Rom. 5:12
Pastor Rick Jackson
April 10th, 1912, 107 years ago- South Hampton,
Great Britain was alive with excitement. Thousands of passengers got on board
the biggest and grandest luxury liner up to that time for her maiden voyage.
The richest man in the world, John Jacob Astor and his wife were joined by
other millionaires in the 1st class accommodations. There were hundreds more in
2ND class rooms which matched other ship's 1st class facilities and then there
were thousands more in 3rd class. Immigrants, in many cases, going to America
to improve their lot in life.
First class had magnificent accommodations and no-one from
2ND class was allowed therein. Second class passengers had amenities that 3rd
class didn't have but almost everyone considered it a privilege to be on the
maiden voyage of the grand ship. It didn't really matter what class you were
because on April 14th, 1912, 107 years ago today, the Titanic struck
an iceberg and in the early hours of April 15th sank taking with her
thousands of 1st, 2ND, 3rd class passengers and various crew from the captain
on down. John Jacob Astor could have bought and paid for the Titanic ten times
over but he couldn't buy a seat on a lifeboat. Death is a great equalizer.
There are many equalizers that slice through barriers that
men have put up or contended with. Barriers like color, wealth, health, gender,
religion, age, stature all fall before the great equalizers. When our girls
were growing up Rachel always wanted everything to be equal, to be fair and we
kept having to tell her, "Life isn't fair. Nothing can be equal because no
two people are the same." But the equalizers don't care about our differences.
Let's open our Bible and examine some of the Great Equalizers!
I. SATAN IS A GREAT
EQUALIZER [Is. 14:12-17, 1 Peter 5:8]
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
II. SIN IS A GREAT
EQUALIZER [Ps. 14:2-3, 51:5, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, 5:12]
-The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone
aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no,
not one.
-Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me.
-For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good,
and sinneth not.
- For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
-Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
III. TEMPTATION IS A
GREAT EQUALIZER [1 Cor. 10:13]
-There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to
man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it.
IV. SIN'S
CONSEQUENCES ARE A GREAT EQUALIZER [Rm. 5:12, Job 5:7, Rm. 6:23, 8:22-23, Jm.
1:15]
-Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
-For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
-For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have
the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
-Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Thus far the Equalizers
have all been of a negative sort, but that is about to be equalized itself in a
sense.
V. GOD IS THE
GREATEST EQUALIZER [John 1: 9, 3:16, 12:32, 16:6, Rm. 2:11]
And it doesn't matter if you are talking about God the
Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. God is the greatest Equalizer of
all.
-That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world.
-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.
-And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me.
-And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and
of righteousness, and of judgment:
- For there is no respect of persons with God.
VI. SALVATION IS A
GREAT EQUALIZER [Eph. 2:8-9, Acts 17:30, Titus 2:11]
-And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent
-For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men,
VII. SERVICE IS A
GREAT EQUALIZER [Titus 2:11-12, Eph. 2:10]
-For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
-For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
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