Sermons by Rev. Rob Henderson

Pastor Rob Henderson
Shelby Wesleyan Church
48 Ferry
Shelby, MI 49455
231-861-5375
April 16, 2000 morning service
https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net

Bartemaeus wanted mercy. He wanted to see.

What a blessing it is when God’s mercy touches man. When his mercy reaches into the depths of our utter despair!

But Jesus’ ultimate sign of mercy was his death and resurrection.

What is amazing is that when we are at the bottom of ourselves, when we realize the depths of our despair, we ask for mercy.

Bartemaeus was so much like we are.

Blind. Whoever is lost in sin is blind to righteousness. With all of the tragedies around us today I can’t help but wonder why people are not turning to Christ. Why doesn’t America see the desperation that our nation is in and turn her heart towards God? Because Satan has successfully blinded the people of our great nation. And in so doing so many of those closest to us are blinded to the truth. And even closer to home, I believe that there are those who sit in the pews of even our Wesleyan Churches and are blind.

Poor. Bartemaeus was poor. He was without any livelihood that could provide for the needs of himself. He was so poor he was reduced to begging. We are a rich nation but like Laodicea we don’t realize that we are poor, wretched, and naked. We have everything that brings happiness to ourselves. But do you really have peace in your soul? All the riches in the world cannot bring that peace that passes all understanding. Peace between you and others and especially that peace between you and God.

Destitute. Like us Bartemaeus was destitute. A wanderer in his own back yard. Begging for alms, living in squalor, looking for something real. When will we realize how utterly destitute we are even as a church? When will we realize how far any of us have strayed from God.

We need to realize our blindness, our poverty, and our destitution before we can recognize our despair. And in our despair, with nothing to hope for and nothing that we can do, we must cry out for God’s mercy.

And it was out of utter despair that Bartemaeus cried out to Jesus Christ.

Today, Jesus wants to show mercy to you. Today, Jesus wants you to receive mercy from God. Today, very well might be your day of salvation.

You see, for too long I believe that we have had churches full of church-goers but not necessarily Christians. What troubles me is that it is so easy to look the part of a Christian. We dress a certain way, act properly, and even have that Christian smell.

God made Ezekiel the watchman over the nation of Israel. God also told him that if he warned the people of impending danger but they did not take heed then their blood was on their own heads. But, if the watchman neglected his duty and did not warn the people of impending peril then they would still die in their sin but the watchman would be held accountable.

As your watchman I take the preaching of the Word very seriously. If any of you should go out and die in your sin and I failed to warn you then I will be held accountable before almighty God.

Therefore, I make no apology for the issue at hand today. I can only preach as God directs. I have asked that this cup be passed to someone else. But it has not.

God wants so much to show his mercy to mankind. God wants to reveal himself to every human being and have a relationship with them that would not only improve their life but free them from the bondage of sin and death and the eternal punishment that awaits them. His mercy is available to everyone, including you as you sit here this morning.

Romans 5:6-8 tells us this: “You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

But why would God need to show mercy in order to demonstrate his love? Why couldn’t he simply accept our word and promise not to sin again? Why not just accept the sacrifices of animals as a demonstration of our own love for God?

Because our sin is such an atrocity and outrage before the holiness of God that our own works could never even in the least pacify God. We need mercy and that mercy must come from God himself.

We are helpless. We cannot fend for ourselves. But more than that, we are guilty.

We are guilty of sin from our birth and we can do nothing to clean the slate.

We who are in sin are objects of God’s wrath. Those who do not know Jesus Christ and have not accepted and claimed his sacrifice for their sins are deemed guilty and will be punished for their sin.

Ephesians 2:3 tells us: “Like those in sin we were objects of God’s wrath.”

You may ask: “How could I be an object of God’s wrath? I haven’t done anything against God. I haven’t lied, or done any bad things. In fact, I have lived a very moral life and have always strived to do the right thing. How could I be an object of God’s wrath?”

Two Great Tragedies have permeated the Christian Church.

The first is that we have forgotten how we were saved. We are saved by faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. To take up my cross daily is to recognize continually that my salvation is not the things that I do but the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My faith in the work of Christ is what saves me, not my adherence to the church rules and discipline. My life is a witness of living by faith in Jesus Christ.

Just as Romans 1:17 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The second is that we have forgotten what we are saved from. I am not simply saved from the sins that I commit. The sins I commit are the result of my sinfulness before God.

“There is none righteous, no not one....All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

A few weeks ago we had Teen Challenge here for a concert. Several men testified to how God had raised them up out of sin. It was wonderful to hear the testimonials of God’s grace and mercy.

But, none of us have been any different. So what if you might have been raised in a Christian home? So what if we might not have participated in sin like someone else. So what if someone committed more sins than the other. So what if I don’t do drugs or was never an alcoholic or beat my wife and kids? I am still guilty because of my sinfulness.

Paul continues to write in Romans 3- “Their throat is an open grave, their tongues practice deceit... their fee are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”

If I have not accepted Jesus Christ by faith then I am lost in sin and an object of God’s wrath.

And God’s wrath will be revealed in the end.

Jesus tells the story in Luke 16 of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a beggar who was covered with sores. He would be fed the crumbs from the rich man’s table. I suppose the rich man thought of himself as righteous because he was doing a good deed.

At least he wasn’t letting the beggar starve to death. The time came when both of them died.

Lazarus went to a place called Abraham’s bosom- a place for the righteous until Jesus’ death and resurrection. The rich man looked up from his torment in Hades- the holding place for those awaiting the final judgement- and wished for just a drop of water from the fingertip of Lazarus, but there was none. He then wished that someone would go back and warn his brothers of what would become of them if they didn’t change. But they had Moses and the prophets. They knew better. They could be different.

The rich man had trusted in his success, his wealth, and his self-righteousness. He gambled away all of his opportunities.

Folks, eternity is too long to not know where you are going to spend it. Hell, is not a place where we’ll spend time with our buddies. Hell, is not a place I would wish upon anybody- even my worst enemy.

Hell is forever. Hell is a place of eternal torment. Those who go there will never be released.

I have read where teenagers have been convicted of heinous crimes and sentenced to long prison terms. Here I am, thirty-seven years old and a school mate of mine is still in prison and will be for the rest of his life. Butch made a few mistakes and one thing led to another and then to murder. The rest of his life in prison from the age of seventeen.

Here I am, twenty years later. I have a wife, two children, enjoying the benefits of freedom. Twenty years is a long time and a lot has happened in my life- both good and not so good. Butch is incarcerated and will never see the outside of the prison again. My heart breaks for him. He is paying the price for his transgression.

But sin must be atoned for. A life-long prison term is nothing compared to an eternity of punishment. Let’s not kid ourselves, without the precious blood of Jesus Christ none of us would deserve heaven and being in the presence of God.

In fact, for all of the good things I have done in my life, I deserve nothing better than hell.

I have given my life for the kingdom. I sweated and wept over the churches that I have been a part of; I have poured out all of time, energies, and talent for God. Take all of it, however, and it will not buy me one day in heaven. In fact, all of the good I have ever done will not purchase me one hour, one minute, one second, or even a single spilt-second of heaven. Because of my sinfulness that began in the garden of Eden, I am lost without Christ and deserve nothing better than eternity without God.

But worse than the torment of an eternal hell, there is the reality of eternal separation from God. No longer would we have the opportunity of seeing God or talking to God.

We see the sun, moon, and stars; we marvel at the sights of the ocean and mountains; we feel the breezes, smell the flowers, touch the bark on trees. All of these things testify to God’s existence and his love for us. But in hell these will be longing memories never to be repeated again. You will call to God and he will not hear your cries. No longer will you have the opportunity to make things right between you and God. For all of eternity there will be a great chasm between you and God that can never, ever be bridged.

We can go into denial and say it won’t happen that way but I have the word of God that tells me that hell will be a fearful place: somewhere that no one will want to be and a place that God wants to save you from. A place of separation from God.

And like the Hotel California- “You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave!”

What a terrible thing it will be being out of the presence of God. No way to back track and make things right, no possibility of early release, no chance of relief. God will inflict his wrath without pity or compassion. You had your opportunities and failed to accept Christ.

And believe me, everyone has at least one opportunity to accept Jesus Christ. How many of us have slipped out the back door only to be given another chance to get right with God. Over and over many people have resisted God’s loving hand reaching out to them. And over and over his hand has been slapped away because we were afraid that someone might think we were a hypocrite. I would rather people thought of me as a hypocrite for twenty or thirty years of my life than to spend eternity separated from God.

If God gives someone only one chance to serve him then he has given that person more chances than he ever deserved.

And so many of us have had numerous chances. We will be without excuse when we stand before the judgment throne of God.

You see, it is only God’s mere pleasure that is keeping him from sending any who are alive right now directly to an eternity of hell. It is only His grace that allows men to live as they do. God is

But perhaps worse than being out of the presence of God, is that final judgment day. John writes in Revelation 20:12 & 15: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were opened... Another book was opened which is the book of life. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

I wonder about those who will be standing there waiting to see if their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. What would you be thinking to yourself? Would you be wondering if your name was really written? Would you be wondering if you really did accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

What a horrifying moment it will be when God will say to you, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

What an awful day. To hear God speak one last time and to have those words ringing in your mind for all of eternity. What a dreadful day it will be.

Let me tell you something, hell is too hot and too long to not know here you are going. I want to know for sure that my sins are forgiven, that I have accepted the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that I do know where I am going.

For one moment, let’s forget about everybody else and ask ourselves: “Do I know where I am going if I were to die tonight?”

I am not trying to cast doubts, but what I am doing is declaring that the objects of God’s wrath will not enter the kingdom of heaven if they have not accepted Jesus Christ. Forget about your neighbors and ask yourself: “Have I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior?”

This may sound like a horror movie but trust me, this is worse than the Scream movies or Alfred Hitchcock: this is the prospect of spending eternity without God. To look back and wish that a different decision had been made. And like the Edgar Allen Poe poem, “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”

Nevermore will you ever have the opportunity to live your life again or to even turn to God then. It will be too little too late. Nevermore will you have the chance to live life for Jesus Christ. Nevermore will you hear the still voice of God calling to you.

I believe that there are church-goers who have sat in their churches looking the part of the Christian, attending the Christian functions, and participating in the Christian elements who have never accepted Jesus Christ. They believed that the works they have done, the sacrifices they have gave, and the money that they have donated, and the way they have looked makes them a Christian. Perhaps you have attended church for forty years and have never made a real personal commitment with Jesus Christ and accepted his sacrifice by faith.

Today, God wants to have mercy on you. Today, God wants to be your father. Today is the day of salvation.

You must choose you this day whom you will serve.

Perhaps you ask just as the jailer said to Paul and Silas: “What must I do to be saved?”

You must come to Jesus Christ, convinced of your lost state because of sin, and accept his sacrifice for your sins. You must recognize that you are lost without God and ask for His forgiveness. Do this believing that this is true and mean it with your whole heart.

You see, your sinfulness is what separates you from God. You must see that you are lost. Lost without any hope and lost for eternity.

My sin, your sin, the sin that began with Adam in the Garden of Eden is a rebellion against God. We are held in contempt by God himself because of sin. We are the objects of wrath. Our sinfulness has condemned us to hell, to an eternal separation from God.

Not only must you recognize your lost state, but you must also recognize that there is not one single thing you can do to change your standing before God. There is no great amount of righteousness or good works to perform that will unite you with God. All of your righteousness is counted as filthy rags- rags that are to be used for the most menial tasks of personal hygiene. Your good works and good intentions will not grant you salvation. You cannot win God’s approval. You are lost and there is nothing you can do about it.

“What must I do? Where can I go? Who shall save me from this lost state? I don’t want to spend eternity in hell separated from the ones I love and worse yet separated from God!

“What must I do?”

Nothing. You can do nothing. Nothing except come to Jesus and accept him as your personal savior and believe He is the son of God who has died for your sin.

John 3:36 says this: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

There’s an old story that I heard when I was a teenager about a young man who lived the wild life. He did the things that he wanted and one day found his car overturned in a ditch of water. He was unable to escape when suddenly a strong set of arms were pulling him from the wreckage. That day he was saved from what seemed to be a sure death.

Some time later this man found himself once again in a bad situation. This time he had broken the law and was looking at a long prison sentence. But he knew everything was going to be all right. He recognized the judge. This was the man who had rescued him from his overturned car. Things would be all right, he told himself.

When the day came for sentencing he stood confidently before the court. As the guilty verdict was rendered by the judge he nearly collapse. How could this be? This guy knew him. How could he do this to me? “Judge, don’t you remember me? Don’t your remember me when I was sinking in that ditch and you rescued me? Remember who I am?”

The judge nodded and replied, “Yes, I remember you. Yesterday I was your savior but today I am your judge.”

When the Lamb’s book of life is opened will your name be found?