A.            Introduction (Save text and title till end.)

1.            Why reinvent the wheel? Why make things more complicated than they should be, in the name of progress?

2.            Examples: Omni competition to come up with “retro-breakthroughs” (Reader’s Digest).

a.            “Privacy screen”: adjusts to block summer glare or allow winter sunlight—shade tree.

b.      “Portable arcade”: device to play a variety of games, no cartridges or batteries needed—card deck.

c.      “Graphic media emulator”: high-resolution, thin-screen monitor, near-perfect emulations of all graphic media, personal grooming assistant—mirror.

d.            “Silicon timer”: powered by planetary attraction phenomenon—hourglass.

e.      “Virtual-reality device/entertainment center”: no keys, no mouse, touch-sensitive interface allows users to explore other worlds, civilizations, and times; user-friendly, random access, millions of titles—book.

f.      “Cellular personal computer”: self-expanding, easily programmable, compatible with all computers and printers, lifetime guarantee—brain.

g.      “Home security system”: continuous eighty-six-decibel alarm, also provides companionship, newspaper retrieval, and cardiovascular benefits—dog.

h.      “All-terrain vehicle”: quick acceleration, strong four-point suspension, unique quadrafoot drive for off-road, voice activation or touch-control command—horse.

i.      “Phone-answering device”: eliminates annoying message menus, courteously answers questions and directs incoming calls—receptionist.

B.            Why Complicate the Simplicity of the Gospel?

1.            “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house,” Acts 16:31.

2.            The key is faith in Jesus. It will lead to water baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

3.            Philippian jailer: He was baptized at midnight and received an experience that caused rejoicing, verses 33-34.

C.            Why Settle for Less Than the Original?

1.            Peter’s report of the conversion of Cornelius, Acts 11:15-17. Cornelius received the same experience as the original believers on the Day of Pentecost. God gave these new believers the same gift as He gave the original people who “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.” This experience is the norm for all believers.

2.            What was that experience?

a.            They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with tongues, Acts 2:1-4.

b.      Peter and the other apostles proclaimed this message for everyone—specifically repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:37-39.

c.      Cornelius and household received the same experience, Acts 10:44-48. There was no sound of wind or flame of fire, but speaking in tongues was the key point of identity.

3.            Appeal: we need to go “Back to Pentecost” (give title).

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Similarly, it is the duty of Christians to become special forces in an oppressed world… to enable the lost to stage a resistance against the Oppressor through the power of Christ.

Augustine wrote the following, which he described as the mission of the church:

The turbulent have to be corrected,
The faint-hearted cheered up,
The weak supported;
The Gospel’s opponents need to be refuted,
Its insidious enemies guarded against;
The unlearned need to be taught,
The indolent stirred up,
The argumentative checked;
The proud must be put in their place,
The desperate set on their feet,
Those engaged in quarrels reconciled;
The needy have to be helped,
The oppressed to be liberated,
The good to be encouraged,
The bad to be tolerated;
All must be loved.

In Isaiah 1:17, the Lord declares, “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” just before underscoring the statement with the invitation to, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”.

Such a powerful admonition to those who would call themselves the redeemed… “liberate the oppressed”. De Opresso Liber.

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Luke 17:11-19

A message about the widow woman and vessels of oil. Likening her destitute condition to our condition of emptiness/hunger/need/desire, and the fact that, as long as there is yet a vessel to fill the oil will flow. How did she feel when she realized there were no more vessels to fill?

End with the story of the 10 lepers, and how only one came back to Jesus to give thanks. Jesus’ question, “Where are the nine?”

Perhaps the man thought to himself, “This is a question I can’t answer, Lord. I don’t know what was happening back at their home that caused them to lose faith. I don’t know what was happening in their marriage that caused them to grow bitter and calloused. I don’t know what pain they suffered in their past that keeps them from receiving a complete healing. I don’t know what lies they’ve believed about themselves that cause them to feel unworthy. I don’t know what was happening in their life to cause them to be content with what they’ve received. All I know is this… I came because I want more.”

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An article on CNN.com details a recent shift in wedding preferences of brides choosing colored dresses over the traditional white.

Instead of trying to fit a certain mold, Ariel Meadow Stallings cut up a lime-green prom dress she found on eBay, and paired it with an iridescent blue corset.

After all, it was her wedding day. She wanted to look and feel her best. “And that means wanting to wear the color you feel best compliments your skin tone and your hair,” she said.

While most brides aren’t ready to walk down the aisle in anything more colorful than ivory, bridal consultant Susan Rogers said the wedding industry is slowly changing its tune.

The article claims that “Nobody orders white anymore. It’s kind of a faux pas.”

It argues that it takes a special kind of bride to wear something other than white at a wedding.

However, I think that they are approaching it from the wrong perspective.

Any bride can wear red or blue — there is no symbolism of chastity there.

But it really does take a special kind of bride to wear white!

My bible still tells me that the grandest wedding in all of time has yet to occur and the bride will be arrayed in fine linene, clean and white! The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints!

Rev 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

White is an exclusive color, not just any bride can wear it. But, if you plan to be a part of the Bride of Christ, you had better be able to wear white…

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How often does calamity end in loss of life because of hasty decisions? Spiritually, much peril could be avoided by exercising patience and letting God take control of the situation.

1 Samuel 12:16
“Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.”

Ephesians 6:13
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Louise Patten, a writer and granddaughter of Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, said the truth about what happened nearly 100 years ago had been hidden for fear of tarnishing the reputation of her grandfather, who later became a war hero.

Lightoller, the most senior officer to have survived the disaster, covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the ill-fated liner’s owners and put his colleagues out of a job.

“They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn’t for the blunder,” Patten told the Daily Telegraph.

“Instead of steering Titanic safely round to the left of the iceberg, once it had been spotted dead ahead, the steersman, Robert Hitchins, had panicked and turned it the wrong way.”

Patten, who made the revelations to coincide with the publication of her new novel “Good as Gold” into which her account of events are woven, said that the conversion from sail ships to steam meant there were two different steering systems.

Crucially, one system meant turning the wheel one way and the other in completely the opposite direction.

Once the mistake had been made, Patten added, “they only had four minutes to change course and by the time (first officer William) Murdoch spotted Hitchins’ mistake and then tried to rectify it, it was too late.”

Patten’s grandfather was not on watch at the time of the collision, but he was present at a final meeting of the ship’s officers before the Titanic went down.

There he heard not only about the fatal mistake but also the fact that J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of Titanic’s owner the White Star Line persuaded the captain to continue sailing, sinking the ship hours faster than would otherwise have happened.

“If Titanic had stood still, she would have survived at least until the rescue ship came and no one need have died,” Patten said.

The RMS Titanic was the world’s biggest passenger liner when it left Southampton, England, for New York on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. Four days into the trip, the ship hit an iceberg and sank, taking more than 1,500 passengers with it.

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Have you ever opened a folder or a document expecting to find the contents on the inside bearing the results of the name on the outside, only to find it completely blank?

To us, our past is powerfully present in our mind at times, but God has a way of forgiving and forgetting!
I can forgive and struggle with the memory… What I should forget, I remember, and what I should remember, I forget!

Lots wife

Hebrews 11:14-16
(14) For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
(15) And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
(16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Manasseh Before Ephriam – forgetting past wounds
Genesis 41:51-52
(51) And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
(52) And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

What we should not forget
Deuteronomy 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

Remember thy creator in the day of thy youth

The pit from where he dug us

Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

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Stage 2–An Empty Heart
No time for God
No time for prayer
Not interested in the Bible
Spiritual cobwebs
More excuses

Stage 3–An Empty life
Influence for God–nil
Influence for church–nil
Example to children on selecting the best–nil
Influence on neighbors–nil
Materialism growing

Stage 4–An Empty future
No “well done, good and faithful servant”
No “thou has been faithful over a few things….”
No crown of life
No “enter thou into the joy of the Lord”

Author unknown

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Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Some men marvelled, others mocked.

Marvelled: something that causes wonder, admiration, or astonishment; a wonderful thing.

Mocked: To attack or treat with ridicule, contempt, or derision. To ridicule by mimicry of action or speech; mimic derisively. To mimic, imitate, or counterfeit. To challenge; defy.

Consider the account of Michal, the daughter of Saul. At one time she marveled at David, when he displayed his love for the Lord in defeating the enemies of God. Later when his display of love included a dance of humble praise, however, she no longer marveled but mocked him.

One has to wonder what turns a marveler into a mocker? In Michal’s case, it appears to be when she left her first love. She was originally in love with David, and Saul gave her to him for his wife. Later, after she helped David flee from a jealous and murderous Saul, her father then gave her to another man named Phalti the son of Laish. It was much later that David sent back and demanded for Michal to be returned to him. When she was brought to him, 2 Samuel says that Phalti followed behind weeping for her… apparently they had fallen in love together. Her love was no longer toward David, but to her new husband Phalti. At one time she was called, “The wife of David”, but now again, “The daughter of Saul”.

It seems, then, that a person will change from a marveler to a mocker when they fall away from their first love.

Even in Acts 2, there were Jews who had a heart of love for God, and some who obviously were no longer serving him out of love, but some other motivation. Duty? Obligation? Self-righteousness? Those who were in love with God must have marveled. Those who weren’t seemed to have mocked. It appears it’s the display of the spirit of a man that tells us whether they’re truly in love with Him or not.

The men present on the day of Pentecost took one of two positions. Some marvelled, others mocked. These responses usually come up when we are challenged by the Word of God, the Spirit of God or any issue, including but not limited to, seperation issues. When you hear of someone’s commitment to separation, even if you do not share that commitment, how do you respond?

Do you marvel, (admire, astonishment, it’s a wonderful thing), their dedication and their attempt to give something up as a love sacrifice; or; do you mock, (ridicule, mimic, challege), their stance?

(This is a mixture of thoughts shared by Jeff Ready and myself.)

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In vs. 11, the opening words, “the burden of…” means, “the harsh prophecy for…” Numerous times in the book of Isaiah, the prophet begins his words toward a people, person or nation with this phrase. In this case, he is about to describe the peril of a place in Arabia called Dumah. Interestingly the Hebrew word “Dumah” simply means, “silence”.

We could read this verse as, “Following is a difficult message about the peril of silence.”

Out of the mountain of Seir, they call to the watchman on the wall, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” In other words they are desperate to know, “Watchman, is there hope of deliverance for us?”

The prophet, or watchman, replies that there will be a short time of favor, but then more peril. “You can keep asking if you’d like, but the answer will remain the same. The only way to receive a better report than this is to repent and turn back to God.”

Those who turn a deaf ear to the cry of the preacher, and continually respond with silence, will find that their sorrows never stop. They will live from sorrow to sorrow, with only splinters of hope scattered through it. The only way to end the cycle is to repent of their sins and turn back to God.

I just pray they never stop asking, “Watchman, what of the night?”, and that one day they’ll listen and obey.

There is another angle to this passage as well… and that is the responsibility for the watchman to sound the call in the night. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

So the question is ours to answer, and a desperate world is calling out, “Watchman, what of the night?”

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Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

There is a road we must walk… Straight and narrow. We must find the old paths, and pave the way for others.

Old Paths
One God
Repentance from Sin
Water Baptism
Spirit Baptism
Holiness and separation

Find a Road
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Sometimes it gets covered in obscurity.

A recent article from AFP news recounts an archaeological find in Jerusalem: a famed 1,500-year-old street which had been lost for centuries. In those days, thousands of pilgrims from across the Christian world would be using that road.

There was a map that showed the existence of a thoroughfare… the main road into the city of Jerusalem… that had been missing for years. Time and tradition had obscured it, and even another road was laid overtop of it. Through a diligent excavation, the old path was dug up and revealed.

Make a road
1 Samuel 27:10
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

Achish asked David, “where have you made a road today?” In other words, who have you conquered today? The victor always laid a road.

The Romans built roads so that the army could march from one place to another. They tried to build the roads as straight as possible, so that the army could take the shortest route. Whenever they conquered a city, they built a road through it.

Sometimes it will take a fight in order to lay your road.
Fight tradition (not all tradition is bad)
Colossians 2:8
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Fight apathy (lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.)
Fight through circumstances
Fight false doctrine
Fight fear – The devil’s greatest tactic (lists of phobias) God has not given us a spirit of fear…

Choose a road

Judges 20:31
…in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field…

In a place whee ways converge and paths are numerous, there is a choice to make.
Choose to walk in the good way… The old paths.

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