Cecil Hutson Sermon Archive

November 28, 2004 AM

DEAL BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME

PS 119:17

INTRO: As I think of Davids life, I think of a man with humble beginnings. I think of a man of courage. I think of a man of great devotion to God. I think of a man who was able to frame into beautiful poetry the deep feelings of his relationship with God. And, yes, I think of a man who was described as a man after Gods own heart (1 Sam 13:14). But how can we think of Davids life without recalling the several incidents which can only be remembered as times of shame ... of giving the enemies of God an occasion to blaspheme (2 Sam 12:14). Sin did mar the record of Davids life. His feelings of inadequacy before God may well be the reason for such a plea as this: Deal bountifully with thy servant...

I WE HAVE NO LEGITIMATE CLAIM ON GOD

A. Sin, of course, is the problem

1. Ps 90:8 - Thou has set our iniquities before thee...

2. Isa 59:12 - ...our sins testify against us...

3. Isa 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray...

4. Rom 3:23 - For all have sinned...

5. our guilt before God invalidates any claim we might believe we have!

6. in fact, God owes us absolutely nothing

B. God has been more than fair with His creatures

1. Gen 3:21 - ...and clothed them - who? the disappointing sinners!

2. Deut 29:5 - ...your clothes are not waxen old... - who? the people so often spoke against God (Num 21:5)

3. 2 Pet 3:9 - ...but is longsuffering to us-ward...

4. if we look at the history of Gods relationship with his creature mankind, we cannot help but see that He has been, by human standards, more than fair!

5. He has reached out over an again to bridge divides, gulfs

6. Mt 23:37 - this is what God has received for His trouble!

C. And people have kept sinning

1. that has been the history ... even to this present time

2. John wrote, The whole world lieth in wickedness (1 Jno 5:19)

II STILL, THE PRAYER, THE PLEA IS A SINCERE ONE

A. Indeed, what can an honest, but guilty person do?

1. the psalmist throws himself on the mercy of the court

2. undeserving, but trusting in the mercy, the grace of God!

B. Eph 2:4-6 - But God, who is rich in mercy...

1. as real as is our sin is the reality of Gods mercy

2. Ps 147:11 - ...in those that hope in his mercy

III WHAT COULD BOUNTIFULLY MEAN?

A. It could certainly have a very general meaning

1. the plea might be for Gods blessings in all avenues of life

2. the inadequacy confessed in such a plea recognizes God as the source of all blessings

3. Phil 4:19 - Oh, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

B. I wonder if it might be more specific than that?

1. Ps 103:10-12 - He hath not dealt with us after our sins...

2. I wonder if the psalmists plea is not for an abundance of mercy in view of the reality of sin?

3. are there not those times when our consciousness of sin in our lives brings us to the point of such a plea? should this ever be our plea?

IV HIS DESIRE?

A. That he may live...

1. earlier we noticed that we are quickened...together with Christ

2. this quickening takes place when one is baptized - Col 2:12,13

3. God deals bountifully with us when He makes us alive again ... we, who had been dead in our sins

4. so, Rom 6:11 - alive unto God...

5. or, Phil 1:21 - For to me to live is Christ...

B. That he may keep Gods word...

1. here is the living of a righteous life

2. here is the manifestation of our gratitude for Gods dealing bountifully

3. 2 Cor 5:14,15 - it is constraining love which chooses to keep His word

4. but I wonder if we really understand just what Gods dealing bountifully with us means ... the depth, the breadth, the height of it?

5. is our love for Christ superficial? but not constraining?

CLOSE: To live in and for Christ, to keep the word of God glorifies God. The psalmist, then, prays for a life that is praise to God! The question for you and me is a very simple one ... is your life praise to God?

Cecil A. Hutson

28 November 2004

God's Plan of Salvation

You Must Hear the Gospel

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

You Must Believe

You must believe and have faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You Must Repent

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You Must Confess

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus “Lord of your life.” Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just “accept Jesus as your personal savior.” We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

You Must Be Baptized for the Remission of Sins

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

You Must Be Faithful Unto Death

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)

What is the church of Christ?

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build a church. In Acts 2:47, Luke tells us that people were being added to that church. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus built His church sometime between His promise in Matthew 16 and Luke’s statement in Acts 2. Indeed, a closer study of the events in Acts 2 reveals that the Lord’s church was established on that first day of Pentecost following the Lord’s resurrection when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. That church is the church of Christ.

A common misconception about the church of Christ is that “The Church of Christ” is its name. It is not. The “church of Christ” is its description. The church of Christ is the church that belongs to Christ, that was established by Christ, that was built by Christ, and that was bought by Christ. It is not our church; it is His church, the Lord’s church. We are not voted into the church by men, and we do not join a church the way some might join a country club. Instead, God adds us to His church when we obey His gospel.

Are those in the church of Christ the only people who are going to be saved? Of course they are! God adds people to His church when they are saved. If you are not in the Lord’s church, then you are not saved. If you are saved, then you are in the Lord’s church. To be saved outside of the church of Christ is to be saved outside of the body of Christ – and that can never happen. Jesus is not just a way to the Father; he is the way to the Father. As Jesus said in John 14:6, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Thus, the real question is not what is the church of Christ, but is rather how do you become a part of the church of Christ? That question was asked in the first century as it is asked today, and the answer remains the same. We are saved and added to the Lord’s church when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, we are saved when our sins are washed away at our baptism.

There is one church of Christ. If you are a member of something else or something more or something less, then you are not serving God according to His plan or according to His will. He wants you to be a Christian and only a Christian, wearing only the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the head and the savior of the church, His body.

Want to know more? Here are 10 things everyone should understand about the church, here are some common misconceptions about the church, and here is how God views the church.

What Must I Do?

What must I do? That same question was asked in Acts 2:37 at the end of the very first gospel sermon ever preached. Before we look at Peter’s answer in verse 38, let’s look at some answers Peter did NOT give.

What must I do? John Calvin answers, “Nothing!” According to Calvin, there is nothing we must do and nothing we can do. Each of us has already been personally predestined to Heaven or Hell without regard to anything we do on Earth, and so, logically, according to Calvin, the only answer to the question in Acts 2:37 is “Nothing.” But that is NOT how Peter answered that question.

What must I do? Many preachers today answer, “You must make Jesus the Lord of your life.” But that answer makes absolutely no sense then or now! Peter had just said in Acts 2:36 that “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Jesus was already Lord of their lives! Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings, which means he is your Lord and your King whether or not you obey him or believe him. We obey Jesus because he is Lord and King – not to make him Lord and King.

What must I do? Many preachers today answer, “You must pray the sinner’s prayer and invite the Lord Jesus into you heart.” But no one in the Bible was ever told to do that. In fact, Paul prayed after he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), and yet Paul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always (Acts 10:2), and yet there remained something he still had to do after calling for Peter (Acts 10:6). If praying the sinner’s prayer was all that Paul and Cornelius needed to do, then why were Ananias and Peter needed?

What must I do? Listen as Peter answers that question: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) That answer has not changed one bit in the intervening 2000 years. If your preacher is telling you something different, then you need a new preacher! “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16)

Want to know more? Here is God's Plan of Salvation.

Cecil Hutson

Baptism in the Bible

Matthew 28:19

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Mark 16:16

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 2:38

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:36

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Acts 22:16

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Romans 6:3

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:4

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

1 Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Galatians 3:27

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Ephesians 4:5

One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Colossians 2:12

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

1 Peter 3:21

The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Want to Know More?

Please read this lesson on baptism from our series of lessons on Thought Provoking Questions.

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