Choices

Temple Baptist Church - 12-29-2019

Philippians 1:17-24

Introduction: 

A.  This morning, we saw that “What I Have Written I Have Written.”  Tonight, I want to look at 2020, future history.  We made choices in 2019, both good and bad ones and choices always have consequences.

B.  Life is full of Choices and they can be either right or wrong. 

1.  Making Right Or Wrong Choices About Salvation (It’s Heaven Or Hell)

Deuteronomy 30:19-20  I call heaven and earth to record this day against         you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. 

a)  God will not force you to be saved!

b)  God has done everything necessary for you to be saved!

c)  God gives you the choice:  eternal life or eternal death in hell!

2.  Making Right Or Wrong Choices About Sin  (It Is Peace And Safety Or Consequences And Regrets)

Galatians 6:7-8  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalms 51:1-3  Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  (That is one sad passage!  The sorrow and regret of a man after God’s own heart!)

3.  Making Right Or Wrong Choices About Marriage  (It Is Heaven On Earth Or It Is Hell On Earth.  I cannot stress this enough to our youth!  Make sure you find the Lord’s choice for a mate for life.)

a)  Do not make quick decisions - Proverbs 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

b)  Do not simply go for looks - Genesis 29:17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.  (Leah was God’s choice!)

Proverbs 31:30  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

4.  Making Right Or Wrong Choices About Service  (It Is Happiness Or Unhappiness)

Joshua 24:14-15  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15   And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

C.  Choices are made by each of us every day and they have both temporal and eternal value.

1.  We can choose to have a good attitude or a bad attitude.  Choose to have a good attitude.

2.  We can choose to trust God or not to trust God.  Choose to trust God.

3.  We can choose to murmur and complain when trials come, or to learn a lesson from hardship.  Choose to learn a lesson.

4.  We can choose to be a blessing or a discouragement.  Choose to be a blessing.

5.  We can choose to smile or to frown.  Choose to smile.

6.  We can choose to be faithful or unfaithful.  Choose to be faithful.

7.  We can choose to be used of God or to live for self.  Choose to be used for God.

8.  We can choose to live in sin or to be pure and holy.  Choose to be pure and holy.

9.  We can choose God’s blessing or God’s cursing.  Choose God’s blessing.

D.  In our text, we find a few of Paul’s Choices - 17-24

1.  He chose to be Uncompromising - 17 “set...defense”  (It cost him his friends and family)

2.  He chose to be a Soul Winner - 18 “do rejoice ... will rejoice”  (It cost him his time)

3.  He chose to be Unashamed - 20 “in nothing”  (It cost him his pride)

4.  He chose to be Bold - 20 “with all boldness”  (It cost him his quietness  - quietness brings no conflict but boldness brought persecution)

5.  He chose to be a Testimony - 20 “magnified ... life”  (It cost him his liberty)

6.   He chose to be Faithful - 20 “magnified ... death”  (It cost him his life)

7.  He chose to Trust - 20 “death”  (It cost him his self-reliance)

8.  He chose to be Holy - 21 “Christ”  (It cost him his worldly pleasure)

9.  He chose to be Used - 24 “abide ... needful”  (It cost him his desires)

d.  Some of our choices have little value but some are of great value both now and later:

What I Have Written I Have Written

Temple Baptist Church - 12-29-2019

John 19:19-22; Philippians 13:12-14

Introduction: 

A.  Soon, 2019 will be written in the History Book! 

1.  2019 will be another year gone, never to be again.  “What I Have Written I have written.”  The key word “I” is found twice in the phrase.  It is “I” that have written, not what someone said that I have written or have written about me.  The pages of 2019 will be filled and the year closed. 

2.  2020 is a New Year.  2020 is a New Year.  Its pages are clean, its “ink pen” is filled and ready for us to begin writing.  Today, I want to deal with both aspects: The Old Year and The New Year.

B.  When Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS,” he had it written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 

1.  It was publicly written. Once written, there was no denial of what he wrote.

2.  It was universally written.  Hebrew – the language of the Jew; Greek – the language of the Jewish proselyte.  Latin – highly educated.  Once written, it was there for all to see and read.

3.  It was un-reversibly written.  Once written, removing it or changing it would not negate what he said or what he meant.

C.  Our lives for 2019 will soon be just a superscription to be seen and read of men!  The Apostle Paul said,

Philippians 3:12-14  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  (13)  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  (14)  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Those who do not study history are certain to repeat it.

D.  “Facing The Uncertain With Certainty” should be the theme of the New Year. 

1.  I did not get everything that I wanted last year and probably will not get all that I want this year.  Brother Harold always askes me the question, “Is everything going your way?”  My answer is always the same: “No!  But it doesn’t have to go my way.” 

2.  I did not do everything right last year!  Paul puts this in perspective for us.  “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  (13)  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.”

3.  We learn from our disappointments, our failures, and our successes.  But I will face this new year with the hope of God in my heart and my eyes upon Him. 

E.  The past can do one of two things:  it can either haunt you or it can help you!  Which one applies to you is your choice. We need to make right choices this coming year in order to maintain both our Christian testimony and influence.

F.  This morning, we need to put last year in its proper perspective.  That perspective is this:  last year is history and we cannot change it.  I want to give you two things that will help you to face the New Year in a right way.  I will try to keep this as simple as possible.

1.  Put The Past In The Past! 

2.  Put The Future In The Present!

PUT THE PAST IN THE PAST!  Forget those things that you cannot change!  LEARN FROM THEM!

1. Past failures not to be forgotten and not to be repeated.  You blew it at times.  I blew it at times.  I was not always a good Christian this past year.  May the Lord help me to be a better Christian in 2020.

Psalms 51:7-13  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

2. Past victories not to be forgotten but placed in a proper perspective.  There were times when you were a good Christian last year.  You grew in the Lord and were blessed and rewarded for it. 

3. Forget your disappointments!  NO ONE gets everything that they want!  There were times when the enemy got the upper hand.  There were times when you had to do without some things.  There were times when you did not understand and probably still do not understand.  God never said to understand; He said to trust.

4.  Forget your hurts and forgive those who hurt you.  Hurt always turns to anger and anger to bitterness if not dealt with properly.  Forgiveness of our enemies is as much for our sake as it is for their sake.

Hebrews 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Put the Future In The Present!  Reflect upon those things that will not change!

1. God was good to us this past year!  He will be good to us in the coming year.

Psalms 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Lamentations 3:22-23  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

2. God’s grace was sufficient this past year!  His grace will be sufficient in the coming year.

2 Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

1 Peter 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

2 Corinthians 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

3. God’s strength was made perfect in our weakness last year!  His strength will be there in the coming year.

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Ephesians 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

4. God’s presence was with us last year!  He will be there this next year.

Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

Isaiah 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

5. God’s promises were made sure to us when we needed them last year!  We can rely upon them in the coming year.

2 Corinthians 1:20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 

6. Last year is history and next year will be history soon!  “And it came to pass!”

Next year is just “future history.” 

Psalms 90:9  For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

Happy New Year!  Face the New Year with hope and trust instead of doubt and fear.  The Lord will be the same tomorrow as He was yesterday and today!

The Contrast of Faith

Temple Baptist Church - 12-26-2019

Hebrews 11:5-6

Introduction:

A.  “But” - A primary particle (adversative [opposing or adverse] or continuative [continuation of discourse]).

1.  Used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned.  But ties verse 6 to verse 5.  Too many times, preachers treat verse 6 as “stand alone.”

2.  Used to indicate the impossibility of anything other than what is being stated.  Without faith, God cannot and will not be pleased.

B.  Verse 5: we saw that Enoch walked with God and had this testimony, that he pleased God.

C.  We saw that Enoch walked with God and pleased God in a hard time.

D.  We find no account of anyone else walking with God as the “sons of God” were walking in a state of spiritual decline.  When we get to Genesis, chapter 6, God is displeased because of the condition of mankind in general.

E.  We cannot please God when we walk in in the flesh.

Hebrews 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Romans  8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

1.  A Faith that is pleasing to God brings salvation to the child of God!

a.  Salvation is by Faith!  If man attempts to come to God with any mixture of works, self-worth and faith, they cannot be saved.  Salvation is faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ: he lived a sinless life, was crucified, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures for our justification.

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  (9)  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

b.  By faith a sinner accepts the Person of God, the Propitiation of God, and the Promise of God!

c.  There are saved who are Carnal.  In both Enoch’s and Noah’s day, these “sons of God” walked according to the flesh and were brought under the judgment of death.  Thus the CONTRAST of Enoch’s faith that caused him to walk with God and the faith of those who chose to walk with the world.

2 Timothy 2:24-26  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,  (25)  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;  (26)  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

d.  There is Dead Faith.

James 2:17-18  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  (18)  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

e.  There is Devil’s Faith.

James 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

2.  A Faith that is pleasing to God causes cleansing in the child of God.

1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  (3)  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

3.  A Faith that is pleasing to God causes continuation in the child of God.

1 Corinthians 15:57-58  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (58)  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

4.  A Faith that is pleasing to God causes expectancy in the child of God.

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Hebrews 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

By Faith Enoch Walked With God

Temple Baptist Church - 12-18-2019

Hebrews 11:5; Genesis 5:21-22

Introduction:

A.  Tonight, I want to look at the order of chapter 11, or the “Hall of Faith.” 

1.  We saw the definition of faith.  It has both substance and evidence.  “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.”  The world may think I am foolish, but I know something they do not know.

2.  We saw faith exercised in salvation through Abel’s sacrifice.  It’s still the blood and nothing in this world can change that!  By the way, it is Colossians 1:14, not Ephesians 1:7, that the new perverted bibles leave out “through his blood.”

3.  This morning, I want to look at the “Hall’s” next example of faith.  As Abel came to God in salvation by faith, Enoch put salvation into practice by walking with God by faith.  Enoch’s walk with God was not a casual stroll as some might presume. 

Jude 14 says, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”  (It was a spiritually productive walk with God.  In a wicked time when the Messianic Line of Seth was in spiritual decline, Enoch walked with God and preached the Second Coming of Christ.)

B.  Nothing is said concerning Enoch’s first 65 years of life. 

1.  I rest assured that he was brought up to know the Lord and placed his personal faith in the coming of the Promised Seed.  These years were his years of development where he made his choices concerning life and what it was all about. 

2.  Life is so much more than just growing up, getting a job, getting married, raising a family, and retirement.  Life is about whom you are, not just what you do.  This life is the prelude for eternity! 

C.  Little is said about Enoch and, yet, volumes have been written about him.  We “read between the lines” of Scripture concerning Enoch based upon our personal walk with Christ.

1.  Five Things About Enoch’s Walk

a.  It had a Commencement.  I do not believe that it began at age 65 with the birth of Methuselah.  The Bible simply states that, after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years.  This does not mean that he did not walk with God the first 65!  I thank the Lord that I was saved when my two sons were small.  I began my walk with God in front of my family and friends.  I have tried to be consistent over these years.  I was not and am not perfect, but I want my life to reflect the change that only the Lord can make.  When and where Enoch made the personal choice to walk with God is not stated but, somewhere, he made a choice to be all that God would have him to be.

b.  It had a Consistency.  Three hundred years in days of evil that led up to the destruction of the flood.  Days when men who were called the “sons of God” allowed their fleshly imagination fulfill the desires of their sinful flesh.  Days like ours where the Bible says, “as in the days of Noe.”  Enoch never looked back!

c.  It had an End.  After 365 years of walking with God, God took Enoch home: a beautiful type of the Rapture where those who are “alive (quickened) and remain (not dead)” will be “caught up” and eternally with the Lord.  This should be the desire of every child of God and is our blessed hope.

d.  It had a Purpose.  GOD TOOK HIM EARLY!  The question is often asked, “Why do the righteous that live godly often die young?”  365 years old was a relatively young man in those days when most lived into the 900’s.  Enoch was an example to those who chose to walk with this present evil world (Genesis, chapter 6).  Why did God take him?  Because God wanted to take him home to be with Him!

e.  It had a Prophecy.  Enoch was a type of the rapture of God’s people prior to the Tribulation Period.

2.  What Characterizes A Walk With God?

a.  It is by faith that a convicted, repentant sinner comes to Christ in salvation.  Acts 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

b.  It is by faith that we live for God.  Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

c.  It is by faith that we stand for God.  Ephesians 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

d.  It is by faith that we walk before God.  2 Corinthians 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

e.  It is by faith that we resist the devil.  1 Peter 5:8-9  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  (9)  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

f.  It is by faith that we commune with God.  Ephesians 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

g.  It is by faith that we overcome the world.  1 John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

h.  It is by faith that we please God.  Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Luke 18:8b  Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?