Sunday Worship - August 22, 2021

our call to worship is taken from psalm 8 oh lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established strength because of your foes to steal the enemy and the avenger when i look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor you have given him dominion over the works of your hands you have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen and all the beasts of the field the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea whatever passes along the paths of the seas oh lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth oh lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth thank you lord let's just lift our hands knowing god this awesome god this majestic god this great god he's a healer he's a keeper he's a provider thank you god you are a waymaker so i could live in the freedom you died for and now my life is yours and i will think of your goodness [Music] you deserve the praise worthy is your name worthy is your name jesus [Music] you deserve the praise worthy is your name [Music] and now my shame is gone i stand amazed in your [Music] your grace goes on and [Music] of your on forever worthy is your name jesus you deserve the praise [Music] jesus you deserve the praise [Music] [Music] the is worthy is your name be exalted now with the heavens as your glory fills this place you will all deserve our praise you're the name of our name be a torture now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you will all deserve our praise you're the name of all names be exalted now with the heavens as your glory fills this place [Music] [Music] will [Music] [Music] so worthy is your name jesus is [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] you deserve the praise [Music] jesus you deserve the praise [Music] [Music] your name [Music] jehovah is your name jehovah is your name jehovah is [Music] [Music] jehovah is your name [Music] jehovah is your name is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] your name [Music] jehovah is your name jehovah is your name [Music] jehovah is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] your name [Music] let us [Music] let us [Music] oh come let us [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] thank you [Music] i come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses the voice i hear falling on my ear the sun of god disclosed and he walks with me and he talks with [Music] is [Music] he speaks [Music] is [Music] that he gave to me within my heart is ringing and he walks with me and he talks with me [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] his voice to me and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me i another [Music] with me [Music] [Music] [Music] he talks with me and he tells me i am [Music] [Music] and the joy [Music] [Applause] every [Music] we share as we did [Music] thank you [Music] so [Music] and the joy we share [Music] has ever known could we just lift our hands and worship the lord hallelujah hallelujah thank you jesus such an awesome presence [Music] hallelujah hallelujah just wonderful words of comfort for us in a time like this hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah indeed we have come to that time within our gathering where we go before the lord and truly when we go before the lord we should feel this great privilege to speak to him to be able to cast our burdens and our cures before him but also to understand that the god who we pray to is alive and well and is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we are able to ask or think so as i pray i encourage us also to pray amen let's lift our voices our lord our savior our god and king we call you so many names you have so many titles but lord jesus you are still the same yesterday today and forevermore you never diminish lord god in stature in power or in fervency lord our abundance of words do not necessarily lift you up or bring you down because by yourself you exist you need nothing lord god to exist upon but god we do you are the source of our strength you are the strength of our life and today as we come before you we acknowledge you as lord and king as savior as friend as the creator of the ends of the universe lord we need you there's no other way to put it we need you in a time like this there is so much going on in our personal lives there's so much so much happening oh god in our country and in our world and we recognize how overwhelming it is for some of us god financially we are challenged lord emotionally lord we are bearing so many burdens that god we can't cope mentally lord we are confused some of us we have lost loved ones they are they are persons in our lives that are not well god we are looking to you as the psalmist says we lift our eyes to the hills from whence commit our help our help is in the lord the maker of heaven and earth god we are praying to you this morning with the understanding that our help comes from the lord we have often times heard this time and time and time again but today as we beseech you o god we pray that our help our rock our refuge and strength will come through in this very moment in this very season that we're in lord jesus we ask of you to have mercy upon those of us who find ourselves challenged spiritually by our own so-called demons and proclivities we pray that god as we hear your word we will trust your word and so we will walk in your world so that we may present ourselves before you humbly so that you can wash us and cleanse us and set us on the right path if we have strayed we ask heavenly father that you would deliver us god those of us who find ourselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place the circumstances of life may be so great that god we are on our backs today but as we look up to you from our backs we see the great king of kings and the lord of lords and we say father have mercy upon us like the blind by timos we are crying oh jesus though son of david have mercy upon us [Music] we look to the great physician in our illness in our ailments to heal our bodies to heal us whatever elements whatever sickness whether it be cancerous or otherwise whatever virus we may have whatever pains heavenly father we cry out to you knowing that you are the great physician knowing god that even doctors have given up on us friends like god have stopped praying for us but god we cry out to you in our state right now besieging the god of heaven and earth to touch our bodies we ask of you heavenly father to intervene in the situations of our country you see what's happening in our small island we've beseeched you before but god we do it again because we have no one to complain to we have no other person who will listen to our complaints you are ready waiting to hear us but not only to hear us but to respond to our requests and so as we are told in your world to cast what cares upon you we do so this morning the burdens of lord jesus this country are great the murders lord jesus lord the killing so many persons have lost their lives the accidents on the road mighty god persons through like god this pandemic affected god are losing their lives god we ask that you would have mercy upon us lord lord you see heavenly father that challenges god and we say to you make a way of escape as you have done so many times before [Music] your people have to survive in this country your people have to survive in this world and so god we pray show favor upon this country so that your people who live in this country can oh god benefit we pray heavenly father for our neighbors who have suffered loss who are hurting we pray that you would intervene in their situation as we come before you this morning one more time together to worship we pray that god the atmosphere within our homes within our spaces will be filled by your holy spirit though we are not together physically as we would want to be your hand is not shortened to reach us your ear lord god is not heavy to hear the shouts of praise is god and so we pray that every home will be filled by your presence as we lift our voices in worship to you mighty god we pray that your spirit will touch every soul almighty god as they cry out our father as they cry out hallelujah thank you jesus as they sing the songs lord we pray that god like paul and silas within that jail their home will shake with your presence and they will fill you in a mighty way god they will feel your loving arms wrapping around them they will feel like god your spirit descending upon them god they will hear the still small voice speaking into their ears and into their situation as they lift their hands this morning because god you are such a personal god and you understand what each and every one of us need in this moment and so we pray that you will grant us this request we pray that lord jesus as your word goes forth this morning that your servant will speak with clarity and understanding that the words as they go forth to the hearers lord that you will prepare the hearts before the words even reach their ears we pray that god every plan of the adversary to confuse and to disrupt will be put tonight this morning we know lord jesus the adversary does not want lord god your word to go forth and reach your people but lord we pray you will lift up a standard and remove every destruction and every plan lord god so that your word can reach your people and guide them and instruct them this morning lord jesus [Music] we know that you have something in store for us this morning because god you have awakened us up you have allowed us to arise from our slumber and it is for a purpose and we pray that your purpose will be accomplished in this service this morning hallelujah god we lift our hands even now and tell you thanks with the understanding that you have heard us about father you have heard your children near and far across this island and across this world that's tuned in and we say thank you lord thank you jesus for what you like god have prepared for your people this morning we give you the glory the honor and the praise in jesus name let's all just lift our hands and say in jesus name in jesus name hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you [Music] [Music] the scripture reading this morning comes to us from ezekiel 37 verse 1 to 14 and ephesians 2 verse 1 to 10 the new living translation and it reads as thus the lord took hold of me and i was carried away by the spirit of the lord to a valley filled with bones he led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor they were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out then he asked me son of man can these bones become living people again oh sovereign lord i replied you alone know the answer to that then he said to me speak a prophetic message to these bones and say dry bones listen to the word of the lord this is what the sovereign lord says look i am going to put breath into you and make you live again i will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin i will put breath into you and you will come to life then you will know that i am the lord so i spoke this message just as he told me suddenly as i spoke there was a rattling noise all across the valley the bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons then as i watched muscles and flesh formed over the bones then skin formed to cover their bodies and but they still had no breath in them then he said to me speak a prophetic message to the winds son of man speak a prophetic message and say this is what the sovereign lord says come o breath from the four winds breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again so i spoke the message as he commanded me and breath came into their bodies they all came to life and stood upon their feet a great army then he said to me son of man these bones represent the people of israel they are saying we have become old dry bones all hope is gone our nation is finished therefore prophesy to them and say this is what the sovereign lord says o my people i will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again then i will bring you back to the land of israel when this happens o my people you will know that i am the lord i will put my spirit in you and you will live again and return home to your own land then you will know that i the lord have spoken and have done what i said yes the lord has spoken and i'm reading now from ephesians 2 1-10 it says once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world obeying the devil the command of the powers in the unseen world he is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey god all of us used to live that way following the passionate desires and inclu inclinations of our sinful nature by our very nature we were subject to god's anger just like everyone else but god is so rich in mercy and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins he gave us life when raise the christ from the dead it is only by god's grace that you have been saved for he raised us from the dead among with christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with christ jesus so god can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness towards us as shown in all he has done for us who are united with christ jesus god saved you by his grace when you believed and you can take credit for this it is a gift from god salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done so none of us can boast about it for we are god's masterpiece he has created us anew in christ jesus as we can do the good things he planned for us long ago this is the word of the lord [Music] so [Music] hallelujah [Music] thank you jesus [Music] grace and peace be multiplied unto you from god our father and even our lord jesus christ this morning i want to welcome every single person that's tuning in this morning on behalf of our pastor pastor john mark bartlett and lady alicia bartlett welcome to our service this morning amen we are glad you're tuning in i know you're not used to this you want to be out and about greeting and just sharing with your brothers and sisters but you know we have to abide by the guidelines and so here we are with you this morning we ask that all our visitors who are tuning in this morning we want to say to you please continue to be with us and share with us we are grateful that you tune in this morning and we look forward to seeing you maybe sometime in the future when we are able to meet as our entire grace family to our greatest family members we want to welcome you we're glad you're able to tune in with us whether you're at home or maybe you're at work still in a few minutes or hopefully not stealing too much but it's your lunch time or your break time we're glad you're tuning in if you're overseas we welcome you god bless you and thank you for tuning in this morning we just want to share a few announcements with you as you know on wednesday at 7 30 p.m we have our evening time prayer where we come and share and pray together amen we want you to make an effort to pray along with us on thursday we have our bible study we've been hearing from the lord our pastor has been sharing the word with us and it's a wonderful time you have your bible you have your notebook and we dive into the word of god and that premieres on thursday evening at 7 30 p.m next sunday we are here once again worshiping the lord and we look forward to seeing you tune in with us amen tell a friend tell somebody get on board log in you know we really want to continue this atmosphere of worship and praise and just fellowship even though we're unable to meet as we normally do amen we continue our daily bible reading in i well we will be at proverbs 24 1-10 in our daily bible reading as you know we are in the book of proverbs lessons for living and it's been very instructive for me i hope it's been for you if you haven't jumped on us yet there's still time amen you can start today proverbs 24 1-10 we want to thank in the same breath we want to thank everyone for supporting us we know it's challenging times and you know we've been praying that the lord will just do something to help us all out but we really want to thank all our brothers and sisters and those who are you know friends from overseas for just giving and sharing what god has blessed you with we have been blessed over the past year and a half by your gift of love and kind and so we pray that the lord will continue to inspire you to give to the lord amen and there are several ways or a couple ways to give it's going to be popping up on the screen you can see and you know whether it's our bank account ncb account or maybe our paypal account through our website you can choose your method of giving and for those of our members you want to stop by you know we understand you know you probably can't use you know the mediums that being advertised or bank account transfer or or paypal account you can stop by during the work hours we'll be open this week wednesday to friday we won't be open monday and tuesday will be open wednesday to friday you can come 9 30 a.m to 3 30 p.m and stop by amen we want to just acknowledge a few persons we don't get all the names but we just want to acknowledge a few persons by celebrating their birthday this week or last week uh sister tasha cool celebrated her birthday on friday august 20th brother lenroy griffiths will be celebrating his birthday on august 27th and if you are out there and you are celebrating a birthday this week or you had a birthday last week happy birthday to you if you had an anniversary wedding anniversary happy anniversary to you amen and we hope you will continue to enjoy the blessings of the lord amen please continue to like share and tune into our social media account for any more announcements or any changes to our services god bless you and have a great week [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] i would love to tell you what i think of jesus since i found in him a friend so kind and true i would tell you how he changed my life completely [Music] he did something no other friend could do no one ever cared for me [Music] like jesus there's no other friends so kind as he [Music] no one else could take my sins and darkness from me [Music] oh how much he cares for me oh my life was full of sin when jesus found me all my heart was full of misery and woe jesus placed his strong and loving arms about me and he led me in the way i ought to pose no one ever cared for me like jesus [Music] there's no other friend so kind as he no one else could take my sin and darkness from me [Music] oh how much he cares for me every day he comes to me with new assurance [Music] [Applause] more and more i understand his word of love but i'll never know just why he came to save me [Music] till someday i see his blessed face above [Music] no one ever cared for me like my sweet jesus [Music] oh there's no other friend so kind as he [Music] no one else could take my sins in darkness from me oh how much he cares [Music] cared for me like jesus there's no other friend as kind as he's [Music] could take my sin and darkness from me [Music] oh how much he cares for me oh how he loves you and me oh how he loves you and me he gave his life what more could he give oh how he loves you and me oh how he loves you and me oh how he loves me [Music] oh he gave his life what more could he give oh [Music] [Music] he gave his life what more could he give oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i think we should just slip our hands up wherever we are and let's just worship this god who loves us so much [Music] [Music] [Music] it just seems like this sunday's a sunday for just simple songs beautiful songs that we have known over the years that have been just so precious to us [Music] wonderful presence of the lord without any fun fear without any noise without any great excitement but we feel so deeply moved on the inside amen we have been just looking at the word of the lord and we will do so again this morning please turn with me to romans chapter 4 we will be reading verses 1 to 5 from the new english translation our subject is still by faith alone what then shall we say that abraham or ancestor according to the flesh has discovered regarding this matter for if abraham was declared righteous by works he has something to boast about but not before god for what does the scripture say abraham believed god and it was credited to him as righteousness now to the one who works his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation but to the one who does not work but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous his faith is credited as righteousness we are working with this sub-theme this morning belief that saves belief that saves let's pray our god and our father we stand in your awesome presence just feeling your touch upon our lives knowing lord that all we are and that all we have is because of you we we do not worship a god who is not personal you are so real you are so intimate you are so close to us we thank you for the way that you love us with that love that has the ability to look beyond our fault and see our need now we ask for your help lord as we stand to declare your word in the name of jesus christ our lord and our savior amen we have been examining this text for four sundays and today it is our focus again indeed it may be our focus for a few sundays yet may i just say brothers and sisters that romans chapter 4 is the definitive text of the entire new testament indeed i would say of the entire bible on the subject of justification and salvation nowhere in the bible is it more clearly stated as to how a sinner can come into right standing in the presence of a holy god and romans chapter 4 should really be one of the chapters that we read and study over and over again it is just a chapter that is so vital to our understanding of the salvation that we possess we have been saying that in romans chapter 4 the apostle paul explains justification by faith apart from works and he uses the patriarch abraham as his primary example of how god justifies sinners or declares them righteous or saves them essentially in this chapter paul is arguing that abraham abraham is god's template of our sin i said he's the template why is paul so interested in abraham because abraham is the father of the faithful he is salvation's prototype as we have been saying in other words if paul can establish how abraham was justified or declared righteous are saved then he has the blueprint in respect of everyone's salvation well how was abraham saved what does this scripture say what i say isn't very important what you say or think is not very important what does the scripture say we are told in verse 3 that the prototype abraham believed god and it was credited to him as righteousness that is what the scripture says it his faith his belief in god was credited to him as righteousness paul of course is quoting from genesis 15 6 this quotation is one of the clearest statements in the entire bible about how a person is justified before god a very clear statement on ambiguous very clear incondescently clear abraham believed god and his belief or faith was the basis upon which he was justified or declared righteous or saved because abraham is the father of the faithful because he is salvation's prototype because he's god's template of how a sinner is saved every sinner who is justified or declared righteous or saved is justified or declared righteous are saved in the exact same way that abraham was by believing god and i make bold to say brothers and sisters if that is not how we were saved then we are not saved abraham believed god that is all he did in order to be justified or declared righteous or saved and because he's the father of the faithful because he's salvation's prototype because he's god's template of our sinner is saved believing god is all that any person has to do in order to be justified or declared righteous or saved because abraham is the father of the faithful it was abraham's belief or his faith in god which was credited or reckoned to him as righteousness abraham was justified or declared righteous or saved by faith alone apart from works we have said that abraham is the father of the faithful we have said that he is salvation's prototype we have said that he is god's template of our sinner is saved but what does the scripture say does this scripture agree with our statement because if the scripture does not support what we have said then what we have said holds no water let's consider two passages of scripture that speak expressly concerning this very matter both passages reflect the rendering of the new living translation first one we will consider is romans chapter 4 verses 11 to 12 and verses 16-17 romans chapter 4 11-12 and 16-17 circumcision was a sign that abraham already had faith circumcision was not what caused abraham to have faith circumcision proved that abraham already had faith and that god had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous even before he was circumcised so abraham is this spiritual father there it is of those who have faith but have not been circumcised they are counted righteous because of their faith not because of their circumcision not because of anything else and abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised but only if notice that only if they have this same kind of faith abraham had before he was circumcised so the promised verse 16 is received by faith it is given as a free gift no er god zomai no toiling no sweating no perspiring no frothing it is given as a free gift and we are all certain to receive it whether or not we live according to the law of moses if if we have faith like abraham's if we have faith like abraham's for abraham is the father of all who believe here it is again that is what the scripture means when god told him i have made you the father of many nations this happened because abraham believed in the god who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing that is the only way that a person can be saved when god brings the dead back to life we were dead in trespasses and sins not sick not severely ill but dead and the only way a dead person can be saved is if they are brought back to life this is how persons are saved notice that paul says he creates new things out of nothing that is what god had to do when he saved us just like how he called the world into existence out of nothing he called us from our dead state from our nothingness he made something beautiful of our lives without our help at all the second scripture we will look at is galatians 3 5-9 i ask you again does god give you the holy spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of course not it is because you believe the message you heard about christ in the same way abraham believed god and god counted him as righteous because of his faith the real children of abraham then are those who put their faith in god the real children of abraham the real children of abram are those who put their faith in god are you a real child of abraham am i a real child of abraham what's more the scripture look forward to this time when god would make the gentiles right in his sight because of their faith god proclaimed this good news to abram long ago when he said all nations will be blessed through you you cannot go outside of abraham and receive the blessing of salvation it is through abraham salvation is through abraham were you saved like abraham so all who put their faith in christ share the same blessing abraham received because of his faith i said to us last week that this matter of dispensationalism can be such a horrible thing it can be such a deceptive thing because we think that god saves persons in different ways in different dispensations and we argue about who was not baptized because um they were living in a different dispensation and who didn't speak in tongues because they were living in a different dispensation well if abraham was living in a different dispensation than we are living in now why would paul mention abraham why would he mention abraham's experience and tell us that we are saved in the same way as abraham why would he bring abraham out of this so-called dispensation of human government into the so-called dispensation of grace and make him relevant to us since the two dispensations are not relevant to each other he uses abraham as we have been saying because he is the father of the faithful he is a prototype he's a template paul is not concerned about dispensationalism i'm sorry for you you strict dispensationalist paul is going outside of your neat little framework and he's pulling abraham outside of your dispensation of human government and bringing him into the dispensation that we are living in now and he's telling us by that that all persons have to be saved the way abraham was saved by simply believing god a friend of mine called me after the message last week and he reminded me of a very popular song that many of us learned in sunday school if i could sing i would sing it for you father abraham has many sons and many sons as father abraham and i am one of them and so are you so let's just praise the lord right hand are you really one of abraham's sons am i how can we be sure let us read romans 4 16 again so the promise is received by faith it is given as a free gift did you receive salvation as a free gift did i receive it as a free gift or did i have to toil energetically and frantically for it at an altar and we are all certain to receive it whether or not we live according to the law of moses if we have faith like abraham's for abraham is the father of all who believe what did abraham have to do other than merely believe what work did he have to perform let us read again galatians 3 7 and 9 the real children of abraham then are those who put their faith in god so all who put their faith in christ share this same blessing abraham received because of his faith father abraham has many sons many sons as father abraham and i am one of them and so are you are you sure are we sure were we justified or declared righteous or saved like abraham by simply believing were we saved by faith alone apart from works if not i'm not so sure we are one of them this is serious business brothers and sisters this is very serious business did we even hear the gospel do we know what the gospel is do you think the gospel is acts 2 38 so what were the first 37 verses of acts chapter 2 about what was peter's message was that the gospel brothers and sisters there is and has always been only one plan of salvation only one way for sinners to be saved only one way every person who has been ever justified or declared righteous or saved either in the old testament era or in the new testament era has been justified or declared righteous are saved in the same manner by placing their faith in jesus christ they believed god and their belief our faith was the basis upon which they were justified or declared righteous before god are saved now i need to say very importantly that faith is not a meritorious act in and of itself it is not that our faith is what earned the salvation it could not be for ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 says for by grace you are saved through faith and this is not from yourselves this faith is not from yourselves it is the gift of god those who lived in the old testament era were saved by believing or placing their faith in a coming christ we have been saying that those who live in the new testament era are saved by believing or placing their faith in a christ who has come if you want to be saved this is what you must do place your faith in a christ who has come believe in the son of god who has come last week we put the altar under the microscope and i just want to say again that it was very painful for me to do this um i did not derive any pleasure from speaking as i did i was not i was not mocking anybody because as i said last week i was one who upheld the system i was one who reinforced the system i was one who who added to the the the works-based system of salvation so i am not proud but yes we did put the altar under the microscope and we could have said a lot more we could have said a lot more given a lot more details we could have spoken about people who have been injured in the altar trying to receive the holy spirit let me ask us this question why does a person need the assistance of an alter worker an altar worker to receive salvation when ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9 informs us that for my grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god why do i need an altar worker to help me to receive a gift not of works not of works lest any man should boast why do we need help from a worker to our godzilla with us why do persons need to toil energetically diligently and frantically to receive a salvation that is described as the gift of god brothers and sisters do we not see how inconsistent this is with the word with romans chapter four does not all this make a mockery of the finnish work of calvary what did jesus mean when he cried it is finished tata last day it is completed it is done and here we are still working for it i brethren understand that most of what i'm saying well a lot of what i'm saying is painful to a lot of you i know it disturbs you i know it causes you some amount of mental anguish because we have believed something to be true for so long which is erroneous and uh brethren let me just be frank with you i'm not really so much concerned about your love of fear with a system of operations as i am about the veracity the truth of the word of god tell me that what i am saying is erroneous don't tell me don't ask me what i believe still believe this order that's not important what is important is whether what i am saying can be confirmed by the scriptures what does this scripture say that is what is important um that's how i look at it brothers and sisters what i used to believe and when when this work was started i did not know that we would be at this place now i did not know that i would be at this place now i'm just being very vulnerable with you we certainly had some doctrinal differences with the place that we have left from but i didn't know that i would be here now and i am here no not because i want to be here i am here because the word of god has led me here and you know that it has cost me and cost a lot of us to be where we are right now and it will still cost us yet more but that is not what is important to me what is important to me is to make sure that i please god and if i were pleasing men i could not be the servant of christ what does titus chapter 3 verses 3 to 7 tell us let's read that and we are reading now from the king james version for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another but after the kindness and love of god our savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done this is so clear this is not a passage brothers and sisters that should leave us with any doubt as to what paul intends to say or what he means not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost which he shed on us abundantly through jesus christ our savior look at that he shed the holy spirit upon us abundantly through jesus christ our savior so why the fighting why deterring he shed it on us abundantly that being justified verse 7 by his grace we should be ears according to the hope of eternal life verse 8 is very instructive this is a faithful saying and these things i will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed past tense they which have believed in god might be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men good works are not what earned the salvation no work no matter how good it was could earn a salvation but our salvation will inevitably if it is genuine produce good works it is those who have believed in god that must be careful to maintain good works not those who want to believe are those who are presently believing it is those who have believed meaning to say it is those who have already been saved that will prove that they are saved by the works that the holy spirit does through them and we will deal with the whole matter of what james wrote about persons justified by their works we are going to deal with that you know we are not afraid to deal with the difficult scriptures paul and james are not at odds they are looking at salvation from two different perspectives they are looking at the whole matter of justification from two different perspectives paul is looking at it from a a justification that saves james is looking at it for a justification that proves that one is saved they are not at odds but we'll deal with that because you know some persons have a difficulty with that we have said that abraham was justified or declared righteous or saved by believing god we have said that we have also said that since he is the father of the faithful since his salvations prototype and template then believing god is all that is necessary for any human being to be justified or declared righteous or saved but what does the scripture say am i just imagining things what does the scripture say we will now turn our attention to 18 passages of scripture from the gospel according to john and the acts of the apostles just those two books alone which deal directly with the matter of belief but before we consider the passages of scripture let me provide you with data which you may find interesting in the king james version of the bible words that are associated with baptism such as baptism baptized baptized and baptized occur 94 times in the new testament 94 times 27 of those occurrences are in the book of acts 27 words associated with believing such as belief believe believeth and believed occurred [Music] 260 times in the new testament 41 of those occurrences are in the book of acts so words associated with believing occur 166 more times or more than twice more than words associated with baptism now brothers and sisters i'm not saying that you must build a monument on those statistics all i'm saying is that we cannot ignore them let's look at john chapter 1 verses 10 to 13. he speaking of jesus was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not he came unto his own and his own received him not but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of god he had to give them the power to become the sons of god even to them that believe on his name even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of god john 3 16 16-18 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for god set not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god john 3 36 he that believeth on the son of everlasting life all a person has to do to receive everlasting life is believe he that believeth on the son has everlasting life and he that believeth not the son shall not see life but the wrath of god abideth on him john 5 24 verily verily i say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me half everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life when we believe on jesus or in jesus the one who god has sent or the one who god sent we have everlasting life and we have god's certified guarantee through the mouth of jesus christ that we will not come into condemnation we are past from death to life for us to be condemned we would have to be part from life to death which is impossible well somebody might be saying what does it mean to believe pastor you are saying that when one believes he has everlasting life what does it mean to believe what did it mean for the prototype that's my answer what did it mean for abraham he believed what else did he have to do what other work did he have to do let me read it for you i just thought of reading this afterwards i'm going to read it let's go back to where it happened paul quotes from genesis chapter 15. let's go back to where it happened genesis chapter 15 verses 1 to 6 and i'm reading from the new english translation after these things the lord's message came to abraham in a vision fear not abram i am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance but abram said o sovereign lord since i continue to be childless and my ear is eliezer of damascus abram added since you have not given me a descendant then look one born in my house shall be my ear but look the lord's message came to him this man will not be your ear but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your ear the lord took him outside and said gaze into the sky and count the stars if you are able to count them then he said to him so will your descendants be abraham believed the lord and the lord credited credited it as righteousness to him abram didn't even count the stars abraham didn't even look into the sky he believed what god said that's all he did so when we talk about belief we are not talking about belief plus something else we are talking about simple belief because abraham is the prototype some of you would like me to add belief plus something else and we are going to look at the plus something else next week but that is not being faithful to the text abraham is the template how did abraham get saved what did belief mean for him that is what it means for us that is what john uses the word belief to me that is what the bible writers use the word belief to mean they are not adding on to what abraham had to do because he is a prototype chapter 6 26-29 i love this passage actually jesus answered them and said verily verily i say unto you ye seek me not because he saw the miracles but because he did eat of the loaves and were filled labor not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the son of man will give unto you for him hath god the father sealed they said to him what shall we do that we might work the works of god that is the question of the carnal man that is the question of the natural man there must be something that we have to do the flesh always wants to do the most difficult thing for the flesh to accept is that you have nothing that you can do what shall we do that we might work the works of god jesus answered and said unto them this is the work of god and their ears were cut now to hear some laborious tasks that they would have to perform some sacrificial giving some long prayers some studying of the scriptures and committing it to memory this is the work of god i wonder what he's going to say that he believed on him whom he had sent that's the only work of god to believe on jesus christ i'm sorry your flesh won't get a chance to boast in the presence of god my flesh won't get a chance to rise up and say this is what i did no you did nothing i did nothing the only work that we did was to believe was to exercise our faith our faith remember that ephesians 2 8 says is the gift of god john 6 47 verily verily i say unto you he that believeth he that believeth on me hath everlasting life john 9 35-38 jesus answered sorry jesus heard that they had cast him out this is the man who was born blind that he had healed the religious leaders cast him out of the temple they excommunicated him because he testified of jesus and when he had found him he said unto him does thou believe on the son of god he answered and said who is he lord that i might believe on him and jesus said unto him thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee and he said lord i believe and he worshipped him his worship testified to his belief it was heart worship john 12 37-40 but though he had done so many miracles before them yet they believe not on him some people are crazy about signs i don't have a difficulty with signs as long as signs follow us and we don't follow them that the saying of isaiah's the prophet might be fulfilled which he speak lord who had believed our report that is isaiah's concern who hath believed and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed because the arm of the lord is only revealed to those who believe but how will they believe therefore they could not believe because that isaiah said again he has blinded their eyes see god is taking responsibility he god hath blinded their eyes he has hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and i should heal them acts chapter 8 35 to 39 this has to do with philip and the ethiopian eunuch then philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him jesus isaiah 53 was the passage and philip preached jesus to him from isaiah 53 can we preach jesus from the old testament and as they went on their way they came to a certain water and the eunuch said see here is water what does hinder me to be baptized notice that it was the eunuch who pointed out the water to philip philip did not pester the eunuch about baptism it was the eunuch who said to philip i want to be baptized what will qualify me to be baptized and philip said if thou believest if thou believers with all thine heart the mist that's the only qualification and he answered and said i believe that jesus christ is the son of god i believe and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized him and when they were come up out of the water the spirit of the lord caught away philip that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing so i wonder what happened to that eunuch uh when he went back to ethiopia i wonder who carried with him and worked with him at the altar or did he receive the holy spirit right here acts chapter 10 verse 43 to him peter preaching in the house of cornelius to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins all a person has to do to receive remission or forgiveness of sins the two words remission and forgiveness are translations of this self same greek word there are not two different greek words trans meaning one meaning forgiveness and one meaning remission i'm sorry to disturb your theological paradigm but it's just the truth and you can check it for yourself whosoever believeth in jesus christ shall receive remission of sins remission of sins occurs when one believes acts 13 5-12 and when they were at salamis they preached the word of god in the synagogues of the jews and they all they had also john to their minister that's john mark and when they had gone through the aisle onto paphos they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet a jew whose name was bar jesus which was with the deputy of the country sergius paulus a prudent man who called for barnabas and saul and desire to hear the word of god but elimas the sorcerer for so is his name by interpretation we stood them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith then saul who also is called paul filled with the holy ghost set his eyes on him and said and notice paul was filled with the holy ghost but he did not speak with tongues so persons can be filled with the holy ghost without speaking without that's a whole different matter though don't let us get distracted i'm sorry i mentioned it paul set his eyes on him and said o full of all subtlety and all mischief though child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness we do not cease to pervert the right ways of the lord and now behold the hand of the lord is upon thee and thou shalt be blind not seeing the son for a season and immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness and he went about seeking some to lead him by the end let me just say that this is an example of authentic decreeing and declaring paul told the sorcerer something that would happen to him and it happened immediately those persons who you hear decreeing and declaring all around the tone and nothing is happening after they are decreeing and declaring there are they are false prophets they must not be believed they must not be follow decreeing and declaring is not something that you do because you feel good you feel high in a church service if what you decree and declare does not happen you are a false prophet you are not of god then the deputy when he saw what was done believed when he saw what was done he believed but watch this being astonished at the miracle no being astonished at the judgment that fell on the sorcerer no being astonished at the doctrine of the lord it was the doctrine of the lord that astonished him it was the doctrine that caused him to believe acts 13 38-39 this is paul preaching be known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man that's christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe all all that believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of moses paul is saying the law of moses could not justify you you could not be declared righteous by the law of moses you could not be saved through the law of moses but when you believe you are justified from all things all things all things you are justified from all things by believing or remember that our sub topic is belief that saves acts 13 44-48 and the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of god antioch of pisidio and when the jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and speak against those things which were spoken by paul contradicting and blaspheming see these jews were not after truth they saw the crowds that came out here paul and they were envious they opposed the truth because they were envious these persons have no love for truth and there are persons like that today they have no love for truth they are just jealous they are just envious their hearts are wicked they really don't have a love for truth and no matter how you kindly and gently teach the truth to them they will oppose it and they have their own agenda when the jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by paul contradicting and blaspheming then paul and barnabas wax bold and said it was necessary that the word of god should first have been spoken to you but seeing he put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the gentiles for so hath the lord commanded us saying i have set thee to be a light of the gentiles that thou should ask before salvation unto the ends of the earth and when the gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed believed it was not their belief that caused them to be ordained to eternal life it was their ordination to eternal life that caused them to believe that is what the scripture says all who were ordained believed there was no one who was ordained in that group that did not believe and there is no person who has been ordained to eternal life that will not believe the gospel everyone who has been ordained unto eternal life will believe the gospel it is impossible for a person not to believe the gospel if they have been ordained unto eternal life they believe that's all they had to do 14 1 and it came to pass in iconium that they went both together into the synagogue of the jews and so spake that a great multitude both of the jews and also of the greeks believed that's all the bible says they believed why do these passages never come up into the argument about how a person is saved these passages never come up where all that is said about them is that they believed acts 16 26 to 20 to 34 we have we dealt with this i think in the very first message and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed and the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open he drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been fled but paul cried with a loud voice saying do thyself no harm for we are all here then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before paul and silas and brought them out and said sirs what must i do to be saved and they said believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shall be saved and thy house why is not more emphasis placed here why do we hardly hear of this when the discussion about our person is saved is mentioned this scripture never comes into the mix and yet the man asked a direct question and received a direct answer sirs what must i do to be saved and they said believe belief that says believe on the lord jesus christ embrace the lord jesus christ and all that he has done for you understand that he has already done the work so that you can be saved believe him for it understand that what took place on the cross is all that is necessary for you to be saved embrace that and embrace the one who died for you believe on the lord jesus christ and those shall be saved and thy house and again somebody is asking so what does it mean to believe and again we say what did it mean for abraham go back and read genesis 15 1-6 that's what it meant for the jailer whatever was abraham had to do the jailer has to do nothing more nothing less because abraham is the prototype paul lifts abraham out of our little neat dispensations and makes him the standard of how a person is saved and they speak unto him the word of the lord unto all that were in his house and he took them the same o of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way and when he had brought them into his house he set meat before them and rejoiced why did he rejoice believing in god with all his hopes believing in god acts 17 10 to 12. and there are many people who would read into this passage what is not there they would tell you all that this man had to do oh my acts 17 10-12 and the brethren immediately sent away paul and silas by night unto berea who coming feather went into the synagogue of the jews these were more noble than those in thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so oh brethren if only we could do that if only some of us would do that who are stumbling at the word if only we would search the scriptures daily therefore because they searched the scriptures daily therefore many of them did what believed believed that was enough for them to be saved you notice that luke says that time and time again obviously means that they were saved when they believed obviously they believed acts 18 5-10 and when silas antimorphus timotheus were come from macedonia paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the jews that jesus was christ and when they opposed themselves and blasphemed he shook his raiment and said unto them your blood be upon your own heads i am clean from henceforth i will go unto the gentiles and he departed thence and entered into a certain man's house named justice one that worshipped god whose host joined hard to the synagogue and crispus the chief ruler of the synagogue believed on the lord with all his hopes and many of the corinthians hearing believed and were baptized we're going to talk about this they believed and were baptized their baptism came after they believed their baptism was a proof of their belief it was not their baptism that was belief we're going to deal with this brethren in greater detail you know we are not afraid to tackle these problems then speak the lord to paul watch this in the night by a vision be not afraid but speak on whole not thy peace for i am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee for i have much people in this city these people were not yet saved but the lord said they are mine you don't know who they are that's why i am telling you not to leave i'm telling you to have courage and to preach the word i have much people in this city they are already mine they have been ordained unto eternal life acts 18 24-27 and a certain jew named apollos born at alexandria an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures came to ephesus this man was instructed in the way of the lord and being fervent in the spirit he spake and thought diligently the things of the lord knowing only the baptism of john and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue whom when aquila and priscilla had heard they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of god more perfectly and when he was disposed to pass into a care the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him who when he was come help them much which had what believed how had they believed what was the instrument of their belief through grace help very much which had believed through grace belief that saves a clinging to the person and work of jesus christ both his work on the cross what is referred to by some as his passive obedience and his work in his life referred to as his active obedience he's obeying the law perfectly he did not sin once and thus he is perfectly righteous because he kept the entire law perfectly and it is his perfect righteousness that covers us now and clothes us no so that we stand in the presence of god as though we were jesus christ we have to bring this to an end here brethren but next week lord we willing we will consider mark chapter 16 verses 16 to 18 acts chapter 19 verses 1 to 7 and ephesians chapter 1 verses 13 to 14. we will also look at circumcision as it relates to abraham's justification and its relevance its implications to our salvation we give the lord thanks for what he has done for us may the lord richly bless you our singers are coming back to minister and after they have finished elder nathan thomas will be coming to pray for us and to dismiss us god richly bless you i hope you have been edified by the word of the lord [Music] so [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Laughter] [Music] hallelujah we thank god for his word that has gone forth today [Music] and we just want to just affirm that we believe in him and we believe in the truth that is his word [Music] though i can see your face [Music] and your throne in heaven above it seems so far [Music] can't touch your neck i have a deep unspeakable joy that makes my faith to stand lord i believe in you [Music] i'll always believe in you though i can't see you with my eyes deep in my heart your presence i find lord i believe in you and i'll put my trust in you that this whole world say what they pay no one can take this joy away lord i believe [Music] you are god's only chosen one you're the one and only true way way to the father's heart and you died for all sin and then you rose and now never again you've conquered the death [Music] [Music] in you i'll always believe in you though i can't see you with my eyes deep in my heart your presence i find lord i believe in you [Music] and i'll keep my trust in you [Music] so let this whole world say what they [Music] can make this joy away lord i believe lord i believe [Music] with my eyes deep in my heart your presence [Music] no one can take this joy away lord i believe [Laughter] so let this whole [Music] they world no one can take [Music] so this this whole world say what they make [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah we've heard the word of the lord one more time [Music] it's the word that our faith is built upon the bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of the lord so as we have heard god's word today [Music] we have an opportunity to talk to him about his word and how it should affect our lives not just to inform us but it should affect the way we live [Music] so i'm going to ask us just to take a few minutes right now and just ask the lord [Music] lord help me to deal with what has gone forth from your word [Music] it's not everything that we hear from the word of god will cause us to jump and shout and to scream sometimes when the word of the lord goes forth we have to meditate upon it we have to take time as we you know make the comparison to eating food sometimes we have to take that time to chew a few times several times to break it down and then it digestes [Music] what we have heard from the word of god today we may need to take a few days just to allow it to break down and digest as we go to the lord and say lord here is the word help my understanding help my unbelief help me to see what you are saying through the scriptures [Music] and so as we talk to the lord let's keep that in mind that the word of the lord has gone forth and we need to deal with it we need to be able to grapple with it we need to be able to critically look at it and look at our lives and see where we are [Music] amen let's all pray lord we thank you this morning or this afternoon for what you have accomplished in this in gathering of your people we thank you for your presence that was felt in our midst we thank you lord for encouraging our hearts we thank you lord for instructing us lord jesus and showing us what you desire for us to see in your word we thank you lord for the fact that we are able to gather like this but most of all lord we thank you that we are your children we are a part of your family and as a part of your family lord god we are able to share with you and each other [Music] what we have heard and even what we may not have heard we are able to communicate with you for clarity we are able lord jesus to examine what has gone forth without any bias because you lord jesus are not biased you really want us lord god to understand what you're saying as your children you want us to hear and to understand but also to put in action what you have said and so we thank you we pray for our brothers and sisters once again that you will be with them throughout this week that you will watch over them you will order their steps according to your word we pray that lord as we continue our pilgrim journey as an assembly and as children of god that we will endeavor to humble ourselves before you we don't know everything there is to know about you lord and this is why lord jesus you're taking the time to share with us the scriptures to help us to see you in a better way so lord jesus continue to inspire your servant to share your word truthfully but also without any hesitation we thank you for those who assist in just putting this service together our media team our song technicians our musicians are singers we thank you lord for every single person we are grateful that we have a space like this to broadcast across this island and across the world so that those who you desire to reach can hear your words we just want to thank you lord because we understand you didn't have to include us there was a time when we were far away we didn't have the understanding we weren't even safe but you brought us into your family and because we are your children you want to perfect us and make us better you want us to be conformed to your image with your understanding with your mindset to be more like you and so god we thank you for the process that we are going through as your children lord we are just thankful that today we can share in the blessings of a new day and as we look forward lord to a new week we pray that lord jesus we will do so in anticipation that we will meet you and that the process continues in jesus name we pray amen amen thank you so much for tuning in thank you so much for sharing with us have a blessed week and on behalf of our pastor pastor john mark bartlett and the entire grace family may the grace of the lord jesus christ be with you all god bless you

Channel: The Grace Workshop Ministries

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Length: 142min 3sec (8523 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 22 2021