Pastor and author Max Lucado tells of the time some years ago when he took his family to the bicycle store to purchase a bike for his five-year-old Jenna. She picked out a shiny “Starlett” with a banana seat and training wheels. And Andrea, age three, decided she wanted one as well.

Max explained to Andrea that she was too young. He told her she was still having trouble with a tricycle and was too small for a two-wheeler. No luck; she still wanted a bike. The child’s father explained to her that when she was a bit older, she would get a bike, too. She just stared at him. He tried to tell her that a big bike would bring her more pain than pleasure, more scrapes than thrills. She turned her head and said nothing.

Finally Max sighed and said this time her daddy knew best. Her response? She screamed it loud enough for everyone in the store to hear: “Then I want a new daddy!”

Have you ever wanted a new daddy?

• A new mother?
• A new son or daughter?
• A new boss?
• A new coach?
• A new church?
• A new God?

Disappointment demands a change in command. When we don’t agree with the One who calls the shots, our reaction is often the same as little Andrea’s in the story. “Is he or she the right one for this job?”

Lucado goes on to write: Andrea, with her three-year-old reasoning powers, couldn’t believe that a new bike would be anything less than ideal for her. From her vantage point, it would be the source of eternal bliss. And from her vantage point, the one who could grant that bliss was “sitting on his hands.”

In short, Max didn’t live up to this child’s expectations. She expected Daddy Warbucks and she got Scrooge.

As you probably know, disappointment occurs when our hopes or our expectations are not being met in the way we think they should be met.

1.        Things disappoint us 

Have you ever experienced “buyer’s remorse”? You bought a car, a beauty product, or something off of one of those infomercials on TV that didn’t quite live up to its billing.

2.        Events disappoint us 

No doubt a good number of you are following March Madness – the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Logic dictates that 67 of the 68 teams that are in the tournament are doing to come up short. A number of teams are already out of the tournament including such favorites as Missouri, Duke, and Michigan.  A casual glaze at the pictures up on the screen reveals that some of the teams and players failed to live up to their own as well as their fans lofty expectations.

3.        People Disappoint us

• Governor Scott Walker
• President Barak Obama.

I can guarantee you that almost everyone in this room has some strongly held views concerning those two men. If you like the one, you probably dislike the other. If you applaud the one you are no doubt disappointed in the other.

On a personal note, one reason I do not like to put people up on a pedestal is, they keep falling off.

4.        God Disappoints Us  

Yes, you heard me right.

Now, to be sure, God makes an easy target.

• The list of injustices in life is rather long. Someone has to be the heavy.
• The list of tragedies grows by the hour.
• The list of unmet expectations is rather impressive as well.

Add to this, unanswered prayers and you end up with a pretty tight case against the Almighty.

I have here some examples of people who felt as if God did not meet up with their expectations.

As you remember, the Old Testament contains the story of the prophet Jonah. The Lord dispatched the fellow to the wicked city of Nineveh so he could deliver a message of judgment. When Jonah told the people what the Lord had in mind for the place, they repented. As a result, God spared the city. I want to now read to you Jonah 4:1-3 (New Century Version), “But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, ‘When I was still in my own country this is what I said would happen, and that is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a God who is kind and shows mercy. You don’t become angry quickly, and you have great love. I knew you would choose not to cause harm. So now I ask you, LORD, please kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.’”

From the prophet’s selfish perspective, God  blew it. He didn’t keep His end of the bargain. Jonah wanted death and destruction, not kindness and mercy. Therefore, Jonah got ticked off – angry! Elliot Larson once said – “Anger always comes from frustrated expectations” Well it is obvious that God failed to met up with Jonah’s expectations.

John the Baptist serves as another case in point. John and Jesus were first cousins. As such, John knew Jesus well. He baptized Him. He announced that Jesus was indeed “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Fast forward. John is rotting in prison. He is frustrated and a little confused. Finally, he sends two of his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Luke 7:20 (New Living Translation).

Since things were not working out as he had planned, he was beginning to have doubts. Again, he was having to concern himself with certain unmet expectations.

One of the great stories in all of the New testament has to be the account of Jesus and His encounter with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. The story is found in Luke 24.

The two disciples were sad. Full of doubt. Fearful. Jesus had been crucified only three days earlier, and now there were rumors that He had been resurrected back to life early that morning. They didn’t know what to think; what to believe. It was at this point that Jesus came up alongside them. They didn’t recognize Him. After they explained to the Lord the events of the past several days, they went on to say, Luke 24:21, “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.”

Did you catch it? “We had hoped….”

• The disciples had hoped Jesus would free Israel.
• They had hoped he’d kick out the Romans.
• They’d hoped Pilate would be out and Jesus would be in. But Pilate was still in,

and Jesus was dead.  Unmet expectations. God didn’t do what they expected Him to.

Does God sometimes sit on his hands? Does God sometimes choose to do nothing? Does God sometimes opt for silence even when we are screaming our loudest?

Some of you have been there. I have heard you voice your frustrations in words such as:

• “If God is God, then why… ”
• “If God is God, then where… ”
• “If God is God, then when… ”
• “If God is God, then how… ”

Call it an agenda, a divine job description. Each of us has an unspoken, yet definitive expectation of what God should do. “If God is God, then … ”

• The place where I work will not shut down.
• My children will not precede me in death.
• People will treat me fairly.
• My spouse will not ask for a divorce.
• I will never be told that I have cancer.
• I will make the team.
• My prayers will be answered in an orderly and timely manner.

I want to throw some similar questions in here:

• “If God is so good, why do I hurt so bad?”
• “If God is really there, why am I here?”
• “What did I do to deserve this?”
• “Hey God, did you forget about me?”

Then the unmet expectations can also be seen in this statement that I picked up somewhere: “The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son.” But every time I turn on the news, it looks like God DOESN’T love the world! People are starving! Terrorists are running around free. And it seems like He’s not doing anything to help us! When I think about all the violence and the injustice in the world, I’m tempted to get angry with God.

Such comments are generally not written down or notarized. But they are real. They define the expectations we have of God.

King David from the Bible could relate. Listen to his words in Psalm 69:3 (New Living Translation), “I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched and dry. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.

Someone has observed, Clouds of doubt are created when the warm, moist air of our expectations meets the cold air of God’s silence.

So how do we cope with the unmet expectations? I will give you some positive and doable steps to follow in next week’s message. However, I have one more unmet expectation story that I want to share with you today. It is the amazing account of Lazarus found in John 11 in the New Testament. 

John 11:1, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.” As the story unfolds, we find Lazarus – a close friend of Jesus – was sick and literally at the point of death. In fact, the sickness would go on to take his life.

What was his problem? Sickness. Being sick is not unusual. We can all identify with the problem here in our text. The commonness of the problem is emphasized by the fact that five times in the first six verses of our text, the word “sick” or “sickness” is found.

Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, sent out a 911 call to Jesus. Come and come quickly, they cried!

I want you to understand, these folks were close. They were the kind of friends that you looked forward to seeing. They enjoyed meals together. Jesus often stayed in their house as He traveled from one place to another. They were BFF!

Notice now these verses:

• Verse 3: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
• Verse 5: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
• Verse 11: “Our friend Lazarus”

I want you to notice a couple of Greek words that are used in these passages. In verse 3 the word “phileo” is used. Martha used it. She noted, “The one you love (phileo) is sick.” Phileo love speaks of brotherly love. Philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia gets its name from the word phileo. Again, this stresses the friendship that existed between Jesus and these people.

However Jesus saw the relationship in a different light. Verse 5 says, “Jesus loved (agape) Martha and her sister and Lazarus”. Agape speaks of perfect love, the love that Jesus manifested on the cross. The love found in John 3:16. The love that is spoken of here was a continuous unconditional love.

In short, Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He really loved them. If any family would get a free pass from the trials of life – especially the trials of sickness and death — it would be this family. But that was not to be the case.

Rather when the ladies sent for Jesus, Jesus simply stayed put. Mary and Martha thought that the Lord would drop everything and come running. They were wrong.

The disciples were greatly perplexed by His actions.

• First of all, if Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why did He permit him to get sick in the first place?
• Then too, these men had to wonder why was Jesus lollygagging?
• Third, if He was too busy to go at the time, why didn’t He just send His Word and heal the man? He had done that before with great success.

In Bible times, when someone died, the family members would let out a loud “death wail” that all the neighbors could hear. This would inform them that a death had occurred. Mary and Martha let out that death wail. Lazarus died.

The ancient Jews had perfected the process of grieving.

• Mourners were hired to weep for the deceased. These were mainly women who made a career out of doing this. They were professional weepers.

• Family and loved ones would show their grief by wearing itchy, scratchy sackcloth and by tearing their clothes. During this time, they would not wear any shoes or jewelry. They were not to wash, study, or engage in business.

• Serious mourning lasted for a period of seven days. The first three days consisted of weeping. They would weep at the grave because they felt closer to the soul of the departed.

The last four days were days of deep mourning. The fourth day was traumatic. Bar Kappara, an ancient Jewish Rabbi, taught: “Until three days [after death] the soul keeps on returning to the grave, thinking that it will go back [into the body]; but when it sees that the facial features have become disfigured, it departs and abandons it [the body]“

I want to now move to John 11:21, “‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”  I want you to put this statement in its proper context. Remember, Jesus arrives on the dreaded the fourth day.

• How would you look if you had gone four days without fixing your hair, bathing, wearing shoes, or taking care of yourself?

• Try to picture the smells.
• I also want you to try to imagine the noises that were somewhere in the background.

No doubt, the scene was somewhat akin to controlled bedlam.

This is the environment that Jesus walked into that day. Then too, Martha met Him with a mild rebuke. “If you had been here.” she said, “my brother would not have died.” That is what she said.

What she implied was:

• “Why didn’t you come when you got our message? We were counting on you.”
• “We just knew that you would come and heal Lazarus. What happened?
• “Now that you are here, it no longer matters. It is too late.”
• “You failed to measure up to our expectations, Jesus. This death is your fault!”

We’ve all stood where Martha stood. Caught between what God does and what makes sense.

Now understand this truth: JESUS does not allow us to wallow in the muck of unmet expectations very long.

John 11:23-24, “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

What Jesus did know and Martha did not know was, there was a reason that Jesus delayed His visit to Bethany.

• Martha wanted a healing; Jesus was planning a resurrection.
• Martha was wanting now; Jesus was content to wait for four days.
• Martha was thinking then and there; Jesus was thinking of something so amazing that people would still be talking about the miracle 2000 years later!

Jesus was wanting to do the best possible thing but he couldn’t do that until He was facing the worse possible circumstances! That is what the fourth day is all about.

Notice the level of Martha’s faith. She again said, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” The lady believed in the resurrection of the dead. She had that down.

• However, Martha was looking to the future, knowing that Lazarus would rise again and she would see him at the last day – the day of resurrection.

• Her friends were looking to the past and saying, “He could have prevented Lazarus from dying!” (John 11:37)

• But Jesus wanted to center their attention on the present. Wherever He is, God’s resurrection power is available.

John 11:25, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’”

Last week, my friend Dan spoke here on some of the names of Jesus. The passage I just read contains four of His names:

• Jesus.
• I AM.
• The Resurrection.
• The Life.

Once again, His Name is Jesus. He is the Savior of the world.

Then, He is the great “I AM” of Exodus 3 in the Old Testament where Jehovah identified Himself to Moses by the great name of “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14) or the abbreviated form “I AM”. By using the Name “I AM”, Jesus was saying, “WHAT I WAS AND WHAT I SHALL BE, I AM NOW.”

He was also saying, His triumph over death, sin and the devil did not have to wait.  He — Jesus Christ — was well able to defeat any enemy right then and right there – yes even in that old smelly graveyard!!!

By the way, the New Testament uses the phrase “I am” some 20 times to amplify the person and works of Jesus:

• “I am the bread of life”;
• “I am the light of the world”;
• “I am the door”;
• “I am the good shepherd”;
• “I am the way, the truth, and the life”;
• “I am the true vine”; and in our text,
• “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

Next, He is the Resurrection. He brings life out of death. He restores.

He is The Life. He doesn’t just bring life, or give life; He literally is life.

In other words, He was declaring right then and there that He was the very DEATH OF DEATH!!!

This grant fact was confirmed when in John 11:38-44 Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. Verses 43-44 notes, “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’”

The story ends with the mourners leaving. They had nothing to weep over anymore.  Jesus had performed the outstanding sign of His ministry!

I want to move now to John 12:1-2, “Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.”

As the fourth day dawned, who there at that grave that day would have possibly imagined that only a short time later Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Jesus would be again sharing a meal together?

Are you wrestling with some spiritual unmet expectation? 

Let me encourage you to go back to the story of Lazarus. Read it again and again. Be reminded that you aren’t the first person to weep. And you aren’t the first person to be helped.

• Read the story and remember, the story is yours!
• Are you facing a challenge that is too big for you? Read the story. Jesus delights in doing great things – really, really great things!

• Are you a worrier? Read the story. Notice have Jesus wiped away the worries of Mary and Martha.

• Are you disappointed in Jesus? Read the story. You will be reminded that maybe, just maybe, He is not only going to meet your expectations, but far surpass them.

• Is sickness and death troubling you? Read the story. There you will be reminded that Jesus truly is the victor; He is the resurrection and the life.

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.”

• Back to Jonah. While the brother didn’t realize it at the time, God allowed him to be a part of one of the greatest revivals in history.

• The disciples on the Road to Emmaus had lost hope. However, that hope was soon to be restored as Jesus revealed Himself to those two men.

• Martha had given up. Jesus hadn’t given up though. He was late for a healing but right on time for a miracle!

Next time you’re faced with some unmet expectation, some disappointment, don’t panic. Don’t jump out. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you he’s still in control.

Some of the most humorous moments in church life center around baptisms. I have three examples of what I mean:

 A little boy was asked in Sunday School to explain baptism. He said, “It’s when the preacher holds you under water until you think about Jesus!” Believe me when I say, that takes longer for some folks than others.

A little boy asked Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, “When can I get advertised?” He meant “baptized.” But as we will see a little later on in this message, the kid made the right point–baptism is advertising that you’re a Christian.

A man, a woman, and the former town drunk were scheduled to be baptized. The man was baptized first. When he came out of the water, he said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!”

Then the woman was baptized. She came out of the water and said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

Now it was the former drunk’s turn. He had known Christ for only a short time there-fore, he didn’t really know any verses from the Bible. Nonetheless, having heard what the other two people said, he knew that he had to come up with something from Scripture. Finally,  as he came out of the water he yelled, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

On a more serious note, Lorena Garlington accepted Christ as a young girl. However, she never followed him in baptism. Never, that is, until a couple of months before her 100^th birthday. She always knew she was supposed to be baptized, but, as she put it, she simply never got around to it. “I’ve struggled with this so long,” Garlington told Gerald Squyes of Huntington Beach Baptist Church, “because I know the Bible says you should be baptized.”

When she emerged from the water, she said, “This is the greatest day! It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in years.”

While we may not totally agree on whether…

• Baptism should be by sprinkling or immersion,
• In the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or
• If we should baptize infants or adults only,

Regardless, we can all agree on the fact that baptism, like Holy Communion, is very important in the life of the saint.  Why? Actually, I have a list of nearly a dozen reasons on my computer. This morning I want to share with you just four of the items from that list:

IN BAPTISM WE IDENTIFY WITH THE NAME OF JESUS
Whenever you find the issue of baptism raised in the New Testament, it is almost always associated with the Name of the Lord.

Notice:

• Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….”
• Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
• Acts 10:48, “So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”
• Acts 22:16, “‘And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’”

Baptism wasn’t something new to the Jewish people.

Notice 1 Corinthians 10:2, “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

The passage I just read indicates that the children of Israel were baptized into Moses and his leadership as they were leaving 400 years of captivity in Egypt. Moses lived some 1400-1500 years prior to Jesus Christ.. The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible Commentary says here, “Moses stood as a type of Christ. Any person who followed Moses through the Red Sea and under the cloud was baptized … and given over to Moses and his mission. The person was proclaiming that he was a follower of Moses and his mission to reach the promised land.”

Later on we find that the people identified with John the Baptist and his baptism of repentance.  Then too, the Jewish people recognized baptism as a sign of conversion from paganism to Judaism.

Christian baptism, though, was something different – very, very different. Back to Acts 2:38. Again, Peter says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ….” As you recall, Acts 2 carries the account of the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A multitude of people had assembled in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. Only a mere 50 days earlier, Jesus had been crucified in that same place. It was a dangerous thing to be known as a follower of the Lord then and there. Nonetheless, we find Peter preaching and as he challenges the people, he commands that they repent and be baptized. They were probably okay with the message up to that point. After all, as I just pointed out, they could associate baptism and repentance with the ministry of John the Baptist. But then Peter added something new; something revolutionary. He said that the people were to be baptized – “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Or to put it another way, “In the name of Jesus the Messiah.”

That Name distinguished this baptism from all other baptisms. To be baptized in Jesus’ Name was an acknowledgement that Jesus – the One that they had crucified — was who He said that He was: the Messiah, the Savior, the Lord, the very Son of the Living God.

I am wearing a wedding ring. The ring means something to me; it is an outward sign that I am indeed married to Marilyn. Some of you use to serve in the military. As such, you wore a uniform. Like the ring, the uniform was an outward sign that you were involved in a particular branch of service. So it is that water baptism is a symbol designed by God to identify a person as a believer; as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some time back the Pentecostal Evangel carried the testimony of a young man by the name of Daniel Chan. He is now an Assemblies of God minister but Chan was brought up as a Buddhist in Singapore.

As a young man he was the first one in his family to become a Christian. His parents were tolerant for a while, thinking he was merely passing through a fanatical phase. But when Daniel announced his intention to be baptized in water, his father became infuriated and ostracized him.

By living a consistent life, Chan eventually was able to lead his father to faith in Jesus Christ. Then, in time, he was honored to baptize his mother. Daniel noted in his testimony that “To people in the Far East, baptism indicates the complete seriousness of one’s commitment to Jesus Christ… the visible sign which seals the spiritual commitment.

I was recently reading an article that I found quite disturbing and yet interesting. I want to read a short portion of the piece to you: “Every day we hear stories of Christians who risk status and jobs and health even their lives by being followers of Christ. I had a bishop from Pakistan in my Bible study group. He told us that if a man or woman who lives in a Muslim village wants to be baptized they may very well be risking their life. At the very least, they will be alienated from their family. The Church may have to arrange for the new Christian to move several villages away and begin a whole new life. Other- wise, it is just not safe.”

What possibly could be so important about dunking a person in a tank or river or lake? Why would someone risk his or her life over such a thing? Why would others take such offense so as to kill someone over such an act?

The issue is the name – the Name of Jesus. The candidate is put under the water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That, by its very nature, excludes all other pretenders:

• It excludes Mohammed,
• Buddha,
• the Hindu faith,
• as well as any other sect that diminishes the role and divinity of our Savior.

That exclusiveness is a rock of offense according to the Bible.

Therefore, Christian baptism is a public testimony that the person has committed his or her life to the person of Jesus Christ. Someone put it this way, Baptism shows that we have surrendered to our King, and it is the uniform we wear as we go about the King’s business.

IN BAPTISM WE IDENTIFY WITH JESUS AND HIS CHURCH
The early church, that is the church of the first and second centuries, was not always a pleasant place. The Apostle Paul warned of spies and infiltrators which had become a part of the church. He called these people wolves. Elsewhere he called them enemies of the cross. They wanted to destroy the church; to see it fail.

There had to be a means of checking out those who wanted to be a part of the fellow-ship. Baptism was one of the ways.  

Dr. M. R. DeHaan was a Bible teacher, founder of Radio Bible Class as well as the editor of monthly devotional guide Our Daily Bread.In one of his pamphlets entitled Water Baptism, DeHaan wrote: “In the early days of the church. . . , baptism was a declaration that the believer was definitely identifying himself with that group of people who were called Christians and were despised and hated. To be a Christian meant something. To identify yourself with those who were called Christians meant persecution, maybe death; it meant being ostracized from your family, shunned by friends. And the one act which was the final declaration of this identification was BAPTISM.

As long as a man gathered with Christians, he was tolerated, but when once he sub-mitted to baptism, he declared to all the world, I BELONG TO THIS DESPISED GROUP, and immediately he was persecuted, hated, and despised. In baptism, therefore, the believer entered into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ.

A person might be a believer and keep it strictly a secret and thus avoid unpleasant-ness and suffering, but once he submitted to public baptism he had burned his bridges behind him….”

From the earliest days of the church, baptism separated the true from the false; the men from the boys. As such, baptism was seen as the means of entrance and acceptance into the church of Jesus Christ. It was the church’s way of announcing to the individual and everyone else that this person was family. He was a brother; she was a sister.

Today, in a similar fashion, Christian baptism initiates us into the worldwide church. It is the adoption certificate into the family of God. It is the mark of belonging, the badge of membership. This may not be so obvious in places like America, but if your background is in Judaism or Islam, your baptism is the point of no return. It is the essential dividing line.

Down through the years I have had several people request a private baptism. Just me and them. While there are times when such a thing is definitely advisable, I think such times are few and far between. Baptism is by its very nature meant to be a public act.

Tony Evans pastors a large church in the Dallas area. He is also an excellent author. In one of his sermons Tony made this observation: “We would think it odd if a husband never wanted to go out in public with his wife. He might say, ‘I’ll eat dinner with you as long as it’s at home,’ or ‘I’ll watch a movie with you as long as it’s at home,’ or ‘I’ll talk to you as long as it’s at home.’ That kind of behavior would be an insult. Jesus Christ is insulted regularly by His children because in private they will identify with Him, but in public they don’t want folks to know that they are associated with Him.”

Romans 10:9 promises, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” When I talk to people about being baptized, I like to include this verse in the discuss-ion. I see Christian baptism as one of these various ways that we confess that “Jesus is Lord.”

Simply put, baptism is going public for God. It is saying to the world, “I have decided to follow Jesus and to be a part of His glorious church. No turning back; no turning back.

Baptism tells the world that we have found:

• Something to believe in — Jesus Christ.
• Something to belong to — His Church.
• Something to witness of — His love for a lost world.
• Something to die for ‑‑ An unfailing faith in one who loved me and gave Himself up for me in death so that I might live!

IN BAPTISM WE IDENTIFY WITH JESUS AND HIS DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION
Listen to Romans 6:3-4 (Contemporary English Version), “Don’t you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.”

The Apostle Paul is saying here, baptism illustrates that when Christ died, we died. When He was buried, we were buried. And when He was resurrected back to life, we were resurrected from the dead with Him so as to walk in newness of life.

This morning, we are going to baptize a number of people. Every one of these folks will be given a new tee-shirt that testifies – I AM NEW. The fact is, they are new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation) confirms, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” The Living Bible goes like this, “When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!”

According to the book Practical Word Studies in The New Testament, the word baptize means, “to dip; to immerse; to wash; to submerge; to place into.”  The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words adds: “The verb baptizō (bap-tid’-zo) is found about ninety times in the New Testament…. Its root meanings are “dip,” “immerse,” “submerge” in water….”

I have conducted quite a few funerals in the years that I have been a pastor. And in all of those services, I have never, ever, seen the cemetery workers sprinkle a little dirt on the coffin or pour a little dirt over the casket and then walk away leaving the body on top of the ground. No. The body is buried. Put under the ground. In a similar fashion, if the symbolism of baptism is to be effective, the saint needs to be immersed; submerged, in water. Again, immersion pictures burial and bringing the person up out of the water illustrates the resurrection unto newness of life!

Shortly after a recent seminary graduate had assumed his first pastorate, he and his wife went to visit his family. His mother sensed that her daughter-in-law was unhappy, but not wishing to interfere, she pretended not to notice. As they were leaving, she overheard her daughter-in-law say to the husband, “All right, we can go by the church and you can practice baptizing me just one more time. But remember this—when you have your first funeral, you are not going to practice burying me!”

IN BAPTISM WE IDENTIFY WITH JESUS AND HIS OBEDIENCE
Matthew 3:15 takes us to the baptism of Jesus Christ. As you may recall, John the Baptist didn’t want to baptize Jesus. He didn’t feel worthy.  At that …

“Jesus answered, ‘Let it be this way for now. We should do all things that are God’s will.’ So John agreed to baptize Jesus” (New Century Version).

Other translations point out that Jesus had to be baptized in order to fulfill all right-eousness. In other words, His baptism was an act of humble obedience on the Lord’s part.

Jesus’ example shows us that baptism is really not an option for the child of God. It is something that God requires of every believer. Back to Acts 2:38. Here we discover that the first thing that is to follow repentance – turning from sin and self to Christ — is baptism.

Then too, I find it interesting that some of Jesus’ last recorded words on earth concerned baptism. Back to Mark 16:16. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

• Repent and be baptized.
• Believe and be baptized.

You never read of an unbaptized Christian anywhere in the Bible. In fact, baptism immediately followed a person’s salvation. They didn’t see it as something that could be delayed or put off.

Sadly, those who do not follow Jesus in water baptism have a much higher rate of backsliding than those who do. After all, if your walk with God didn’t begin with obedience in this most basic act, then it simply stands to reason that disobedience in other areas will obviously follow suit. Or to put it another way, obedience here clears the way for more and greater obedience later on. Defeat here clears the way for more and greater disobedience later on.

Would you like to know why people choose not to be baptized? I have here some actual reasons that folks have given:

• I don’t want to get my hair wet? Really? What does such a person do when they take a shower? Or don’t take showers? Of course they get their hair wet nearly each and every day.
• I don’t like going under water. Again, think shower or bath. A person who is baptized is only “under water” for a second or two at the most. We generally do not hold them under any longer than that, unless…
• It is embarrassing. So is hanging naked on a cross, but Jesus did that for us.
• What would people think? What would Jesus think? that is a more important question.

None of those issues rise to the level that they justify disobeying the Word of God. Today, I want to challenge those of you who have not been baptized to:

• Identify with the Name of Jesus,
• Identify with Jesus and His church ,
• Identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
• Identify with Jesus and His obedience.

Simply put – it is time to be baptized.

I am currently in a series of messages on the Holy Spirit. As in my last message, I am going to talk to you about the basics of the Holy Spirit today. In my upcoming messages, we will explore the various gifts of the Spirit.

Before we deal with the gifts though, I have some unfinished business to attend to. In my last message, I ran out of time before I ran out of material. As promised, I want to go back and talk to you about three very important biblical questions:

• What is conversion?
• Does one receive the Holy Spirit at conversion  — or later?
• what is the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

So, again, what is conversion?

The Free Online Dictionary gives us these two definitions:

1. To change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product; example convert water into ice.
2. To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another; example, convert a forest into farmland.

As I researched this idea of conversion I found pages on:

• How to convert kilograms into pounds.
• How to convert diesel engines so they will run on natural gas.
• “How to convert a van.”

Another page promotes their so-called Greasecar. In case you don’t recognize the name of the vehicle it is a Volkswagen that has been converted so that it can run on vegetable grease. It has one drawback, though. The smell of its exhaust makes you crave French fries.

Finally, I even learned that Uncle Ben – whoever he is — sells rice that is called converted rice.

However, what I was really interested in was the idea of converting to faith in Jesus Christ.  Acts 3:19 orders, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord….”

Wikipedia, defines conversion as “the foundational experience of Christian life. It involves belief in God, repentance of sin, acknowledgement of falling far short of God’s glory, confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the all-sufficient and only means by whom one’s sin can be atoned for and therefore the only route to salvation.”

Simply put, when I speak of a Christian conversion , I am at the same time talking about:

• Being born again,
• Being saved,
• Receiving Christ into your heart,
• Being born from above.

Same thing; just different wording.

I want to give you an example of a true life conversion. No doubt most everyone of you is acquainted with the name Colonel Harland Sanders. Sanders is the one who came up Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Sanders wanted to find Christ, but was having a hard time doing so. He strongly believed in tithing – giving 10% of one’s income to the church. Then he was also heavy into good works. However, neither of those things gave him the peace that his soul deeply craved.

According to the Colonel’s testimony as found in his autobiography entitled Finger Licking Good, Pastor Waymon Rogers of Evangel Tabernacle in Louisville, Kentucky had encouraged Sanders to attend some revival services at the church. At first Sanders was resistant to the idea, but eventually he did decide to drop in for a service. When the evangelist invited people to come forward to accept Christ, Sanders turned to the pastor and asked, “Do you think a man can get enough religion, or have an experience with God, so he’ll know he’ll go to heaven when he dies?”

Reading now: “Yes. You surely can,” the pastor said. In Romans 10:9, in the Bible says, ”That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

“Then that’s what I’d like,” I said.

The pastor said he’d say a little prayer, and if I would say it after him and really meant it,

he was sure God would hear and accept me. I believe the prayer went something like this: “Lord, I’m a sinner. I need you as my Savior. I really mean this prayer, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ name.”

You know, it just seemed like a great burden was lifted off my shoulders. I had never felt anything like that before, and here I was 79 years old.

Then I thought, since I’m here, I might as well get the whole business off my mind. So I said to Reverend Rogers, “There’s something else. All my life I’ve cussed. I’ve taken the Lord’s name in vain, and it’s bothered me. Can God help me stop cussin?”

“He certainly can. Rev. Rogers was very positive. Again he told me in Mark 11:24 in the Bible says,  “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

So I prayed again. This time I asked God Almighty to help me stop misusing his name. And I’ll say this, when I walked out of that church that night I knew I was a different man. I had met God like I had never met him before. All my tithing and good deeds had never given me the sense of God’s presence that I knew then. And that feeling has never left me.”

What happened? The Colonel was converted. He had an encounter with Jesus that changed the old fellow’s life and eternity.

The late evangelist D. L. Moody described his conversion experience with these words: “I was in a new world. The next morning the sun shone brighter and the birds sang sweeter… the old elms waved their branches for joy, and all nature was at peace.”

A Christian conversion makes a big difference in a person’s life:

• A saint feels different than a sinner!
• A saint looks different than a sinner!
• A saint talks different than a sinner!
• Sometimes a saint even smells different than a sinner!

And why not?

• The burden of sin is rolled away.
• The yoke of condemnation is gone.
• The guilt and the shame of the past is no more!

Second Corinthians 3:18 speaks of the conversion experience. “We … are being transformed (converted) into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Other translations put it this way:

• “We are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
• “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
• “And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.”
• “our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

I want to highlight a few words from this passage.

1.        First, notice the word “we.”

The word is very important to the text. I don’t want you to forget it, therefore I am going to help you remember it by showing you a series of video clips. As you will see, the word “we” figures prominently in the clips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCg-qf8ZDoc&feature=related

What is the key word? “Weeeeeeeeeee.”

Again,  “We … are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Actually, the King James Version goes so far as to say, “we all….” The point? The verse applies to every child of God.

2.        We what? “We are being transformed….”

Now remember, most of the New Testament was written in the Greek language. The word “transformed” as used here comes from the Greek word from which we get the word metamorphosis. Metamorphosis describes the physiological process that changes a caterpillar, for instance, into a butterfly. The change takes time; it does not happen overnight. Then, too, while the transformation is only visible on the outside, it really comes from the inside.

Has someone ever come up to you and said something like this?

• “I can’t put my finger on it, but you’re different.”
• “You’ve changed; what happened?”
• “Hey, Joe. I’ve noticed you don’t talk the way you used to talk, and you don’t go to the places you used to go. Did you get religion or something?”

What the person is saying is, they have noticed a change in you. You are the same person but at the same time, you are not the same person. In short, like the butterfly; you have gone through your own  metamorphosis. You are being slowly but surely transformed to be like Christ.

3.        Next, the text uses the phrase, “ever-increasing….”

This means that the transformation is an on-going, ever growing process.

This change occurs:

• As we submit to God’s will,
• As we listen to the preaching/teaching of God’s Word,
• As we read the Scripture,
• As we pray,
• As we love,
• As we give,
• As we serve….

I now want to show you a chart. I put the chart together in order to illustrate the various stages of spiritual growth that takes place after one comes to faith in Jesus. While I have used the chart before, please know that this is the Revised Standard Version. I updated it specially for this message. I have copies of the chart for anyone who might like a copy. They are free. You can pick one up after service at Guest Central in the foyer.

I will now explain the various stages of Christian growth to you:

The disciple Peter was at one time an impetuous, loud, rather uncouth fellow. That is

who and what he was. Jesus called him knowing that was Peter. Later on, though, Jesus demanded more from the big fisherman. In time:

• Peter became the lead disciple,
• then he went on to preach on the Day of Pentecost when 3000 people were saved and baptized, and
• eventually Peter was the primary apostle to the Jews.
• In the end, Peter gave his life for his faith.

That is growth; that is conversion.

As with Peter, the Christian experience is meant to be a life of ever-increasing growth and progress. Just the same as you may not be able to see your own physical growth from day to day, so you may not be able to see your spiritual progress, but believe me, it is happening.

4.        Finally, I want to highlight the word “glory” from the text.

Think of the word glory meaning God’s splendor on display in you.

• The Lord loves to reveal His splendor though the life of a new convert. There is new faith. Fresh enthusiasm. Hope. Peace. Joy.
• There is also the glory that shines from the face of a student who battles though doubt and ridicule. Who perseveres through the good days and the bad days. Who loves God and serves Him regardless of who does or does not believe.
• Then the Lord also loves to reveal His splendor through the life of a struggling saint. Maybe he or she is going through it. The devil has the person’s number of speed dial. There is pain. Sickness. Financial strain. Family issues. The list could go on and on. Read the book of Job. And yet, in the midst of it all, there is a steadfastness. A resolve.
• Then there is the glory that comes with hanging in there over the long haul. It is the older saint who is committed to finishing well.

Each of these stages constitutes a different level of glory. A different way that the Lord reveals His splendor through the life of the child of God.  

That glory is seen or heard in a testimony, a song, faithfulness, a glow on the face, a healing, or in any number of other ways. However the glory of God reveals itself, it always starts from the inside and works its way to the outside.

And in each of these various levels of glory, according to the text,  it is the Holy Spirit who is at work making it happen. Again, it is through His indwelling power that we are enabled to become more and more like Jesus.

Second question: Does the Holy Spirit come into a person’s life at conversion, or does He come in later?

Let me answer that by asking you three additional questions:

• Does a person get wet when he or she goes swimming or when he or she stands out in the rain?
• Is Aaron Rogers a football player or is he a member of the Green Bay Packers?
• Does a person gain weight by eating a Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger or by drinking a White Castle Large Chocolate Shake?

And the answer is … BOTH!

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and by faith, you have received Him as your personal Lord and Savior, then you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.  It is impossible to be a born again Christian apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Notices these passages of Scripture:

• Romans 8:9 (The Living Bible), “… If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ living in him, he is not a Christian at all.”
• Romans 8:15-17 (New Century Version), “The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, ‘Father.’ And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:3 points out that “No man can say that Jesus is the

Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.”

• 1 Corinthians 6:19 adds (The New Living Translation), “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, WHO LIVES IN YOU and was given to you by God?”

Where does the Spirit live? He lives in you; in me. What is the Spirit  doing?

• He is transforming you.
• He is empowering you.
• He is testifying that you are God’s child.
• He is saying that Jesus is LORD!

Then He is also flowing out from you. Listen to John 7:38-39, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit….” The King James Version as well as a number of other translations use the word “rivers” instead of streams.

Please notice that the word “streams” is plural! Rivers. Streams. Floods! Plural!

• Rivers of healing.
• Rivers of salvation.
• Rivers of hope.
• Rivers of comfort.
• Rivers of guidance.

Flowing out from you!

I read somewhere that the flow of the Amazon River in South America is so strong that one can dip fresh unsalted water out of the ocean fifty miles from the mouth of that mighty river. That is strong. The flow of the Spirit from within the believer is even stronger, my friends.

• It can drive back the darkness of sin and bring life in the place of deadness!
• It can drive back doubt and create faith in the heart of the faithless.
• It can drive back cancer and create wholeness in the place of disease!
• It can drive back hatred and resurrect love in a heart that has long since grown cold.

Before we pray and sing our last song, I want to share with you a quote from DR. R. A. TORREY — first head of the Moody Bible Institute: “It is evident that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and additional to His regenerating work.  A man may be converted by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In conversion, there is the impartation of life by the Spirit’s power, and the one who receives it is saved: in the Baptism with Holy Spirit, there is the impartation of power, and the one who receives it is fitted for service…”

Dr. Torrey then went on to add, “It seems to me beyond question … that in addition to the gift of the Spirit received at conversion, there is another blessing, correspond­ing in its signs and effects to the blessing received by the Apostles at Pentecost; a blessing to be asked for and expected by Christians still, and to be described in language similar to that employed in the book of Acts.”

Another famous author/minister has noted: “We must recognize the fact that to have the Spirit is one thing, but to be filled with the Spirit is quite another thing.”

So does the Spirit come at conversion? Yes. Does He come again later in that person’s walk with God? Yes, again.

In my next message in the series, I will answer the third question – what is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? I will also begin looking with you at the Gifts of the Spirit. 

Again, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

 

 

 

I am currently in a series of messages on the Holy Spirit. As last week, I am going to talk to you about the basics of the Spirit today. In my upcoming messages, we will explore the various gifts of the Spirit.

Speaking of last week’s message, you may remember I referenced Jesus’ words in John 16:7 in that sermon. I want to now return to that verse. “But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.” Contemporary English Version.

Then too, I talked to you about Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In order for the Lord’s work to really be accomplished on the grand scale that God intended, Jesus had to go and the Spirit had to come.

Think with me, how many converts did Jesus gain during His thirty-three years of ministry here on Earth? This would have been a good question for the game. Actually, just a handful:

• Eleven of His disciples.
• A thief on the Cross.
• Zaccheus,
• As well as a few more scattered souls here and there. The Word points out that many of those who did believe on Him turned away from Him when His teachings started hitting too close to home.

And yet, again, fifty days following His resurrection 3,000 people accepted Christ when the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. The church then took off like a rocket.

• Prior to Pentecost, the disciples were fearful and unsure. Following Pentecost, they were bold and courageous — even at the cost of their lives!
• Prior to Pentecost, the disciples were without focus. After Pentecost they turned the world upside down for the Lord.

What made the difference? Without a doubt, it was the coming of the Holy Spirit!

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS STILL MAKING A DIFFERENCE TODAY
Every Christian tradition has a birth date. For instance, the Roman Catholic Church traces its beginnings back to when Jesus told Peter, “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.” (Matthew 16:18) The Roman church says that at that time Jesus appointed Peter as the first Catholic Pope thus instituting the Church. If that view is accepted, the Catholic Church began around 32 CE. Others believe, myself included, that the church didn’t get its start until the time of Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century. Any way you slice it, the church is old – very, very old.

The Protestant movement can be traced back to October 31, 1517. That is the day when Martin Luther officially split with the Roman Catholic church. As a result of Luther’s actions, the Great Reformation took place. Out of the reformation came the reformed churches, the Lutherans, Baptists, eventually the Methodists and so on. The reformation is also old – very, very old.

Next came the Pentecostal movement. It is by far the youngest of the major traditions. It’s birth came about in 1901 as the Holy Spirit fell on the students at a tiny Bible college under the leadership of Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas.

Later the Pentecostal revival spread to a little mission on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. That move of God ran from 1906 to 1908 under the leadership of the African American preacher William J Seymour. As you can see, the Pentecostal movement is quite young – barely a hundred years old.

Nonetheless, today, the Pentecostal movement is growing by leaps and bounds. Notice this chart. It shows the percentage of global Christians that presently claim to be Spirit-filled.

Next, I want you to notice the main protestant denominations listed by size. According to a report by the Pew Research Center, dated December, 2011, the largest of the groups is now the historically Pentecostal denominations. Then if you add in the number of independents and non-denominationals from the bottom of the list that claim to be Pentecostal, then the percentage of groups that are Pentecostal is huge! And all of this growth has taken place in only 100 years.

Let me tell you something about the Assemblies of God. I realize that I rarely mention our denomination. But I believe that a sermon like this begs to have something said about what God is doing in our fellowship. While the Assemblies of God does not push membership as does many other denominations, we still have nearly 3 million members – plus adherents — in the United States. In addition to this, the Assemblies planted better than one new church every day last year here in the US.

Historically, we consider ourselves a missions organization. As such, we are much larger overseas than we are here at home. It is now said that we have better than 64 million adherents worldwide. In fact, in Africa alone, about 2,500 people are finding Christ and becoming part of Assemblies of God churches each day. More than 155,000 people were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and 14,245 churches were planted there during 2009. The Assemblies of God is a Pentecostal denomination.

Let me spring another term on you – charismatic. Charismatic Christianity began in the late 1950s. Charismatic Christians believe many of the same things as we who are considered traditional Pentecostals and behave in many of the same ways but they feel no need to separate from the non-Pentecostal denominations to which they belong.

One commonly cited source estimates that there are currently some 120 million participants in the global Catholic charismatic renewal. This number includes about 14 million charismatic Catholics who attend weekly charismatic prayer groups.

Then there are significant numbers of other charismatic Christians who typically identify themselves as Baptist and charismatic, Lutheran and Charis-matic, Methodist and Charismatic and so forth.

The book, The Spirit Said ‘Grow,’ states that Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians now form the second largest Christian group in the world, outnumbered only by the Roman Catholic Church.

Pentecostals have now infiltrated all of the 150 major non-Pentecostal groups and denominations. In addition to this, Pentecostals can now be found in at least 230 nations of the world. One-fourth of all of the world’s full-time Christian workers are likewise Pentecostal-Charismatic.

Finally there are on growing number of Pentecostal/charismatic Christians around the world that are independent. While they do not want to be aligned with any particular group, they are typically Pentecostal/charismatic in their spirituality and practice.

Finally, according to the Pew Research Center, there are about 279 million Pentecostal Christians and 305 million charismatic Christians worldwide.

Why did I feel it important to share this information with you? Last week I alluded to the prophesy of the Old Testament Prophet Joel. In that word from God, Joel noted that in the last days God was going to “pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” God is obviously fulfilling that prophesy right before our very eyes. His Spirit is being poured out on peoples of difference races, different denominations, different genders, as well as on those who are young and old. He has even poured out His Spirit on people such as you and me.

I HAVE ANOTHER CHART FOR YOU. THIS ONE DEALS WITH DOCTRINE

 

As you can see on the chart, I have nine Pentecostal denominations listed. Of the nine, eight are the same color. Not only are the eight the same color, they are also very much alike in their belief systems. Granted there are some differences, but not enough to squawk about.

Then there’s the ninth denomination. The United Pentecostal Church. The eight aqua colored denominations, are Trinitarian in belief. In other words, we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we baptize in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The United Pentecostal Church, are called oneness or Jesus only.

• They reject the idea of the Trinity. There is only Jesus: Jesus is God, Jesus is Jesus, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit.
• Due to this, they baptize in water in the name of Jesus. They reject any baptism that is not in the name of Jesus. They also hold to the idea that without water baptism in Jesus’ name, one is unsaved.
• They are the only one of the major Pentecostal denominations that believe in order to go to heaven you have to be both baptized in the Holy Spirit as well as speak in tongues. They do not leave any room for compromise.
• They are also very strict when it comes to clothing, hair, and other matters of deportment.
• Because they use the term “Pentecostal” in their name, many times people lump all Pentecostals into that group. That is unfortunate.

As I pointed out last week and again today, the Assemblies of God believe in and practice speaking in tongues. However, we do not see tongues as being a requirement for salvation or fellowship. I have known of some wonderful saints of God who did not have the Pentecostal experience. In my opinion, that fact has no bearing on whether or not those people go to heaven. The United Pentecostals differ with me here.

Only recently I was told for the umpteenth time that someone outside our
church told someone else that New Life Assembly of God believes that one has
to speak in tongues in order to be saved. I find it humorous that there are those who are not a part of us who feel that they know more about what we believe and practice than we do. Oft-times they are wrong.

I want you to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth:

• We believe in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• We believe that Jesus Christ is divine, the Holy Son of the Living God.
• We believe in salvation through faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
• We believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ.
• We believe in the Holy Trinity.
• We believe that the Bible is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God.
• We believe in speaking in tongues.
• We believe in divine healing.
• We believe in the Spirit-filled life.
• We believe that the gifts of the Spirit as found in the Bible are still for the church today.
• We believe that Jesus Christ is coming again to receive His church unto Himself.
• We believe that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.
• We believe that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8.

I know that we have folks that attend here that do not see eye to eye with us on each of these points. I have no problem with that. In fact, those people help keep me on my toes. I like that. Nonetheless, New Life Assembly Of God is Pente-costal. However, we are not oneness Pentecostal. There is a big difference.

In closing, Jesus says in Luke 11:13, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Have you asked? “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2)

I am rapidly becoming a skeptic.  Hardly a week goes by but that either Marilyn or myself receives a notice that we have won something, or that some valuable free gift is enclosed in the bulk rate envelope. I am smart enough to know that businesses can’t and won’t stay in business very long if they just send valuable free gifts to complete strangers in the mail. There has to be a catch somewhere. Right? Right. We have all heard over and over again, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Well maybe we should add to that:

• There is no such thing as a free large screen television,
• A free car,
• A free dream vacation to the Superbowl, or
• A free I-Pad.

Again, the skeptic in me asks, “What’s in the fine print?”

Now can you think of even one exception? Well to be honest, I can. Jesus noted in

Luke 11:13, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Here the Lord offers a free gift, one of the very best gifts of all, and it is freely given to His children. What is that gift, you ask? It is the Holy Spirit of God.

This morning I want to begin a new series of messages. Over the next several weeks I want to talk to you about unwrapping your spiritual gifts. I will be dealing with some of the gifts of the Spirit found in 1 Corinthians 12.

However, this morning and next Sunday morning, as a lead in to the series, I want to give you a primer on the Holy Spirit. I feel that before you can understand the Gifts of the Spirit, you really need to understand the Spirit behind the gifts. Since this is a primer, for some of you, this will be material that you have no doubt heard before and that you already know. For others, though, this will be new news.

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
To answer that, let me first ask, when did you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? I accepted him in August, 1961, at the Rainbow Tabernacle church, in Wichita, Kansas. The church was in revival. I was but a young teenager at the time. My mother came to Jesus in that same service. So, again, when did you receive Jesus into your heart?

This is a quiz — When do you think the disciples received Christ?

a.         On the Mount of Transfiguration

b.        While praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

c.         At the resurrection of Jesus Christ

d.        On the Day of Pentecost

e.         None of the above?

In my opinion, the answer is “e”, None of the above.

Let me direct your attention to John 20:22, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

This is it. This is where it happened. At this point Jesus breathed new life into Peter, James, John and the others and they experienced what Jesus in John 3 called being “born again.” In Genesis 2:7 we read, “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “breath” also means “spirit.” The breath of God here in Genesis brought about physical life. The breath of Jesus Christ in John 20:22 brought about spiritual life.

Prior to this life-giving moment, the Holy Spirit had dwelt with the disciples in the person of Christ, but now the Spirit would be in them. In the same way, the Spirit moves in and makes us His temple when we come to know Jesus.

So back to the question, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” He is the One who brings us to salvation. At salvation, He comes to live in us.

Then too, I see Him as being a part of the so-called Holy Trinity. Let me explain. The Bible teaches us that God is comprised of three persons:

• God the Father
  • God the Son
  • God the Holy Spirit

Notice how this is brought out in these two passages of Scripture:

Luke 1:35 records the angel Gabriel announcing the Savior’s birth to the virgin Mary. Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit (God the Spirit) will come upon you, and the power of the Most High (God the Father) will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God (God the Son).”

For my second example I want to use Matthew 3:16-17, “As soon as Jesus (God the Son) was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God (God the Spirit) descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven (God the Father) said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” 

We call these three, the three in one. For the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three gods, but rather one God. 

Nature is full of examples of three in one:

The apple

• Peel
• Flesh
• Core

Nevertheless, these three parts of the apple make up only one apple.

The egg

• Shell
• White
• Yoke

Again, these three parts of the egg make up only one egg.

We fit into this ILLUSTRATION as well. Each one of us are made up oF:

• Body
• Soul
• Spirit

These three parts though, again make up one human being.

Deuteronomy 6:4 states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Yes, He is one God.

So the Holy Spirit is as much a part of God as is God Himself. In fact, the Holy Spirit is God just as Jesus is God. He is not a created god, not an angelic god, not an inferior god – but God!

He possesses all of the characteristics of deity including:

• He is eternal
• Unlimited in wisdom and knowledge
• Everywhere present at the same time
• All powerful
• Holy
• Complete
• Unchanging

Some of the names of the Holy Spirit as found in Scripture are:

• The Spirit
• The Holy Ghost
• The Spirit of Truth
• The Spirit of Wisdom
• The Spirit of God
• The Spirit of Promise
• The Spirit of Grace
• The Helper
• The Counselor
• The Comforter

Now I want you to notice the fact that while they are equal, each member of the Holy Trinity possesses different responsibilities:

• I pray to the Father
• Through the Son
• By the Holy Spirit.

I want to break this down. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to direct their prayers to God the Father – “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is your name….”

Next, Jesus instructed His followers to pray in the Name of Jesus. It is that name that grants us authority. It is that name that grants us access. How can a puny little human being like myself hope to approach Almighty God? I come to the Father saying, “I know Jesus. He is my Savior. He told me that I could come before you; that you would honor my request so I come to you in Jesus’ name.”

Finally, the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 8 that it is the Holy Spirit that is our helper in prayer.

Next,

• The Father forgives
• By way of the blood of Jesus
• Due to the conviction or the work of the Holy Spirit.

• The Father sent
• The Son went
• And the Spirit abides.

Well, leaving that, I want us to NOW LOOK AT THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

John 16:7 sets the stage, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Some other translations put this in part:

• “It is for your benefit….”
• “it is to your advantage….”
• “It is a good thing….”
• “But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.”

No doubt, it had to be hard for the disciples to comprehend how in the world anything could be better than having the living breathing Son of God — Jesus Christ of Nazareth – the Promised Messiah — right there in their midst.

They had watched Him as He healed the sick, cast out devils, raised the dead, forgave sinners and more. What could possibly be any better than that? Nonetheless, Jesus was telling them that not only was He going, but that it was for their good or advantage that He was in fact leaving. 

How could this be, they wondered? While Jesus was here on Earth, He was limited by His fleshly body:

• He had to eat, to drink, to rest like any other man.
• He could only be in one place at any one time.
• Then too, He also had a date on a cross that He had to keep.  As a sin offering, He had to die.

While Jesus was God, He was also very human. It was that robe of flesh that limited Him.

However, the Holy Spirit would not be robed in flesh and thus it would not know such limitations.

• The Spirit would be as limitless and powerful as God Himself.
• It would not grow tried or weary.
• It would not need food to eat and water to drink.
• It could be here, there, anywhere at the same time.
• It would and could never die!

While the disciples struggled to see any possible good in the Lord’s leaving, we can clearly see the advantages that the Holy Spirit’s coming has brought to the church.

Notice now Acts 1:3-5 (Contemporary English Version), “For forty days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. While he was still with them, he said: Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Here Jesus shares some of His very last words prior to His ascending back up to heaven. Again He reminded them that He was going to send the promised Holy Spirit, but until the Spirit came, they were to merely sit-tight. To wait in the city of Jerusalem.

Let me remind you, it was just prior to this encounter that Jesus had given the disciples the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. With such a great task in view, it certainly stands to reason that they needed to get started right away. Right? Wrong. They were told to wait.

As many of you know, I am a Type A personality. As such, I hate to wait. Convenience stores were created with people like me in mind. “But Pastor, you can save money if you go to Woodmans or Wal-Mart.” I know. But if I wanted to go on a 20 mile hike, I would join the army. I want to be in and out not in two minutes, not two hours! I hate to wait.

Are you aware of the fact that if you lived on St. Paul Island in Alaska and got the urge for pizza, it would take three days for the pizza to arrive? It would be just my luck that it would be cold my then too! I hate to wait!

I understand this is a true story. A group of travelers were being forced to wait for their airplane, which was late due to another flight being canceled. The would-be passengers looked horrible and were in a surly mood.

Finally an angry customer pushed his way to the front of the line, slammed his ticket down and said, “I demand to be seated on this flight right now and I must be seated in first class”.  The flight attendant, trying to be nice said, “Sir, we will get to you as soon as possible, but until then you must wait in line like everyone else”.

“But, ma’am,” he replied, “do you have any idea who I am?” Without hesitation, she smiled, picked up her microphone and said, “We have a passenger here at the gate who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to gate 17.” I am obviously not the only person who hates to wait.

Regardless, sometimes God’s plans include some down time. When He makes us wait, though, He always has the big picture in mind. When He told His disciples to wait here in Acts 1, He was taking the necessary steps to set them up for success. Acts 1:8 says in part, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you….” He knew that having the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives would be the difference maker.

Remember, the promise of power was being directed at the very same men who:

• had fled at the first sign of danger in the Garden of Gethsemane.
• had forsaken Jesus when he was being led away to be crucified.
• had been in hiding and were afraid to show their faces.
• Then too, Peter had denied Christ three times while Thomas was filled with doubt.

And yet Jesus was going to send these very same fellows out into the world to witness to the fact of His death, burial, and resurrection. And He goes on to state that they would begin their mission in Jerusalem – the very same city where Jesus had been crucified just 40 days earlier. In the meantime, they had to wait.

Acts 1:14 then takes us through the next ten days. It says, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” In obedience to the Lord’s command, they stayed in Jerusalem.

• They stayed and prayed.
• They prayed together.
• They all prayed – women, men, everyone present prayed.

The total number of people waiting in the upper room was about 120 according to verse 15

What an excellent thing to do while one is waiting on the Lord. If you are waiting on the Lord for some specific answer, why not wait and pray at the same time? That strategy worked great here in the Book of Acts! It will yet work great today.

Please notice Acts 2:1-4 with me, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Five things concerning the coming of the Spirit stand out in this passage.

FIRST, THE TIMING

Pentecost marked the end of the spring harvest. As such, the Feast of Pentecost was one of the three great pilgrimage festivals which required Israel’s attendance at the temple. Due to this, Jerusalem was literally packed to capacity with people from all over the Roman Empire.

Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived at this time, tells us that oftentimes the city of Jerusalem which normally had a population of 150,000 would grow to well over a million during such a feast.  The writer Luke records that people were there from the north, south east and west. Or to put it another way, the writer notes that there were at least 16 different language groups present.

Also, it had been just 50 days since the crucifixion of Jesus. The event was still on people’s minds, judging from Peter’s sermon later on in this chapter.

 

THE SOURCE

The coming of the Holy Spirit was not of any human endeavor. The gift came from heaven. 

• It was God.
• It was powerful.
• It was sudden.

THE TWO SYMBOLS: WIND AND FIRE

Since the word “spirit” can also be translated “wind”, does it not make all the sense in the world that the coming of the Holy Spirit would be accompanied by a sound “like the blowing of a violent wind.” The sound definitely let everyone know that God was in the building.

But He didn’t stop with the sound of the wind. The Spirit also came with fire. While a little wind will put out a little fire, a great wind will only intensify a great fire. And, friends, this was one GREAT fire!

In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist noted, “I baptize you with water for repent-ance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

This was it – Spirit and fire combined!

Both the sound of the wind as well as the tongues as of fire symbolized the coming of the promised Holy Spirit.

 

THE RECIPIENTS

I think it is safe to say that the Spirit did not come on just a part or on just a holy sampling of the 120 gathered believers. No, the tongues like fire rested on “each” of them and they were “all” filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The New Living Translation says in part, “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit….”  That is pretty clear, isn’t it?

 

THEY ALL SPOKE IN OTHER TONGUES

Notice verse 4 once again, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Some people use the term – “unknown tongues” in reference to the languages spoken here. However, the languages spoken here were far from unknown. While those speaking did not understand what they were saying, the gathered assemblage certainly under-stood what was being said.

Acts 2:7-8, 11 continues, “Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?’” “…we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’

Listen to a portion of verse 11 from a variety of translations:

• “we all hear these men telling in our own tongue what great things God has done.”
• “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
•  “… the magnificent acts of God.”
• “… the excellencies of God.”
• “…  the triumphs of God …!”
• “… the wonders of God!”
• “we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”

Those speaking in other tongues were not talking gibberish, they were worshipping God in a way and on a dimension that they had never worshipped Him before!

Speaking of speaking in tongues, I want to note that the Bible goes on to say elsewhere:

• “They shall speak with new tongues.”
• “I would that you all spoke with tongues.”
• “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
• “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.”
• “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…”
• “Tongues, then are a sign…”

As those early disciples, I too pray in other tongues. In fact, I spent some time yesterday worshipping the Lord in my prayer language. I see tongues as:

• something good…
• something to be desired…
• something of God…
• something with a divine purpose.
• A sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Verse 12 adds, “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’”

Literally, nothing like this had EVER happened anywhere before! It was totally and completely unprecedented. The onlookers wanted to know, what on earth is happening?   

Peter, yes the same Peter who had denied the Lord three times only weeks earlier, started preaching. As he did so, he directed their attention to an Old Testament prophesy found in Joel 2. In the prophecy, Joel predicted that the Lord would visit his people; indeed, He would come and live with them. Then, as the prophet puts it, “afterward” (after this visitation) “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” Peter then announced to one and all that what they were witnessing was the fulfillment of that 800 year old prophesy. God was pouring out His promised Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:41-42 states, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Here we see the results of the coming of the Spirit  — three thousand people received Christ. And not only that, but we can see that their lives were also dramatically changed.

What a day!

• Three-thousand people believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
• Three thousand received forgiveness of their sins.
• Three thousand people went back to their homelands: to the East, West, North and South, bearing the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Later in Acts we see that the fire of Pentecost spread like a brushfire in dry grass on a windy day. It spread through the Roman Empire and Asia Minor to all nations.

Years later the Apostle Paul was to write in Colossians 1:6, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing….”

I find it interesting that the key to the success of the Apostles in the Book of Acts was the full and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit! Notice:

• “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:8).
• Stephen — “full of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:55).
• Barnabas – “full of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:24).
• “Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:9).

This strong emphasis on the baptism with the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts is by divine design.

Any faith that neglects the Spirit-baptism is incomplete and pre-Pentecost.

• Without this baptism there would have been no Book of Acts,
• no Church of Jesus Christ,
• as well as no adequate enablement for victorious living and effective Christian service.

I want to close out this message with A statement from the pen of Dr. Jerry Vines (long time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville as well as the former President of the Southern Baptist Convention). Vines said that the average Christian and the average church are somewhere bogged down between Calvary and Pentecost. They have been to Calvary for pardon, but they have not been to Pentecost for power. Bethlehem means God With Us. Calvary means God For Us. But Pentecost means God in us.

I believe that the average Christian is much like the Ephesians believers in Acts 19:2 when the Apostle Paul came to them and asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They replied that they didn’t even know that there was a Holy Spirit. Many Christians do not understand the role of the Holy Spirit and they have not appropriated the power of the Holy Spirit in their own personal life. Have you?  Have you unwrapped the precious gift of the Spirit?

 

 

 

 

 

Once again I want to deal with the seventh commandment — “You shall not commit adultery”(Exodus 20:14). This will be the final message on my series on the Ten Commandments.

FOR MY FIRST POINT TODAY, I WANT TO STRESS THAT AN AFFAIR CAUSES CHAOS
Through the years I have counseled literally thousands of people in thousands of counseling sessions. Out of all of those sessions, the one that stands out in my mind as being the most difficult and challenging was one where a husband was cheating on his wife. The wife and children attended the church I pastored. The fellow did not attend church anywhere. Anyway, he decided to tell the children that he was leaving their mother and was going to go live with another woman. He asked me if he could tell them in my office with me being present. I was to be there in case the children needed their pastor.

At the same time he broke the news, he broke their hearts. They cried. They climbed all over him like little monkeys begging him to change his mind. He would not budge. Finally, I asked the mother and children to move to another office. I then proceeded to tell that father that if I had I hurt those small children to the extent that he had hurt them, he would have killed me — and he would have been justified, in my opinion, in doing so. But then I reminded him, that I did not have it within my power to hurt those little kids in the same way nor on the same level as he had hurt them. The hurt that he inflicted would be a toothache that would not quickly heal. Nothing I said mattered. He walked out of that building into the arms of the other woman. I will never ever forget that meeting.
Adultery causes chaos.

Another one. After John found out that his wife was having an affair, he took his rifle and went out in a field across from the house from where his wife’s boyfriend lived. He then coldly waited for the other man to walk out his door. He later told me that his intent was to kill him. Fortunately for all concerned, the other man, the father of four children, did
not leave his house that night. He lived to face another day.
Adultery causes chaos.

Jim was in the Air Force. He knew and I knew that his wife was having an affair with the postman. She readily admitted the sin to me in my office. I tried everything within my power to bring the affair to an end. Frankly, I was afraid that someone was going to get shoot.

One day the airman came home from work early and unannounced. As soon as he walked in the door, he found the postman’s pouch as well as assorted articles of clothing on the kitchen floor. The trail of evidence led to the bedroom. Jim found the fellow hiding in the closet – undressed. Jim called me and wanted me to tell him what he should do. He wanted to kill the man. I told him to let the man dress and leave. I would be there in a few minutes.

Shortly the two of us were over at the other man’s house talking to him through the front door. Oddly enough, he denied everything. His wife was sick that day and had stayed home from work. She came out of her bedroom as we were talking. His denials were for her ears. Jim and I left the house and went directly to the local post office. The brother was less than two years away from retirement. After Jim and I talked to the postmaster that afternoon, the mailman was fired. The end result was, the affair did come to an end that day.

Adultery causes chaos.

While most affairs are – believe it or not — about sex; they are more about betrayal. A person who is having an adulterous affair is leading a double life.

• Did he really go out of town over the weekend due to work, or was it to meet the other woman?
• Did her car really break down causing her to be home late that night, or was she secretly meeting him?
• Were the unexplained calls on the cell phone really wrong numbers, or were they calls from some lover?

Who knows? When a person steps over the line that separates fidelity from infidelity, he or she immediately breaks trust with his or her spouse. Then too, as David in the Bible proved when he had his affair with Bathsheba, a person will resort to any means – including lying and deceit – and in David’s case, murder — to cover up an adulterous relationship.

Adultery causes chaos.

Adultery is bad. It is a violation of the Seventh Commandment. Jesus calls it a sin.

SO HOW CAN ONE KEEP FROM FALLING INTO ADULTERY?
I want to share with you seven things that if followed, will go a long ways in keeping you from giving in to sexual sin. These are not in any particular order. Nor do I give each of them the same amount of importance or space. However, when the seven guidelines are put together and observed, they do help to affair-proof one’s marriage.

1. ESTABLISH SET BOUNDARIES
I define boundaries as sensible ways to keep oneself from situations that might lead to compromise and temptation. Think of boundaries as being a fence around your marriage.

Greg Smalley of The Center for Relationship Enrichment notes, “If you want to affair proof your marriage, it’s important to draw a line and then stay a safe distance behind it. For each person the safety line will be different. Some people will not be able to take business trips or work late with a co-worker of the opposite sex. Others may not be able to meet a certain person for lunch or to work-out at the gym. Whatever the situation, determine where you need to draw the line. Since everyone makes mistakes, having room before you fall over the edge can be the difference between a compromising situation and losing your marriage.”

Dennis Rainey in familylife.com makes a similar point. He says, “Remember that nobody falls off a cliff if they’re standing 40 feet away. You need to make your marriage relation-ship such a priority that you don’t come anywhere near the edge.”

I know that I have shared some of this with you before, nonetheless, I want to go over a few of the boundaries that I have established for my own life. I repeat, these are MY boundaries. More than likely, they are not yours. Several of them may indeed not work for you. I understand that. I simply submit them to you as an example of what I mean by personal boundaries.

• I try never go out to eat alone with a member of the opposite sex. Restaurants are far more intimate than is an office. (When was the last time that you heard of inviting someone to the office for a date? No, couples go out to eat or out for coffee.) The addition of even one extra person greatly minimizes any potential for intimacy.
• I am careful about what I talk about when I am with a member of the opposite sex. For instance. I will never put down my wife when I am talking to another lady. Frankly, I try to never put down my wife period. Then along this line, I am not a sex therapist. Therefore, even in counseling sessions, I try to steer clear of intimate conversations. While I can and do deal with moral issues in my office, I refuse to get into sex therapy issues. I prefer to refer.
• I avoid being alone in a car with a woman other than my wife or my daughters.  The close physical proximity and inability to leave one another creates a perfect environment for mischief. One of the worse affairs that I ever had to deal with as a pastor involved an older gentleman and a younger lady who rode together to church by themselves on Sunday nights. They were usually late returning home, and, believe me when I say, it was not due to the church services running long.
• I do not do something for another lady that I would not do for my wife. I enjoy telling this story. A number of years ago a fellow tried to help my mother-in-law on with her coat. The fellow was known for his reputation with the ladies. She stopped him immediately. She said something to the effect that: “When you start helping your wife with her coat, then you can start helping me with mine.”

Okay, I just gave you several of my own personal boundaries. What are some of the boundaries that you have in place to protect you; to protect your marriage?

2. WORK AT YOUR MARRIAGE
I will let this video clip explain what I mean.

http://seeds.churchonthemove.com/drama/the-ultimate-marriage

Okay, what’s the secret to the ultimate marriage? WORK!

3. NEVER ASSUME YOU’VE HOME FREE
An older marriage counselor was asked, “What is the most difficult year of marriage?” How would you answer that question?

• Is it the first year?
• Is it the year the children come along?
• Is it the infamous seven-year itch?
• The counselor did not give any of those stock answers. Rather he said, “The most difficult year is always the current year.” I think there is a lot of truth to that. The point is, any relationship is always at risk.

I have here a news piece from The Telegraph in London. The dateline was Wednesday, January 18, 2012. The headline: 99-year-old divorces wife after he discovered 1940s affair.

An Italian couple is to become the world’s oldest divorcees, after the 99-year-old husband found that his 96-year-old wife had an affair in the 1940s.

The man was rifling through an old chest of drawers when he made the discovery a few days before Christmas. Notwithstanding the time that had elapsed since the betrayal, he was so upset that he immediately confronted his wife of 77 years and demanded a divorce. Guilt-stricken, she reportedly confessed everything but was unable to persuade her husband to reconsider his decision. She wrote the letters to her lover during a secret affair in the 1940s, according to court papers released in Rome this week.

They have five children, a dozen grandchildren and one great-grand child.

Julie Ferwerda, who herself suffered a near lapse into adultery, wrote in a piece entitled, “Infidelity in Marriage”, My experience taught me that no matter how sincere our faith or how pure our intentions, an affair can happen to any of us. None of us will ever reach a level of spiritual maturity where we can relax and trust our flesh. Scripture warns us that “the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41) and that Satan lies in wait to trip us up (1 Peter 5:8). If King David, the “man after [God's] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), fell into adultery, can we consider ourselves immune to the temptation?

I agree. To say, “It could absolutely never happen to me”, is a little arrogant. I think
we’re all capable of sin.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:12 (The Message), “Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.”

4. MAKE YOUR REMARRIAGE FUN
Albert Stauderman tells of a young business woman who was approached by a real estate agent who wanted to sell her a home. “A home?” she says. “I was born in a hospital, educated in a boarding school, courted in a car, married in church. We eat in restaurants, spend our mornings playing golf, and spend our afternoons playing bridge at the club. Evenings we go to movies, and when I die I’m going to be buried from a funeral home. I don’t need a home; all I need is a garage!”

I really do not know where the lady was coming from. Maybe she was just trying to be funny. Then again, maybe, she was venting some frustration at a life that had become just a long, tedious string of events; a never ending carousel ride on the merry-go-round called monotony. A marriage that had gotten stuck on “autopilot or cruise control.”

While I do not mean to be negative, I have come to the conclusion that many if not most couples today do not find marriage fun or exciting.

• They don’t spend money on their marriage.
• They have stopped building memories between just the two of them.
• Many marriage partners no longer even engage in conversation.

They are consumed with making it through the day, to the end of the month, all the while hoping for something better next year.

Gary J. Oliver, Ph.D, Executive Director of The Center for Relationship Enrichment and Professor of Psychology and Practical Theology at John Brown University, has pointed out that sexual temptation increases as the satisfaction in the relationship decreases. In other words, the lower the relational happiness the greater the temptation to medicate through some kind of addictive behavior (e.g., sex, alcohol, work, etc.).

Proverbs 5:17-19 (Contemporary English Version) fits here. The wise Solomon wrote, “Save yourself for your wife and don’t have sex with other women. Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. She is beautiful and graceful, just like
a deer; you should be attracted to her and stay deeply in love.”

I want to touch on two words that are found in this text. The first word is “happy.” The word conveys the idea of pleasure, of spontaneous emotion or extreme happiness. The husband is to be happy, to feel like singing and dancing at the thought of his wife.

The second term, “stay deeply in love” is translated “ravished” in the King James version. Again, the writer is talking about being “intoxicated” with your wife. Enjoy her. Take delight in her. Drink deeply of her love.

Such delight in a marriage does not just happen. It takes effort. Due diligence. Therefore, I want to urge you to do something thoughtful for your spouse every single day. This could be a love note, a phone call, or a gracious compliment. What does your spouse enjoy doing? Make it a point to do that together at times.

• Go to a concert.
• Take a hike.
• Go to a mall and then out to eat.
• Go golfing.
• Watch an old movie together.
• Have a date night.

Ask yourself – what did you enjoy doing as a couple back when you were dating. If possible, do it again. Have fun.

Dave Carder, in his book entitled Close Calls: What Adulterers Want You To Know About Protecting Your Marriage, wrote, In order to have time for yourselves, you have to steal it from your children. Yes, you read that right! Children are born narcissistic and egocentric, and they will take all the time, all the energy, all the money you have and still not be satisfied. You can only build a personal relationship between the two of you when you are alone with each other. Having fun together will help prevent the close call of finding fun with someone else!

5. GET REAL
Please notice, Proverbs 2:16-19 from The New Living Translation: “Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the adulterous woman. She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God. Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to hell. The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.”

Proverbs 7:13-19 adds, “She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said…. I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.” The passage warns against the seductress who goes after her prey with stolen kisses and touches. Certainly, the passages pertain both to the male and well as a female.

I clipped this from a question/answer column in Redbook by Dr. John Gray, the author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus:

The question: My husband and I have been married 10 years. We’re very close to five other couples, spending weekends and vacations together. On one of these trips I got into a fight with my husband and stalked off. Harry, the husband of a close friend, followed to console me. He gave me a little kiss — and sparks flew. He’s called me a few times since, but I keep avoiding his hints that he come over. That kiss made me feel like a teenager — yet I’m happily married! Why am I so confused?

Answer: This guy is a friend — but to whom? Not to you. He caught you in a moment of intense vulnerability, and now he thinks he can cash in on it. And if he thinks a fling with one of his wife’s closest friends won’t hurt her, he’s as arrogant as he is insensitive. He’s also no friend to your husband. He broke a cardinal… rule: Never pursue another man’s wife.

Tell him thanks but no thanks. Then ask yourself whether you were stirred by that kiss because you felt disconnected from your husband. If the answer is yes, make reestablishing the connection a priority. This could require joint counseling, which may bring up resentments and hurts on both sides. But once you break through these emotional blocks, you may rediscover why you fell in love with him.

Earlier in this message, I mentioned a lady by the name of Julie. She wrote an article in Discipleship Journal about a time she almost had an adulterous affair. She wrote, “Then I met a man — a gorgeous, smooth, successful man, while on vacation. He pursued me with the most romantic words and behaviors a woman could stand without melting. It was just like Hollywood.

Suddenly it dawned on me: The attention he was giving me wasn’t about me. It was about sex and lust and greed. I wasn’t special to him: I was just another potential con-quest. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, using attention and flattery to get what he wanted from me. The Apostle Paul described similar men in Romans 16:18: “For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

Hey, doesn’t that sound a whole lot like what I just read a moment ago from the book of Proverbs?

Again, get real. The quick thrill isn’t worth the cost.

Before I move to my next point, I want to share a piece from Jim Bakker’s book, I Was Wrong. Baker at one time headed the largest Christian television network in America. He also ran a Christian resort center. Then he had an affair. Baker wrote: I knew that what I was doing went directly against everything I believed as a Christian. I had never cheated on my wife in all our years of marriage. Jessica Hahn, however, seemed quite comfortable with the situation. I simply abandoned myself to the moment. We did not make love; we had sex. When it was over, I quickly left the room, and in a daze, hurried to the elevator and pressed the button marking the eighth floor. The winter afternoon sun was already beginning to slide down on the horizon as I stepped inside my room. I was horrified. Oh, God! What have I done? I had not considered the consequences of my absurd attempt to make Tammy Faye jealous. I had not even paused to think of the potential ramifications of my actions while I was giving in to the temptation of having sex with a woman other than my wife. I had simply reacted. I had opened the door to attack on the ministry I headed, my family, and me personally. Worse yet, the devil had not made me do any of it; I had done it of my own stubborn will. I disrobed and immediately stepped into the shower, turning the water on as hot as I could stand it. I never felt so dirty in all my life. Maybe if I make the water hotter, it will wash it all away, I thought.

6. KEEP YOUR HEART AND MIND PURE
Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -think about such things.”

In Matthew 15:17-19 Jesus adds, “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.” Jesus here lists adultery as being symptomatic of an evil heart. In fact he puts the sin in the same company as “murder, slander, theft, and false testimony.”

Is it any wonder therefore that Job listed as one of his boundaries, Job 31:1, “But I made an agreement with my eyes not to look with desire at a girl.” I will read the passage again from two additional translations:

• “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.”
• “I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes.”

Would you be willing to make a similar pact?

Saints, it is important that we watch what we watch, that we listen to what we listen to, and that we think about what we think about. We should not allow anything in our lives that would pollute our affections and our thoughts.

Why is this point so important? The answer to that question can be found in Ephesians 4:27 which warns us, “…do not give the devil a foothold.” The word translated foothold here refers to ground or space. One commentator says that the phrase actually refers to giving the devil “no leeway… no room to move.”

Any time we allow the evil one any place in our lives, regardless of how big or how small, we can fully expect that that area will be exploited by the devil. Just a little ground:

• One little lie,
• An illicit peek,
• One overnight stand,
• One forbidden kiss…
• One – Satan is always happy with just one!

Why is the devil happy with just one? Because he knows that if he is patient, one will oft-
times lead to two, then to three…. However, the downward slide can be traced back to that initial act of allowing Satan a foothold or opportunity in the life.

The key is resist the devil! Period! Don’t even let him get his foot in the door. Ephesians 5:3 therefore states, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” If you will watch the beginnings, the endings will take care of themselves.

7. ADULTERY IS A SIN AGAINST GOD
After King David had been rebuked by the Lord due to his affair with Bathsheba, he confessed,“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). When Joseph of the Old Testament refused to be seduced by Potiphar’s wife, he said, “How … could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

Why is adultery a sin against God, you ask? It is a direct attack on His established order of things:

• Adultery is an attack on true marital love.
• Adultery is an attack on the husband and wife.
• Adultery is an attack on the children of the marriage.
• Adultery is an attack on society.
• Adultery is an attack on the church.
• Adultery is an attack on the purity of marital sex.
• Adultery is an attack on the Ten Commandments
• Adultery is an attack on conscience.
• Adultery is an attack on reputation.
• Adultery is an attack on innocence.
• Adultery is an attack on the body.
• Adultery is an attack on everything that is holy.

Then too, adultery could result in an unplanned pregnancy and the creation of an eternal soul outside of the safe confines of the home.
If is therefore no wonder that the Lord warns “God will judge those who commit sexual sins, especially those who commit adultery” Hebrews 13:4 (God’s Word translation).

HAVE YOU COMMITTED ADULTERY? Are you guilty of some sexual sin?

• The Bible lets us know that God forgave David of his great sin.
• Jesus likewise forgave a woman in the Gospels who had been caught in the very act of adultery.
• He granted His love and grace to a woman at a Samaritan well in John 4. She had had four husbands and was at the time that Jesus talked to her, living with a fellow aside from marriage.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 gives a list of sins – including adultery. The people of Corinth were guilty of each of the vices listed, yes including a number of sexual sins. It is in this context that we come to verse 11 which says in The Living Bible, “There was a time when some of you were just like that but now your sins are washed away, and you are set apart for God; and He has accepted you because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.”

Friends, again and again the Bible shows us that there is forgiveness of sins – even the sin of adultery – in Jesus.

I WANT TO CLOSE WITH THIS. True story. One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her. The truck was uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck drove.
Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman then turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase.

Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and
bolted out of her auto screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden between the front and the back seats.

The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist in the woman’s car. The driver did not intend to harm the lady, rather he wanted to save her even at the cost of his own safety.

In like fashion, many people run from God’s commands yes, even the Seventh Command on adultery. Little do they realize, though, that they are running from the wrong thing.

• His Word is not meant to harm, but to protect.
• His commands are not given in spite, they are given in love.

The Lord truly knows what is best for us, and as such, He tells us, “Do not commit adultery.” No, not now; not ever.