The Reformed Version of the Gospel

          Yesterday, I spoke at the funeral service for a man I have known all of my life—Bubba Newsome, as he was known to all of us. His funeral service was held at the Baptist church in Reynolds, GA. Bubba’s family gave me this specific assignment: Preach the reformed version of the Gospel. In all of my years in the ministry, this was the first time I  had been given this specific mission for a funeral service. For those of you who do not know me, I suppose I ought to tell you not to feel sorry for me, as they had asked me to do that which I love most—preach the one, true Gospel.

          At the onset of the message, I made it very clear that there is but one gospel, the one the Apostle Paul preached and wrote about in his many letters that are now a part of the canon of Scriptures. I pointed out that he was very adamant about this, telling us that should anyone (including himself), even an angel from heaven, preach a gospel other than the one he preached, to let him be accursed.

          The problem with preaching the gospel that Paul preached is that it is so offensive to those who do not have “ears to hear” that they turn a deaf ear to the message. Were it not for the fact that I know that God intended for the gospel to be offensive, I would probably quit preaching; however, because I do know that fact, there is nothing I had rather do than watch the “offensive” gospel do its work, the work that God prepared “beforehand” for it to do. Amazingly (and miraculously!) it is the offensive gospel that, in the end, attracts God’s elect, those He has given to His Son. Yes, it continues to offend the rest.

          You see, the gospel that Paul preached and wrote about so effectively and efficiently, uses terms that offend the masses—predestination, election, foreknowledge, effectual calling, total depravity, limited (definite) atonement, sovereignty, irresistible grace—terms that make it very clear that God is in the Driver’s seat, not man.

          Maybe the most offensive of all is this: The Gospels make it very clear that in order to be saved, to be justified, one must come to Jesus; however, Jesus made it crystal clear that no one can come to Him unless His Father draws him. And He made it just as clear that He only draws those whom the Father has given to Him, and not one of them will be lost.

          Allow me to say that this way: In order to be saved, to be justified, one must believe the most unbelievable story ever told; however, that faith comes from God, as a gift to those God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

          This is how Paul said that: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn of many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called and whom He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-29 NASB). Notice the progression: God foreknew those He would predestine to become conformed to the image of His Son. It is these and ONLY these that He called, as is evidenced by the fact that He also justified and glorified those He called—all His doing and already done.

          I hope you are not offended—

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).    

Ester's Funeral

          At 2:00 today, I will be speaking at the funeral service for Ester Barnes. It will be a private service, not for any reason other than that is what the family desires. If I could have had my wishes, they would have invited the entire town, even the entire county. I will tell why.

          One day this week, one of Ester’s daughters asked me to visit her in a Hospice location, which I did. While there, I asked Ester about her relationship with Jesus, being very specific with my questions. Her answers were “spot on,” as far as I was concerned. It was obvious that she was ready to abandon her mortal earth suit and put on immortality. Much to my surprise, the very next day her daughter called me to tell me that she had just died. I was so thankful that I had heard Ester tell me that she believed the gospel, the good news about Jesus, that He had died for her sins, and had given her eternal life.

          The next day, a Funeral Director called me to tell me that Ester’s family wanted me to speak at her funeral. My mind, immediately, went back to an earlier funeral, where I talked about how unbelievable the gospel really is, and I knew, immediately, what I wanted to say at Ester’s funeral.

          In just a few short minutes, I will be leaving my office to drive to the location of this funeral, and everything in me is wishing that a huge crowd would be present, not because of anything I might say, but because of the incredible power that is unleashed in the preaching of the unbelievable gospel.

          This is the foundation for what I will say:

This supernatural Being calls Himself God.

He claims to be the creator and sustainer of the entire universe.

He also claims to have become a man in the person of His only begotten Son, a Son born of the virgin womb of a Jewish woman, named Mary.

He also claims that He lived among Jewish people, as the son of a carpenter.

He claimed that He could walk on water, give sight to the blind, restore the hearing of the deaf, heal the crippled, even raise the dead.

He had so few worldly possessions, that He rarely even had a place to lay His head at night.

He would eventually be beaten, stripped naked, and hung on a Roman cross and left to die a terrible, terrible death, all because of the sins of the Adam’s race.

He claimed to have spent only three days in the tomb, after which He was raised from the dead, or so He claimed. Really!

As if that were not enough, He even claimed to have spent 40 days post-resurrection talking to and ministering to the people of Israel.

And then to top it all off, He claimed to have stood just outside the small town of Bethany and ascended back to Heaven, from whence He came,  promising to return in the same manner.

Amazingly, He claimed to have done all of this in order to rescue everyone who would believe this unbelievable story from the pit of sin and hell, forgive them all of all of their sins, and, thereby, restore them to right relationship with this Holy, Righteous God He called “Father,” and in so doing give them eternal life.

Oh, and one last thing: He even had the audacity to proclaim that He is the ONLY Savior and that God is the ONLY God, and if you desire Heaven, your goodness will NOT get you there, you must come to Him.

Now, you tell me, who in the wide world would ever believe this unbelievable story? Well, I will answer my own question: Only those to whom God gives the faith to believe this story will believe it, and once that faith is given, they can do nothing but believe the story.

Ester believed this story, she told me she did, and that is enough for God and for eternity.

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).      

Meaning to our Suffering

          Again, the words of Mike Mason: “In every season of suffering there comes a turning point. The turning point is not usually the point at which the suffering itself is alleviated. Rather, it is that time when it begins to dawn upon the sufferer that there may actually be a meaning to his pain” (The Gospel According to Job; Mike Mason; p. 427).

          These are the words of the Apostle Paul: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:7-11 NASB).

          To be sure, there is not one of us who enjoys suffering, but knowing that there is “meaning to our pain” does make a decided difference in the way we deal with it, especially knowing that it is our suffering that gives opportunity for the very life of Jesus to be manifested in our mortal flesh, i.e., our physical bodies.  

          Maybe your life has been free from suffering, but if you should tarry just a while, you will, in all probability, find that you are really not immune from it. None of us are! Certainly, no believer is. However, there is always meaning to our pain—always! You might not be able to see it, but rest assured that it gives opportunity for the life of Jesus to be manifested in your body, and that is most meaningful!

          You think about this—

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).    

It Is A Matter of Time

          Reluctantly, I just moved my watch ahead one hour, which means that, for the next several days, my mind and my watch will be out of sync. To be honest, at my age, it really doesn’t matter because I usually don’t really care what time it is, unless it is Sunday, or I have an appointment with my cardiologist, or my internist, or my ophthalmologist, or my gastroenterologist, or my otolaryngologist, or my gynecologist, or unless it is breakfast time, lunch time or suppertime.  

          I do remember when my life was controlled by my watch, but thankfully that memory is fading into the distant past. Actually, what I just said is not exactly the truth. I should have said, “I do remember when my life was controlled by people . . ..” Yes, I was allowing them to control it by consuming my time, but I did come to my senses and realize that the line of people, who were more than happy to control my time and, thus, my life, was endless, so I finally said, “Enough is enough!” I must admit that I am much-the-better for having done so.

          Now, please don’t draw an inaccurate conclusion. What I just said should not be interpreted to mean that I waste my time because I do not. At my age, time is very precious, more so than ever, so I am surely not about to waste any of what I have left in my account.

          It is safe for me to say that it is my determined purpose to pay closer attention to what the Holy Spirit wants me to do with my time, than I pay to what others want me to do with it. You see, He never wastes my time; others almost always do; therefore, I follow His lead, rather than their lead.

          In all probability, you are younger than I am, so time might not be as precious to you, as it is to me. You probably think you have all the time in the world, so you keep putting off (wasting time!) what, deep-down, you know you really should do.

          As you move your watch ahead one hour tonight, why don’t you allow your doing so to be a reminder that you should move ahead with allowing the Holy Spirit to manage your time. You will be much-the-better for having done so!

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).    

The Gospel Does Not Work!

          The following is another quote from Mike Mason’s book, “The Gospel According to Job”: Most of the world’s religious and philosophical systems are advanced by people who, in one way or another, appear to be on top of life’s problems. In reality nobody is ever on top for very long; nobody leads Satan by the nose. But for a brief while, someone may seem to have discovered the “secret.” Someone finds something that “works,” and then he writes a book, founds a cult, starts a movement. He is on top, and so he preaches to those who are still on the bottom, working their way up. But this is not the Christian way. No, the central message of Christianity is not preached by someone who is on top. Rather, it is preached by someone who is at the very bottom of the heap; hanging on a cross. The gospel is the message of a loser, not of a winner. To be sure, Christ wins in the end. He conquers death and rises from the grave to live forevermore (something which, incidentally, no other religious leader has ever done, nor even claimed to do). And yet, it is not primarily on the basis of the resurrection that the gospel is preached, Christ’s victory over death is vital, and without it His teaching would be worthless. But the fundamental platform of Christianity is not the platform of success, but of what appears to be total defeat: the cross. The cross is the pulpit in which God stood to preach His greatest sermon, and it is also the only pulpit where anyone else may stand and rightfully preach to others. As disciples of Christ we stand on our weakness, not on our strength. Of all the answers to the world’s problems, the gospel is the only one whose primary claim is not that it works, but that it doesn’t work.”

          I am willing to bet that the last sentence really got your attention. If so, it is probably because you missed this key phrase in the sentence: Of all the answers to the world’s problems . . .. Listen to what he says next: So if you’re looking to get control of all your problems, forget Christianity. If you’re looking for success, happiness, or freedom from pain, forget Christ. The way of Christ is the cross, and the cross spells weakness, poverty, failure, death.

          Now, I will add my “two cents worth”: If you are going to follow Jesus, get over thinking you can have control over your life. It is just that simple.

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).