Warmest greetings to you, friend! We’re so glad you have joined us for Bible study. I’m Mack Lyon. The program’s “In Search of the Lord’s Way.” We’re sponsored by some churches of Christ in the viewing area of this station. Life is just full of choices, isn’t it? Some are difficult; others – well, they are not all that serious. Hey! Phil Sanders has prepared some thoughts about that, and you’ll want to hear what he has to say. So don’t go away.
Thank you, Mack! Hello, I’m Phil Sanders and this is In Search of the Lord’s Way. We are here to search the Scriptures to find the way of life that pleases the Lord. We make it our aim to be pleasing to Him in every aspect of our lives. Thanks so very much for letting us into your busy life. We truly appreciate hearing from you that you are watching or listening; and we want to be part of your life each week.
Words are powerful. Some words reassure us, while others challenge us. But there is one word some people ignore. It’s not a bad word, but many people don’t like to hear the word because it demands so much of them. Well, what’s that word? It’s the word “must.” The word “must” means there is no choice. Life is filled with choices, but some things are necessary. You must have water and air and food if you want to live physically. And you have got to follow the Lord if you want to live eternally.
The word “must” means something is a moral or a spiritual necessity. Now, we have a choice whether we’ll serve God; but once we decide to serve the Lord, we obligate ourselves forever. We spend much of our lives in a battle whether we want to do what’s right or we want to do what we want to do. People want freedom; but we can’t rebel against God. We don’t find freedom by rebelling against God; freedom comes from serving God.
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14 and verse 15). Christ has some musts for us to be obedient, but that obedience arises out of love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t obey because we have been made to obey. We obey because we love the Lord.
We hope today’s study will be such a blessing to you that you’ll want a free copy. We never ask for money on this program. And if you would like a printed copy, a CD or a tape of this study, mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or e-mail us at searchtv@searchtv.org. Or, if you like, call our toll-free telephone number. That number is 1-800-321-8633. We also stream this program on our website; that’s www.searchtv.org.
Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead the Edmond Church of Christ in an a cappella song; and then we’ll read Mark 8, verses 34 to 38.
Our reading today from God’s Word comes from Mark chapter 8, verses 34 to 38. “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” That’s from Mark chapter 8. Let’s pray together. O Father, we are grateful for Your love and we know, Father, that there are many things that You ask of us. Help us out of love always to be obedient to Your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Ah, what beautiful music! We thank those singers so much. Jesus came to this earth on a mission. The Lord said that, “the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19, verse 10). On another occasion the Lord said “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3 and verse 17). The Bible says in 1Timothy 1, verse 15 that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” The coming of Jesus was not an accident. He’s not simply another great moral teacher; He came to be our Savior.
Saving mankind from sin was not an easy task. Jesus came to help us all find forgiveness, but forgiveness was not His only goal. The Lord Jesus had a much grander plan. He wanted to transform us inside and out. Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2 and verse 14).
The Lord could see how sin deceives us, destroys us. And He came to provide for us a better life than one of sin and shame. He showed us something nobler, purer and grander than a life of selfishness and sin. He knew that if people served sin and lawlessness, they would be slaves to the things that would destroy them. And so He provided forgiveness for our past sins and a way to live righteously in this present world. He gave us an example of love, and goodness, kindness, and righteousness that would transform our lives.
But the kind of change that our Savior desired did not come cheaply. To save you and me from sin and to give us a new and better life, the Lord had to sacrifice Himself. It was necessary; it was a must! The Bible records in Matthew 16, verses 21 to 23 that “from that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Jesus knew that He must die! He knew He had to suffer terribly at the hands of the Sanhedrin. They would try Him falsely, beat Him, lie about Him, mock Him and condemn Him to be scourged and crucified. The Lord knew what crucifixion was and how horribly painful it would be. And even when Peter tried to keep Him from going to the cross, the Lord insisted that He must. When the soldiers came for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, you remember, pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest. And Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions (that’s 72,000), twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?” (Matthew 26, verses 52 and 4). Jesus knew that He had to die to save us.
But we should not imagine that as Christians, the Lord Jesus was the only one who must do the Father’s will. We too have things that we must do. The Bible is not a cafeteria from which we can select what we want and ignore the rest. God expects those who love Him to obey all of Jesus’ commands. Jesus said in the Great Commission, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28 and verse 20). The Scripture says in James 2 and verse 10 that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” It does little good to say that we keep one commandment while we disobey another.
What does God require of us? First, the Bible says in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We must believe in God and confess our faith in Christ if we are to please the Lord.
The Scriptures say that Jesus is one of a kind; that no one else can save us. When Peter and John healed the lame man at the temple in Jerusalem, the rulers arrested them. The rulers knew a notable miracle had taken place. And Peter proclaimed by the Holy Spirit, “let it be known to all of you, and to all the house of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.” He also says that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” That’s Acts 4, verse 10 and verse 12.
Second, the Lord demands that His people repent of their sins. Repentance is a change of heart that leads to a change of life. The apostle told the people at Mars Hill in Athens, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17, verses 30 and 31). Now, if you wish to follow Jesus, you must change your heart and life.
Third, along with faith and repentance the person who loves the Lord must be born of water and the Spirit. Jesus Christ, our Lord, said to Nicodemus in John 3, verses 5 to 7, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, You must be born again.” Now, every ancient writer who spoke of this passage understood it to speak of baptism. The Lord Jesus said baptism is a must to enter the kingdom of God.
You know it’s amazing some regard love, and faith, and repentance as necessary to salvation but say baptism is not necessary. Oh, I tell you the same Scripture that requires faith also requires baptism. The Lord Jesus said in Mark 16:16 that, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” Well, to this someone asks, “Well, Phil, it doesn’t say that the one who isn’t baptized is condemned.” You’re right, it doesn’t say anything about baptism in the second clause; but now—think with me—why would a disbeliever be baptized into Christ?
The person who believes has every reason to be baptized, but a disbeliever has no reason. The believer knows at the time of baptism he comes into contact with the death of Christ in the blood (Romans 6, verse 3); he knows that he receives the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2, verse 38); he knows that his sins are washed away (Acts 22, verse 16); and he is saved by the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 3 and verse 21). The New Testament never speaks of an unbaptized Christian. If we love the Lord, let’s do what He says! Let’s follow Him with no ifs, ands or buts!
Now, once we become Christians, we should consider how we worship the Lord. Some think God ought to be pleased with anything that we offer to Him, but God requires a certain type of worship from His people. The Lord Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman in John 4, verses 23 and 4, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
True worship, the kind of worship God desires and requires, has two qualities: it must be in spirit and it must be in truth. To worship in spirit means that it comes from the heart and is genuine. To worship in truth means that it must be done according to the teaching of the Lord in Scripture.
As Christians we must also think about others. The Bible teaches in 1 John 4, verses 19 to 21 that, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: that whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
The Lord Himself said in John 13, verses 34 and 5, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. And by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Our Savior who gave Himself for us set the example. We must show our love for one another by helping each other, by giving preference to one another, and by forgiving each other. Christians must learn to rise above pride and selfishness and to be zealous for good works. God created us to love Him and to love others. If we fail in that, we’ve failed in the most important task of life.
My Christian friend, God requires us to keep ourselves also free from sin. The Bible says in Romans 8, verses 12 and 13, “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
1 Peter 3, verses 10 to 12 says, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Now this is a quotation from Psalm 34. If we wish to show that we love God, we must stay away from evil and do what’s right and good.
Now, after telling His disciples that He must suffer and die upon the cross, Jesus turned to the crowd and He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does a man profit if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8, verses 34 to 38).
My friend, nothing has changed. If we wish to come after Jesus, we too must deny ourselves, and take up our crosses daily, and follow Him. When we become Christians, we belong to the Lord. We become His servants. We have to say no to our desires and concentrate on the Lord’s will for our lives. Like Jesus, we say, “not my will but Thine be done.” Every day we need to find ways to serve and glorify God. We need to commit ourselves to Christ for a lifetime because nothing, nothing, nothing else will do. Let’s pray. Father, help us to commit ourselves and to do the things that we must do that we may please You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
We cannot ignore Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hebrews 9:27 says “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” You and I one day will face the Lord and have to give an account for our lives. At Judgment we have no choice. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” The judgment of God is real and we must all stand before the throne on the last day. There is no escape.
We must listen to Jesus Christ and what’s written in the New Testament. Hebrews 4, verses 12 and 13 says that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
For this reason, the Bible urges us in Hebrews 2, verses 1 to 3, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”
We want every person to be saved from sin. God saves us when we respond to His grace out of love. We are united with Christ when we believe, repent, confess Jesus as the Son of God, and are baptized into Christ by an immersion in water. In baptism God washes away our sins and adds us to His church. My friend, you must be born again to be prepared to meet God in the judgment. Get right with God today!
We hope you’ve benefited from today’s study. And if you want a free printed copy, a CD, or tape of this message, mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or e-mail us—that’s searchtv@searchtv.org.
Or, you can call the Search office toll-free at 1-800-321-8633. Now all our programs also appear on our website—that’s at www.searchtv.org. You can access them in a printed, audio, or video format. We also now offer free study sheets to go along with our programs. You can download these study sheets or request them. They’ll help you study God’s Word with us.
Please visit one of the churches of Christ in the area served by this station or network. The church loves guests, and you’ll be glad you visited. Mack and I will be back next week, Lord willing. Keep searching God’s Word with us. God bless you and we love you from all of us at In Search of the Lord’s Way.
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