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FALSE PROFESSIONS, TRUE CONFESSIONS,
AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO Luke 12:8-12 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas April 29, 2018 8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” — Luke 12:8-12, ESV In the twentieth century sincere men like the late Billy Graham and shysters in the vein of Elmer Gantry started using these words of Jesus to promote what came to be known as a public profession of faith. What had been a sparse part of the so-called second great awakening became featured in churches regularly. To this day it is common in many evangelical churches to see people walk aisles, pray prayers, and stand before congregations making public professions of faith. The numbers are quickly tallied, too, to show the success of a church, ministry, or evangelistic campaign. In many circles the success of a service is gauged by how many people came forward. When studied further, however, the number of actual practitioners of the faith are but a small fraction of those who made a profession of faith. Maybe this is just the way it has to be done. Or, perhaps there is a better way of looking at the sacred moment of salvation. Let’s talk about false professions, true confessions, and the difference between the two. False Professions The modern profession of faith is just that, modern. That does not make it wrong in and of itself, but it might render it unnecessary. The church did without electricity for eighteen hundred years, but I rather like it now. The church did without altar calls and other mechanisms to make public professions of faith for just as long, and I wish it had remained that way. Practically, the so-called altar call does not work, with a failure rate upwards of ninety percent. Historically, they are missing from the long halls of church history and from the lips of our greatest preachers. Biblically, they are frowned upon. Jesus never led anyone to Himself with a pressured emphasis to step forward, pray some prayer, and make any kind of public profession of faith other than baptism. On the contrary, our Lord called for a confession of faith, not a profession of faith, and there is a big difference between the two. Professions of faith are spoken of only three times in the New Testament and all three of them are false (ref. Romans 1:22, 1 Timothy 6:21, and Titus 1:16). A profession is a mere promise which can easily be broken, or a claim that can prove to be untrue. Millions in our own denomination and millions more around the world have made professions of faith that are unkept and unfulfilled. Still claiming to be Christian in most cases, they are deceiving themselves in the worst way imaginable and have hard hearts that are virtually impenetrable with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at salvation another way, the way Jesus actually does in this passage, not as a false profession but a true confession. True Confessions Our Lord Jesus Christ’s words about confession (ESV translates the word “acknowledge”) are among the thirty or so times this word is used in the New Testament, almost always in a positive light. It literally means to say the same thing, to affirm the same covenant, and in this context to have one’s actions say the same thing as one's words. God has said that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is for those alone who have truly repented, rested in the finished work of Christ as an atonement for their sins, and committed themselves to love and obedience of the gospel and the word of God. Can you say the same thing? Does your life say the same thing? If so, then you may confess your faith in Christ with confidence. In a profession, you are brought before a crowd of people to make a promise about what you plan to do in your future. In a confession, you are called before judge and jury to give an account of your life, where words are spoken but actions speak much louder. The judge and jury is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the context of Luke 12, Jesus is speaking of the great judgement day to come. On that day there will be professing Christians condemned, while confessing Christian enter with the angels into eternal life. It works quite simply, according to verses 8-9. When you die, if you have confessed Jesus Christ with your lips and your life, without hypocrisy or superficiality, Jesus will confess before the angels that you are His, forever. If, however, your cannot confess to a life lived for Christ, but only a fleeting profession of faith, then entrance into Heaven will be denied and you will suffer the alternative consequences forever. To understand this end we must go back to the beginning. What is the difference between a profession of faith that does not last, and a confession of a faithful life lived under the saving grace and absolute lordship of Jesus Christ? He shows up in verses 10-12. I say He, because the difference between a superficial profession and a saving confession is the Holy Spirit. The Difference Between the Two All of us have spoken words against, or blasphemed, the name of Jesus. It is called unbelief. Since Jesus said you are either with him or against him (ref. Luke 11:23), all unbelievers blaspheme the name of Jesus in word and deed, all the time. But when true repentance and true faith come, the blasphemous unbelief is forgiven forever. So where does true repentance and true faith come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit (ref. Acts 11:18 and Ephesians 2:8). Real salvation is regeneration by the Holy Spirit (ref. Titus 3:5). The same Holy Spirit that converts you to Christ convinces you of the necessity of confessing Christ through baptism, of confessing Christ in a biblical church, and of confessing Christ through consistent obedience to the inspired word of God, the Bible. If you cannot confess to such an experience of grace, then you are not a confessing Christian. But, you may be a professing Christian. You don’t have to have the Holy Spirit to walk an aisle, pray a prayer, claim you are a Christian, and never engage in serious discipleship or responsible church membership. People do it, or don’t do it, all the time. It is blasphemy against Christ and against the Holy Spirit. And when you refuse genuine repentance and saving faith from the Holy Spirit until the day you die, no matter how many professions of faith you have made, you will remain unforgiven forever. The good news for those who can confess to a life of faithfulness to God the Son, Jesus Christ, is that there is never a time when God the Holy Spirit is not faithful to you. He is in you to teach you, guide you, guard you, and seal you in the kingdom of God. When persecution flares up against you or temptations come to pull at you, the Holy Spirit who converted you will be there to keep you and lead you in what to say and how to take bold and courageous action for the Lord. I knew a young man who was pressured into making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ during his teenage years. The pressure was external, from a shallow and ambitious pastor wanting to increase the size of his church, from bus ministry captains who were keeping score of kids brought to Sunday School, from a church service without exposition of Scripture but geared towards an emotional ending where hell is infinitely hot, heaven is sugary sweet, and Jesus saves. But Jesus will only save you if you take the first step out into the aisle, walk forward, pray the sinners prayer, and make a profession of faith. Then you are saved and should never doubt it, they promised. So, I promised, too. Nothing changed internally. Sinful habits persisted. No holy desires developed for God’s word, prayer, or fellowship with the saints. Had that young man died in that condition I fear our Lord would have denied him before the angels in Heaven, in spite of his profession of faith. Some years later as a college student he heard the gospel, soundly exposited in a church service from the Gospel of Luke. Internally there was great pressure, then relief. It was the Holy Spirit. He did not walk and aisle or pray a prayer, he simply was changed inside and out. He loved the Bible, the church, the life of a Christ follower. People asked him what had happened. He confessed it was faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That young man was me. I had made a false profession. Then, I obtained a true confession. The difference was the Holy Spirit. I do not fear for my own soul on judgement day, but I fear there are millions living somewhere in between that false profession of faith and a true confession of faith. I hope they hear this sermon or a similar one. I hope they repent of their blasphemies against Christ. I hope they head the words of the Bible and confess with their mouth Jesus Christ as Lord, and believe in their hearts the God has raised Him from the dead. And I hope Christ, through the Holy Spirit, will save them and live in them and with them forever. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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GOD’S GOT THE TAPES
Luke 12:1-7 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas April 22, 2018 1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. — Luke 12:1-7, ESV Today’s computer technology is virtually unfathomable. “Moore’s Law” tells us speed and memory capacity doubles every couple of years. Today a single hard drive can record the equivalent of about 2.5 million hours. That’s about four human lifetimes with every waking and sleeping moment captured on tape. Tape is a bit outdated, I know, but I still ask Andrea to tape shows for us on our DVR. It is a comfort to know that no one is following us around, recording our every activity with some device that can read out thoughts and transfer them onto a screen. Or, are they? Facebook, Google, and other major players in the technological game have recently been called on the carpet to give an account for invading our privacy. Their ability to reach into our gadgets, and perhaps even our minds, is a bit frightening. I generally assume that if I’m doing something on the computer or smartphone, somebody out there is watching and capable of recording everything I say or do. Call me paranoid. Or, call me a bible-believing Christian. The true and living God revealed in the pages of Holy Scripture is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. His brain is infinitely bigger than any computer or social media platform. He watches over every creature, especially human beings, with eyes that see the past, present, and future. Our lives are being recorded for posterity and judgment, and God’s got the tapes. The question is, what is God going to do with them? Several texts tell us, including this one describing Jesus’ ongoing conflict with the Pharisees. Here our Lord speaks truth out of both sides of His mouth, telling us we can and cannot hide, and we should and should not fear God. Bad news abounds for Pharisees. But, there is good news for those of us who are fully devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. You Can Hide Religion can be the best place on earth to hide. It provides a shiny, hard exterior mask that can fool even your closest family and friends. Use the right language and participate in the right rituals and people will think you are right with God. No one in history was better and playing hide and seek with the people than the Pharisees. Remember, they wore the white hats in first century Israel. People respected them, loved them, followed them, and hoped their sons would grow up to be like them. They could pronounce “Lord” in four syllables, pray for hours, and could always be found in the front seats at the synagogue. Other biblical characters have hidden their true character, too, from the kings of Israel to one of the twelve Apostles. Televangelists have done it, speaking for God while bilking their naive followers out of money, airplanes, and sex. I have known personally some pastors, deacons, and otherwise upstanding church members who are admired by their constituents because they were able to hide well their immoral sexual activity, financial extortion, and plagiarized sermons. Church can be a holy place or a hiding place, depending upon your heart. Like wheat and tares, it is hard to tell the true worshipers from the false. All we can see is each other’s skin. So, we can hide from one another. But, we cannot hide from God. You Cannot Hide While the people of Jesus’ day admired the Pharisees’ dough, the Lord could see their leaven. It was hypocrisy. God knew what was on their outside, the religious observances, the piety in their language, the seeming blessings of God, camouflaged their inner unbelief and exploitation. They were hypocrites, actors, pretenders on the spiritual stage. You can hide from people, even people close to you in your family or church. But you cannot hide from God. As a matter of fact, God knows everything everyone has ever said and done. He’s got it on the tapes of His omniscient mind. And one day He is going to play them for all the world to see. Consider these additional biblical revelations: Matthew 12:36 — I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. Romans 14:12 — So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 1 Timothy 5:24 — The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. Revelation 20:12 — And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. Of course, that last line from Revelation is written in apocalyptic, figurative language. God does not need a book. God does not need tapes, or a digital recording devise. God has an infinite mind which observes and records your every breath, thought, and deed, whether it be good or bad. No one can hide anything from God. This is why God should be greatly feared, or not. Fear God Because of God’s vast storage capacity to record all we’ve ever done, plus the revelation He is going to spill it out one day, Jesus says He should be feared. He does not say we should fear mere men, like judges, juries, or special prosecutors. They can only levy temporal fines, prison time, and capital punishment. We should fear God, for if the tapes reveal a certain kind of sin, The Judge of all the earth will cast you into hell. Wait a minute! We are all sinners. Are we all going to hell? Now would be a good time to bring the gospel and the word of God to bear upon this frightening text. Yes, we are all indeed sinners who sin multiple times every day. That’s a lot of tape in the mind of God. But it is not all going to be played. There is only a certain kind of sinner whose uncountable sins are going to be put on full display at “the great white throne of judgment:” Revelation 20:11-15 — Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. This fate awaits every human being of cognizant ability (excluding children and the mentally impaired) who has not repented at the hearing of the gospel, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and demonstrated lives that are fully devoted to Him. If this is you or someone you know, God is keeping a record of sins. God’s got the tapes. He will play them out for all the world to see in an embarrassing, excruciating, executional moment at the end of time. Then, the life of every unrepentant and unbelieving soul shall be cast by God into hell for all of eternity. This is a good reason to fear God! However, if you have repented and believed, by grace through faith in the good news of Jesus Christ, this bad news is not for you. You need not fear. Do Not Fear God Children should not be afraid of their father. Church members should not be afraid of their shepherd. God is the ultimate Father and the Good Shepherd. Therefore, His children and sheep need not fear him in the way unbelievers should. I know some things about my kids, things they have done wrong. I even know some things they’ve done that they don’t know I know. The same is true from some of the finest church members I’ve known. I don’t have these things written down anywhere, I would never tell anyone about them, and I would never hold it against them. Why? Because I love them. Look at the way God loves you, if you are His disciple and child. He loves the sparrows, but He loves you infinitely more. God is so observant and knowledgable of you that He can count your hairs (some of us make God’s job easy on that front). He loves and values you, and will do so forever. Therefore, the tapes God has on you are erased by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Psalm 103:12 — As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Jeremiah 31:34 — For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Micah 7:19 — He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Fear being a Pharisee. Fear the awful judgment of an awesome God upon the unrepentant and unbelieving. But do not fear God if you are born again, believing Christian. God’s got the tapes. But for you they are erased by the blood of the Lamb. Fear not! Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. FOOLS RUSH IN
Luke 11:37-54 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas April 15, 2018 37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. — Luke 11:37-54, ESV Johnny Mercer wrote, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread [and] wise men never go.” We could apply these words to the Pharisees and the scribes who appear so regularly on the pages of the Gospels. So blinded by pride and hatred, these supposed religious authorities could not see God’s personification of grace standing right in front of them. In a series of controversial statements, Jesus called them “fools.” He condemned each of the two groups three-fold. In doing so, our Lord has left us some lessons about the wrong kind and right kind of foolishness. The Conflict The Gospels record almost constant conflict between the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus Christ. One promoted a false gospel, the other is the gospel. One offered salvation by works, the other brings salvation by grace. One wanted people to honor and follow them and their ways, the other instructed people to honor and follow Him and God’s way. Yet, Jesus was willing to spend time and show love to even His enemies. He accepts their dinner invitation, and soon all hell breaks loose. Hell, I say, because it is where fools rush in. It is okay to have religious traditions. My family prays before every meal, whether at home or in a crowded restaurant. But, we do not judge others for not doing do so. The Pharisees taught a tradition of ceremonial washing before meals, and Jesus did not particularly care for that tradition, choosing rather to dig in instead of scrubbing up. Jesus, being the omniscient Lord, knew immediately He was being judged by the Pharisees for not keeping their extra-biblical tradition. The fight was about to begin. Let us learn from the Lord and the Pharisees at this point. It is Christian to love your enemies, even spend time with them if perchance you may win them over to allegiance to God. On the other hand, it is anti-Christian to make up extra-biblical rules and regulations and judge others for not following them. Relationships beat rules and regulations every time. The Call Now for some fighting words. Jesus publicly identified the Pharisees (and by proxy, the scribes) as persons full of “greed and wickedness.” Then, as if this was not a big enough insult, He blows them away with the declarative “You fools!” Did Jesus really call someone a fool? I can see the apparent contradiction. In the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus warned against using such a derogative label. But the word for “fool” in Matthew 5:22 is quite different from the one used in Luke 11:40. The first is a Greek word from which we get our English word “moron.” It is a harsh, judgmental word that speaks of someone whose idiotic ideas and actions are a danger to themselves and society. The term here, “aphron,” is softer but still fair, describing a person who lacks a true understanding of the situation and therefore makes bad judgments. In this light, it is almost a kindness for Jesus to call the Pharisees this kind of a fool. Could you or I be kindly called a “fool” by Jesus? Well, you might be a Pharisee if you don’t understand that is what’s on the inside of a person, not the outside, that counts (ref. 1 Samuel 16:7). You might be a Pharisee if you wrongly believe that salvation comes from the outside in, external works can make your heart right with God (ref. Ephesians 2:8-10). You might be a Pharisee if you fail to understand that God’s gospel is one of transforming grace that begins within and works its way out (ref. Luke 17:21; Philippians 2:12-13). A fool, or perhaps better translated a foolish person, is someone according to Jesus who simply does not understand the simply gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. All men are fools in this sense, by nature, choice, and ignorance. Unless we come to our senses, or to the gospel sense, the same condemnation Christ gave to the Pharisees and scribes will belong to us forever. The Condemnation The “woes” have it in this episode. There are three each for the Pharisees and scribes. Here we’ll leave Johnny Mercer for a moment and tune in to Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers to see “What a Fool Believes.” Fools, like the Pharisees, believe legalism saves, yet it is only a veiled form of self-centered love. Fools, like the Pharisees, believer personal recognition or fame is the goal of life. Fools, like the Pharisees, believe they are helping other people when they are actually dragging them down into the same pit they are rushing in to themselves. Fools, like the scribes, talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Fools, like the scribes, contribute to church and charity while at the same time tear down the true and godly leaders of such bodies. Fools, like the scribes, who are just like the Pharisees, think they are showing people the light while blinding them with the darkness. A good human proverb states that if you can’t say anything nice about someone, say nothing at all. But our Lord Jesus Christ transcends mere humanity. He sees the heart and He tells the truth. We desperately need His eyesight and insight, and we need to let it look into our own hearts to make sure we are not deceiving ourselves. The Conclusion The conclusion captures the way in which you can tell whether you are a Pharisee or a follower of Jesus Christ. When you encounter Jesus, the word of God, or a church that sincerely if not perfectly bears His name, how do you react? Do you find fault or do you follow? So many who have asked Jesus into their hearts at a young age are nothing but fault finders, false professors of faith, and Pharisees. They claim to love Jesus but do not obey him, chiefly the commandments to love one another and assemble together. They look for flaws in the Bible, or the church, or some Christian setting a bad example, and they use this as an excuse to fall away from personal and corporate Christianity. “Woe” unto them. Others are different. As Jesus walked away from this encounter, true disciples followed Him instead of finding fault with Him. Christ’s words could be hard, but they were fair. Christ’s way was not easy, but it is the only way to go. Christ’s heart, unlike those grinches the Pharisees, was huge and wide open. Perhaps instead of asking Jesus into our hearts, we need to ask ourselves whether or not we are in His. As Johnny Mercer wrote, “When we met I felt my life begin, so open up your heart and let This fool rush in.” I hope you feel this way about Jesus. This is the kind of fool you want to be, a fool for Christ. Rush in. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. “THE ESSENTIAL NECESSITY OF EASTER SUNDAY”
2 Corinthians 5:21 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas April 1, 2018 For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV Even though it is essentially a holy day, Easter derives its name from a pagan goddess. True to form, Easter is something celebrated by Christians and pagans, believers and non-believers, alike. Churches are full, community events to commemorate the arrival of spring abound, and sometimes the two are combined. Preachers unpack their best sermons, retailers make a small fortune, eggs sell out, and restaurants are packed to the rafters. There’s something for everyone to like! But a better and more biblical way for God’s people to commemorate the day is to celebrate it as Resurrection Sunday, the capstone of a holy week which begins with Palm Sunday, passes through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and begins again on Resurrection Sunday. A day by any other name does not sound as sweet, for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the cornerstone of Christianity. Therefore, on Easter Sunday and every Sunday, we affirm the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Before the resurrection, however, there was the crucifixion. Before the crucifixion there was a singular, stellar, sinless life, the life of the Son of God, God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. Before the earthly life there was an eternal plan, decreed by God before creation. God’s plan of salvation is pictured graphically in the Old Testament Passover and given to a remnant of Jews known as the redeemed. God’s plan of salvation happened historically in the New Testament, with Jesus Christ at center stage, and is now given to a remnant in the world called Christ followers, or Christians. If this grand plan of salvation could be summarized in only one of the 31,102 verses of Scripture, that verse I would pick 2 Corinthians 5:21. “For our sake … In spite of the efforts of modern marketing, Easter is an exclusive holiday. It may be celebrated by many, but it is consecrated for only a select few. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” — Matthew 7:13-14 Those few who enter into the kingdom of God are not necessarily volunteers, but rather draftees who have been particularly and irresistibly chosen by God. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” — Matthew 22:14 And this choice of God for our salvation occurred long before we raised our hands. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” — Ephesians 1:4 “For our sake” is actually two words in the Greek which appear together 17 times in the New Testament, always and exclusively speaking of this group called the elect, the chosen children of God, the men and women and boys and girls for whom Easter is the exclusive gift of eternal grace and peace. The doctrine of divine election is not a depth normally plumbed on Easter Sunday, and I do not want to elaborate upon it here. It is just that the words “for our sake” conjured up a curiosity as to whom exactly “our” refers. Since Jesus said He will come again to end the tribulation “for the sake of the elect” (ref. Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20) and the Apostle Paul exercised his ministry “for the sake of the elect” (ref. 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1), “for our sake” can be taken to mean that the blessings and benefits of Easter Sunday are for, well, the elect. Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, is for believers only. Only, you must know what you believe in, namely Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished to unite believers with God. What Christ had done, aptly summarized in this one verse of Scripture, is known as the doctrine of double imputation. … He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, … The first part of the plan contains a plethora of pronouns. It also contains a couple of common words which have a far deeper meaning than we normally ascribe. Let’s sort it out. The “He” would be God the Father, the “Him” would be God the Son. God the Spirit is not expressly mentioned in the verse, but the silent member of the Holy Trinity is always at work behind the scenes of salvation. The gospel of Jesus Christ that includes Easter as an essential necessity is first and foremost a trinitarian plan. God the Father ordained it, God the Son accomplished it, and God the Spirit applies it to your life. I pray God is at work in your life this Easter Sunday. “Sin” and “knew” (know) are the words with which require further analysis. We live in a world that no longer knows sin, one that seeks to erase sin from our vocabulary, a culture that says nothing is a sin except saying that something is a sin. God, however, takes sin a little more seriously. Sin may be defined as anything done which is not faithful to the word of God and/or anything done not to the express glory of God, in deed or thought, in commission or omission. It is not only gangsters and pimps who live in sin, but also the heart surgeon who saves lives only for his patients, professional glory, and a good payday, but not for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also the humanitarian who gives food, shelter, and clothing but neglects the gospel and the word of God. It is the rich who forsake and steal from the poor and the poor who curse and steal from the rich. It is every one of us in an Easter Sunday service today who, even when worshiping and serving God, do so with the mixed motives of pride and greed. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23 This includes everyone, the learned and the lunatic, the mother and the murderer, the preacher and the prostitute. This includes those who sin big and those who sin little. This includes you and me. The seriousness of sin is owed to the grandeur of God, who is holy and just beyond measure. He by His nature must hate sin and by His office He must punish sin to the limit. At the same time, God is love and full of grace and mercy. Therefore, He made a plan to punish sin so that He can be a just Judge and still provide His people with forgiveness and freedom to spend now and eternity with Him. The plan can be seen in the Old Testament, when lambs and scapegoats and other animals were sacrificed in ritual ceremonies to show the seriousness of sin, which is death, and the hope of forgiveness, which is sacrifice. The plan was carried out on the cross of Jesus Christ, when the perfect, spotless “Lamb of God” was slain in our stead, even though He “knew no sin.” “Know” in the biblical sense means more than read and remember. It means to experience and be effected by the experience. Jesus never sinned, but God the Father made God the Son a sin offering. If you cannot see yourself as a sinner then you cannot count Christ as your Savior. If sin is not a big deal to you, then the cross is something you can play with once or twice a year, or maybe even wear around your neck. But if you know that it is your sins that nailed Jesus to the cross, the cross has meaning, which means Jesus will take all of your sins form you and bear the punishment Himself. Remember, before the resurrection there was a crucifixion. The crucifixion is part one of two in the doctrine of double imputation. If, by faith, you confess your sinfulness to God and ask for forgiveness based on Christ’s death on the cross, you are halfway home to Heaven. … so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Sovereign grace that produces saving faith puts you “in Him” on the cross. Christ takes your sin and bears it before God. All of the punishment you deserve is taken by Jesus instead. You are forgiven and free and will never by punished by God for your sins. On the other side of double imputation, you also share in the righteousness and resurrection of Christ, commemorated by Easter Sunday, and in this new life you are credited with “the righteousness of God.” Look at your picture in 2 Corinthians 5:17, a photo taken just before the plan is explained in verse 21: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17 What’s new is you! You are not only saved by the death of Jesus Christ, you are saved by the life of Jesus Christ. The righteousness He earned by living a perfect life, the righteousness He showed by defeating death through resurrection, this perfect life of righteousness is yours by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Your sins are gone and your life is rightly aligned with God forever. This is the doctrine of double imputation. This is the essential necessity of Easter Sunday. There had to be a Savior, there had to be a perfect life, there had to be a sacrificial death, and there had to be a righteous resurrection. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! When by faith the death and life of Christ truly touches your soul, then your motto is the same as the Apostle Paul who said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (ref. Philippians1:21). Easter Sunday and every Sunday take on a whole new meaning. It becomes not a once a year ritual, but an every day necessity. Easter is God’s gift to you. Give your life to God this Easter Sunday, for the first time or afresh and anew, and delight in the double imputation of Christ. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
AuthorDr. Charles F. "Chuck" DeVane, Jr., is the Pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His weekly sermon article, "The Gospel Truth," has been published in newspapers in Arkansas and Georgia. Dr. DeVane is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has served in the pastorate for over 20 years. Contact Pastor Chuck at PastorChuck@lakehamiltonbaptistchurch.org
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