Dirty Peace

Reflections on war and peace written in Belfast and Bogotá over the course of a day that stretched on for three years. Once upon a time I worked as a walking tour guide in Belfast city centre. The…

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WHERE THANKSGIVING BEGINS

Matthew 7:21–29 (KJV)

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

The act of Thanksgiving IS one of the most Christian acts of all.

Thanksgiving is a happy subject — there is no question about that.

But there is no such thing as thanksgiving without having experienced hardship.

Those who first celebrated Thanksgiving did so after barely surviving the winter.

They had endured the most difficult of times and had survived.

That not only gave opportunity for thanksgiving, but necessitated it.

By the way, it was not a thanksgiving to family, friends and government, but to the Almighty.

Examining our passage for this morning we find two familiar passages:

· Not everyone that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven and

· A wise man which built his house upon a rock

What I wonder if most of us have ever considered is that the two are so closely connected.

Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”

Therefore, He said, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.”

Because some people behave like Christians do but will not go to heaven, we ought to build our house upon the rock which, we know, is Jesus Christ.

I want to get right up front with you right now….

Why are you here?

Why did you come to church this morning?

Why do ever come to church?

Some people go to church because that’s the way they grew up.

I know people who attend the same church they have attended for the last fifty years; rather, they go to the same building they have gone to for 50 years. The church has changed pastors, changed doctrine, changed what they do and even changed names.

But they go their every Sunday because that’s what they have always done.

Some people go to church because their parents still make them go.

There will come a day when they quit.

Some people go to church because they feel good about being in church

There’s nothing wrong with that. I just wonder what will happen when they don’t feel good about it any more.

Some people go to church because they find there a group of people who think, for the most part, like they do.

Church is a refuge from a world going crazy with liberalism, socialism, environmentalism and social activism.

Why did you come to church today?

Let me tell you why I am here.

I came to church today because I am convinced beyond question that:

· Jesus Christ is God, that

· He died for my sins and rose again three days later, that

· When I asked Him to, He forgave me of all my sins and that

· He built this church and expects me to be here

I am here because I believe.

I. I BELIEVE THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (KJV)

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Do you realize that there is no religion in the world that teaches anything remotely similar to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Religions have what they consider to be:

· Miracles

· Mystics

· Martyrs and

· Messiahs

They have stories of people they think were in a higher level of consciousness than the rest of us.

They have teachers they lean on that they believe were in touch with the divine.

But they have nothing like the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

And because they have no resurrection, they operate from an entirely different premise than true Christianity does.

They use their religion to press people into their moral code.

They try to make men good by making them religious.

· Christianity, true Christianity, isn’t trying to make people good.

· True Christianity is simply telling people about the One who has made them good.

· Religions use their versions of moral teaching to make people behave the way they want them too.

· Christianity introduces people to Jesus, who: lives forever, but died and now ever liveth to make intercession for them.

It is faith in the resurrection of Jesus that makes Christians different than any other group of people on this planet.

The resurrection of Christ isn’t even a question because, secondly

II. I BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY TRUE SOURCE OF TRUTH

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (KJV)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The number of passages that assure us that the Bible is:

· Given to us by God and therefore

· Without error

Would be impossible to cover in one message.

A. The Bible says it is from God

2 Peter 1:21 (KJV)

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

These are not the words of men, but of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 says they are inspired, “breathed out” by God

B. The Bible says it is without error and

Psalms 12:6–7 (KJV)

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The Word of God says that it is not only pure, but purified seven times.

The reason why it is profitable is because it is perfect.

C. The Bible says it is preserved

Matthew 5:18 (KJV)

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

God said it is purified and God promised to keep them forever so that, not even one jot or tittle of the Word of God will ever fail.

Now, here is the argument most people will use against what I have just said,

“Yes, but you proved the Bible is true with the Bible. You can’t do that — the rules of philosophy reject that line of argument.”

The rules of philosophy call this circular reasoning. You can’t prove a thing with a thing.

I have a ton of objections to this:

First, science does it all the time. Science teaches that the way to prove something is true is to do it again.

Second, who made philosophers god?

The one thing I know about those who say they know, is that they don’t know.

Have you ever heard some doctor or scientist or researcher say, “We now know…”

They should say, “We now think…”

· They used to know the earth was flat, now they know it is round

· They used to know that Pluto was a planet, now they know it is not

· They used to know that eggs will cause heart attacks, now they know that is wrong

They don’t know anything — they just think they know.

So while the philosophical rules of logic and argumentation might have value in debate — I do not believe I have to believe their rules are infallible.

Third, the Bible is in a class all by itself.

What rules might apply to any other book, subject or concept does not apply to the Bible because man did not write it.

It is a field all by itself.

It makes its own rules.

I am here today because

· I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ

· I believe the Bible is absolutely true and is the only true source of truth

Further

III. I BELIEVE THAT THIS CHURCH AND OTHERS LIKE IT EXIST AS A GIFT FROM GOD

Matthew 16:17–18 (KJV)

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I challenge anyone to find in the Bible a church that is invisible and mystical.

A church is always an assembled body of believed, called together and united for God’s purpose.

The New Testament can be grouped into three parts:

· The Epistles and

· The Revelation

You will find the church to be a key feature in every one of those three parts.

Those who think they can be practicing Christians without being a member of and faithful to a local church have deluded themselves.

I am here today lastly,

IV. I BELIEVE HEAVEN AWAITS THOSE (AND ONLY THOSE) PLACE SAVING FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

Romans 10:9–13 (KJV)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I called on Jesus Christ and asked Him to save in back in April of 1977.

Honestly, I did not know a thing about what it meant to be a Christian.

I hadn’t been to church five times in my whole life.

But I knew deep in my heart that there is a God in heaven.

When I heard that Jesus was His Son and that He rose from the dead, I knew it was true. And,

When I heard that I could call upon Him and He would forgive my sins and make for me a home in heaven, I did not hesitate.

Now, I had a lot of growing to do.

I was a long way from understanding all that being a Christian meant.

But I can tell you this, having gotten saved, it wasn’t long before the Spirit of God drew me into a local church.

And I have never wanted to be anywhere else, since.

Conclusion

Thanksgiving is a Christian act that can only be accomplished if it is established on the foundation of faith:

· In the resurrection of Jesus Christ

· In the truthfulness of the Bible

· In the importance of the church and especially

· In salvation by grace through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Dirty Peace

WHERE THANKSGIVING BEGINS

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