The “experts” have spoken
• Charles H. Duell, U.S. PATENT OFFICE DIRECTOR, 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
• Grover Cleveland, 1905, “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.”
• Robert Millikan, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN PHYSICS, 1923, “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.
• Lord Kelvin, PRESIDENT, ROYAL SOCIETY, C. 1895, “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.
• Tris Speaker, one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in history on Babe Ruth, 1927, “Ruth made a grave mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week, he might have lasted a long time and become a great star.”
• THE MICHIGAN BANKER WHO ADVISED HENRY FORD’S LAWYER NOT TO INVEST IN THE NEW MOTOR CAR COMPANY, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty. “
• When Gary Cooper turned down the role for Rhett Butler, he was passionately against it. He is quoted saying both, “Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history," and, "I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."
There are a lot of people that we consider “experts” today, that when they speak their word is considered law. But looking at history, sometimes the “experts” don’t know what they are talking about.
Today I want to tell you of an expert, that when He speaks you can rely on His words.
I want to share our scripture this morning with you from the HCSB. This is the translation that is used in our Sunday School material along side the King James Version. But in it we find the clearness that I would like to employ for today’s message.
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, He has spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. 3 He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs. (Heb 1:1-4 HCSB)
God has spoken through His servants to His chosen people in the past. He has tried to reveal His ways to a rebellious people, but they would not let Him. They would even treat the chosen vessels of God cruelly. They stoned them, beat them, imprisoned them, killed them and rejected them. They refused to listen to the message of Salvation that the prophets would bring from God.
God attempted one last time to bring this same message to this same people. However this time He didn’t send a prophet, He didn’t send an angel. He sent someone with authority and power to speak His words; He sent his one and only Son.
The Father even told us that Jesus had a message. On the Mount of Transfiguration God told Peter, James and John, “This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!”
So beginning today, and going through the month of February, we will look at the different aspects of the message God sent to us through His Son, Jesus.
I. First of all – It Was a Message of Love.
A. God told of His love for His Children.
1. He had tried to speak this same message through the prophets.
a) Through Jeremiah He said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.” (Jer 31:3)
b) All the way through to Malachi where He said, “I have loved you,” (Mal 1:2)
c) He even tells them through Isaiah, “In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love.” (Isaiah 54:8)
2. However, with all of His expressions of love out there His children failed to get the message.
B. So now through His Son, He speaks a message of love for the whole world.
1. This message wasn’t just for a select few.
a) It wasn’t intended for just those that resist the message of the prophets.
b) It was also for those who had never heard of the prophets.
(1) Those in different cultures.
(2) Those with different background.
(3) Those that was different, period.
c) This was clearly shown to Nicodemus in John 3.
(1) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
2. This message was given, not because of anything we have done.
a) Or as John wrote in 1 John 4:10 “this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
b) In fact Paul tells us, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8)
c) What John and Paul are telling us is the same thing Jeremiah and Malachi was telling the Jewish people.
(1) GOD LOVES YOU!
C. The Cross of Christ was a message of Love for ALL mankind.
II. Secondly – It Was A Message of Peace.
A. A message of peace between God and Man.
1. God was reconciling the world to Himself.
a) “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Cor 5:19 HCSB)
b) Man had become alienated from God because of our sin.
2. Through Jesus, God is telling us that he is not mad – but hurt.
a) He is saying that He is willing to do whatever it takes to see that there is peace between Him and us.
B. A message of peace among men.
1. Forgiveness is the hardest thing in the world for us to understand.
a) We all like to hold grudges.
(1) Someone wrongs us, we want to get even.
(2) Someone hurts us, we want to hurt them.
(3) Someone makes fun of us, we give it back.
b) Through Jesus, God is telling us that we need to forgive each other.
(1) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. (Eph 4:32 HCSB)
(2) Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Colossians 3:13 NKJV).
2. Just as God has forgiven us, we can now forgive others.
a) We are to replicate the love of God in our own lives by given that love to others.
(1) There is not a better way to show that love then through forgiveness.
(2) Forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget.
(a) Forgiveness just means you will not hold it against them.
b) But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing. (Matt 6: 15)
(1) How sad that a child of God will forfeit their relationship (not their salvation) with their Father because of the feelings they have toward a human.
(a) Corrie Ten Boom said, “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate.”
c) When forgiveness is necessary, don’t wait too long.
(1) We must begin to forgive, because without forgiving, we choke off our own joy; we kill our own soul.
(2) People carrying hate and resentment can invest themselves so deeply in that resentment that they gradually define themselves in terms of it.
C. The Cross of Christ was a message of Love and Peace for ALL mankind.
III. Thirdly – It Was A Message of Salvation.
A. Salvation was the chief purpose for this Son coming into the world.
1. Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
a) He was born to save mankind.
2. The message of Salvation is the most important message He sends.
a) It is by the gift of salvation that God has shown His love for us.
b) It is by the gift of salvation that we are able to understand the peace He gives.
(1) All the messages the Father has for us can only be seen clearly through the message of salvation.
B. For Salvation there had to be a Sacrifice.
1. Scripture clearly states that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” for sins. (Heb 9:22)
a) Jesus was born to die.
(1) So that we can be born again to live.
2. Sin has enslaved us, but because of the Father’s sacrifice, Jesus saves us
a) Once upon a time a fire broke out in an apartment house, everybody managed to escape except one child. Through the smoke-filled room he made his way to the window, where he started to cry, “Daddy, Daddy, how can I escape? I can’t jump; it’s too high. I can’t get out through the door because it’s full of flames.” Because of the dense smoke, the child couldn’t see the crowd in the street, but he heard their cries and especially the voice of his father. “Son, I’m here with my arms open to catch you. Jump and I’ll save you. Never mind if you can’t see me. I’m here.”
b) For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God’s power. (1 Cor 1:18)
(1) It doesn’t have to make sense.
(a) Faith isn’t faith if you understand fully.
(b) Faith is truly faith when we don’t completely understand, yet believe anyway.
c) Dwight L. Moody once said, “I have an idea, that the Lord Jesus saw how men were going to stumble over this doctrine of election, so after He had been thirty or forty years in heaven, He came down and spoke to John. On the Lord’s Day in Patmos He said to him: ‘Write these things to the churches.’ John kept on writing. His pen flew very fast. Then the Lord, when it was nearly finished, said: ‘John, before you close the book, put in one more invitation: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” ’ ”
d) Friend, this may be your last invitation.
e) I will close with this, at one time in New Orleans, as you travel along I-10, there was a large billboard that stood high above the city just as you start up the Mississippi River bridge. On it is a picture of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross of Calvary, head bowed. The caption underneath says in bold letters, “It’s Your Move!”
(1) What a powerful thought.
(a) God has already taken the initiative in salvation.
(b) Christ died for you.
(c) Now—it’s your move!
