Shepherd's Lighthouse Church

The Apostle Paul writes in Phil 2:14, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

And in Romans 14:1 he warns the saints not to get caught up in doubtful disputations (that is, arguing about the non-essentials). 

Such things cause fragmentation within the body of Christ.

Non-essentials are a distraction to understanding the truth and will invariably impede the Lord’s work in bringing the believer to spiritual maturity.

I’d like to illustrate my point with a modern day parable that I heard several years ago.  I’d give credit to the author if I could remember who it was.

  One day a man fell into a pit and couldn't get out without help.  So he waited for someone to come along and rescue him.

  Soon an IRS agent happened by and he looked down at the man in the pit and asked, "Have you declared that pit?".  Then he left.

  He was followed by a zoning inspector who asked, "Do you have a permit for that pit?".  Then he left.

  Then came a mathematician who computed who many cubic feet of soil was removed to make the pit; and presented it to the troubled man in the pit.  Then he left.

  Then an optimist stopped by to say, "Cheer up, it could be worse!"  But  his pessimist companion countered, "It will get worse!"  And they left.

  Soon a philosopher stopped at the pit to speculate - "If a hole has someone in it, is it still a hole?".  And he walked off.

  As the man in the pit was puzzling over the philosopher's question, a geologist stopped by to analyze the soil in the walls of the hole.  Then he left.

  He was followed by a Baptist who told him, "Have no fear, you may have fallen but you are still saved." Then he left.

  Then a Methodist came by and told him, "You deserve to be in that pit."  Then he left.

  A Word of Faith teacher stopped by to advise him to, "confess that you're not in the pit."  Then he left.

  Then a Calvinist arrived to tell him, "You were predestined to be in that pit."  And he left.

  Finally, Jesus walked to the edge of the pit and said, "Come, take my yoke upon you, and I'll lift you out of the pit."

 D

o you know what was essential in this parable? 

 

It was that a man was trapped and needed help to get free.

B

ut all the officials and philosophers and religionists could only focus on the non-essentials that pertained to their own particular view of the world.  

Human opinion will do that. 

It will give you tunnel vision and make you earthbound.

The man in the parable wanted to be free and was powerless to free himself.

Freedom is what the human soul cries out for. 

Freedom from the details and trials of life. 

Freedom from uncertainty. 

Freedom from fear. 

And freedom from death. 

Heb 2:15 affirms that such fears have subjected men to bondage for their entire lifetime.

Sooner or later the soul comes to this dreadful realization and calls out for help. 

It happened to me when I was about 20.  

And just like the man in the parable, I was visited by many who were fixated on the non-essentials and I remained trapped until a woman who followed the teachings of New Age came along and promised to teach me how to free myself.

But over the next twenty years I was ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. 

Then one day I was visited by the Lord Jesus who told me that I couldn’t free myself but that He could.

This is the heart of the Gospel message – man is helplessly trapped in a world of illusion; but there is One who can free us. 

What illusion? 

The illusion that man is the master of his own destiny and can learn to manipulate his reality if he just learns a few magical formulas for success.

But we read in Romans 3:23  that, “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …” 

Sin is the reason that we are trapped – a weakness inherited from Adam…

Romans 3:12 proclaims that, “All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

And Romans 6:23 warns us that, “the wages of sin is death ..” 

Death is the consequence of sin.

So there is bad news. 

We can try to hide from it. 

We can stubbornly reject it on the basis that it is not a part of our normal experience. 

But Eccl 3:11 assures us that our Creator, “… has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

And Rom 1:20 warns that, “… since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his  eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

But there is good news – and it is upon this good news that those who are wise will set their hope.

Two thousand years ago God entered mans’ prison with a pardon for all who would accept it.

Luke 19:10 informs us that, “… the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

In John 3:3, Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

Rom 6:6 tells us that before the Savior came we were slaves to sin. 

We were all born with a sinful nature. 

But we can now be reborn with a new nature.

John 3:15-18 promises us that, “… everyone who believes in him [Jesus] may have eternal life."For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”

In John 14:6 Jesus boldly proclaimed, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The carnal nature would convince us that there are many ways to heaven. 

But the only person in all of history who was qualified to speak on the subject told us that He alone holds the key to eternal life.

And in Romans 10:9-11 the Apostle Paul tells us, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

But many want to trust in their own righteousness and their own human strength. 

They think that God is impressed with their ceremonies or morality – they think that with these they can buy His favor.

Romans 10:3-4 warns, “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.  Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

Ceremony and human morality may satisfy the carnal nature but only the Cross of Christ can satisfy the justice of a perfect God.

2 Cor 5:15 declares, “…He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”

And Jesus promised Rev 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

This is the Gospel of the Lord. 

And these are the essentials of that Gospel.

When we attempt to add any other principle to these we are, in fact, taking away from them.

This is why the Apostle Paul stated in 1 Cor 2:2, “… For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

All who reject this simple truth will continue in their pursuit of pleasure or special words and magical techniques to satisfy the restlessness in their souls.  

They are the ones who are forever looking for some hidden or forbidden knowledge to set them free.

But, in Christ, God has done it all. 

Now it is only for the believer to learn God’s holy viewpoint and apply it in his life.

Knowledge without application is, as the Apostle James says in James 2:26, “… as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

This is how one can be saved and heaven bound but suffer a life of defeat while here in the world.

Now, in summary, the Gospel is the good news that man has been set free from his prison and promised eternal life in a perfect heaven. 

It is a gift – an act of grace accomplished by a loving God who wants to save all people from the grip of the Devil.

Once the gift is accepted we should learn to walk in accordance with God’s will as revealed in the Bible so that we can resist the seductions of the Devil and enjoy a victorious life and look forward to an eternity of joy in God’s presence.

Therefore avoid the non-essentials and focus of the real issue – Jesus. 

He alone is the answer.

And don’t waste your time looking for special words or ceremonies or techniques.

And avoid what the Bible calls “doubtful disputes” – learn to discern what is essential from what is nothing but a distraction.

Dis-tractions from the simple truth that is found in Jesus benefits nobody but the Devil.

Finally, the temperament of the entire New Testament shouts the importance of doctrinal truth and the fidelity of the believer to that truth.

But doctrinal purity is something that we all grow into – it doesn’t happen all at once.

So, as is made clear in the 13^th chapter of 1Cor, in the absence of love everything else is vanity.

Jesus left us these words in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

 

Amen.