My sincere greetings to you, friend. And a hearty welcome to our first program in our twenty-ninth year of continuous broadcast of In Search of the Lord’s Way. You are right: that makes us one of the longest continuing television programs in America. It is because as we read in Psalm 118, verse 23: “This is the Lord’s doing; and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Thanks for joining us; we pray we’ll both be blessed by our study today.
Yes, it is true: we televised our first message of In Search of the Lord’s Way, the first Sunday in September 1980. We began on one small station, television station in East Central Oklahoma. And we began with the Edmond, Oklahoma church the first Sunday in September 1982. Today, as we’re beginning our 29th year, this program is being heard and seen by radio, television, the internet, satellite around the whole world! Oops, and I almost forgot to mention the print media. Printed copies of our programs number into the millions now. We can’t even begin to estimate where in the world those printed copies are being circulated. One good thing about that is: some of them may be read decades from now, when my voice is silenced by death.
And, in all those programs, we have never once asked our viewers to send us money-- nor have we sold anything on the air. We’re sponsored by some churches of Christ and some individual Christians in the area served by this station, like this one, that serves this area right here. You see, churches of Christ have no ecclesiastical organization such as a conference or a convention or a synod from which such works as this one might be funded. Just as churches of Christ were in the New Testament, we are locally autonomous today. Such ministries as this can be done only by the united and combined efforts of Christians on a purely voluntary basis. A former president of the convention of one of the largest groups in America once said of this ministry: “It borders on a miracle!” He said he would never have attempted such a thing among their churches without the convention. As for me personally: I never thought of it in these dimensions. I saw it only as a local program-- a way of going into the homes of my friends locally and studying the Bible with them. That’s all! But, the Lord had another plan. And I must say with David in Psalm 31:8, Oh God, “You have put my feet in a large room.”
We don’t know what the Lord’s will is for the future of this ministry. We are planning and working for its continuance for another 28 or 30 years. Of course there will be changes-- a change of producers, and directors, and engineers, and speakers, and hosts, and a change of all personnel actually-- changes in technology for sure. Well, some of that is coming early next year; you have heard about that haven’t you? We’re being told that it is going to be as big an improvement in our television picture as color made some fifty years ago. And we are surrendered to the will of God. Anyway, we’re planning to be here another twenty-eight years.
If you think you might want a free printed copy, a CD or an audio cassette tape of the program today, please mail your request to In Search of the Lord’s Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. They’re free-- all of them, so you may simply use our toll-free telephone number to make your request, if you like. Just ask for the program, the anniversary program. That number is 1-800-321-8633. That is the telephone number. It would be encouraging to all of us to hear from you this week. After Ken Helterbrand leads us in a hymn, I’ll be back for Bible reading and a prayer. Oh say, by the way, Ken Helterbrand’s been directing our music on this program for 26 years. It isn’t a choir. It’s congregational singing of the Edmond Church of Christ-- a cappella. Ken is among the very, very best directors we have; and you might want to thank him, too. Same address; attention Ken Helterbrand. Now let’s sing.
We are reading today from the book of Philippians, chapter one, and we are going to begin reading in verse 15. This is a part of the message that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi; and he said: “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” Now let’s go to God in prayer. Holy and heavenly Father, we are so thankful for the encouragement, the inspiration, and the help that we derive from the study of Your word. And we are thankful for the reading of this scripture today and for the content of it and for the encouragement we get of it. And we pray Your blessings upon us as we speak the words of truth today, and may they find a place in every good and honest heart. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
The message of Jesus Christ is the most valuable and the most valued information there is; therefore, it should be made available to the billions of the people of planet Earth by every means known to man. We believed that in 1980 and that is one reason we jumped into this television ministry. Some of us have lived long enough to have witnessed a great change in the public attitude toward the “ministry” and “ministers”-- and preaching and preachers. Being one, myself, I’m sorry to say it, even though honesty demands it; the change hasn’t been a change for the better. Time was when the preacher was called “the parson” meaning “the most respected person” in the community. There has even been a change in ministers’ perception of themselves and their ministry. It’s been a change from “a calling” to “a profession.” They see preaching nowadays as “a job”-- forty hours a week, no more. Some ministers openly confess they believe preaching is passe and sermons are boring; therefore, they have substituted drama, and comedy, and special music performers and performances. So what would you expect, but a boring sermon, from a preacher who believes sermons are boring? And the preacher who says preaching is an outdated means of communication has pretty well left himself with nothing to say, hasn’t he?
Personally, at age 14, having come to love and admire some very humble, dedicated, God-loving, and self-sacrificing, yet virtually unknown, gospel preachers; and, becoming so convinced about what I was reading in my Bible was absolutely true, I committed my life to the use of the media to preach God’s word. And that is why I’m here today. “I love to tell the story Of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, Of Jesus and His love; I love to tell the story Because I know ‘tis true; It satisfies my longings As nothing else can do. I love to tell the story ... For some have never heard The message of salvation From God’s own holy Word. I love to tell the story, For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting To hear it like the rest.” Well, that isn’t all of it, but that is a part of Catherine Hankey’s old hymn, “I Love To Tell The Story.” She wrote it in 1866, and it is still a favorite with many people-- just like me.
Let me hurriedly mention four things about the story of Jesus that makes it “each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.” First, it is the message of salvation. The Scripture says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,” other than the name of Christ, of course. That is in Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Someone may object! “Oh, I can’t accept that,” he says, “oh, it’s too exclusive.” No, no, my friend, to the contrary, it’s all inclusive. It brings together all people of every skin-color, national origin, socio-economic strata, gender, whatever else divides people. Jesus Christ brings it down and brings all of them together in Him. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is where we’ll find that “level playing field” we hear talked about. Jesus Christ brings us together. In Galatians chapter 3, verses 26 through 28 the Bible says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” What a marvelous passage, so often misinterpreted and misunderstood, sometimes not even read. Yes! I love to tell the story-- for some have never heard it. And because those who know it best, seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest! It is God’s power to bring people like you and me to salvation (Romans 1:16). It’s God’s only power to bring men to salvation. Why should anybody want to substitute or apologize for having preached the gospel-- the good news of Jesus Christ!
Secondly, we have a lot of problems living together in our modern world. Ours has been called a “society of death.” We are killing off just about everyone we don’t want around. We began by killing our little innocent, helpless, unborn or being born babies-- more than a million of them every year. Now, one state at a time is legalizing physician assisted suicide. We are doing away with our unwanted, costly, non-productive elderly people. Hey, what is to keep these people from ridding our society of the likes of you and me? Oh say! Now, that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it? Well! I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love because He is the way out of this chaos. He has provided us the highest and most noble way to live together that man has ever known. For centuries the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament were recognized as the highest moral code ever introduced into human thought. Then came Jesus in His powerful sermon on the mount, and He improved even on that one! He not only forbad murder as the Ten Commandments do; He also forbad hatred and taught us to love our enemies. He didn’t just denounce adultery; He condemned lust for one another in the heart. He didn’t simply outlaw theft and lying; He preached honesty and sincerity. He taught a better way to control human life than a “controlling legal authority.” He said the way to form a decent society or culture is to control behavior from the inside of a person, outwardly. That was revolutionary! It still is! No other religious leader ever advocated it; not even Moses. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit...A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew chapter 12, verses 33 to 35). It is from Jesus Christ that we got the priceless doctrine of “The Good Samaritan,” the noble way called “The Golden Rule,” the teaching of going the second mile and the blessedness of peace-making. Dale Carnegie, who for years wrote and spoke about how to get along with people, openly admitted that he learned what he knew about it from Jesus Christ.
Well, the third thing that I’ll mention today that-- to me-- makes telling the story of Jesus Christ more wonderfully sweet is that He offers people a superior way of coping with catastrophe and suffering and pain such as is common to man. From as far back as we have any knowledge it’s been the superstition that unusual suffering is punishment for unusual sin. That is what Job’s three friends said to him. It wasn’t very comforting either, was it? But Jesus dispelled that notion. He said, “No,” it isn’t so. “There were present at that season, or that time, some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1 to 5). What a relief! What a good message that is! He insists that we-- Christians can cast “all our cares upon Him for He cares for you” (1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7). People who don’t know that or don’t do it are left without the only help that the therapists and the counselors and others cannot give. They increase and prolong their agony, one by one. One of the great losses of modern American religion is its turn from Christ to self, from the gospel to psychology, from Deity to humanity for healing. Jesus Christ knew no sin, yet He suffered more than anyone has ever suffered from prejudice and-- ignorance-- and injustice, and, the Scripture says He left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).
Finally, I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love, and have devoted my entire life (began at age seventeen) to telling it because Jesus Christ offers the world the only real hope of life beyond the grave. No other religion, including Islam, has an empty tomb to confirm the hope of life after death. The very best other religions have been able to come up with is reincarnation-- and their only evidence is superstition. I find it hard to believe that any honest and intelligent person can study through the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, the resurrection chapter of the Bible, and not be convinced of resurrection. Here the apostle Paul who had previously believed so strongly that the Christian doctrine of resurrection was absolute heresy that he imprisoned and persecuted people who believed and taught it; now he is teaching it with absolute certainty in this passage. He proves beyond any doubt that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He challenges the doubter to question any of more than five-hundred witnesses that were still living. Then he asks, “Since Christ was raised from the dead, how can you say there is no resurrection, for if there is no resurrection, Christ was not raised?” But He was raised, and you know it! And just as He was, we will be, too, in due time. Well, he stakes his life on it, as thousands did before him, and millions have done since.
My friend, when it comes time for you to fold your hands in the sleep of death, like everyone else, you are going to need some hope of life beyond. Oh, I’m here to tell you that there is such a hope for you because of Christ Jesus. Because, you can’t wait till the hour comes to put your faith in the risen Christ. You must act promptly! I hope you will wait no longer. Don’t go away. I’ll tell you more about that after the hymn. Now let us pray. Holy Father, we pray You will bless this message to the honest and good hearts that are hearing it. We pray that they will have the courage to respond favorably to Your teaching. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Well now you know what this ministry is all about and why we have kept at it these twenty-eight years. We’re here every week, not to amuse you or to entertain you, not to ask you to send us money, only to tell you the old, old story of Jesus and His love. Because first of all, He is the only Savior you-- or any of us-- will ever have. And, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 12), so I could tell you the truth about it. And, so I am grateful for that. And secondly, because Jesus Christ offers the best way to live that man has ever known. And number three, because Jesus is our comfort in time of trouble and suffering. And number four, because only Jesus Christ can give us, any of us, hope of life beyond the grave.
Before I leave, I must say again: it’s urgent that you confess Jesus Christ. Don’t put it off. Do it today. Will you do that? The Scripture says in Romans 10:9 and 10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” During His earthly ministry the Scripture says, “Even among the rulers many believed on Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” That is John 12:42. Oh, I hope that today you will resolve in your heart that you are turning to Him, from your life of sin to live for Christ-- that’s what the Bible calls “repentance.” And God commands all of us, every where, to do that (Acts 17:30). Then be baptized into Jesus Christ as you read in your own Bible in Galatians chapter 5, verse 26. If I can be helpful to you in doing that, please let me hear from you promptly. Our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. I would like to hear from you this week.
If you would like a CD or audio cassette tape or a printed copy of this message, you may have it absolutely free (postage and all) by mailing your request to In Search of the Lord’s Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. God bless you now. We love you.
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