IMPERFECT PEOPLE IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD

ACTS 12:1-5a

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

I. THE IMPERFECT CHURCH

1. Praying Without Ceasing [v. 5]

Rm. 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

1 Th. 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

1 Th. 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

1 Th. 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

2 Tm. 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

2. Praying Without Believing Faith [v. 12-16]

3. Hearing Without Speaking [v. 17, James 1:19]

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

 

II. THE IMPERFECT CHRISTIAN

1. Safely Sleeping [v. 6, Psalm 4:8]

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

2. Comprehending Slowly [v. 7-12, Luke 15:17]

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

3. Glorifying God Freely [v. 17, Jude 1:25]

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.

 

III. WHEN THE PERFECT MEETS THE IMPERFECT

1. The Angel and the Prisoner [v. 7-10]

2. The Angel and the King [v. 18-23]

3. The King’s Word and THE KING’S WORD [v. 1-4, 23-25]

GET A HOLD OF THIS!

Gn. 15:1, Rm. 10:17

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

I. FAITH IS BETTER THAN FEAR [v. 1] "Fear not"

Oftentimes in the Bible the words "fear not" are found. Most of those times it is God or His representative talking. Most of those times it is predicated on God's presence, God's power, or God's promises.

1. God’s Presence

Gn. 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee

Dt. 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

1 Chr. 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Heb. 13:5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

2. God’s Power

Is. 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Mt. 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

3. God’s Promises

Gn. 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

Josh. 8:1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:

Is. 41: 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

Lk. 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

 

II. GOD IS BEFORE US [Gn. 15:1] "I am thy shield"

1. This Should Produce Joy

Dt.  33:29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!

Ps. 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

2. This Should Produce Faith

2 Sm. 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

Ps. 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Pr. 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

3. This Should Produce Assurance

2 Sm. 22:36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Ps. 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

Ps. 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Eph. 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 

III. GOD IS BEST FOR US! [Gn. 15:1] "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

1. Paul Got a Hold of This

2 Cor. 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Eph. 1:18-20 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph. 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Eph. 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

2. Peter Got a Hold of This

1 Pt. 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

2 Pt. 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

3. Jude Got a Hold of This

Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

 

DO YOU HAVE A HOLD ON THIS?

GOD WILL SEE TO IT

GENESIS 22:1-18

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

The term "JEHOVAHJIREH" only appears once in the Scriptures right here in our text. In the strictest sense it is the name of a place not a title for God, but Abraham's intent is to name a place bearing testimony of who God is and what He will do. Jehovah, or more properly, Yahweh is the eternal, self-existent One without beginning or end. "Jireh" is a form of the verb "to see" and is usually translated "see" or "appear" in the Old Testament. How it became synonymous with "God will provide" should be made clear during this message.

 

I. NOTE WHAT GOD WAS NOT DOING!

1. God was NOT approving human sacrifice- He knew what He was going to do! [Is. 46:10]

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

"It was not Isaac's life that God wanted; it was Abraham's heart, and He got it!" Lehman Strauss

2. God was NOT tempting Abraham to do evil [Gn. 22:1, Jm. 1:13]

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

If someone offered me an Outlaw Ribeye 30 min. before I needed to preach I might say, “Oh, don’t tempt me.” Nothing sinful about it.

3. God was not trying to prove Abraham's faith to Himself [Rm. 4:1-3, Jm. 2:21-24]

- He was testing (proving) Him before men. Did Abraham love Yahweh as much as the heathen loved their false gods? (remember Job and Satan, the test was good for Job, proved something to Satan and us)

-What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

- Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

"God never puts us to the test until: we are ready for it and He has made preparation for our victory." -L.S.

 

II. NOTE THE SUCCESS OF ABRAHAM

Abraham was not a success because he was some super-perfect Christian. Abraham didn't fully understand but:

1. He Fully Trusted [Heb. 11:17-19]

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

2. He Fully Submitted [Jm. 2:23, Is. 41:8, Jn. 15:14]

-And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

-But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

-Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

3. He Fully Worshipped [Gn. 22:5- 1st use of "worship" in the English Bible, in the Hebrew the same word is used in 18:2, 19:1]

"When the heart is right in God's sight, no sacrifice is too great to offer Him, and this is the only kind of worship He accepts." -L.S.

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

III. NOTE THE PROVISION OF GOD

The word "provision" comes from two words [pro=before, vision=to see] and thus means to see beforehand. God sees all things beforehand (an attribute we call foreknowledge) and then He prepares and provides beforehand (ex. the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world). So, Abraham was saying "the Lord will see to it", i.e., "the Lord will provide!"

 

1. God Provided Abraham a Glimpse of Jesus. [Gn. 22:8, 14 (future tense), Jn. 8:56]

-Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

2. God Provided Us Examples of Behavior [1 Cor. 10:11, 2 Pet. 2:6]

-Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

-And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.

3. God Provided All with the Means for Pleasing Him [Heb. 11:6, 39-40]

-But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

-And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

THE TIME IS SHORT

Psalm 89:47, 1 Corinthians 7:29

-Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

-But this I say, brethren, the time is short

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

I. TIME IS SHORT FOR SALVATION

1. Delay is Foolish [Lk. 12:15-20a]

2. Delay Can Be Disastrous [Lk. 12:20b-31]

3. Delay is Devilish [Lk. 8:11-12, 2 Cor. 4:3-4]

-Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

- But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

II. TIME IS SHORT FOR SUFFERING

1. Be Stablished - the Lord is Coming [Jm. 5:8]

2. Be Settled – the Judge is Coming [Jm. 5:9]

3. Be Enduring –Suffering’s End is Coming [Jm. 5:10-11]

 

III. TIME IS SHORT FOR SERVICE

1. Be Patient - this is the Time for Labor [James 5:7]

2. Be Prayerful – this is the Time for Faith [Jm. 5:12-18]

3. Be Practical – this is the Time for Submission

 [Jm. 4:4-17]

HAVE CONFIDENCE

1 JOHN 2:28

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

I. THE CONFIDENCE OF A RELATIONSHIP

1. Be Confident You Are God’s Child

[2:28-3:2, 4:13-15, 5:11-13]

2. Be Confident He is Coming Again [2:28, 3:2]

3. Be Confident You Are Right with Him [2:28, 1:6-9]

 

II. THE CONFIDENCE OF CHRIST’S RETURN

1. We Don’t Know the Time [2:28, Mt. 24:36, 25:13]

-But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

- Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

2. We Know the Event [2:28, 1 Th. 4:16-17]

-He shall appear

-For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

3. We Know the Person [2:28, Acts 1:11]

- Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 

III. THE CONFIDENCE OF REACTION

1. We Can Have Confidence [2:28, 3:21, 4:17, 5:14]

2. We Can Be Ashamed [2:28]

3. We Can Please Him [2:28, 2 Tm. 2:4, Heb. 11:6]

STIRRED, NOT SHAKEN

2 THESS. 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

2 PETER 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

I. BE MINDFUL [2 PETER 3:1-7]

1. Be Mindful of the Word [v. 1-2; 1:3-4, 12, 19-21]

2. Be Mindful of the Wicked [v. 3-5a; 2:1-3]

3. Be Mindful of the World [v. 5b-7; 2:18-22]

 

II. BE INFORMED [2 PETER 3:8-10]

1. Time Means Little to God [v. 8, Ps.90:4]

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

2. Truth Means Much to God [v. 9a, Isaiah 46:10]

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

3. Temporal Things Mean Little to God [v. 9b-10]

 

III. BE FOCUSED [2 PETER 3:11-18]

1. On Living Right [v. 11; 1:4-7]

2. On Looking Right [v. 12-14]

3. On Learning Right [v. 15-18; 1:8-9]

BUT NOW IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD

1 COR. 15:20

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

Over 50 years ago I heard a Josh McDowell say, “The resurrection is the most wicked, vicious hoax ever foisted upon the minds of men OR it is the most fantastic fact in human history”. There is no other option. Hoax or history. Fake or fantastic.

 

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES BEFORE THE EVENT

1. Reported by Matthew - 27:60 Solid Rock Tomb, 27:60 Stone “Door”, 27:62-65 Roman Guard, 27:66 Roman Seal

2. Reported by Mark - 15:42-45 Jesus was Definitely Dead

3. Reported by John - 19:38-40 Jewish burial Customs, 20:19 Disciples were Frightened

 

II. THE FACTS AFTER THE EVENT

1. The Tomb was Empty [Lk. 24:1-3]

2. The Stone was Moved

-Lk. 24:2 apokulio, to roll away

-Mt. 28:2 “rolled back the stone from” apokulio- lithos; a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near),

-Mk. 16:3-4 apokulio ek; a primary preposition denoting origin, from, out (of place)

-Jn. 20:1 airo; a primary root; to lift up; by implication, to take up or away;

3. The Guard was AWOL [Mt. 28:4]

4. The Grave clothes were Folded [Jn. 20:3-9]

5. The Lord was Appearing [Acts 1:1-3, 1 Cor. 15:1-8]

 

III. THE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE EVENT

1. The Disciples Stole the Body [Mt. 28:11-15] not so- they fled while he was alive

2. The Unbelieving Jews Stole the Body - no reason to do so, they never produced a body nor did they deny it was missing

3. The Women went to the wrong Tomb - inconceivable that the disciples, the woman, the unbelievers, the Roman guard, the owner of the tomb, etc. would do so

4. The Swoon Theory - medically speaking-no! - the change in the disciples-unheard of unless He arose

5. The Resurrection [Jn. 20:24-31] - the only, true option

Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: