and obeyed God; all of the rest of humanity who were alive at that time drowned and were then condemned to hell.

Jesus is the ark of salvation for all who believe in Him; because He alone can forgive our sins and guarantee our safe passage and arrival into heaven. Your eternal security and safety is found in the heavenly ark of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior: crucified, resurrected, and coming again.

1John 5:11-13,

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-23-2022 – “Faith Leading to Eternal Life”

Bible Text: Hebrews 11:5-6 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

January Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

January 23, 2022
“Faith Leading to Eternal Life”
Hebrews 11:5-6

Read Hebrews 11:5-6…

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

There are at least two notable men in the Bible named Enoch; one was born to Adam’s son Cain

(cf. Genesis 4:17)

17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.

the other was born five generations later through the ancestors of Adam’s son Seth

(cf. Genesis 5:6-18);

6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh.

7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.

8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan.

10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.

11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12 Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel.

13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters.

14 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared.

16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.

17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch.

this Enoch was the great-great-great-great-grandson of Adam, and it is he whom we are studying about today.

Genesis 5:21–24

says, after Enoch was born, “[He] lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

Although we don’t know a lot about Enoch, we do know that he did not see death; the reason being stated in

Hebrews 11:5,

“he was pleasing to God.”

There weren’t many men before the Flood who were considered faithful or obedient to God; in fact, most men did not please God, but instead they lived according to their own sinful natures, doing what they thought right in their own eyes.

Remember how Adam and Eve had actually walked and talked with God in the garden; that is, until they disobeyed God [incurring the curse of sin], at which time they were put out of the garden, no longer acceptable to walk with God.

As we studied last week, Adam and Eve’s second son Abel, was considered righteous by God, because he obeyed and did what was right in offering a blood sacrifice to God, whereas Cain offered fruit of the ground and was therefore not acceptable, for he had disobeyed God’s instruction.

By the time of Enoch’s birth the world was becoming an evil place. Enoch lived 365 years, 300 of those years he lived by faith, after becoming the father of Methuselah, who became the father of Lamech, to whom was born Noah.

During the time of Noah, about 1000 years after Enoch was born, the world had become so vile and wicked that God determined He was going to destroy all humankind except for 8 people

(see Genesis 6:5-7).

5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

7 The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”

The Bible tells use that Enoch was taken up to be with God, before he experienced death, because Enoch pleased God. Enoch went from mortality to immortality, from earth to heaven, his body transformed instantly into a heavenly body.

We who are alive, when Christ returns in the air to gather His people, will experience this same unimaginable transformation

(1Thessalonians 4:16-17),

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

The Bible tells us that Enoch “pleased God,” but it doesn’t tell us why God waited 300 years before bringing him up to be where God was. Enoch was faithful to God living several generations before the flood; and he did not keep silent about the wickedness around him, and God’s judgement that would come upon them.

Jude 5-13

5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,

7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

12 These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

records God’s coming judgement upon bad angels and evil men. It was also about these that Enoch prophesied.

records God’s future judgement upon disobedient angels and evil men who would come long after Enoch had gone to be with God.

Jude 14-15 says,

“It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’”

Enoch was a prophet who foretold the coming of the Lord in righteous judgement, to bring condemnation upon all those who have done evil against God. Enoch proclaimed that God’s angels will execute judgment upon all the ungodly; giving us a general description of the final judgment upon all the unbelieving

(see Matthew 13:41-43,

41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13:49-50).

49 So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,

50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We should seek to follow the example of Enoch’s faith, concerning what God requires, as we read

(Micah 6:8),

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Enoch is listed in

Luke 3:37,

37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

as being in the ancestral line of Abraham, David, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Christ Himself. No-one gets into that genealogy without pleasing God and being acceptable to Him.

As we read earlier,

(Genesis 5:24),

“Enoch walked with God; he was no more, because God took him away.”

God spared Enoch from death.

Only one other person in Scripture, besides Enoch, was taken up into heaven and did not experience death. He was a prophet by the name of Elijah, and God took him up into heaven in a whirlwind, and he was no more. To get a brief overview of what happened to Elijah you need to

read 2Kings 2:1-14.

1 And it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”

4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be still.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

7 Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.

8 Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.

12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

14 He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Enoch was a man with believing faith that pleased God.

Enoch’s great-grandson was Noah, who was also a man who pleased God, and although he did, at age 950, die on the earth, God spared Noah and his family, of all those on the earth at that time, from the Great Flood that covered the earth.

God’s judgement will come again upon all the wicked, all who reject Christ at His return to the earth, after the Tribulation Period, will be executed. But there is still a final judgement at the Great White Throne, when everyone who has lived and died apart from the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ alone, will be thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

The greatest need of sinful men, women, and children of age is forgiveness for their sins. God has offered forgiveness to everyone who will repent and believe in Jesus Christ, by faith, for salvation.

The story of Enoch is indeed a marvelous one, and although there is not much in the Bible about him, what we have been given is awesome. Enoch was a man of faith, he had faith that pleased God; faith leading to eternal life with God in heaven.

Hebrews 11:6 says,

“without faith it is impossible to please God.” There is nothing a man can do to please God apart from faith, and that faith “must believe that [God] exists, and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

The very first step of faith is to believe that God exists; however, this belief alone cannot bring salvation. Even the demons believe God exists (cf. James 2:19), but that doesn’t save them. People of the world today believe in a variety of false “Gods,” all of them are just different aberrations of the devil himself, for there is only one true God who saves, and you must believe that He rewards those who seek Him.

(cf. James 2:19),

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

The evidence for God is displayed throughout creation, and much of what is learned through scientific discovery provides evidence of a supreme creator.

Psalm 19:1-4a,

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to all the earth, …to the ends of the world.”

It takes faith to believe that God exists, although God has made it very clear to all people and He holds them accountable to acknowledge Him

(Romans 1:18-20),

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Hebrews 3:4 says,

“every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”

Anthropology is the study of man, and the more you study humanity the clearer it becomes that universally man is conscious of God’s existence; it has only been in the last two hundred years that the existence of God has been openly questioned, and the Bible, as His revealed Word, aggressively challenged.

Einstein once said, “Certainly there is a God…. but we could never know Him.” Both Old and New Testaments are full of passages declaring how God wants to be found – He wants us to know Him personally, eternally:

(cf. 1Chronicles 28:9;

9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

Proverbs 8:17-18;

17 “I love those who love me;

And those who diligently seek me will find me.

18 “Riches and honor are with me,

Enduring wealth and righteousness.

Jeremiah 29:11-13;

11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Luke 11:9-10;

9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

Luke 19:10;

10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

1Timothy 2:3-4;

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2Peter 3:9).

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Again, Hebrews 11:6,

“he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

The reward that God gives to those who express faith in Him is salvation

(cf. Matthew 6:33;

33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

John 3:16;

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Acts 2:21;

21 ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

Revelation 3:20).

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

In Genesis 5:21-24

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.

22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.

23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

that we looked at earlier, two times it says that Enoch “walked” with God. In the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) the phrase “walked with God” is translated “pleased God,” and it uses the very same Greek word used in

Hebrews 11:5-6,

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

i.e., to walk with God is the same as to please God.

When we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, we begin to walk with Him, to follow Him, trusting God and seeking to obey what He commands us.

One of the most revealing uses of the phrase “walk with” is used by Christ in

Revelation 3:4,

“They will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.”

In heaven we will live with, we will walk with, and we will always please, God.

From the moment of our birth we are at odds with God and unable to walk with Him, in fact,

in Ephesians 2:3

we are said to be “by nature children of wrath.”

Salvation is the cure for our broken relationship with God, through faith we are reconciled to God, like Enoch, and therefore we are able to walk with God and please Him as we serve Him

(cf. 2Corinthians 5:17-21).

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Walking with God begins with faith that He exists, leading to belief that He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all, and that He loves us and has a marvelous plan for our lives now and forever, for He has

(2Peter 1:3-4),

“granted to us everything we need pertaining to life [mortal, biological life] and godliness [spiritual, eternal life], 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 [the Holy Spirit lives in every true believer],

Ephesians 1:13-14],

13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ,

Romans 8:1].”

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 11:1,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Read Hebrews 11:5-6 again.

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Enoch never saw God, but he had faith, believing in God, and he did what was pleasing to God; therefore, he was brought into the presence of God in heaven, where as, we walk with God spiritually, while we are on this earth.

God’s greatest reward for those who believe in Him is salvation, but that won’t be fully realized until heaven, where we will live and walk with God forever!

Enoch’s story is a picture of how all those who believe in God by faith, and are alive at the time of the Christ’s return in the air [the rapture] will not see death

(1Thessalonians 4:16-17),

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Let us seek to be people of faith, believing and obeying all that God has instructed us in His Word, and trusting Him for all that we need, now and forever.

Philippians 4:13,

“ 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.

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-16-2022 – Faith Expressed Through Worship

Bible Text: Hebrews 11:4 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

January Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

January 16, 2022
“Faith Expressed Through Worship ”
Hebrews 11:4

Read Hebrews 11:4…

Abel’s sacrifice was “better” than Cain’s, because Abel was obedient in offering to God that which God required and so he was considered righteous.

The curse of sin caused by the disobedience of Adam and Eve, could only be removed by God’s forgiveness, the divine price of that forgiveness is the shed blood of an acceptable sacrifice.

Before Adam and Eve sinned

(Genesis 2:25,

“the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

But after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their innocence was gone, they felt guilt

(Genesis 3:7),

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

After Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to cover their nakedness (representing their sin) with the vegetation of a fruit tree; but only a blood sacrifice would do.

God’s provisional “covering” for sin was the shed blood of a sacrifice

(Genesis 3:21),

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them,”

the very first sacrifice for sin was offered by God. An animal had to die [probably a lamb]- it’s blood was shed in order to provide a suitable covering for man’s nakedness, or should I say man’s awareness of being naked, because somehow that was not okay anymore, the consequence of sin

(Genesis 3:22),

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil.”

See Hebrews 9:22

22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

See Hebrews 10:1-18

1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;
6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.
7 “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME
(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME)
TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law),
9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,
17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

See Hebrews 9:27-28

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

And so (Hebrews 9:22),

“without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”;

and yet (Hebrews 10:4-5),

“Therefore, when He [God’s Son] comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me,”

(Hebrews 10:10),

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,”

(Hebrews 10:14),

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,”

“He then says, (Hebrews 10:17),

“And their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more,”

(Hebrews 9:27-28),

“Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Wow! The only acceptable sacrifice for our sins is God’s Son

(John 1:29),

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Genesis 4:3-5,

“So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”

The first blood sacrifice for sin was made by God

(Genesis 3:21).

The first blood sacrifice offered in the Scriptures by a human is Abel’s lamb, one lamb for one person’s sins. In the future, when God rescued the Hebrews from Pharaoh in Egypt, and established them as the nation of Israel, the Feast of Passover was instituted, and one lamb was sacrificed for the sins of one family; later came the Day of Atonement, when one lamb was sacrificed for the sins of one nation; when Jesus Christ died on the cross; His last words were, It is finished!” At that moment, God’s Lamb, God’s Son, Lord and Savior, the only perfect, acceptable, and divine sacrifice, was offered for the sins of the whole world

Why did God look with favor upon Abel’s offering, and not Cain’s? Cain was banished from God’s blessings because he chose to worship his own way, instead of God’s way

(Genesis 4:6-9),

“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.’ Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.’”

Clearly Cain’s heart was wrong, and God warned him to do the “right” thing or his anger would both master and destroy him. He could turn from his sin, and make things right with God, or he could give in to sin.

Jude 1-9 speaks of evil men and angels in ages past destined for destruction.

Jude 1-9

1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
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.
4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.
9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Jude 10

10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

tells us these men “revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals

(cf. Jude 19,

without the Spirit of God), by these things they are destroyed.”

Jude 11

says, “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain.”

As we read earlier (Genesis 4:6-7), God cautions Cain to “do well,” i.e., do the right thing; no doubt both Cain and Abel knew what God expected as their sacrifice, in order to worship Him..

Perhaps Adam and Eve had told, even reminded, their boys of what had happened in the garden on the day they disobeyed, leading to enmity between them and God, them and one another; sin’s curse affected all living things.

When we do not have a right relationship with God, we can pretty much count on not having right relationships with others. God warned Cain, but Cain gave in to his anger mixed with jealousy leading to a rage that ended in murder.

1John 3:11-12,

“For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.”

[Cain did what he wanted to do rather than what God required him to do. Cain disobeyed God!]

Abel is the very first man in the Scriptures to have it said about him that he was righteous. He was considered righteous because he believed and obeyed God, demonstrated by offering

(Hebrews 11:4),

“a better sacrifice,” i.e., an acceptable form of worship.

We are all sinners

(Romans 3:10-12),

“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

There is only one remedy

(Romans 3:23-24),

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,”

(Romans 6:23),

“ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Abel had genuine faith, he believed and obeyed God, and he came to worship God by bringing a blood sacrifice; Cain believed God existed but Cain offered what he thought should be acceptable; like most people today who believe God exists, but they live however they want and expect God to accept it. He won’t! They will be banished from God’s blessings until the repent and do what is right.

Proverbs 14:12,

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Romans 10:17,

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

John 14:6,

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 2:21,

“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Acts 4:12,

“And 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.”

Salvation has always been through Jesus Christ, from the time of Adam to the end of the Millennial Kingdom

(Hebrews 10:14),

“For by one offering He (Christ) has perfected for all time [eternity] those who are sanctified [all who trust and obey],”

God says

(Hebrews 10:17),

“And their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more [eternal forgiveness, eternal life].”

The author of Hebrews says

(Hebrews 11:4),

God “still speaks” through Abel’s faith, to all generations. Here we are 6,000 years later hearing about Abel’s faith from God’s Word. We must, like Abel, come to God in faith obeying what God has revealed to us in His Word

(Hebrews 11:6),

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

No matter what the world or anybody around us is doing, we are to serve the Lord in accordance with His revealed Word, as His witnesses in this generation.

John 10:27-28,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.”

1John 5:13,

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Let us seek to be people of faith, trusting God, believing and obeying all that He has revealed to us in His Word, now and forever.

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.”

2Timothy 3:16-17,

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man [woman, and child of age], belonging to God may be [completely] equipped for every good work [i.e., anything that pleases God and is according to His sovereign will].” .

We must be doers of the Word, not just hearers of it for only those who obey will be blessed in this life, as well as eternity future.

(cf. James 1:22-25),

22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

May we all be able to say, as I’m sure Abel would have said, if he had been a New Testament believer

(Galatians 2:20),

Pastor Mike Hale
>’(((><

01-09-2022 – “What is Faith?”

Bible Text: Hebrews 11:1-3 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

January Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

January 9, 2022
“What is Faith?”
Hebrews 11:1-3

The (human) author of this letter is unknown, although some say it was written by Paul, some say Apollos, some say Peter, but no one really knows. We do know it was someone chosen by God and led by the Holy Spirit

(2Peter 1:20-21),

“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

This letter was most likely written in the late 60’s A.D., sometime before the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome.

Hebrews 11 has been called “The Hall of Faith” chapter, because it speaks of the preeminence of faith.

The intended recipients of this letter were first-century Jews whose religious practice and relationship with God had become works oriented, rituals, ceremonies and law keeping. Judaism had become a religion based on legalistic requirements and acts of piety that became more important than having faith in God.

The religious system of Israel had become corrupt, and was more like a cult than it was a relationship with God based on faith in God.

Habakkuk 2:4,

“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” Works are a by-product of saving faith; saving faith is not a by-product of works.

Since the time of Adam God has honored true faith; for the way to God (as far as it depends on us) is by faith, as Hebrews 11 repeatedly reveals through the saints who are listed here — it has always been by faith, and by faith alone.

Read Hebrews 11:1…

The writer describes faith as “the assurance of things hoped for,” and “the conviction of things not seen.”

The Greek word translated faith here is pistis [pis’-tis], it means God’s divine persuasion leading to genuine belief; this faith is always a gift from God, and therefore distinct from human belief

(Ephesians 2:8-9),

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

The first characteristic of divine faith is “the assurance of things hoped for.” The people in Old Testament times lived before God the Son came to earth in the body of Jesus, as foretold in Isaiah 7:14, “the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel,” which translated (Matthew 1:23) means, “God with us.”

Old Testament believers were told of a coming Messiah, the Deliverer, who would take away the curse and punishment for sin, and He would sit as king over all of Israel. These people had a faith that provided them with a present assurance, based on genuine belief in something they would never see.

In John 20:29 Jesus appears to His disciples for the second time since His resurrection. Here He is speaking to Thomas who had not been present at Jesus’ first appearance, the week before, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

I used to think this passage only spoke concerning future believers, like you and me, who haven’t seen the risen Lord and yet we believe in Him; but you know, it also speaks concerning Old Testament believers, for they never witnessed His coming, and yet they believed what God had said concerning the coming Savior, Immanuel. They had true faith, absolute certainty that God would fulfill His promises to those who belong to Him.

The Greek word hupostasis [hoop-os’-tas-is], translated in Hebrews 11:1 as assurance, is also used in Hebrews 1:3, where it is translated to mean “exact representation,” speaking of Christ’s likeness to God. This type of assurance refers to the very essence, the real thing, the genuine content, as opposed to a mere image or reflection, i.e., this faith is the real deal, with assurance that brings conviction and steadfastness concerning a realized hope in God through Christ.

The second characteristic of faith is “the conviction of things not seen.” This expresses a heart and soul response to the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior. A person with genuine faith from God has faith in God, and even though they cannot see God, they will seek to live in a manner that pleases God.

Recipients of God’s unconditional love and eternal forgiveness will desire to please Him, to live out their faith, doing what pleases God, and although good works don’t produce salvation, genuine salvation always produces good works

(Ephesians 2:10),

“For we are His [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

God provides everything we need

(2Peter 1:3),

“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.”

How we live is expressive of the genuineness of our faith in Jesus Christ. A lack of good works in our life may be evidence of dead faith; salvation is not made effectual by good works, but good works give evidence of God in our life

(2Corinthians 5:17),

“ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

1Corinthians 2:1-5,

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

James 2:14-17,

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that [faith]? Faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

Genuine born-again believers will be doers of the Word, not just hearers.

James 2:18,

“But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’”

James 2:26,

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Read Hebrews 11:2…

By true faith (Hebrews 1:1),

“the assurance of things hoped for,” and “the conviction of things not seen,” men of old were approved, fully accepted by God, because their faith was genuine.

Since the beginning of time men, women, and children of age have had faith in God; believing what He has said through the prophets, recognizing His sovereign authority over all He has created, and agreeing with the conscience He has placed in us that we might distinguish good from evil.

The saints who lived before Christ’s coming had a substantive assurance based on an internal conviction that what God has said is absolutely true; and so they were saved through faith in God and their lives demonstrated that they were indeed children of God, just as we who believe today are.

John 1:11-13,

“He [Jesus] came to His own, and those who were His own [the Jews] did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, 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.”

Read Hebrews 11:3…

Remember that the author of Hebrews is writing to Jews, and even though orthodox Judaism teaches that Jesus is not the Messiah, they do believe that God created the worlds [lit. the universe and everything in it, including the Earth] out of nothing that was physical or visible.

Jews believe, as Christians do, that God is, always was, and always will be, the Creator. He is the great I AM, the Preexistent Eternal One: Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, God over all!

Believing that God created everything out of nothing is based solely on faith, the faith we have been talking about today: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” by which the men of old, and the people of today, gain approval with God.

Through faith we understand that everything that has been made has been made through the Word of God.

John 1:1-5,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [God the Son] was in the beginning with God [the Father]. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness [can] not overcome it.”

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.”

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.”

Any attempt to explain the origin and creation of the universe, life on earth, salvation and condemnation, heaven and hell, or the nature of God, apart from the revelation of God Himself, is a foolish attempt to describe that which is incomprehensible, without having any true knowledge of it.

When Job came before God, God was not impressed,

(Job 38:2),

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Job 38:5,

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements?

Job 38:16-18,

“Have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

Job 38:22-23,

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of war and battle?

Job’s response is the correct one, when coming before Almighty God, Creator, Sustainer, Lord, Savior, and Judge over All

(Job 42:2),

“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”

Job 42:5-6,

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

Through the “eye” of Job’s faith he understood and believed in God, causing him to repent. We all must enter into a relationship with God by humbly acknowledging and repenting of our sin, at the same time trusting/believing God for salvation.

Hebrews 11:6,

“And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

1Corinthians 2:9-16,

“As it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him’. To us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual [having God’s Spirit] appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Romans 10:9-10,

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:13, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord [for the forgiveness of sins] will be saved.”

Romans 10:17,

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

1John 5:11-13,

2Corinthians 13:5,

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ to save you? If you have, you will desire to know and to do that which pleases God. Do you have saving faith? If you have any doubt at all, simply ask God to forgive your sins, right now, right here. Jesus died as full payment for all of your sins; He then rose from the grave to demonstrate that He is the resurrection and the life, so that everyone who believes in Him will live in heaven forever!

Pastor Mike Hale

01-02-2022 – “As We Enter 2022, Consider These Things”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:
Bulletin (pdf)
Sermon Notes (pdf)
January Calendar (pdf)
YouTube Video Sermons
Upcoming Events
FBCW Website Calendar

January 2, 2022
“As We Enter 2022, Consider These Things”

Isaiah 43:18-19,

“Do not call to mind the former things, or consider things of the past. Behold, I am going to do something new, now it will spring up; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”

Ezekiel 11:19-20,

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.”

Jeremiah 29:11-13,

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-9,

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Mark 12:28-31,

“One of the scribes asked [Jesus], ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (If you love God, you will love others.)

God wants us to learn from the past, but not to dwell on what has already happened (2021 is gone, 2022 is here); unless we are considering what we learned about God during some past event, struggle, or blessing.

Is your (so-called) faith and belief, in God, expressed and exemplified through your behavior, as you live out your life for Christ? God has given us everything we need to know Him, trust Him, enjoy this life, and do what pleases Him today, tomorrow, and forever.

2Peter 1:3,

“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life [mortal/temporary] and godliness [spiritual/eternal], through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

What are we to do with all the blessings from God?

Colossians 3:17,

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

Colossians 3:23-24,

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

As you think back to 2021 (and you most likely will many times this year), what event, struggle, or blessing (experienced by you or a family member), was pivotal in your relationship with the Lord? Did anything happen that caused you to seek God more fervently? Did God use others to help you through a tough time this past year? Did God use you to help others?

Proverbs 3:5-6,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

God wants to guide and provide for you.

Philippians 4:6-7,

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

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,

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God wants you to be saved, to know His love, and to serve Him by loving others on His behalf, as you live out your life following Christ’s example.

1John 2:6,

“The one who says he abides [lives] in Him [Christ] ought himself to walk [live] in the same manner as He walked [lived]… [following His example].”

Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest [spiritual rest].”

1Timothy 2:3-4,

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men [women, and children of age] to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

God provides you with everything pertaining to life now and forever; He does this by forgiving all your sins and granting you eternal life. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord [for the forgiveness of their sins] will be saved

[Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13]!

God loves you, and He wants you to love others on His behalf. Did God use you to help others on His behalf this past year? Of course He did!

Ephesians 2:10,

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” [to live our lives for God].

As a Christian, the greatest thing you can do is to share God’s love: His plan, purpose and provision of Jesus Christ, showing God’s light in this darkening world where unbelievers remain prisoners of darkness and only Jesus Christ can set them free.

Matthew 5:14-16,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

2Corinthians 4:6-9,

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

We have victory in Jesus, now and forever!

2Corinthians 5:17-21,

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

What does God’s righteousness in us look like?

Philippians 4:8-9,

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Ephesians 5:1-2,

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk [live] in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

During this past year, was there a time, or perhaps many times, when you were aware that God was working in your life to encourage and strengthen you, so that you might help others on God’s behalf?

Hebrews 10:24-26,

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

1Thessalonians 5:16-18,

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

As you enter 2022, make sure you belong to God through Christ: repent of your sins, trust in God’s Son for salvation; read and heed God’s Word daily, pray to God continually, giving thanks at all times, as you love and encourage others to know and to do what pleases God; while at the same time, sharing God’s message with all who will receive it, so that those who believe will be saved.

1John 5:11-13,

May your greatest joys in 2022 be realized in and through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior: Crucified, Resurrected, and Coming Again!

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-26-2021 – “Christ Comes in the Power of the Spirit”

Bible Text: Isaiah 61:1-3 | Speaker: James Sanders |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes

December Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

December 26, 2021
“Christ Comes in the Power of the Spirit”
Isaiah 61:1-3
James Sanders (guest speaker)
Campus Minister, Preacher at Yachat’s Baptist Church

Introduction:

In the past month, Pastor Mike has led you through the Advent Season putting emphasis on the five advent candles. There is, of course, the Christ candle, that sits at the center of the other four Advent candles. That is as it should be, for while the world loses sight of Christ in its own rendition of the celebration of Christmas, for us as believers, Christ should be at the center of everything that we do regarding Christmas. As Mike pointed out, there are various symbolic meanings that are associated with the other four candles. Mike chose the symbols of Prophecy, Presentation, Propitiation and Promise and brought messages focused on each of those themes. In your Christmas Eve service, you read the story of the birth of Christ and, again using candles, had a visual reminder of the concepts of light and darkness. Darkness is, of course, the condition of the world, and individuals in it, apart from Christ. The light is Jesus Himself. In John 8:12, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. The light is also the Gospel, the good news about who Christ is and what he has done to bring mankind forgiveness of their sin. The apostle Paul seems to combine both of these concepts of light in 2 Corinthians 4:4 where he explains how the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory (the light) of Christ, who is the image of God.

The prophet Isaiah foresaw that light and proclaimed its coming some 700 years before the birth of Jesus. His active ministry is dated during the reign of four Judean kings from 740-695 BC. We have the astonishing account of his call to prophetic ministry in Isaiah 6:1-6 where he is awestruck by a vision of God in the temple and volunteers to be a messenger for God to God’s people. His message was often harsh and ill received by the people of Judah. Isaiah told them of God’s coming judgement because they had turned from following God and become an immoral and idolatrous people. God was, in the words of the seraphim of Isaiah 6, holy, holy, holy and because of His holiness and their sinfulness, they had to be judged. His prophetic messages of judgment would prove true approximately 100 years later in 586 BC when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the people of Judah into exile to the land of Babylon. But Isaiah did not bring only messages of judgment, he also brought messages of hope. He told them of God’s love and grace. He told them that God would eventually return them to Jerusalem and restore their relationship with Him. Isaiah also told them about a coming Messiah who would make everything right not only with the people of Judah but with people from all the nations of the world. This morning, I want us to look at one of those passages where Isaiah describes the ministry of the Messiah, Isaiah 61:1-3. I think it a fitting conclusion to our celebration of the coming of Jesus, our Messiah, our

Christ. Turn with me to Isaiah 61:1-3 and follow along as I read from the English Standard Version:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Let’s look more closely at the message of this passage from Isaiah beginning with the first two lines of verse 61:1.

Isaiah 61:1a

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me

Who is the me of verse 1? The Sunday School answer is “Jesus.” Well, yes and no. From the context of these verses, chapter 60 and 61, Isaiah speaks of a me who would minister to the returning exiles. That would not be Jesus who would not be born until some 500 years after that return. But it would be the spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who would minister to the people through men like Ezra and Nehemiah who provided needed leadership at key times after the return. Or through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah who urged them to rebuild the temple. But ultimately, Isaiah was speaking about Jesus. The ministry described in these verses is a ministry that only God could do, though he would often accomplish it through the agency of men. So ultimately, this passage does describe the temporal and eternal ministry of Jesus. How can we be sure of that? Well, look again at the me of verse 1.

The second line of verse one says that the speaker is anointed. In the OT, prophets, priests and kings were typically anointed with oil at the beginning of their service. The oil used for the anointing was costly, valuable, like that used by Mary, the sister of Lazarus, to anoint Jesus in John 12:1-8. The use of such expensive anointing oil implied that rich gifts of various kinds, both material and spiritual, were being bestowed upon the one being anointed to empower them in their service. But in addition to anointing with oil, prophets, priests and kings were often “anointed” by experiences of being filled with the Holy Spirit. That is clearly the type of anointing that is stated here. Hebrew poetry typically follows a pattern of parallel thought expressed in different ways in the same passage. The Lord’s anointing mentioned in the second line restates and reinforces the declaration in the first line that the Spirit of the Lord was upon the speaker.

Anointed is the meaning of the Hebrew title, Messiah, and the Greek title, Christ. Because of the divine and trinitarian nature of the Messiah, the Spirit and the Christ were and always will be one. Yet in the mystery of the trinity, they are also separate. The Spirit anointing of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus, was revealed to men by the descent of the Holy Spirit like a dove on him at his baptism.

If we identify the me as the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God, notice the trinitarian nature of persons mentioned in the first line of verse 1: the Lord God, the Holy Spirit, and me, the Son of God.

A confirmation that the me is the Messiah is that Jesus associated this passage with Himself when he read these verses in the synagogue of Nazareth, his hometown, and declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21). We can, with confidence, believe that these verses describe the ministry of Jesus, both during his earthly ministry and down through the ages.

Have established the identity of the speaker, let’s look at what these verses say about him. The ministry of the Messiah is expressed in a series of statements introduced by the preposition “to”. Each prepositional statement describes a different aspect of His coming ministry.

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;

The Messiah would be a preacher. His purpose: to bring good news to the poor

good news – Who doesn’t like good news?

Contextually, it was the good news of the end of the exile.
Prophetically, it was the gospel news, The Gospel, of forgiveness of sin through the grace of God, a forgiveness that comes only through putting our faith in Jesus.

The poor – This points to those in economic and/or spiritual poverty. Those who put their hope in fame and fortune in this life and who believe themselves confident to manage their lives on their own have no need of God, unless it is own their own terms.
As Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 5:3. Jesus brings the good news that in Him the kingdom of heaven has come to the poor in spirit.

The Messiah would be a healer: to bind up the brokenhearted

Who are the brokenhearted?

Contextually, the exiles who were weighed down by their experience of bondage.
Prophetically, all mankind, for apart from Christ, we are all weighed down by the weight of our sin and the burdens of life. There are thousands of ways people are living with broken hearts in our world today.
The ministry of Christ was and is to bind up, to heal, those with broken hearts. As we see in the NT Gospel accounts, Jesus repeatedly healed those who came to Him of the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs that they had in their lives. If we were to give those of us here today the opportunity to bear witness to all the healing that Jesus has done in our lives, we would probably still be recounting those this time next Sunday. Jesus, the Messiah, is a healer.

The Messiah would be a deliverer: to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound

Contextually, Isaiah used terminology that appears in Leviticus 25:10 to describe the year of Jubilee. The prophets Jeremiah, in 34:8-10, and Ezekiel, in 46:17, would echo a similar message. The year of Jubilee was designed to be celebrated every 50 years and was intended to bring about the forgiveness of debts and a new start to the people of God. That is what would happen when the people were allowed to return from their exile.
Prophetically, Isaiah prophesized the release of all mankind from the bondage of sin through faith in Jesus Christ.
Brokenhearted refers to the inner state of people in bondage to sin: their hearts and minds that are unable to change out of their own volition.
Captives and those who are bound refers to the outer state of people in bondage to sin, their inability to change their behavior, their circumstances and way of life.

Jesus delivers from both the inner and outer states that sin imposes on our lives. Jesus is a deliverer.

The Messiah would proclaim the truth about the effects of sin: to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;

Year appears to refer again to the year of Jubilee. It speaks of the forgiveness, grace and mercy available to those who put their faith in God’s Messiah. The Lord’s favor is real for those who receive Him.
There is another side to Isaiah’s message. The day of vengeance. This day of vengeance is contrasted with the year of the Lord’s favor. While God’s grace and mercy are real, His vengeance (His punishment, His correction, His discipline) is also very real. It was the reason for the exilic period that the Judeans experienced under the Babylonians. It is the reason that our sin separates us from our holy God, a condition in which we would exist for eternity except that God acts through the entirety of the Christ event to redeem us from our sin. His vengeance is short term for those who come to Him in faith. It is eternal for those who refuse His divine grace. Throughout the Bible, God makes clear the concepts of grace and judgment, just as He does here in this verse.

The Messiah would be a comforter: to comfort all who mourn.

Comfort was a repeated theme in the messages God proclaimed to His people through the prophet Isaiah, especially in chapter 40-66. As I‘ve said, repeatedly, was originally meant for the people of Judah who would be brought from exile back to Jerusalem. Such was the message of Isaiah 40:1-2: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
But Isaiah’s message of comfort would be for all times and for all people who turn to Christ. Jesus, Himself said, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, Matthew 5:4.

Verse 3 describes in figurative forms how that comfort is manifested.

Isaiah 61:3
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

The picture presented here is of a person clothed in sack cloth and ashes and whose faint spirit is likely the result of fasting or their difficult circumstances. It indicates someone who is in great need, who is in deep despair.
It is the picture of someone who has come to the end of themselves and their own resources and who has turned to God for help.
They turn to God because they realize that only God can provide what they need in their lives and God responds.
God responds by granting and giving specific gifts as indicated by the phrases to grant and to give. What the Messiah grants and gives is described in the verses that follow.
To those who mourn. Isaiah in continuing to explain the concept of the Messiah as a comforter. He comforts those who mourn.
In Zion. This is a reference to the exiles who identified with Zion, another name for Jerusalem, as their homeland. It is a reference to lost mankind who may or may not realize that they have a homeland in heaven if they would but respond to Christ.

The next three phrases describe what the Messiah gives to His people. They are simple but profound:

The first is a beautiful headdress instead of ashes.

The phrase a beautiful headdress instead of ashes in the English Standard Version is beauty for ashes in the King James Version. The reason is that traditionally, when someone was mourning in sack cloth and ashes, the ashes were placed upon one’s head. Ashes suggest loss, destruction, ugliness, being brought low. The work of the Messiah is to replace the ashes on the head with something beautiful, thus a beautiful headdress. Some commentators suggest the headdress is a crown, signifying being raised up to an exalted state. It reminds us of the crown of life that Jesus promises to those who are faithful unto death in Revelation 2:10. It implies a state of exaltation that comes to the believer not because of anything he or she has done but because of the grace of the Lord Jesus. A beautiful headdress or beauty for ashes reminds of the chorus from that Bill Gaither song, Something Beautiful:

“Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But He made something beautiful of my life”

Beauty for ashes: a gift from the Messiah.

The second is the oil of gladness instead of mourning.

The oil of gladness has several related implications. The reference to oil reminds us of the anointing that was reserved in the Bible for prophets, priests and kings and is associated specifically with the Messiah, Himself. But here, the Anointed One anoints those to whom he ministers. Anointing with oil was used not only to set aside a person for a special task; it was also used for healing purposes. The Messiah, the Anointed One, anoints those who mourn and doing so, He heals them, turning their mourning into gladness. The scriptures we read and the hymns we sing that tell the story of the birth of the Messiah overflow with the concept of gladness, of joy:

To the shepherds of Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord declared, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

And so we sing:

“Joy to the World, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King.”

And,

“Joyful, joyful we adore You, God of glory, Lord of love.”

That joy, that gladness, is extended to those who mourn for God’s work in their lives. God will anoint every believer with the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of His ownership of us and His guarantee to all His promises to us. Joy is the second of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Ephesians 5:22-3. Joy is a key element signifying the work of God in a believer’s life. Gladness instead of mourning: a gift from the Messiah.

The third gift is the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit

The reference to a garment of praise reminds us of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22:1-14. In that parable, a great king hosts a wedding feast where all who were invited were given wedding garments, a sign of their welcome inclusion in that special event. A key point in the parable is that one guest, who somehow appeared at the feast without the required garment, was cast out into outer darkness. Having the correct garment is a sign of inclusion. This also reminds us of Revelation 3:5 where Jesus says that the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. The garment of praise speaks of our inclusion in the family of God through faith in Christ.
The concept of praise is important. This is in contrast to the faint spirit of those who mourn. Praise is a natural response to what God does for us in giving us eternal life. But it is more than a mere response to the Messiah’s goodness. It is our own gift back to God. Hebrews 13:15 urges us to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

The final two lines of verse 3 describe the end result of this comforting work of the Messiah in the lives of His people:

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

they may be called – those who experience this transformation (from mourning to comfort, from despair to exaltation, from sadness to joy) are given descriptive names that describe this transformation.

oaks of righteousness

The oak tree was and is a symbol of strength and durability.
Through the righteousness of God that He imparts, the believer is made strong and durable, able to face the challenges of this life.

the planting of the Lord

This reminds us of the activity of God in the Garden of Eden.
This also reminds us of the blessed man in Psalm 1:3:

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.

Both of these ideas point to the idea of the care that those who are in Christ receive from their Lord.

Great is the ministry of the Messiah and great are His gifts to His people, but something greater awaits those who receive those gifts: the glorification of the one who gave them.

that he (God and His Christ) may be glorified. This is exactly as is should be and exactly as Jesus taught in Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The person described in Isaiah 61:1-3 is the Christ whose coming we celebrate at Christmas and to whom we offer our praise and worship Sunday by Sunday, and, hopefully, day by day. This passage describes the ministry that Jesus read about and declared as his own in Luke 4 as he began His public ministry. One has only to read the Gospels to know that these are the very things Jesus did as he fulfilled these words of prophecy and accomplished the Father’s will with his every word and act. But notice for a moment how Jesus ended His public ministry on earth. John 20:21-22 describes Jesus’ appearance to His disciples in the upper room after His resurrection. There Jesus said to them, As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.

Let me say that again: As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Then Jesus breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. In doing this, Jesus commissioned those first disciples to do the very work he had been doing. He empowered them to continue that work by anointing them with the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who enabled Him to accomplish what the Father had asked Him to do.

But that call to service did not end with those first disciples. Every Christian, every person who puts faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior and Lord receives the Holy Spirit. Every believer is commissioned by God to let the Spirit of God work through them to carry on the work of Christ today.

Isaiah 61:1-3 describes the Spirit anointed ministry of Jesus, but it also describes the Spirit anointed work that Jesus wants to do through you and me. I am often move to tears as I think about the honor God has bestowed on us as believers. We are preachers and proclaimers of the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. We have the honor of sharing Jesus with brokenhearted people and watching Jesus bind up, to heal, their wounds.

We have the honor of helping Jesus deliver those who are prisoners of sin as we share the truths of the gospel with them. To those who sit in the ash heap of life, to those who mourn and to those who are filled with the spirit of despair, we have the honor of sharing the comfort of Jesus.

We have the honor of planting the seed of the word of God in peoples’ lives and watching it grow them into oaks of righteousness, resulting in praise to our God. Such was and is the ministry of Christ. Such is the ministry God allows for you and me. Let us be faithful to carry it out for His honor and praise.

James Sanders

12-19-2021 – “The Sovereign Birth of God’s Son”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

December Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

December 19, 2021
“The Sovereign Birth of God’s Son”

Six days from today we will celebrate the birth of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from sin’s penalty.

There are 195 countries in the world today, of which 160 celebrate Christmas in some way or another, while 36 do not in anyway observe Christmas.

Most of the world, until recent years, used a dating system focused on the birth of Jesus Christ, as follows: B.C., “before Christ,” marked all years before His birth; and A.D., Anno Domini, “in the year of our Lord,” marked all years after His arrival.

There is a growing effort today to delete BC and AD, permanently replacing them with BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era); this is an attempt to remove Christ and Christianity from all calendars. But, what is the pivotal date for BCE and CE? The very same as BC and AD, the birth of Christ.

This is yet another feeble attempt by a godless world to try and remove the message of Christmas, changing Merry Christmas to Merry xmas, Happy Holiday, or Seasons Greetings.

Christmas is a compound word made up of two words: Christ [the Anointed or Holy One], and Mass [an assembly or gathering for religious observances].

Easter celebrates and honors the sacrificial death and sovereign resurrection of God’s One and Only Son; God’s full and final payment for sin and provision of eternal life to everyone who believes in Him.

Christmas celebrates and honors the birth of God’s One and Only Son, God’s ultimate Gift to us, Jesus (God’s Salvation), Immanuel [God with us].

Read Luke 1:5-25…

Zechariah is in the Holy of Holies when Gabriel tells him that his wife Elizabeth is going to give birth to a son, and he is to name him John [which means, God is gracious]; this son of theirs (see verse 17) will fulfill the prophecy of

Malachi 3:1,

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear [prepare] the way before Me.”

Malachi 4:6,

“He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Matthew 11:10-11,

“This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”

Read Luke 1:26-38…

Gabriel tells Mary she is going to have God’s Son, and also that her aunt Elizabeth (who had been barren) is now six months pregnant.

Read Luke 1:39-55…

Mary visits her aunt Elizabeth and the Holy Spirit confirms that, Mary’s pregnancy is from God, just as Gabriel had said. We are told (Luke 1:56) that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then returned home.

The duty cycles [orders of division] at the Temple for Jewish priests included the seven major Feasts and Festivals (Passover, First fruits, Harvest, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles, Hanukkah), when applied to the narratives of what the NT records concerning the conception and the birth of both, Jesus and John (His cousin), some very amazing things are revealed.

Mary’s visit would have been late in the 9th month of Kislev (Nov/Dec); not surprisingly, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah [Festival of Lights] begins on the 25th day of Kislev, which is very close to our December 25, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus: the Light of the World.

In John 8:12

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

1John 1:5,

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Read Luke 1:57-66…

John (the Baptizer) would have the privilege to announce the beginning of the ministry of God’s Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

John (the Baptizer) was six months older than Jesus, and since John’s birth was near or during Passover in the month of Nisan (Mar/April), Jesus would have then been born six months later, in the month of Tishri (Sept/Oct), about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Our celebration of Christmas doesn’t line up with the actual birthdate of Jesus, but it very likely lines up with the time of Christ’s conception in the womb of Mary.

Read Luke 2:1-7…

Joseph took Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, to register in the town of their ancestors, according to the census. While there, it came time for the baby to be born, and they could find no place to stay because the city was overcrowded with visitors who had come to register for the census, all those with ancestors who were from Bethlehem must come.

Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son, God’s Son. He was born in a stable behind an inn, and placed in a manger [feeding trough for animals].

Read Luke 2:8-20…

An angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds, announcing the birth of the Savior, Christ the Lord. The angel said God would validate this marvelous event with a sign (Luke 2:12), the baby would be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

The shepherds then went to Bethlehem to see all God had done; they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, who was lying in a manger, just as they had been told.

Shepherds were near the bottom of the Jewish social order, because they couldn’t keep the religious rituals and ceremonies. Out of all the people in and around Jerusalem, God chose a small group of shepherds to witness the birth of His Son.

It is interesting that Jesus said

(John 10:11),

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

1Peter 5:4,

Jesus is called the Chief Shepherd.

After looking upon the baby Jesus,

Luke 2:18

says the shepherds went out into the streets, sharing the good news that the Savior had indeed been born; and yet, there is no record of anyone else making their way to see the baby Jesus.

Luke 2:19

says, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart,” all these things meaning: the angel’s announcement about her Holy pregnancy, Joseph’s response to this news, Elizabeth’s marvelous greeting, and the special names given to Mary’s baby: “Jesus” and “Immanuel.”

The shepherds (Luke 2:20)

“went back [returned to their flocks], glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

Jesus’ first advent was in the flesh of a baby boy; the next time He will come as a Warrior, the Eternal King, Sovereign Lord, and Righteous Judge over All (cf. Revelation 19:11-16).

At Jesus’ first advent, there was no room for Him to be born; when He returns, He will be the landlord of the universe (cf. John 14:1-3; Revelation 21:1-4).

Only a few shepherds witnessed Jesus’ first advent; but when He returns, everyone in the world will see Him (cf. Revelation 1:7).

More books and song lyrics have been written about Jesus, and more paintings and artwork have been done of Him, than anyone else in history.

The world’s dating system (B.C., A.D.), two major holidays (Christmas, Easter), and the praise and worship of billions of followers, declares that this Jesus is indeed very, very, special.

Galatians 4:4-5,

“When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

At just the right time, according to God’s plan, God thee Son put on the flesh of a son of man, in order to provide payment for our sins by the sacrifice of Himself, in order that we might become children of God now, and live with Him forever.

Hebrews 9:26-28,

“Once at the consummation of the ages He [Jesus] has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Jesus [the Christ] came to do away with the eternal curse and condemnation of sin, by providing forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe in Him.

The most important question that you, or any other person, must ever answer is this, “Who do you genuinely believe Jesus Christ to be?” The Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, to a virgin named Mary; confirmed by God the Father at the Jordan River and on the Mount of Transfiguration; the Jesus who was hung on a cross to die for our sins, then placed in a tomb, only to rise again on the third day; and for a period of 40 days He appeared to His followers; after which He ascended into heaven to be with the Father, until it is time for Him to come back and take us to be with Him forever.

John 10:10,

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,”

John 10:28,

“I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.”

2Peter 1:3-4,

“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.”

1John 5:11-13,

And that is the greatest reason to proclaim,
Merry Christmas!

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-12-2021 – “A Child Will Be Born, a Son Will Be Given”

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |

Above is the
Video Sermon and
Audio Only recording

Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

December Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

December 12, 2021
“A Child Will Be Born, a Son Will Be Given”
Isaiah 9:6

About 2700 years ago, two of God’s prophets (Isaiah & Micah) wrote about the future birth of a male child to a virgin, in Bethlehem, in Judea.

About 700 years after these prophecies were made, a young woman, named Mary, said to be a virgin, gave birth to a male child in Bethlehem, in Judea.

The baby was given the name Jesus [God’s Salvation] and He was called Immanuel [God with us]. This child would be the only source of salvation for mankind, and He would also be the fullness of God in human flesh.

God told the people of world ahead of time, so that when it happened people would believe in His Son and receive forgiveness for their sins.

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth, it is a compound word formed from the words Christ [the Anointed or Holy One], and Mass [an assembly or gathering for religious observances]. Christmas celebrates the good news that the Savior has come.

The next time you go out to a merchandise store or a shopping mall, consider, “If you weren’t a Christian and didn’t know about God’s Son, is there anything in the commercial stores that would point you to Jesus?” Probably not!

And yet, Isaiah & Micah, foretold how God’s Son would be born to a virgin, in Bethlehem, in Judea; that He would be God in human flesh and the Savior of those who believe in Him; and that He would accomplish this by dying for our sins.

Isaiah 9:6a,

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us…”

This speaks of God’s divine proclamation and provision of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

Isaiah 7:14,

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Micah 5:2,

“But as for you, Bethlehem [House of Bread] Ephrathah [Fruitful land], too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

See Matthew 1:18-25…

God’s Son came in the flesh of a baby boy, born in Bethlehem. This child was fully God, while also being fully man; more than any other title that Jesus used for Himself, He used the title “Son of Man,” because He loved us so much, and was one of us, and yet He was one with God..

Isaiah 9:6b,

“And the government will rest on His shoulders…”

This speaks of God’s Ultimate, Universal, and Unilateral Authority on earth.

Zechariah 14:9,

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.”

Revelation 19:15-16,

“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”

Christ will, in the future, reign for a thousand years over a literal, earthly kingdom, and everyone will humbly and reverently bow in submission to Him; although, at present, only those who acknowledge Him as Savior give testimony to His authority and rule in their lives as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Isaiah 9:6c,

“And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor…”

This speaks of God’s Supernatural Wisdom.

John 14:16-17, 25-26,

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.” “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

The NT records Jesus’ encounters with a variety of people; and that He always knew just what to say, for He spoke the words and wisdom of God.

Temple guards were sent to arrest Jesus

(John 7:46),

but they returned to the Chief Priests without Him, saying, “No one ever spoke the way this man speaks.”

Matthew 7:29 says,

He [Jesus] was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their [own] scribes [teachers of the law].”

Only Jesus can make sense out of life’s confusion and provide hope for eternity; and yet, most of the world turns to the counsel of psychiatrists, philosophers, astrologers, and other so-called experts, instead of turning to God’s Word.

1Corinthians 2:12-16,

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, provide eternal, authoritative, sovereign, divine, and supernatural wisdom for all who believe.

Isaiah 9:6d,

“And His name will be called Mighty God…”

This speaks of God’s Sovereign Power and Strength for all of eternity.

Deuteronomy 10:17,

“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”

Jeremiah 32:17-19,

“Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

John 14:2-3,

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Hebrews 1:1-3,

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Revelation 1:8, 17-18,

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” “When [John] saw Him, [he] fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on [John], saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

God forgives sin, grants eternal life, answers prayer, heals broken hearts and bodies, defeats Satan, brings order to the chaos and purpose to the confusion in our lives; all this, while sustaining the universe and preparing eternity for those who belong to Him.

Isaiah 9:6e,

“And His name will be called Eternal Father…”

This speaks of God’s Eternal and Intrinsic Nature as the Originator and Giver of Life.

Psalm 90:2,

“Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

Isaiah 40:28,

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.”

John 10:30,

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

John 14:1, 6-7; 18-20,

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God [the Father], believe also in Me.” “Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

Colossians 1:15-20,

“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Jesus is God the Son, equal with the Father (who is Immortal, Invisible, Eternal, and the Creator of all). Jesus Christ (who is also Immortal, Eternal, and the Creator of all) has made God the Father known to us. Only Christians can rightfully call God their Father, for through God’s Son we become God’s children, forever!

Isaiah 9:6f,

“And His name will be called Prince of Peace…

This speaks of God’s removal of enmity, condemnation, conflict, chaos, confusion, anxiety, fear, and oppression, replacing these with God’s Perfect Peace.

Luke 2:14,

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Romans 5:1-2,

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:9-11,

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

Philippians 4:6-7,

Except for the first few days of Creation, before the curse of sin came upon creation, there has not been peace on earth; but God continually provides Peace in the hearts of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

When Jesus came the first time, in the flesh of a baby, only a few witnessed His advent; but when He returns, the whole world will see Him.

Revelation 1:7,

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

Philippians 2:9-11,

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him [Jesus Christ], and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus Christ is God’s greatest Gift to the world. He is not only the Reason for Christmas, He is Christmas; remember, Christmas is a compound word formed from the words Christ [the Anointed or Holy One], and Mass [an assembly or gathering for special observance].

As you celebrate this Christmas season, make sure that you deeply consider and contemplate all that has been said in God’s Word about God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 9:6,

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Christmas celebrates the good news that the Savior has indeed come.
No wonder Paul declares

(2Corinthians 9:15)

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-5-2021 – “God’s Lamb: Born to Die”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale |
Links from Our Website:

Bulletin (pdf)

Sermon Notes (pdf)

December Calendar (pdf)

YouTube Video Sermons

Upcoming Events

FBCW Website Calendar

December 5, 2021
“God’s Lamb: Born to Die”

John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

God’s greatest expression of love toward humanity is the giving of His own Son, to serve as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

About 2700 years ago, two of God’s prophets wrote about the future birth of a male child to a virgin, in Bethlehem, in Judea.

Isaiah 7:14,

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Micah 5:2,

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

About 700 years after those prophecies were made, a young woman, said to be a virgin, gave birth to a male child in Bethlehem, in Judea. He was given the Hebrew name Yeshua [Jehovah saves], rendered Jesus in Greek [God’s salvation], He was called Immanuel [God with us].

This child would be the source of salvation for all humanity, the fullness of God in human flesh. God told the world ahead of time, so that we would repent and believe in God’s Son for salvation.

It is said that, long before the birth of Jesus, some Rabbis wrote, “The Messiah is to have no earthy father. The birth of the Messiah will be like that of no other man.”

We are told (Genesis 1:27),

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Genesis 2:7,

“The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Genesis 2:18,

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him,’”

Genesis 2:21-24,

“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

Genesis 4:1-2,

“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.’ Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel,”

Genesis 5:3,

“When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.”

All humans since Adam and Eve have been born of a man and a woman, that is, all but One!

Read Matthew 1:18-21…

Notice, Mary was pregnant “before [she and Joseph) came together” (before they had a sexual relationship), i.e., Mary was a virgin, and yet she was pregnant with Jesus; her conception by the Holy Spirit is a mystery.

Joseph, being a good man and a devout worshipper of God, did not want to publicly expose Mary’s condition, so he considered to quietly divorce her, and send her away.

While Joseph was struggling with that situation, an angel came to him in a dream and declared Mary’s pregnancy to be from God; that Mary would have a son, and Joseph (although he was not the biological father) would have the responsibility for naming the baby as God had said.

Jesus means “Jehovah saves” or “God’s salvation,” God’s Son came from heaven to save us; and Joseph was divinely chosen to raise Him as a his own son.

It is interesting that Joseph is never directly called the father of Jesus, and Jesus is never directly called the son of Joseph.

Matthew 1:16 says,

“ Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”

Luke 3:23 says,

“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed (so it was thought), the son of Joseph, the son of Eli [Joseph’s father-in-law, Mary’s father].

Read Matthew 1:22-23…

The virgin birth was predicted centuries before Jesus’ birth. “All this” refers to the prophecies given by Isaiah and Micah: the mother of God’s Son would be a virgin; the Father would be God Himself; the child would be God in human flesh.

Why is this birth so amazingly important?

Genesis 2:17,

“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”

Read Genesis 3:6-19…

Both Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, immediately bringing sin’s consequences upon them and all of mankind. Notice

Genesis 3:7,

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

That is so interesting, because back in

Genesis 2:25 it says,

“the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

It was okay to be naked before they disobeyed God, but it was not okay afterward. Why is that? Because they were innocent before they sinned.

We are told that Adam and Eve tried to hide from God, and when confronted about their sin, Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent [Satan incarnate], God curses all of them

Genesis 2:14-15,

starting with the serpent saying He will put enmity [hostility] between the offspring of the serpent [those who follow Satan by rejecting God’s Son] and the offspring [children of God, by faith in Christ] of a male descendant of the woman [Jesus, born to Mary, called Immanuel] who will crush the serpent’s head [destroy his power and authority].

God makes it clear throughout the OT, that the Savior of the world, the Christ, would be born to a woman, an ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, in the ancestral line of King David

(Matthew 1:6, legally through Solomon to Joseph;

Luke 3:31, biologically through Nathan to Mary).

Isaiah 53 is often called the Gospel of the OT, Isaiah 53:5-8 tell us that God’s punishment for sin came upon God’s Servant, God’s Son, led like a lamb to the slaughter, being put to death in our place.

At the birth of Jesus Mary deeply considered all that had happened: the angel’s announcement, Joseph’s response to her pregnancy, Elizabeth’s greeting, the shepherds at the manger, declaring the Savior’s birth.

Luke 2:19,

“Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Mary birthed God’s Son, knowing that through His death salvation would come to her and the whole world; that thought pierced her heart, like a sword.

In John 1:29,

seeing Jesus coming toward him, John said, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Philippians 2:8 tells us,

Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Hebrews 9:15 tells us He

“died as a ransom to set [us] free” from the penalty we deserve for our sin;

Hebrews 9:22,

“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” and for that reason

Hebrews 9:26,

“Christ has appeared once for all to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself,”

Hebrews 9:28,

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.” (i.e., most people will reject Him).

Hebrews 10:10 says,

we have been made holy “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” (Hebrews 10:17, quoting from

Jeremiah 31:34),

“And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more”

(cf. Romans 3:10-12, 23-24; 6:23; 5:8; 8:1; 10:9-10, 13).

Romans 4:25,

“He [Jesus] who was delivered over [to death, crucified] because of our [sins], was raised [to life, resurrected] [for] our justification [salvation].”

2Corinthians 5:21,

“He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus (God’s One and Only Son) was born in order to die for our sins, but He could not be kept in the grave because He is God.

In Revelation 1:8, Jesus says,

”I am the Alpha and the Omega,”… …”who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:18,

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!.”

There is not a more important message for you and I to share with those we love and care about then this:

1John 5:11-13,

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

When Jesus was baptized by John at the Jordan River, God the Father announced

(Matthew 3:17),

“This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”

When Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a Mountain, where Moses and Elijah appeared to them, God the Father declared from above

(Matthew 17:5),

“This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

At the beginning of His ministry

(cf. Mark 1:14-17),

“after John [the baptizer] had been taken into custody [by Herod], Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

(The imperative command here is to

repent of your sins,

believe in Jesus Christ as Savior,

follow Him by obeying the Scriptures as you live for Him.)

John 8:12,

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 10:27-28,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.”

John 11:25,

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

Jesus Christ is the Savior to Whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Do you have God’s peace about your salvation? If not, you can clear that up right now: repent of you sins, believe in Jesus to save you, and you will have eternal life.

Today is the first Sunday of the month, the day we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, remembering the Sacrificial Death and Sovereign Resurrection of our Lord. This being December, most of us have (Christmas) the celebration of the Lord’s birth, on our mind; but we must remember that He was born in order to die for our sins, that we might receive forgiveness and eternal life.

Christmas celebrates God’s greatest gift to us: the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, God’s Lamb, our Savior. The greatest gift we can give to anyone is the Good News of God’s Son as foretold in God’s Word: that He would be born to a virgin, in Bethlehem of Judea, He would die for our sins and become the Savior of all who believe in Him, and He is coming back to take us to be with Him, forever.

He was born to die, but He didn’t stay dead!

Jesus Christ: Crucified, Resurrected, and Coming Again.

Pastor Mike
>’(((><