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God Made It Simple For Us
September 07, 2012
God made a simple plan for this world. He made a simple promise to Abraham. He made a simple sacrifice in Jesus Christ on the cross. He made a simple message about the coming kingdom. He offered a simple way into the ekklesia, the called-out in Christ. Why do men complicate things?
Bernie Parsons
God
Made It Simple For Us
By
Bernie Parsons
Presented to the Blockhouse Bottom church of Christ 09-07-2012
2
Corinthians 11:3 "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
4
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or
if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel,
which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
It
started with a simple promise to Abraham:
Genesis 22:15 "And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven
the second time,
16
And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou
hast obeyed my voice."
It
came to fruition in a simple message by John, the baptizer.
Matthew 3:1 "In those days came
John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus also preached this simple message.
Mark
1:14 "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel."
Mark
16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature.
16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned."
The
apostles did just that. In Acts 2, after preaching the gospel to the Jews:
Acts
2:37 "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do?
38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost."
The
apostle Paul asked the Corinthian believers to follow him as he followed
Christ.
1
Corinthians 11:1 "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the
ordinances, as I delivered them to you."
Paul
followed Jesus, which is what the Lord said that we must do.
Matthew 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
So,
what kind of leadership did Jesus provide? He bears our burdens and gives us
rest.
Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.
29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
What
burden does He put upon us?
Matthew 22:35 "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying,
36
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38
This is the first and great commandment.
39
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
The
two greatest commandments – and these are eternal and universal – are based
upon love. Isn’t it wonderful that God’s two greatest commandments are to
love? God first illustrated that love for us.
1
John 4:19 "We love him, because he first loved us.
20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen?
21
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his
brother also."
1
John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In
this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
John
13:34 "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I
have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another."
That
is a commandment that I don’t mind keeping! What about all of the other
rules? Paul asked the apostles and elders about what the Gentile converts
needed to be told to do.
Acts
15:28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no
greater burden than these necessary things;
29
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall
do well. Fare ye well.
30
So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had
gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
31
Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation."
You
see, the commandment to love one another covers most of the other
commandments. That brings us back to the two great commandments!
Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt
not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if
there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying,
namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of
the law."
But
isn’t living for the Lord too difficult? Is it possible to be what God wants
us to be?
Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service.
2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God."
And
as you move toward Him, guess what? He moves to meet you!
James 4:8 "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and
your joy to heaviness."
What
if you try to do your best, but still sin?
1
John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world."
We
can do this, because God made it simple for us. Don’t let men complicate it
for you!
