1/11/2015
Friendly Center Baptist Church
Pastor Tim J Strickland
My Father’s Will
Often too many times families are re-united together at the passing of one of their own. The funeral is a somber reminder of the fragility of human life.
The funeral has the ability to bring us closer to each other, at least physically more than we may have been in years.
Promises are made, usually with the best of intentions.
However, because of the business of this life and the shortness of time and the great distances between most people now days, family togetherness is put back upon the shelf, to be removed at a later time.
Another sure way to arouse the family members together is the notification by the way of a summons, issued by the court, for the reading of the deceased persons Will.
A Will is put in place you see, to ensure that the deceased persons wishes be accomplished after their death.
Its purpose is for the benefit of someone else.
In order for others to benefit from the Will, someone has got to die.
The New Testament in the Bible, in one sense, a person could say is a Type of Will.
The Bible is written and expressed with all the expectations and desires by the one who perished.
The Bible says
John 1:1
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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John 1:2-4
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
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John 1:10
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
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John 1:12
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
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John 1:14
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
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The Bible was written so that you and I would hopefully, come to understand by the reading and discerning of the word which is contained within, what is our Father’s Will.
Death will eventually come to take us all by the hand one day.
The only exception to that rule applies to born again believers who are alive when Jesus returns. In that case the Bible says in
1 Cor 15:51-52
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
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Unless the rapture happens in our life time, we will all taste death one day. So with death imminent, it becomes more important to know our future.
So what does the Father’s Will say?
He says
Matt 18:14
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish .
Well, if it is not the will of our father that you and I should perish, then it must be his will, that we should live.
He knows that we have a problem and that is the stain of sin in our lives.
We want to do what we want to do, when we want to do it.
Without help we cannot overcome this, we cannot overcome the life of this world.
We are lost to an endless cycle of sin. Paul says in
Rom 7:14-25
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
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The law of the flesh has been working in so many people lives and
Isa 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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Jesus knows the sins of the people. He knows that there is not one single righteous person.
And yet he goes out and looks for every individual that has a heart for him, even those that have slipped back into this world, he is searching for them.
The most sinful person out there has a father that is waiting just for them. He says
Matt 18:12-13
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray , doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray ?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
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Jesus loves us so much that he was willing to lay it all down. Lay his heavenly crown down.
Exchange it for a crown of thorns, become a mortal man, who is willing to die a slow and tortuous death to save us from an everlasting judgment and torment in a place called hell.
Most People today, including preachers, do not like to talk about hell. So the warning that is badly needed is not going out as it should.
You may recall in the Bible story of the two men possessed by demons living among the tombs, Jesus cast out the demons into a herd of pigs that ran down into the lake and drowned. Actually they asked to enter the pigs and Jesus said go.
Such is with Devils. But listen to the demons comment:
Matt 8:29
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
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Before the time of what?
Heb 9:27
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
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There is coming a day of judgment.
It will not be pleasant.
I want to read to you few short verses from the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. This is a view into a place known as hell.
Luke 16:19-28
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
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Many folks do not believe in God, they chose not to.
But I assure you hell is a very real place.
Some people think they are already living in Hell.
While it is true that the actions of others and themselves living ungodly lives can bring their current circumstance to seem like Hell, they have no idea of the real place.
It is a place of eternal torment.
You are not just burned away and it is all over with.
I know that there are many people that believe that, but I cannot find support for it belief in the Bible.
Matt 25:46
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal .
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My father’s will says that there is a
John 10:10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
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But if we have the truth of God in us, then we should have our minds set on things of goodness.
Shouldn’t we? Living a quiet life, doing the best with what God has allowed us to have and giving thanks for all things in Jesus name.
Because
Rom 1:18
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
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So this is not be us, not our lifestyles, those that profess to be Christians.
It is sadness to me, but in the world today, most men and women reject Jesus. The Bible says :
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Isa 53:3-5
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
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What is our Father’s will? That we be healed from the wickedness of this world. Through his stripes and pain and the life he laid down we can be.
It is his desire that we might find joy and peace with our neighbors, our family, friends.
He wishes that we would spread the good news of the Will. The Gospel, found inside what is known as the Bible.
The Bible speaks in the Old Testament, of the one who would come.
It speaks in the New Testament of one who did come. And the one who is coming again.
God desires that we will put the pen to the paper and accept the free gift left to us in the will.
Acts 2:38-39
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.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
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One day we will all meet our maker. It really does matter whether or not you believe in Jesus.
You can say you do not believe in God if you want.
You can be an atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Islam, but there is coming a day of reckoning.
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The concept of Christianity is not a complicated thing. It is actually simple. Living life as a Christian can be difficult.
Paul told us saying in
2 Cor 11:3
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.
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The Devil does not want you to understand the salvation that come from calling on the name of Jesus. He hates it, and he hates you.
My Fathers will is waiting for you. Waiting for you as I did, to accept the conditions laid out in it. The condition is
John 3:15-16
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 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.
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Mark 3:35-4:1
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
We accept Jesus, live the life that he would have us to live, and when we mess up
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Do you know my Father’s Will?
Alter call
