What I Have Not Written I Will Write

Temple Baptist Church - 1-5-2020

John 19:19-22; Philippians 3:13

Introduction:

A.  It is hard to believe that 2019 is gone and a New Year has begun.  “My how time flies when you are having fun!’’  It seems like just yesterday that 2019 started and now it is 2020! 

B.  Last week, I preached on “What I Have Written I Have Written.” 

1.  What we wrote last year cannot be changed because it is history.  We cannot change those things that we have done but we can certainly learn from them.  We learn from our victories and our defeats. 

2.  I often say that “today is the first day of the rest of our lives.”  What we do with the days ahead is up to each of us personally.  What we do with the days ahead is up to the church corporately! 

C.  I want to key in on the statement made by the chief priests:

John 19:21  Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but (write) that he said, I am King of the Jews.  (I inserted the word “write” into the verse because it is understood.)

1.  What Pilate had written was right!  Jesus Christ was the King of the Jews.

2.  The Christ haters tried to change Pilate’s mind and cause him to re-write what he said to conform to their purposes.

3.  Pilate refused!  Good for Pilate!  It was the only right thing that he had done.

4.  This year, this anti-God world in which we live will try to dictate what you and I write!

5.  What we write this year is up to us, not this present evil world.

D.  They were demanding that Pilate change what he had written, and he could have chosen to do so if he so pleased.  Not that what he had previously written would not be a fact of history and remembered by many, but that he could change his thinking on what he had written.

E.  Last year is now history and we are facing a New Year with a blank slate. 

F.  I am excited about what this year will hold for us. 

1.  This may be the year that the Lord returns.  What a blessing that would be!  I am glad that I do not know what tomorrow holds but I am glad that I can face it with hope. 

2.  I heard a man say once, “Let us make peace with our past and press on in the future.”  If you are lost, get saved!  If you are sinful, get right!  If you are disgruntled, get with the program!  If you are sitting, get to serving!  If you are living godly and serving the Lord, KEEP ON!

G.  I believe that the Lord is still looking for men and women to stand in the gap for our families, for our friends, for our nation, and for the world!

1.  The world needs men and women:

1.  Who cannot be bought;

2.  Whose word is their bond;

3.  Who put character above wealth;

4.  Who possess opinions and a will;

5.  Who are larger than their vocations;

6.  Who do not hesitate to take chances;

7.  Who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;

8.  Who will be as honest in small things as in great things;

9.  Who will make no compromise with wrong;

10.  Whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;

11.  Who will not say they do it" because everybody else does it;"

12.  Who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, adversity as well as in prosperity;

13.  Who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;

14.  Who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular;

15.  Who can say "no" with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says "yes."

2.  This Coming Year Satan Will:

1.  Try To Discourage Us

2.  Try To Distract Us

3.  Try To Defile Us

4.  Try To Divide Us

5.  Try To Destroy Us

6.  Try To Deceive Us

3.  What We Need To Resolve:

1.  We Need To Resolve To Be Faithful

2.  We Need To Resolve To Be Holy

3.  We Need To Resolve To Be Unified

4.  We Need To Resolve To Be Watching

5.  We Need To Resolve To Be Trusting

4.  Some Things You Can Count On Next Year

1.  God Will Still Be God And Will Not Change

2.  The Bible Will Still Be Right

3.  Satan Will Still Be Active

Conclusion:  Let us face this New Year with a resolve in our hearts to make it the best year that we have ever had!  Let us face this New Year with excitement and hope in our hearts!  May the Lord bless each and every one of you in 2011!