OLD TIME GOSPEL BELIEFS
INTRO.-
ILL.- Someone wrote, “You’re over the hill when...”
- You find yourself beginning to like accordion music.
- You’re sitting on a park bench and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.
- Lawn care has become a big highlight of your life.
- You’re asleep, but others worry that you’re dead.
- You light the candles on your birthday cake and a group of campers form a circle and start singing Kumbaya.
- You start video taping daytime game shows.
- Your Insurance Company has started sending you their free calendar - a month at a time.
- At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough.
- Your new easy chair has more options than your car.
- One of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle.
- It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump.
- You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs.
- You look both ways before crossing a room.
- People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
- The waiter asks how you’d like your steak and you say "pureed."
- Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
- You have more hair in your ears and nose than your head.
- You wear black socks with sandals.
Brethren, we’ve all had a good laugh at the process of aging. But aging is not necessarily bad! In fact, some people have accomplished some mighty good or great things in their later years.
ILL.- Alfred Lord Tennyson published his poem “Crossing the Bar” at the age of 83.
- Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in his late 80’s.
- Benjamin Franklin went to France to serve his country at 78 years of age.
- Paderewski played the piano before large audiences at the age of 79.
- Grandma Moses began painting at the age of 70.
ILL.- One lady who was in her upper 70’s taught a Sunday School class of junior boys. She even took them hiking and participated in other outside activities. When she fell and broke her leg, a preacher sent her a sympathetic note, expressing what must have appeared as “pity.” In a few days, he got this fiery reply:
“My hair is gray and I’m almost blind,
The years of my youth are far behind;
But get this straight and don’t forget
I’m still a kickin’ and I ain’t dead yet!”
Brethren, aging is not bad unless you allow it to be. And old things are not necessarily bad. We need to learn from the good things of the past and be inspired by them. Old hymns. Old books. Old sermons.
PROP.- Since we have called this “Old Fashioned Denim Sunday” I want us to consider some old time gospel beliefs that are never “out of date” and can be very helpful to us in living the Christian life.
1- The Lord’s Word
2- The Lord’s obedience
I. THE LORD’S WORD
ILL.- A minister wound up the Sunday morning services by saying, “Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of lying from Mark chapter 17. Please read that chapter in preparation for the sermon.”
The next Sunday the preacher said, “All of you who read the 17th chapter of Mark, please raise your hand.” Well, nearly everyone in the congregation raised their hand.
The preacher said, “You are the people I want to talk to, because there is no 17th chapter in the book of Mark!”
Brethren, my concern is not that we would lie about reading the Word of God. My concern is that we don’t read it at all and many times don’t care!
II Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
If the Bible is indeed the Word of God and can do many wonderful things in our lives (correct us, teach us, train us, equip us) then we need to read it! We need to study it!
ILL.- It is said that Benjamin Franklin loved to argue. Occasionally, he would find himself overwhelmed by the arguments of his intelligent friends. At such times, however, he often would say to them, “Give me a day to think the matter over, for I know I’m correct.”
Franklin would then go into his print shop, set up some type in the style of the Bible, and express his position and argument in Bible language. He would then return the next day to his opponents and proudly proclaim, “Whatever you may think, you cannot get away from the fact that Holy Scripture supports my argument. As it says in the book of John....” AND HIS TRICK WORKED EVERY TIME!
Benjamin Franklin tricked people into believing his position and argument because he knew that most people were ignorant of the teaching of Scripture. AND THEY ARE.
What Franklin did was wrong, but if we want to be right about life’s matters and know the truth about everything then we must read and know and follow the Word of God!
ILL.- Someone wisely said, “It is always right to go by the Bible.” And that’s because the Bible is the Word of God and it is always right about every issue of life.
ILL.- Horace Greeley (1811-1872) was an influential American journalist and political leader. He is famous for his advice to a Congregational preacher, who had lost his voice and had to leave the ministry, to build his future in the West. His widely popularized the phrase of the Indiana newspaperman John Soule, was "Go west, young man."
Greeley said, “It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people.”
The problem with most Americans is that they are enslaved. They are enslaved to every fad and fancy that comes along. AND IT’S BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT AND WE’RE NOT A BIBLE-READING PEOPLE!
John 8:31-32 Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching (or my word), you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The only way to keep from being enslaved to the ways and the sins of the world is by knowing the Word of God.
ILL.- Someone said, “The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.”
ILL.- Ulysses S. Grant was an outstanding military figure of the Union Army during the Civil War, as well as our 18th President of the United States.
One of his schoolmates, Daniel Ammen, schoolmate of Grant in Georgetown, Ohio, said of Grant: "Grant was one of the most remarkable lads I ever knew. His mother was one of the most interesting and charming women I ever knew. She was exceedingly kind, ladylike, and mild-mannered. I suspect that Grant inherited his kindly disposition from her, for I think his father was rather aggressive. As a boy, Grant was kindness itself. I never saw him have a show of resentment and I do not believe that he ever felt a tinge of it. He was never rude, oppressive, or disagreeable to other children. He had perfect respect for everybody’s feelings and a forbearance that was almost beyond Christianity."
And Ulysses S. Grant said of the Bible, “Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties. Write its precepts on your heart and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for the progress made, and to this Book we must look as our guide in the future.”
GRANT WAS RIGHT. If we are going anywhere in the future we must be a “people of the Book.”
ILL.- A small boy picked up a black book from the table, brushed off the dust and said to his mother, “Whose book is this?” His mother said, “Why, honey, that is God’s Book.”
The responded by saying, “Maybe we should give it back to him. We don’t have much use for it, do we?”
If it is nothing but a “dust-collector” then we don’t have much use for it.
Brethren, most of us believe that the Bible is the Word of God but our actions and attitudes say that we don’t know it and don’t care to know it. And that’s pretty sad! Because if there is one person we should be listening to, it’s God!
In days past, the people of God were the “people of the Book.” They read the Book. They knew the Book. And they quoted from the Book.
Today, we are more likely to say, “Well, I think it’s this way...” Or “My opinion is....” Or “My college professor used to say...” Or “I read in a magazine that....”
We are always quoting some person, some man-made authority when we should know God’s Word and be quoting it! WE SHOULD BE QUOTING GOD!
ILL.- Professor of English Literature at Yale University, William Lyon Phelps, said, “I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without a knowledge of the Bible.”
Brethren, let me encourage and somehow challenge you! Go back to the Book! Get into the Book of God! Even if it’s just a small portion each day. Let it sink deep into the depths of your soul! Let it become a part of your daily life! Refer to it! Listen to it! Learn from it! Quote it! The Lord’s Word is invaluable to you!
II. THE LORD’S OBEDIENCE
ILL.- The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and suddenly turned into a pillar of salt. Little Johnny piped up and said, “My mother looked back once while she was driving and she turned into a telephone pole.”
Gen. 19: 24-26 “Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities - and also the vegetation in the land. BUT LOT’S WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT.”
Brethren, why did Lot’s wife turn into a pillar of salt? She may well have said something like, “I’m just going to take one look back!”
She may not have said that, but that could have been what she was thinking. Or perhaps even worse. But her action got her into deep trouble. Lot ran for his life from Sodom and Gomorrah, but apparently, Mrs. Lot couldn’t bring herself to believe that God meant what He said!
Someone suggested that her salt-block tombstone read: THERE’S NO NEED TO TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY!
Brethren, Mrs. Lot didn’t obey God! That’s what her problem was. And it’s a very real problem that people have faced for a long time. Old fashioned obedience to God is something that is greatly needed by all people who claim to be followers of Christ.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
What’s Jesus talking about? “Only he who does the will of my Father.” HE’S TALKING ABOUT OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
Luke 6:46 Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
And do not do what I say. Jesus is talking about obedience. And obedience is something that God has always required of those who walk by faith.
Even Jesus Himself obeyed the will of His Father. If He did, what should we do?
Phil. 2:8 says of Jesus “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and BECAME OBEDIENT TO DEATH - EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS!”
It was the Father’s will that Jesus should die on the cross for us. What if Jesus had disobeyed the will of His Father? One thing is for sure: there would be no salvation for us!
Rom. 1:5 “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM FAITH.” Interesting words. OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM FAITH.
God apparently requires an obedient faith and this is what people in the past understood and believed.
This can be proved with many other Scriptures and many illustrations from Scripture.
Heb. 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
In the following verses, the inspired writer goes on to describe this faith that pleases God.
Heb. 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, OBEYED AND WENT.”
What? How’s that? By faith Abraham obeyed and went. By faith Abraham obeyed God. He took God at His Word. And remember: Abraham is considered the father of the faithful or the father of faith. BY FAITH ABRAHAM OBEYED GOD.
Heb. 11:7 “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family...”
By faith Noah built an ark. Why did he do that? To save his family. Yes, but even more so, he did it because God commanded it! BY FAITH NOAH OBEYED GOD AND BUILT AN ARK.
ILL.- Remember Naaman the leper in II Kings 5? God sent His messenger Elisha to tell him to wash 7 times in the Jordan river and he would be restored, healed, cleansed.
II Kings 5:11 “But Naaman went away angry...”
Naaman wanted his healing in another manner, in a different way. He said, “Why can’t you just wave your hand over me and call on the name of the Lord?” And he said, “Why can’t I just be washed or dip in the rivers Abana and Pharpar? They are better.”
But no, it wasn’t going to work that way. NAAMAN’S HEALING WAS GOING TO COME ONLY ONE WAY! God’s way! According to God’s Word! And when Naaman obeyed God and dipped 7 times in Jordan river that’s when he was cleansed and only then!
II Kings 5:14 “So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”
And this happened as a result of Naaman’s obedience to God!
ILL.- Did you ever hear of Charles Finney? Or what about the anxious seat? HUH? WHAT? You’ve never heard of the “anxious seat”? Charles Finney is the man who made the “anxious seat” popular. Actually, most people preferred to call it the “mourner’s bench.” Today, in many churches it would be called “the altar.”
In the 1868 edition of REVIVALS OF RELIGION, Charles Finney wrote in defense of the anxious seat. In speaking of an “awakened sinner,” he wrote, “If you say to him, ‘There is the anxious seat, come out and avow your determination to be on the Lord’s side.’ If he is not willing to do so small a thing as that, then he is not willing to do anything, and there he is, brought out before his own conscious....”
Finney went on to write, “The church has always felt it necessary to have something of the kind to answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles, baptism answered this purpose. The Gospel was preached and those who were willing to be on the side of Christ were called on to be baptized. Baptism held the precise place that the anxious seat does now, as a public manifestation of their determination to be Christians.”
Brethren, God has always called man to respond to Him in some definite way or action. Charles Finney called upon sinners to come forward to his “anxious seat.”
Many modern evangelists would ask “for a show of hands,” or believers to “pray through.” But the apostle Peter who was filled with the Holy Spirit said in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
That is Scripture and it is very clear! What Charles Finney said is not found in Scripture! We need to follow the Word of God!
I am not opposed to anyone asking God for mercy or praying for hours on end. I’ve done the same. But when a person decides to follow Christ then they need to “repent and be baptized” just like the inspired Word of God says!
In Luke 13:3 Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”
I don’t think there is any question about the importance of a person “repenting of their sins” in order to be saved. JESUS SAID TO DO IT AND WE BELIEVE IT.
We need to understand that “repentance” is an act of obedience. It is the natural outpouring of true faith in the Lord. And just as repentance is an act of obedience, so is baptism!
Acts 2:38 reads “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”
That little word “and” is a conjunction which connects words, phrases and clauses of equal rank. If a person “repents” in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins then what about baptism? BAPTISM IS AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD!
What would have happened to those 3,000 people on the day of Pentecost if they had not obeyed Peter’s inspired words to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”?
In the Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
I have attended weddings where the preacher married a couple in the name “of the Father, son and Holy Spirit.”
I been at many funerals and heard preachers bury people “in the name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit.”
But the only thing that Jesus commanded us to do “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” is to baptize people! SURELY THAT MUST MEAN BAPTISM IS VERY IMPORTANT!
It is. It is an act of obedience. It is an act of surrender and obedience. It is an act of true faith.
Please don’t ever tell someone that they don’t have to be baptized into Christ! Don’t tell people they don’t have to do something that Jesus said to do!
Hebrews 5:9 “He (Jesus) became the source of eternal salvation FOR ALL WHO OBEY HIM.”
If you haven’t obeyed the Lord in baptism, please consider it. And if you know of people who haven’t obeyed the Lord in baptism, please present it.
CONCLUSION---------------------------------
ILL.- Ever heard of a “RELIGION WITH FILLING”? A slave called “Prince Bee” said, “That religion I got in them way-back days is still with me. And it ain’t this pie-crust religion, such as the folks are getting these days. The old-time religion had some filling between the crusts.”
Old time religion has “some filling between the crusts.” I like that thought. All I know is this: It is always right to go by the Bible! It is always right to obey the Lord! And that is old time religion which “up-to-date” with the Lord!
