Some Good News About Sin?

A Sunday school teacher wanted to make sure her second-grade class understood the meaning of confession. She asked, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness?" After a moment, one little girl spoke out very loudly, "You have to sin." Come to think of it, she was right, wasn’t she?! Unfortunately, it is not hard to sin. Sin is a not-so-novel virus that has long plagued mankind. It began when Eve and then Adam (in the Garden of Eden) chowed down on forbidden fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," the only tree in the whole fabulous place God said to leave alone (Genesis 2:16-17). It looked good, the serpent made eating it sound good, and it must have tasted very good. But what happened after they ate it was not good. Eating that forbidden fruit put them in a jam that landed them outside their paradise home and separated from God. In Romans 5:12 the Spirit of God inspired the apostle Paul to write about the pandemic of sin and its universal impact – "just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus spread to all men because all sinned." From its inception, sin polluted. It ruins relationships, mars marriages, fractures families, foils friendships, wrecks lives, breaks hearts, destroys innocence, corrupts consciences, and soils souls. It is a spiritual virus more dangerous and deadly that small pox, anthrax, AIDS and the Corona-19 virus combined. It does what none of those dreaded biological agents can – it separates us from God, and if unrepented of, condemns the soul to spiritual death in a place the Bible calls hell (Isaiah 59:1-2 * Romans 6:23a * Mark 9:43-48). This spiritual virus infects every accountable person on earth – "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Even in this age of medical marvels and scientific solutions, there is no mask or man-made vaccine or pill or prescription that can prevent or cure sin and the devastating effect it has on the human soul.

It is difficult to find any good news about sin, but there is some. God wants sin to be forgiven, and in His grace and mercy has made provision so that it can be! In Acts 2:38, as a part of the first gospel sermon ever preached this side of the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, the apostle Peter told a group of sinners who had come to believe in Jesus, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Earlier in that sermon he twice indicted his hearers with the sin of having crucified Jesus (vs 23, 36). But he announced good news about their sin (and ours) – God forgives sin when we turn from it and are baptized into Jesus Christ! John Alexander wrote words you don’t hear about sin every day – "Sin is the best news there is. Because with sin there’s a way out. You can’t repent of confusion or psychological flaws inflicted by your parents – you’re stuck with them. But you can repent of sin." Alexander went on to say repentance is the only grounds for hope and joy and reconciled, joyful relationships" (Student Leadership Journal, fall 2000, p 3). Sin is bad news. It will take you farther than you intended to go, keep you longer than you intended to stay, and cost you more than you intended to pay. The good news about sin is that through Jesus Christ it can be forgiven! 

"And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, sins, calling on the name of the Lord" – Acts 22:16

      by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

 

Lean On The Lord!

The Tail of the Dragon" is the ride of your life if you like riding a motorcycle on mountain roads. "The Dragon," as it is known to many, is an eleven mile stretch of US Highway 129 that runs along Deals Gap, a mountain pass along the North Carolina and Tennessee state line. We expect mountain roads to be curvy, but the Tail of the Dragon has more twists and turns that an eleven-mile-long pretzel! Those eleven miles, bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and Cherokee National Forest, have 318 really tight curves. My brother-in-law and I rode our motorcycles along The Dragon some ten years ago. The road has no houses, driveways, or intersecting highways – just 11 miles of thrills and chills and pure, adrenaline-producing curves as you roll along, leaning first one way, then the other. When you ride the Tail of the Dragon, one thing becomes crystal clear – because of the curves, you can’t see very far ahead!

The highway of life is much like, and unlike, the Tail of the Dragon. Like it in that life is filled with constant curves that prevent us from seeing clearly with absolute clarity, curves requiring careful navigation. But unlike the curves on the Tail of the Dragon, curves on the highway of life are most often not things any of us are attracted to or seek out for pleasure. As was said long ago, so it can still be said – "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1). James 4:13-14 warns against thinking the straight stretch of life you may be on will always be free of curves. James rebukes us for making plans and predicting exactly where we’ll be and what we’ll be doing and how much profit we’ll be making a year into the future, all the while with no reference to or regard for the sovereign will of God. With a verbal warning sign about sharp curves ahead we can’t see around, James reminds us we cannot predict how curve-free our lives will be a day from now, let alone a year –"whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow." Our journey in life prone to blind curves that make the future unclear and unpredictable.

Question – has the year 2020 turned out the way you thought it would? A tiny, vile little thing called a coronavirus (Covid-19), unheard of by most of us until a few months ago, has affected all of us in one way or the other. There’s no need for me to repeat things you’ve already heard scores of times about Covid-19. But Covid-19 was a curve – an unexpected, sharp and frightening twist – in our free-wheeling, warp-speed, go- where-we-want and do-what-we-want way of life in America. You have to slow down to take a sharp curve – and boy, oh boy, has the corona-curve slowed us down! Someone said God makes bends in the road because He doesn’t want us to see too far ahead. It’s hard to argue with that when 2 Corinthians 5:7 calls to all those who follow Christ to "walk by faith, not by sight." Proverbs 3:5-6 gives a sure way to negotiate unexpected curves that pop up along our journey through life – "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." This passage is not promising life will be without curves, conflict, and even a Covid-19 pandemic. What it promises is that in view of eternity the safest and surest, and ultimately the only way to make it through life – whether straight stretches or sharp and dangerous curves we can’t see around – is to lean not on human wisdom and schemes, but ultimately on the Lord. There’s no curve He can’t safely see you through. Are you leaning on Jesus?

                       by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

What Good Does Preaching Do?

An anonymous story speaks to the question of whether or not gospel preachers and the sermons they preach really do any good. Reportedly, a reader wrote the editor of the British Weekly as follows: "Dear Sir, I noticed that ministers seem to set a great deal of importance on their sermons and spend a great deal of time in preparing them. I have attended services regularly for the past 30 years and during that time, if I estimate correctly, I have heard no less than 3,000 sermons. But, to my consternation, I discover I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else? Sincerely. . ." As you might expect, the letter stirred up a rather large storm of angry responses to the editor that lasted for weeks, tossing the pros and cons of preachers and sermons back and forth. Until, that is, one letter shut down the debate. This letter said: "My Dear Sir: I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals – mostly my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I received nourishment from every one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them I would have starved to death long ago. Sincerely ..." I don’t know if you’ll say it with me or not but here goes – let the church say "AMEN!"

I have attempted to preach gospel sermons for more than 45 years. I estimate I have taught / preached 7,500 to 8,000 classes, sermons, etc. I keep a record of texts and titles I teach and preach publicly, and by referring to them can tell what passages / topics I studied and preached and when I did so. In preparing this article I tried to remember the first sermon I preached this year (2020). Alas, I found that for the life of me I could not recall the text or title! A week ago (July 12, 2020) I preached a sermon – and, to my consternation I candidly confess I couldn’t remember the title and topic of that sermon (until I checked my notes)! Can you (if you heard me last week)?!! I sort of doubt it. So the question is, what good does preaching sermons do? Words from Jesus in Matthew 4:4 bear on that question. There the Lord declared, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." People stay alive by eating and taking in nourishment for their bodies all week long. On Sunday morning, a Bible sermon, filled with truth from God’s word, is chockful of nourishment for the soul. Good sermons, Biblically defined, feed people spiritually. James provides another powerful rationale for hearing sermons when he directed readers at James 1:21 to "receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (see also Romans 1:15-17, James 1:21; 1 Timothy 4:16, etc.). Sermons, properly preached always help those who hear them properly. Food doesn’t keep you alive and well each week because you remember the exact content of each meal. Food keeps you alive and healthy because you ingest it and your body reaps the benefit. Don’t worry if you can’t remember all the content of a sermon. Just take it in – and if your heart is in the right place it will do you good! By the way, if you are curious, my first sermon in 2020 was Sunday morning, January 5; the text was Ephesians 5:14-17; the title was, "We’re Only Here For a Little While." Last Sunday (July 12) the sermon I preached was a study of Philippians 4:4-8, and the title of the message was (remember?!), "At Peace in a Prison Cell!" Preaching does good – if preachers "preach the word" and if people hear and heed!

  by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN