“BEFORE and AFTER”

AFTER JESUS’ RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION: When Peter and John taught, the Jews “…were astonished at the confidence with which they taught and recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

BEFORE JESUS’ RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION: Following Jesus’ arrest, Peter followed ‘afar off’. One of the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” — (Matthew 26:73).

In both instances, Peter’s speech associated him as having been with Jesus. In both instances, we see ‘boldness’ in Peter’s speech. Yet, there is a glaring difference…FEAR OF DEATH. Note a change in Peter’s fear of dying…what prompted it?

Notice the change in Peter’s own reaction to his speech. In the “BEFORE” instance, Peter “…went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:75) Why?

In the “AFTER” instance, when threatened, Peter rejoiced that he “… had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name…and…kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” (Acts 5:41-42)

What about those whose speech associate them as ‘having been with Jesus’? Does your FEAR OF DEATH, dictate your speech

How can a change in your fear of dying take place? It will be the same as with Peter. He said, “…we must OBEY God…God of our fathers raised up Jesus…He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM.” (Acts 5:29-32).

"GOD'S OMNISCIENCE of the WHAT IF'S..."

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes…For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” (Matthew 11:21, 23).

This passage contains a tremendously important concept. This text is not merely another in a long string of woes pronounced in Scripture against those who reject God's word, although it IS that to be sure. It also addresses what we might call “contingent knowledge”; i.e., God knows what would be done in various circumstances that did not, in fact, occur – just as He knows what will happen even though it has not yet happened. It gives new meaning to the word “omniscient”. God knows not only what has been and what is and what will be, but He also knows what would have been under different circumstances; He has knowledge of the contingent. He knows what Sodom would have done if Sodom had seen the miracles: Sodom would have repented.

 

Many people have speculated about the fate of those who have not had opportunity to hear the gospel, or pose some hypothetical question like “what if…someone is hit by a falling tree before they can be baptized?” My answer: “I don’t know. But God does!” More important, God knows what I would do if given opportunity. It is very likely based, at least in part, on the best predictor of future behavior: past behavior. How have I responded to opportunities presented by God’s grace and His revelation in the past?

 

How about you? God’s ultimate judgment takes into account God’s perfect knowledge of events and God’s perfect knowledge of the contingent. He knows what would have been under different circumstances, which guarantees that God’s judgment on the last day will be perfect. There is no factor He hasn’t taken into account.

“LYDIA’S CONVERSION”

We find the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16:13-15. As we examine her conversion, we find the same pattern as in all previous cases. Her conversion involved her “calling upon the name of the Lord.” This was necessary as the prophecy made by Joel, (and quoted by the apostle Peter in Acts 2:21), is now in effect. All who come the Lord must call upon His name. "Calling” has never been by a prayer to God, asking Him for pardon. Previously, in the book of Acts we have found people who were religious, devout, and praying individuals prior to hearing of salvation through Jesus, but upon hearing this good news, they responded in the following manner: They believed what was proclaimed about Jesus, (i.e., that He had been made both Lord and Christ – Acts 2:36). They repented of their past sins, because Jesus commanded it (Luke 24:47). They confessed their faith in Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10). They were also immersed in water, for Jesus had commanded everyone to be buried in the likeness of His death (Romans 6:4-5). This constituted the “form of doctrine” to be obeyed (Romans 6:17-18). This constituted the pattern of "calling upon His name” as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; and Luke 24:44-49.

Notice the facts provided of Lydia’s conversion: First, the description given of her prior to her hearing of Jesus. It is said that she “worshiped God”. She was a religious person. Yet even though she was religious, she lived AFTER Christ’s resurrection from the dead. This is significant. Remember the Hebrew writer in Hebrews 9:15-17 explained that the old covenant (i.e., the Law of Moses) was no longer in effect, being replaced by a new covenant. What the Law could not provide by animal blood, Jesus did by the shedding of His blood (Acts 4:12).

To ‘call upon’ is to make an appeal for help. Paul appealed to Caesar to rule on the charges made against him (Acts 25:11). Paul himself called upon Jesus’ name (Acts 22:16). He taught that calling was impossible apart from belief and that belief required hearing God’s will. (Romans 10:14, 17). Jesus preached His Father’s will (John 12:49; 17:8). Jesus commanded that “repentance and remission of sins” were to be proclaimed IN HIS NAME, (i.e., by His authority – Luke 24:47). This command took effect in Jerusalem on Pentecost (ibid).

THOUGHT QUESTIONS: 

About what did Paul speak to her? We can know by what is recorded of Lydia after hearing Paul speak. It says, “And when she was baptized, and her household...”. We can accurately conclude that when Paul spoke to her, he commanded her to be baptized. We can also accurately conclude that this, in part, was how she attended to the things spoken by Paul. The text demands these conclusions. Her heart was opened by the word of the Lord, for faith cometh by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Through her repentance and immersion in water, she “...attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”

We might ask also regarding her baptism, for what PURPOSE was she and her household baptized? The New Testament is consistent as to baptism’s PURPOSE.

·    Romans 6:3-5 – baptism is for the PURPOSE of an unsaved person undergoing a burial in the likeness of Christ’s death; one cannot be raised up to walk in newness of life without this planting in the likeness of Christ’s death.

· Galatians 3:27 – in baptism, one “puts on” Christ. Christ is not “put on” before and without baptism.

·   Acts 22:16 – sins are said to be “washed away” by baptism in water.

·   1 Peter 3:21 – water baptism is said to be a “like figure” of salvation. Water, in some way ‘saved’ Noah’s family. In whatever way it ‘saved’ them, it ‘saves’ all today in a ‘like-figure’.

Having shown these passages, let us now notice what the Bible does NOT say about the PURPOSE of baptism. The Bible does NOT say that baptism is to be performed on one who is “already saved”. Baptism is never said to be a church “ordinance” to be performed upon some who was saved at the point of their faith, for faith alone does not justify (James 2:17-26).

The Bible is clear that remission follows baptism, rather than precedes it. Lydia was immersed in water, because Paul commanded it of her. That is the only conclusion any honest inquirer can come to. She was not baptized to “outwardly show” what had already taken place “inwardly”. She was not baptized to be added to a denominational body, for none existed. She was not “in Christ” before her immersion, even though she was a worshiper of God. Paul preached the same message to her that Peter preached to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost. The Lord ‘opened her heart’ in the same way that everyone’s heart is ‘opened’.

“WHILE MEN SLEPT”

“Another parable set he before them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away...” (Matthew 13:24-25).

This parable is explained in vss. 36-42. The focus of this article is v. 25. It concerns those who slept. While the explanation of the article defines the sower, the field, the enemy, the wheat, the tares, the harvest, and the reapers, it does not identify who these were that slept. Therefore, we must rely on the expanded context in the chapter, and remote contexts which will identify them. This will also identify for us the pattern of Satan’s work amidst the Lord’s work.

The explanation of the parable indicates that the men who slept were among the owner’s own servants.  They are identified in v. 38 as the ‘sons of the kingdom’ (i.e., God’s own people). The Son of man had sown good seed which would produce wheat (good seed). Isaiah and Jeremiah pictured Israel as a choice vine planted by God in His vineyard (cf. Isaiah 5:1-4). Yet this vine turned degenerate. “I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me?” (Jeremiah 2:21). This picture of the nation of Israel gives us a bigger picture of how to interpret the many parables of the kingdom of heaven taught by Jesus. This concept of planting a seed is used in connection with the word of God (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23).

That those who slept in v. 25 were those among God’s own people is seen from Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question (cf. vss. 10-15). For example, in v. 15, Isaiah’s prophecy was of those among the nation of Israel (God’s people) who had become dull in their understanding. We know that the majority of God’s people Israel in the O. T. fell because of unbelief. The majority hardened their hearts against God and His statues (cf. Romans 11:25). In essence, they ‘went to sleep’. Paul was referring to them in 1 Corinthians 10. Satan did his damage while Israel lusted, played, committed fornication, made trial of Jehovah, and murmured. By the time they awoke from their spiritual sleep, there was no remedy (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:15-16). Only a remnant took heed to their ways, remaining awake. As the apostle Paul noted, ‘only a remnant was spared’ (cf. Isaiah 1:9; Romans 9:27).

The story has been played out again and again. Those who know that their Lord could return at any time and day, know to, “…awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). They redeem the time, knowing the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).

This sleep is manifest in marital responsibilities, as spouses endure/tolerate one another in the relationship, but don’t cultivate their love for each another. They sleep in their pursuit of satisfaction of the flesh (cf. 1 John 2:15-17). The children will also suffer. They experience the absence of a warm and loving environment. The children are being trained nonetheless; trained in self-centeredness. When they come of age, God and His word is no longer sought, but endured/tolerated.  By the time parents realize this (awake), there is no remedy. The elders may be called in; the preacher may be called in; panic will set in…only to realize too late, that while they slept, the enemy already came in.

Today, as in Malachi’s day, worship has become a weariness to the majority of God’s people (Malachi 1:13). They render to God an offering, but it is a lame offering. Personal study of God’s will is absent from their daily routine, their prayers are amiss, and they murmur in their tents. There is no joy in their life. Consequently, they long for a ‘return to their Egypt’ for their old life of sin was more pleasurable (cf. Numbers 14:3-4; Hebrews 11:26). While they sleep, the enemy is planting tares.

We must realize that Satan’s success at sowing tares among the wheat is due to spiritual sleep: i.e., indecision (1 Kings 18:21); procrastination (Proverbs 26:14), and lukewarmness (Revelation 3:16). Those who are presently “limping between two masters” (Luke 16:13) are asleep (cf. Romans 11:8). Satan’s work will never be known until the tares have taken root. They will grow alongside the wheat until the harvest.

As has always been the case, the number of those ‘awake’ are in the minority. “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:5). They are the wheat, who must grow amidst the tares. They plant, water, but they must also hoe weeds (Romans 16:17-18) because the laborers are too few (Luke 10:2). Few will enter the gate to eternal life because it is ‘straitened’. It requires seeking, not sleeping (Matthew 7:13-14). For this same reason, “many are called, but few chosen” (Matthew 22:14).

 

“CHEAP GRACE”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian (1906-1945), was asked in 1943 how it was possible for the church to sit back and let Hitler seize absolute power. His firm answer: “It was the teaching of cheap grace.” He wrote in THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP:

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow upon ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”

It’s like receiving forgiveness without truly turning away from wrongdoing or following Christ wholeheartedly. Bonhoeffer emphasized the need for costly grace, which involves genuine repentance, discipleship, and a willingness to take up one’s cross in following Jesus. We live in a time and culture that not only teaches cheap grace but praises it.

The apostle Peter described costly grace as follows: “For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world…” (Titus 2:11-12).

“THE UNEXAMINED LIFE”

 

The philosopher Socrates is on record as saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

A story was once told about a 13-year-old boy in a small, southern town who walked into the drug store and asked to use the telephone. The druggist handed him the phone. And he heard the boy say, “Is this you, Dr. Anderson?” “Well, I was wondering if you would like to hire a boy to mow your lawn and run errands? “Oh, you already have a boy?” “Does he do a good job? He does?” “So, you’re satisfied with him? You are. Ok, thank you.” He hung up the phone. Thanked the druggist and started to walk out, but the druggist stopped him. “Son I believe I could use an ambitious boy like yourself to work for me.” “Oh, I already have a job.” “Well didn’t I just hear you call Dr. Anderson and ask for a job?” ‘Well, not really,” said the boy. “You see I already work for Dr. Anderson. I was just checking up on myself.”

The word “examine” speaks to the attitude of checking up on yourself. Its action and application is commanded in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate.” The word “examine” means to “scrutinize” to “test” or to “prove.” Vincent says the word “implies a definite intent to ascertain their spiritual condition.”

It’s noteworthy the text says, “examine yourself.” The Corinthians had exerted much effort in examining Paul, scrutinizing his ministry, distrusting his methods, and questioning his motives. So, Paul admonishes them to examine their own lives.

 

It’s easy for us to examine others. To judge by outward appearance. To scrutinize the actions of our brethren. To analyze the motive behind a preacher’s sermon or criticize a decision of the elders. To inspect the life of a friend. To put under a microscope the behavior of a spouse, child, or parent. And to even draw conclusions about people we don’t even know based upon a single encounter.

To examine ourselves calls for honesty; humility; transparency. Yet it is this effort that proves that we possess a heart that is sincerely seeking to serve God. In essence, we are as King David: a man after God’s own heart (cf. Acts 13:22).

Furthermore, such an examination isn’t an occasional exercise like an annual physical. Sam Binkley in his presentation, “Approved Christians,” offers this insight: “This is not a once-a-year examination like a businessman’s auditing his books or a taxpayer filing a tax return, but it is a continual process to evaluate our relation to God. Such an examination involves a look into one’s own heart to determine not only the actions but also the motives which prompt the actions with the realization that no one else can know our motives except you and God.”

The words ‘examine yourselves’ and ‘test yourselves’ mean essentially the same thing. Some languages have translated these two terms “look carefully at yourselves” and “ask yourselves.”

So how about asking yourself these questions for starters?

·         Are you truly walking by faith?

·         Is Christ “in you”? Do you have a real relationship with Him?

·         Is your life characterized by righteousness and godliness?

·         Is your speech wholesome?

·         Are you seeking to walk in the footsteps of Jesus?

·         How’s your prayer life?

·         Do you regularly read the Bible?

·         Is your worship attendance faithful, or sporadic?

·         Is worship an exciting, expectant privilege, or a boring, ritual to be endured?

·        How does your thankfulness for your blessings, compare to your resentful that others have more?

·   Are you generous and charitable with your resources, or stingy and unsympathetic?

·         Are your professed values properly aligned with your daily practices?

·         Do you view the Christian life as just something to do or something to be?

·         Are your business dealings honest and honorable?

·         Does your family life reflect the love of Christ?

·         Is your heart right with God?

 

Examining yourself should be for one reason only: “whether ye be in the faith”.

“PREACHING MOTIVES: FEAR OF TRUTH or LOVE OF TRUTH?”

The apostle Paul was very specific in his preaching. He specified one true gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul specified one body; one baptism; one hope; one faith; one God, Spirit, and Lord. In Romans 6:17-18, Paul also specified one form (pattern) of doctrine that would result in man’s salvation.

Paul taught that circumcision was not necessary for salvation (Galatians 5:6), yet there were those who preached just the opposite. Galatians 6:12-13, “As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised; only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For not even they who receive circumcision do themselves keep the law; but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.” Paul called them “enemies of the cross” in Philippians 3:18. In this statement, Paul identified the reason for the difference in his message and theirs. Paul was persecuted, and gladly accepted it; the false teacher’s motive was to avoid persecution for the cross.

Man’s response to God’s grace is an area wherein Paul and others differed in their preaching. Paul taught the commandments of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:37). Therefore, when Paul taught that circumcision was not necessary to salvation, it was the truth. Those who preached the opposite were wrong.  There were no multiple positions as to the role of circumcision in man’s salvation. It was either necessary or it was not. This is still true. There is one and only one true response to God’s grace. This is what the apostle Paul meant in Romans 6:17-18.  ^“But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness.” Paul is referring here to man’s response to God’s grace. When Peter concluded his sermon on the day of Pentecost, the question was asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). When Jesus told Saul of Tarsus that he was persecuting Jesus in persecuting Jesus’ followers, Saul asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Saul had thought “…that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” (Acts 26:9). It was one way or the other, but not an “either or” matter. What is the one true response to God’s grace? That is an area wherein multiple answers are given. There never has been more than one accurate answer. There is one form of doctrine that will result in freedom from sin, when obeyed from the heart.

Why did some preach a different “form of doctrine” (Romans 6:17-18) regarding man’s response to God’s grace? The apostle Paul gave the answer in Galatians. 6:12, “As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised; only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” Contextually, the apostle Paul was addressing false teachers. One reason was because some desired to “make a fair show in the flesh” (i.e., a good impression in public). Jesus also encountered such hypocrites during His ministry. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:27-28). Their godliness was only a show.

Another reason that some preach a different response is because they lack the courage to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Jesus accused people who lacked the courage to confess Him publicly of loving, “…the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God.” (John 12:43). Paul said that if he sought to please men, he would not be a bond-servant of Christ (cf. Galatians 1:10). Find a preacher who is not preaching the correct response to God’s grace, and you will find a preacher who desires the glory of men more than the glory of God and who fears suffering persecution for the cross. To be saved by the Lord, is to be saved by the preaching that the Lord authorized. A preacher who fears to preach truth on how to be saved is likened to the 'hireling' of which Jesus spoke of in John 10:11-13.

The church that Jesus built (Matthew 16:18); has become divided into denominational bodies because of this change in the “form of doctrine” on how to be saved. A sinner doesn’t know that there is a “form of doctrine” that will save him, nor does he know that there is “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9). But the preacher who reads what “form of doctrine” the apostles preached in the book of Acts, will know.  Should he then continue to preach “another gospel”, God’s curse is upon him. The form of doctrine that a preacher preaches regarding how a sinner is saved, reveals which is stronger in that preacher’s life; his fear of the truth, or his love for the truth.