Waiting On Your Trust

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello, friends. If you were asked to answer this question, what is really the good news of the gospel, what would you say? Somebody would answer, “Oh that Jesus can save from sin,” and that is good news. Someone else would say, “Well, that you can receive eternal life,” and that is good news. But you have a definition of the good news, at least one definition of it. In the 13th chapter of Acts, where we look at verse 32.

The apostle Paul is in the middle of his sermon there at, well, pretty near to the end of it now, there at Antioch, in the synagogue. And he says, “We declare unto you glad tidings.” Now, what is this good news? “How the promise that was made under the father’s God has fulfilled that same promise unto us, their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day, I have begotten thee. And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption. He said, On this wise, I’ll give you the sure mercies of David.” And, “Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep and was laid unto his fathers and did see corruption, but He that is Christ, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man has preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by Him, all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” What a great thing!

Now, what’s the glad tidings? Number one, Jesus is alive. God fulfilled, God kept His word. That’s the first thing. God kept His word, Jesus is alive. Second, there’s a therefore in Verse 38. Because He’s alive, there’s forgiveness of sins and justification. That’s the good word. It’s great, isn’t it? It’s interesting to me that the good tidings, the good news, in other words, that Paul is talking about here starts with a reference to God’s faithfulness in keeping his promise. Why is this? Because my friend, the battle that has to be fought through every generation is what Dr. John R. Rice used to call the “battle of the Bible,” that is to say, Satan, in his basic attack, always attacks the Word of God.

You look around you, and you say, “Oh what a wicked world this is and how things are disintegrating, and morals are being corrupted,” and so on. I agree, but look back from 50 to 100 years and find out what the attack was at that point. The attack at that point was upon American belief in an infallible Bible. The so-called higher criticism came along where people said, why it couldn’t possibly true, be true. There have to be two Isaiahs and Daniel is a forgery that was written far later than it claims to have been written, and so on and so on and so on. And the attack on the Bible continued unrelenting through the years, until finally, as the dreadful fruition of such an attack, our country formally threw the Bible out of its schooling, and prayer out of its procedures. And, there you are. We have now been thrown to the wolves of immorality and corruption, and our country is disintegrating rapidly at that level. You know this, of course. I don’t need to prove that point to you. Just read your papers. But what about all of that? Why, the attack has always been on the Bible and so the good news that you bring to people is that the Bible is true. God keeps His word. The Bible is true. God fulfills His promise, the Bible is true.

Now you say, “Why bang away on that, Brother Cook? We believe the Bible.” I know you do, that’s probably why you’re listening to a man like me. At the same point, however, you must realize where the battle lies in our day. Yes, I know you believe God’s Word, and yes, I know that you trust God, many of you, to keep His word to you. The point is, you have something to say to this kind of a world, a world that’s falling apart, a world that’s drifting fast toward materialism, and communism, and hedonism, and anarchism, and demonism. Actually, this is the trend of our day and our culture, isn’t it? Well, if that is so, what do you have to say to it? The first thing you have to say is, God keeps His word. Oh, my friend, today, somewhere along the line, find opportunity to tell somebody that you serve a God who keeps His promises, that the Bible is true, and that Scripture is fulfilled. It was fulfilled, for instance, in the coming of the Lord Jesus, the first time. His virgin birth, His birth in Bethlehem of Judea, His miraculous preservation from the murderous edict of King Herod, the perfect life He lived, and the perfect death He died, and the resurrection of Him. See, God has fulfilled this promise, it says, in raising up the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the second thing in the good news is that Jesus is alive. God keeps His word, that’s the first thing. Second, Jesus is alive.

And my heart grows faint and a little ill when I think of the deadly, what shall I say? The deadly apathy, really, that is manifested by ever so many professed Christians at this point. Any more when people come to talk to me about working at the college, I say to them, “Hey, tell me about Jesus.” And you can tell in three minutes whether people are excited about the living Christ or whether he’s just an historical point of reference, but the apathy there is in the indifference and the total lack of excitement in discussing anything about the Lord Jesus Christ. You come to them and you say, “Are you a Christian?” And they bristle with resentment, they say, “Of course, I’m a Christian.” And you say, “Well, let’s talk about the Lord Jesus.” Well, what do you wanna say? There’s nothing to say about Him, you see. So, part of the good news that you have to give to the world depends upon whether you know for a fact that the Lord Jesus is alive. But I ask you this question then. Do you, as a matter of fact, have evidence that He is alive in your life today?

Oh all of us have our troubles. Just to go through life humanly, it means that you’re gonna have troubles and perplexities and problems, and not a few heartaches and you’ll shed some tears, and you’ll have some sorrows and you’ll have some disappointments, and you’ll have problems in involving your children, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and in-laws and outlaws and all the rest. That’s how life is, job problems, community problems, church problems. Life is a rugged business, isn’t it? And oftentimes, you get hurt in it. Now, what about all of this? In the midst now of going through life, admittedly, being a Christian doesn’t make life a bed of roses. In the process of going through life, with the various jars and jolts and hurts that come with it, is there any evidence in your life that Jesus is alive? Huh?

In other words, is there any evidence at the point where you have a very difficult situation in the office? Let’s say, you’re head of a department and your subordinate is plotting to get your job and has been going over your head to the next higher echelon of control, whatever it may be, like a division head or whatever. And you find out about it, and so on and so on. What are we gonna do, blow your stack? Or what are you gonna do? Is there any evidence at that point under this extreme pressure on the job, where somebody is plotting to get your job and has been going over your head to your superior, trying to undermine you, and so on. Now, what are you gonna do?

Are you gonna give him what our good friend Elsie Short calls a knuckle sandwich? “I give you a knuckle.” Huh? Are you gonna do that? Well, or are you gonna pout? Are you gonna fracture and have a nervous breakdown or a coronary? Or are you going to give him, pay them back in kind and start some intrigue of your own? What are you gonna do? Well, my dear friend, I’m not gonna tell you what to do. That isn’t my point. I’m simply going to say, if Jesus is alive, He’s gonna make a difference in your reaction to intrigue in the office. If Jesus is alive, He’s gonna make a difference in your reaction to children at home. Now, mother, I know that most of the men do not appreciate the toll that just being a mother and taking care of kids takes on your nerves. Your husband will come home and say, “Well, what did you do all day?” As if to say, “You’ve been sleeping all day,” at which point, you’d like to slug him one. Isn’t it true, gals? Well, that’s how it is, but let’s agree. And I’m just a poor mere man, just like all the rest, so I have to plead that maybe I don’t appreciate as much as I should what you go through. But let’s agree that, that just to be a mother and a housewife and a homemaker, and take care of a two or three or four or five little kids, whatever the number may be at your house, or maybe it’s five and a half, and that’s even worse, right? [chuckle]

Okay, now. It takes a toll on your nerves and the constant banging and the constant harassment, and the constant testing of children to see how far mother will let them go. This is the name of the game. See what you can get away with, right? Okay, now friend, let me ask you something. Is there anything in your reaction to that kind of pressure, and it’s real, believe me, whether or not your husband knows it. It’s real, right? Okay. Is there any evidence under that kind of pressure at home, that Jesus is alive? Huh? Oh, I don’t mean that you have to be singing hymns all day long. No, I don’t. I don’t mean that you have to be looking pious, and talking in prayer meeting tones. Not that. There are some situations where you just can’t sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Isn’t that right? The dog gets out and starts chasing the neighbor’s cat and now everything is falling apart and you don’t have time to be pious at that point, do you? No.

Okay. All I’m asking is, ladies and gentlemen, under household pressures, not your job pressures of intrigue and irritation. Now, under household pressures of children and responsibilities, is there any evidence that Jesus is alive? How would it show up if there were evidence? Well, it would show up probably in keeping it from fracturing. If the Lord Jesus is alive, He’ll keep you from breaking up. He’ll keep you from blowing your stack. He’ll keep you from getting unhinged and getting out of your tree. Yes, He will. If the Lord Jesus is alive, He’ll keep a watch at the door of your lips so you don’t yell and say the wrong things. And He’ll also give you strength enough to exercise wholesome discipline where it’s needed.

If Jesus is alive, he’ll make your mothering, ladies, he’ll make your mothering, and your house-wifing, and your home-making, a miracle. That’s what He’ll do. Now, everybody’s tempted. But, let’s talk especially to the teenagers among us. Teenagers, you’re out on a date and you’re tempted to do some things and say some things that are outside of what God would have a Christian do, who has given his body to the Holy Spirit. Now, is Jesus alive? Is there any evidence that the Lord Jesus is alive, when you’re on a date? Huh? Well, there again, I’m not saying you got to have a prayer meeting all the time when you’re out on a date. I am saying that if you will take the Lord Jesus Christ into consideration, and if you and your date will pray together, it’s gonna put an entirely different cast on the situation. I’ll tell you that. But at the point when you’re tempted to do wrong or tempted not to do right, because there are two kinds of temptations, as you know. At the point where you’re tempted to do wrong or tempted not to do right, is there any evidence that Jesus, our blessed Lord, is alive? You see, the point at which the gospel really gets across is the point where you demonstrate that Christ is alive.

Now, the good news then, I’m saying the good news that we have to give to the world, is first, God keeps His promise. And second, Jesus is alive. And third, your sins can be forgiven and you can be just, justified. As Dr. Walter Wilson used to say, just as if I’d never sinned. Justified means just as if I’d never sinned. God makes you so right with Himself, that sins are forgiven and forgotten by God, and your record is clean and your life is clean, and you are living for the Lord Jesus Christ. This then is the Good News, God keeps His word, Jesus is alive, sins can be forgiven and forgotten and you can be right with God. Hallelujah. Isn’t that great? [chuckle] Enjoy it. Now, let’s pray.

Dear Father, help us today to give out the glad good news of Jesus. And help us to prove by our life that He is alive. I ask in His name. Amen. Amen. God bless you, dear friend, all the way. That’s all for now.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!