Someone said, "Today will be yesterday tomorrow." Oh! So soon? Yes, he's right! And, it's likely more than any other day --even a birthday-- New Year's Day reminds us of the fleeting nature of time. What does the Bible say about that? Stay tuned.
Welcome, my friend, to our Bible study program In Search of the Lord's Way to become and to be a Christian. You won't be asked to send money or buy anything in this program. You see, we're here through the love and generosity of members of churches of Christ in the area served by this station. They'd dearly love to have you worship with them. If you need help locating their place of worship, let us be that help, will you? Write or call us.
I remember in my childhood hearing the expression, "...as slow as Christmas!" Well, perhaps I even said it. Whew, that was slow! But, you see, it seems to a child that Christmas will never, never get here. It certainly doesn't seem that way now, does it? W h e r e does the time go, anyway? There's no time like New Years Day that so forcefully calls our attention to the truth that "Today will be yesterday tomorrow." That's the title we've given this last program of the year --in anticipation of the coming year this week.
If you think you might want a free printed copy, or a CD or an audio cassette tape of it, they’re all free, simply mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Our e-mail address is Searchtv@searchtv.org. And our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. 1-800-321-8633 Some of you may find it more convenient to access it on our web-site –that’s at www.searchtv.org. Some fellow who's been viewing the program this way even in Nigeria, West Africa wrote us the other day saying, "I am happy writing you for the first time. Your web site was introduced to me by a friend." Aren't we glad and thankful for modern communication technology? And, our friends who tell about our program to other people, so that they can tune us in as well. Thank you for inviting us into your home today. After the hymn sung by the Edmond, Oklahoma Church of Christ and directed by Ken Helterbrand, I'll be back and we'll read God's word together and pray together.
We are reading from the 90th Psalm today, verses 10, 11, and 12. “The days of our lives are seventy years; And, if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger? For as the fear of you, so is your wrath. So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” So says the Psalmist in those three verses. Now let’s go to God in prayer. Our Father in heaven we are thankful to you for life. We know you are the giver of all life. And we are thankful for another day of life, and we pray your blessings on this day, that we may glorify you in the way we live it. And we may live it in such a way as to gain eternal life with you in the world to come. This is our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
You probably remember the child's bed-time prayer that your mother taught you, don’t you? I do. After these many years, I still remember it: "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Well, it became more real to me recently when we received word that a long-time friend of ours had died in his sleep at night. My granddad Lyon died that way, too. I never knew him. He died before my mother and father even met. Anyway, that's my prayer every night before I go to sleep, too. "If I should die before I wake." I'm sure I pray it with much more meaning now than when my mother taught me to say it many years ago. The truth remains-- tomorrow will never come to a great many people. The Bible tells us that. God says, "Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away". That’s James chapter 4 verses 13 and14. And who can tell which ones of us won't be here tomorrow --or on New Year's Day? Suppose I'm one that won't.
Well, certainly I'd want to be a Christian. How about you, friend? Being a Christian clearly means being a disciple --a learner and a follower of Christ. "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch". Acts chapter 11 verse 26. That's a "noble" name. James chapter 2 verse 7. That’s the New King James Version. The old King James says that the verse, worthy, that "it's a "worthy" name." So, "Christian" is not a name that was hurled in derision by their enemies at the followers of the Lord in those days. No, no, friend. It's an honorable name given by the mouth of the Lord Himself according to Isaiah chapter 62 verse 2. God promised in that verse that "The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name." And that promise --prophecy, if you will-- was fulfilled in Acts chapter 11 verses 19-26. Those who wear the name Christian are "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord" (Isaiah 62 verse 3). Oh yes! You want to be a Christian when the Lord calls you to the judgment. And that's so important, friend!
"Well," you say, "I don’t know. I see so many so-called Christians that are just not worthy of the name. They're no different than other people who make no profession at all of Christ." They drink and curse and commit adultery --and some of them even openly say they're gay; they gamble --well, there's just not much the unconverted do that some of those hypocrites don't do." Yes, I know that and I see all that, too. And I'm sorry about that. But that isn't what I'm talking about. I'm not saying "I want to be a hypocrite when the Lord calls for me." I'm saying, "I want to be a Christian --a real Christian --a genuine Christian." And I hope that's what you're saying also.
Then, are you asking, how to be saved and become a Christian, aren’t you? I hope you are. You may be thinking, though, "I don't want to be told that I must do something, because you see I believe salvation is by grace and not of works. I believe Jesus really did paid it all." Well, the truth of the matter is we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8-9). No, we're not saved by feeding the hungry and orphaned children around us, by ministering to the sick and attending to the needs of widows, and comforting the weak and other such meritorious works. No, you're right about that. That isn't what a person does to become a Christian. Those are some of the things he does because he is a Christian. Jesus said in His sermon on the mount, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23). There you have it, friend, right from the mouth of the Savior. Although no one can be saved without doing those marvelous works (Matthew 25:31-46), neither does anyone earn his salvation by doing them. And Jesus did say, it is the person who "does the will of My Father who is in heaven," who will be saved. Salvation is by grace when it is received by faithful acceptance of it.
In Acts chapter 16 verses 16 through 34 there's the story about a man who asked the same question that you're asking, friend. He said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And, he was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me". That’s John chapter 14 verse 6. That just means that Christ is our only access to the Father. Therefore, you and I need to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. That's the reason Paul and Silas "spoke the word of the Lord" to that jailor. You see "faith comes by hearing the word of God" (Romans 10:17) and at that point in time, the jailor hadn't heard enough of the word of God to be a believer. Likewise, that's what we're doing here on television and radio and internet. We're speaking the word of the Lord to you --and to millions of others just like you. Oh, I'm sure you believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Son of God, else you probably wouldn't have stayed with us until now.
On another occasion Jesus said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved..." That’s Mark 16:16. No, that isn't a contradiction of Acts chapter 16 verse 31. But it is the reason that jailor and all his family were baptized at such an unthinkable hour of the night --past midnight, as a matter of fact --in the wee hours of the morning (Acts chapter 16 verse 24). You see that now, don’t you? And since "God commands all men to repent" (Acts 17:30), you must repent. That will eliminate what we said awhile ago when we were talking about hypocritical Christians. They believed that He was the Son of God, and they confessed Him so. They were even baptized. But they didn't straighten up their lives. They needed to do that, alright?
Yes, should I not live through the night tonight --or should I not live to see New Years in --or should I not live through the new year --I want to be found by the Lord whenever it is, to be a faithful Christian, don't you now? We were talking about "hypocrisy" awhile ago. We both deplore it. I don't really know that anyone admires it --and appreciates it. Do you know anybody like that, who appreciates hypocrisy? Oh, me! The person who pretends to be something he and everybody else knows he isn't is --uh --well, what is he? In our Lord's personal letter to His church in Smyrna, after addressing some of the persecutions that they were enduring, He said, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). Oh, I want that crown of life. I want to be found faithful as a Christian, and I'm sure you do too. More than anything this world has to offer, I want to hear my Savior say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things, I will now make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord" as we find that recorded in Matthew 25:23. Friend, if you're not a Christian, I hope you'll become such today! Because, you see, "Today will be yesterday tomorrow." And there's little you can do about yesterday's failures.
Let's turn now from viewing today as the possible last day of our lives, to viewing it as the possible first day of the rest of our lives. I have a plaque on the wall of my study, near the entrance, that says, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." So, should I live through tonight, --or through the coming year --or beyond that even, --what do I want to make of the rest of my life? I've already said I want to be faithful Christian. I want to be a faithful follower of my Savior to the very end. And since I don't know when the Lord's going to end my life here, I'm starting today! You call it whatever you like, "new years resolutiond," --whatever, but I'm starting today. Are you coming along with me?
You ask, "Now that I'm a Christian, how do I live the Christian life?" Well, first, we must desire the pure milk of the word. God says, "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, (King James says sincere) that you may grow thereby" (I Peter 2:2). Conversion to Christ is sometimes said to be "being born again" as Jesus explained it to Nicodemus in John 3:1-7. None of us is a mature Christian when he's just recently born into the family of God. Neither is he to remain in the state of infancy all his life. We are expected to grow to maturity. A good diet on the pure word of God is an absolute essential to Christian growth and enjoyment. Make the time to read some of God's word every day. And, that's His way of speaking to you.
Next, we need to learn to pray, and to pray every day. Prayer is a special blessing from God to all His children. We learn from James 5:16 that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Prayer is one of those spiritual blessings, mentioned in Ephesians 1:3 that are in Christ. That means that it's a special blessing to Christians to enjoy that others cannot. Jesus' model prayer is found in Matthew chapter 6 verses 9-13 and Luke chapter 11 verses 1-4. It isn't meant to be recited verbatim as I recited the bedtime prayer awhile ago and as we repeated it as children. The Luke passage says that the disciples saw that Jesus was a prayerful Man and asked him to teach them to pray. Thus He gave them the pattern. Well, prayer is such an essential to faithfully living the Christian life, that I am just going to have to devote an entire program to it very soon.
Well, next then, Christianity is a calling. I mean, it isn't altogether "what Christ can do for me." You hear so much preaching and teaching today about what Christ can do for you. Buti it's also about "what I can do for Christ and His cause --His church”. One day while Jesus was putting together leadership for the church He was about to establish, He was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He found Peter and John. They were brothers --and they were fishermen. They were casting a net into the sea. Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James and John in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their father, and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-25)”. I've often wondered what ever happened to Zebedee? Those two sons helped change the world, but we read nothing more about Zebedee in the word of God. Now, Christ doesn't call us all to be apostles. And He certainly doesn't call us in a spectacular way as He did those four, but let's consider what the apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy chapter 1 verses 8-9. "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before the world began." So, we too, are called into a great service for Christ. Let's pray about it. Thank you our Father, for calling us into your service. Giving us a place in the precious kingdom. We pray that we’ve steered someone to realize that he is being called to service, called to serve you as a Christian and to live for you. May many people ? today respond to your calling. In Jesus’ lovely name we pray, Amen.
This week, at the changing of the years, let's also remember the swift turning of the calendar day by day. Yes, today will be yesterday tomorrow. But, today is also the first day of the rest of our lives. Today is also the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). If you're not a Christian, I'm encouraging you again, to become so today. If we can help in any way, please bless us with that opportunity, will you?
All this month, we've been offering a free copy of this little Bible reading schedule for the year. It's nothing elaborate, but it is practical. It'll be an excellent bookmark. You can just leave it in your Bible right where you left off reading last time and you can begin reading there on Monday morning or whatever day it is. By following its schedule, you'll read the Old Testament through once and the New Testament through twice in 2008. By requesting it now, you'll have a little late start, but you can catch up quickly. If you still want to do it. And we have a few of them left we will be glad to share with you.
If there's been anything said here today that you'd like to read or consider again, you may have a copy of it absolutely free. We're not a for profit organization. Every offering on this program is free. If you'd like a printed copy of today's message or a CD or an audio cassette tape, please address your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or by e-mail our address is Searchtv@searchtv.org. You may also use our toll-free telephone number. And that number is 1-800-321-8633. You may read it again or you may hear the program again, or you may see the program again by visiting our website at www.searchtv.org. We're so glad you were with us today and I pray you have been blessed by the message. If you are not a Christian it is very urgent that you become so today. And if you are a Christian it is just as urgent that you live faithfully until the Lord comes. And who knows when the Lord may come. We have a program coming up about that. When the Lord is going to be coming. And so we want you to see it too. We plan to be back next week. We hope you will too and we hope that in the meantime you will tell some of your friends about the Search program and the messages that you get here. We pray that you will share these thoughts with your friends so that they may be blessed as well as you. And we pray God’s blessing not only on you for the day and for the end of this program until next week, but we pray that you have a great year in 2008. We love you.
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