Today’s message summary of March 1, 2020 from Pastor Gus Brown:
Salvation for His people is the will of God. It is what He desires for His people.
Man cannot save himself. In spite of setting certain rules and goals for himself, he cannot achieve salvation. He can, and often does, become a god to himself. What one believes dictates how one will live.
Salvation is of God. Without God, you are unable to deliver yourself from the crisis of life. You cannot escape the wrath of God without salvation.
The Church, on its own, cannot save you. It is a vehicle to offer the invitation of salvation.
Faith in faith itself is just positive thinking, but faith in Jesus leads to salvation.
God did not spare his own Son from the cross. Jesus died on the cross for you. What makes you think He will spare you from rejecting His Word that is able to save you and change your life?
There are a number of Christians today that acknowledge Jesus as Savior but fail to live out His teaching.
Paul warns Timothy about the way men think.
1 Timothy 1:15
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
What man is challenged to do is to believe that “God is.” Even if you don’t understand everything, you are trusting what is happening in your life by faith.
Until you come to the end of yourself, you will not come to the beginning of a life in Jesus Christ.
Back to 1 Timothy 1:15–the trustworthy, faithful saying is something you can believe and trust in.
If you trust that Jesus Christ came to save you, then this is the essence of believing and trusting in Him even as you gain more understanding. What is being stated here is worthy of all acceptance. It deserves our recognition.
People have trouble trusting in what they say they believe. When this occurs, they will come up with other thoughts and ways to do things.
Jesus came to save sinners…not to make us better or cure all of the woes of society…but just to save them. By focusing on this matter for what it represents, it will indeed change lives.
You will see how much God loves you if you give this statement thought.
What is it that Paul wants us to focus on and not lose sight of?
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
Acts 4:12
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Paul’s trustworthy statement stands true. Satan will try to take the focus off of Jesus and onto anything that will detract from it.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew that many people will say “Lord, Lord…”
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Not everyone will accept such a statement about Jesus.
Understand this: man is created to worship something.
The attention is called to the fact that as unbelievable the statement seemed to be, the words are true.
These are God’s own words (1 Timothy 1:15). They are worthy of our attention and absolute confidence and acceptance.
Scripture is truth. People will need to determine if this statement is true or false. It cannot be both.
People will always question (which is fine), and they will discover there is not always an answer to their questions. Where there are no answers, this is where faith begins.
Hebrews 11:6
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.
Job 38:1-4, 40:1-8
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
And the Lord said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
The only real way to discredit Scripture is to tear down the existence, credibility and capabilities of God and Jesus Christ. It is done to justify one’s own way of thinking and reasoning.
People do not want to see their lost condition and their need of a Savior and the truth about their life.
When you tell yourself, “There is no God,” you are willing to live on your own authority.
God shows us our rebellion. He shows us who we are and what we are. He shows us why we need a Savior.
The testimony of the Word itself: God does not need anything from people, but we need everything from Him.
Acts 17:24-28
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.'”
John 3:27
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
James 1:17-18
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We can go no further than Scripture allows us to go in explaining what we believe.
Stay within the boundaries of what God says. Remember–everything can’t always be explained.
1 Corinthians 4:6
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
The true Teacher, when it comes to Scripture, comes from the power of the Holy Spirit.
For example: How well can you explain the Trinity? It can’t be explained well, and yet God exists in three persons–Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
God, Himself, guides you through His Word. The Word is for teaching and correction.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Many of us don’t like to be taught.
The Bible is not by the will of man.
2 Peter 1:20-21
…knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
How well can these passages be explained? Their acknowledgment by you can only come from the Holy Spirit.
We have faith in the Word because of the Spirit, and not in man’s understanding. He gives the ability for you to just believe in Him.
Until you come to the end of yourself, you won’t come to the beginning of Jesus.
“We cannot receive what He gives unless we receive who He is.” –Adrian Rogers
You need to know Who and What you have chosen to believe. The type of life that you live depends on what you believe.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 