Sermon Central
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The Silver Pen
Contributed by Joe Rowland on Mar 8, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: What is God recording about your life?
The Silver Pen
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: {For: or, For that}
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
I’ve entitled this today “The Silver Pen”.
Verse 17 says, “And if you call upon the Father who without respect of persons”.
This morning, God is not a respecter of persons, God does not look at us the the way that the world might.
The world might look at the physical and start to judge by looks, or what someone has or does not have.
God, this morning, is impartial. God judges according to every man’s work.
God is the judge who cannot be fooled by what we say or the actions that we have.
What kind of work are you doing for the Lord? Is it a work that is motivated by your love for the Lord?
Is the work that you are doing bringing glory to God?
Is your work self motivated, thinking of yourself only?
We need to understand that God sees sometimes what we really do not want Him to see, and He sees why we do the things that we do.
Church you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold.
Silver and gold cannot redeem fallen man.
Sometimes people think that the more that they have on the physical, the better off they are on the spiritual.
A lot of these things we pass on to our children and to their children.
This would be considered tradition. The church, in general, has a lot of things passed on by tradition, and the problem is that it is a tradition of man.
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
This presents the payment which proclaims the poured out life of Christ on the behalf of sinners.
When it says, “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: it speaks of the lambs offered as substitutes in the old Jewish economy.
The death of Christ was not execution or assassination, but rather a sacrifice.
The offering of Himself presented a perfect sacrifice, for He was perfect.
Jesus was, in the beginning, with God before the foundation of the world, and He was made manifest in these last times for you.
Not only is this talking about Christ coming in the flesh, but it could mean that Jesus will manifest Himself in these last days for you. In other words,
Jesus is showing up for you in the spiritual sense.
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: {For: or, For that}
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Being born again is not received by human parents, but through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The story of the Bible is the story of mans’ redemption which is the story of the cross.
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
