The Boy Who Loved Jesus

Long long ago in a land far far away, there was a young married couple who had a little boy. We’ll call him Nicky. His mom and dad loved him very much and took him to church with them and told them the stories about Jesus in the Bible. In fact when he was 5 years old he could tell the stories and he learned that to be like Jesus meant that you did good things for people and helped people. I think his folks really must have loved Jesus and taught little Nicky to love Jesus, too.

But then something bad happened. Well Nicky was a little older, like a teenager maybe, when his mom and dad died in a bad accident. I don’t know what happened to them, but Nicky’s uncle took him in and Nicky found out something about his mom and dad. They had been very wealthy and now all of that money and land and houses belonged to Nicky!

Well, Nicky had a lot more than he needed to live on, so he started to do what his mom and dad had taught him to do. He started to help people. But he didn’t want lots of people to make a big fuss about it so he decided to do it secretly.

First, he heard about a man who had lost all his money. Maybe his barn and burned down and all of his corn and grain that he had stored for the winter. And now here this man was with no money and he had three daughters and he was running out of food too. He didn’t know what to do.

And the man with the 3 daughters had another problem, there were people he owed money too and they wanted their money. They took his land but that wasn’t enough. Then they said, we’re going to take your little daughters away and sell them as slaves!

They could do that back in those days. It was a terrible thing.

So, on the night before the oldest daughter was going to be taken away and sold, she washed her only pair of socks and hung them by the fireplace overnight to dry and be warm for in the morning. When she got up the next day and went to get her socks she found a lump inside. In fact, several lumps. And when she reached in she found out it was coins, Gold coins!

She was so excite she ran to tell daddy and he was amazed and said now we can buy food and have enough to keep you from becoming a slave!

Guess what. The next morning there was another small bag on the floor with money in it to buy more food and keep the next daughter from becoming a slave.

Then the daddy said, I’m going to stay awake tonight so if they leave something else I can find out who it is. So he sat up and waited and waited and waited. Then he fell asleep. A little later there was a thump! He looked and there was a little bag on the floor under and open window. He jumped up and ran outside just in time to see… do you know who he saw? Yep, it was young Nicky.

The father said, “Nicky, is that you?” Nicky turned and came back and the father said, “How can I ever thank you for these wonderful gifts? You have saved my family.” Nicky said, “Just give thanks to Jesus Christ for hearing your prayers, and please don’t tell anybody I am the one who did this.” The father agreed and kept his secret a long time.

Over the years Nicky did many things to help people out secretly and he told people all over about Jesus. He talked about Jesus so much and lived such a good life that one day the town asked him to be their preacher. Mr. Nick was almost out of money himself, because he had given almost all of his money away, and he said yes and became not little Nicky, or even Mr. Nick. He became Pastor Nicholas.

And he became quite well known as a pastor. But then something really bad happened. When pastor Nicky was starting to get old, a mean and evil King came to the throne. He was emperor of all of Europe and his name was Diocletian. He didn’t like Christians and he didn’t like Jesus and he started beating Christians and throwing them in prison.

Some of the people would ‘recant.” They would say “OK I won’t worship or talk about Jesus anymore.” So they wouldn’t be beaten or put in prison. But pastor Nicholas wouldn’t do this. He kept on talking about Jesus and telling others and so Diocletian had him put in prison for a long time.

Then one day Diocletian died and a new King came into power. The new King was Constantine. He was good to the Christians. In fact, his mother was a Christian. So he let all the Christians out of prison.

Well when pastor Nicholas got home his town treated him like a hero. Now they called him something new; not little Nicky or pastor Nicholas, they called him Nicholas the Confessor. Because no matter what happened to him he confessed Jesus as the Lord. He became so well know that over 400 churches all over Europe were name after Nicholas. But these folks began to call him something else. They didn’t call him Nicholas the Confessor, they called him Saint Nicholas. They called him a saint because he was such a good Christian and loved Jesus! 

Well way up in the country of Holland where the Dutch people live, they didn’t say Saitn Nicholas like we do, in their language he was called Sinter Klass. Which, over the years, became Santa Claus. So little Nicky grew up to be Santa Claus. All because he loved Jesus and tried to be like Him!

You see Santa Claus knew that Christmas was all about Jesus, not about him. He wanted people to know about Jesus not about him. He wanted people to thank Jesus for answering their prayers not to thank him for anything. That’s the kind of man Saint Nicholas becme.

And that’s why we celebrate Jesus, not Santa Claus, at Christmas!

Just thought you'd like to know Santa Claus fits in to all of this!

Brother Clark

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=36780

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/real-santa/

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2004/nick.html

PS. By the way, among all the stories that grew up about Nicky in later years comes the story that after Nick got out of prison, he contended with the Arian controversy. Arius had claimed that Jesus was not truly divine like God the father. It is said that Nick traveled to Nicea for the council of 307 and argued with Arius there. He got so upset he slapped Arius across the face. The other Bishops were so outraged that they defrocked him. Then Mary and Jesus appeared next to him so they recanted and reinstated him as a Bishop. So, you don’t want to get on Santa’s Naughty List!

The Household of God

Here's a little of what I've been learning in my studies for Sunday's sermon. Some "overflow" if you will...

God refers to those who are part of His church as members of His family. And it's part of the Gospel - the Good News - that we are "accepted in the beloved."(Eph 1:6)

There was a time when we were not members of the household of God, but strangers, aliens.

Eph_2:19  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

As “fellow citizens” we are a part of God’s Kingdom, but as Members of His household what are we? We could be servants and be part of the household, but more explicitly we are Children of God.

Rom_8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

And how did we become Heirs and children of God?

Tit_3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And as heirs we are all on the same footing with Christ.

1Pe_3:7  Likewise, husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor  to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life;

How can we know that we are God’s Children?

One way is:

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that

we are the children of God: 17 And if children,

then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;

So, the Household of God is also the New Testament Church of God.

 1Ti_3:15  you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Jesus also portrayed the church as a family.

To His Disciples early in His ministry:

Mat_5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Teaching them to pray:

Mat_6:9  Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

After the resurrection:

Joh_20:17  Jesus said … "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

Jesus promises His disciples a Family of God.

Mar 10:29 Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there’s no one who has left house or brothers, sisters or mother, father or children or lands, for my sake and the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

The Apostle Paul Explains the Family of God is part of one of God’s great mysteries.

Eph_3:6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Paul portrays How and Who He chose to be part of His Family!

 Jas_2:5 … my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him?

Paul also explains how we ought to live as members of the Household of God.

1Ti_3:15  you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, 

1Pe_4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who don't obey the gospel of God?

Gal_5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only don’t use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Gal_6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in sin, you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

 

1Th_5:12 We ask you, brothers, respect those who labor among you, are over you in the Lord and admonish you,

1Th_5:14 we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

1Th_5:25 Brothers, pray for us.

2Th_2:15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught by us, 

2Th_3:6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition you received from us.

Jas_1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Jas_1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Jas_1:19 …my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

  

Jas_2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the

faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

1Jn_3:16 … he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1Ti 5:1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 

 While there are many other Scriptures that describe how we ought to live as followers of Jesus Christ, a significant part of those instructions reflect how members of a family ought to behave. 

We don't have the luxury of saying "It's none of my business" when it is a brother or sister in Christ who needs, prayer, comfort, recognition, admonishment, rebuke, restoration, help, encouragement, service and respect. Why? Because we are members of the same family. The family of Jesus Christ and the Household of God.

So may I encourage you all in the Holiday Season that has so much to do with family visits, don't forget your "Other" family; the one God brought you into.

I'm glad I'm in your family!

Clark

Invitations and Altar Calls

Invitations and Altar Calls

Invitations are ancient, altar calls are relatively recent.

“Houston, We have a problem.” Those have come to be favorite words to describe something of great concern in a soft, non-panicked way.

Well we in Christendom, and as Baptists, have a problem. There are many people calling themselves Christians who are not living as disciples of Christ. Now surely, at any given time, they are true believers struggling with some part of their life. They do not want to give up something that God requires, or perhaps they have a blind spot and are not behaving in a way that honors Christ. But they are still true believers and God will bring them through this time of difficulty.

But for many who name the name of Christ and show no devotion to Him there is another answer. They are not truly born again Christians. Jesus said there would be those who called Him Lord whom He never knew.

Is this problem worse now than in other times in history? I think so. It is easy to be called a Christian in our society. There’s little persecution, certainly not what believers in other countries experience. There are instant friends when you go to church. There may even be instant consumers for whatever one is selling.

But chief of all, it’s so easy. You walk down the church aisle, say you want to be a Christian, you repeat a prayer the pastor leads you in, word by word, and Voila! It’s done. They even tell you, “Congratulations you are a born again child of God now!”

Are they? Are they really? Yes, some may have been saved in a very similar scenario to that one, but there were other things at work if they were.

There was the conviction of sin that the Holy Spirit brings to impress upon us we need forgiveness. There is the awareness that Jesus Christ is Lord that leads us to repent from sin and place our faith in Christ. There was the awakening of faith in our hearts and minds, the sense of relief from knowing that our sins are washed away. Without this sort of a work of God, repeating prayers till we are blue in the face do not save.

This does not mean it is drenched in emotion, though it may be. But it does mean there is a desire for salvation, and the understanding that it only will happen through faith in Christ, and there is the placing of one’s faith in Christ, at the very least.

Not wanting to give someone a false hope is why I am wary of how one conducts an invitation to Christ. Some have ceased to offer an invitation with accompanying invitation hymn. I always call them ‘hymns of commitment’ by the way; for believers to commit themselves to Christ as well as unbelievers.

So the main Question we should always ask in situations such as this is “Is it Biblical?”

Isaiah the prophet said, “Come now and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as wool...” Jesus said, “Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” These are invitations from God to come to him and find forgiveness and rest from trying to earn His forgiveness.

The altar call however is an early 1800’s invention. It was called an anxious seat or mourner’s bench, and people were called to come to the front of the meeting room and sit on this bench, or kneel at it to be made right with God.  It seemed like a good idea, to get all those needing to be saved in one place, but why? There are many moves of God in which this ‘altar call’ was never used and many were truly saved. I would even go so far as to say it was more effective that way than with the bench.[i]

You see, helping someone get saved is not in scripture. Telling them the good news and inviting them to repent and believe is; but a sinners prayer which, if repeated, magically saves one’s soul is really heresy. And unfortunately, that is what the anxious bench became and still is in many churches today that employ the altar call.

Many who come are saved, true, and I would say many were saved before they got to the front. God has already called them to Himself and they had already responded in faith before they whispered in the pastor’s ear, “I need to be saved.”

Even though I still issue an invitation at the end of a preaching service some pastors and preachers won’t do an altar call. Listen to what Jonathan Leeman, the editorial director at 9Marks[ii] and a PhD candidate researching ecclesiology[iii], says about a conversation he had with a man in the church where he served as an interim pastor:

“I told this brother and the rest of the elders that I wouldn't do an altar call. Why not?

Because I think altar calls are wrong? No, I think a pastor is free to give one. It's not a sin.

Because I don't believe that people must make a decision for Christ? No, I think people must decide to repent and believe in order to be saved.

Because I don't think Jesus calls us to make a public profession? No, people must publicly profess their faith, which is why Jesus instituted baptism.

Because I think inviting sinners to repent is inherently manipulative? No, I believe preachers should invite non-Christians to repent and believe throughout their sermons. I did this during the interim pastorate, and I did it just last Sunday when guest preaching at another church. I very clearly invited non-Christians to repent and believe in the middle of my sermon, and then told them to speak with me afterwards, or the pastor, or the Christian friend who brought them.

So why wouldn't I give an altar call? In short, I believe that this particular man-made practice, this 19th-century innovation, has produced more bad than good for Christian churches in the West. The altar call relies on the powers of emotion, rhetorical persuasion, and social pressure to induce people to make a hasty and premature decision. And producing professions is not the same thing as making disciples. Surely a number of factors are responsible for the many nominal Christians that typify Christianity in the West, but I believe that the altar call is one of them.

How many people in the last century walked an aisle, and spent the rest of their days convinced that they were a Christian, never considering how they lived!”

The alternative to giving altar calls is sticking with the practices we see modeled in Scripture:

1.      Invite people throughout your sermon to "repent and be baptized" like Peter did in Jerusalem (Acts 2:38). But when you do, don't just stand there waiting with emotionally charged music playing, staring them down until they relent. Rather, make several suggestions about how and where to discuss the matter further.

2.      Ask people what they believe when they present themselves for baptism, just like Jesus made sure the disciples knew who he was (Matt. 16:13-17; also, 1 John 4:1-3).

3.      Make sure they understand what following Jesus entails (Matt. 16:24f; John 6:53-60).

4.      Explain that the fruit of their lives and persevering to the end will indicate whether or not they really believe (Matt. 7:24f; 10:22).

5.      You might even explain that Jesus has commanded your church to remove them from its fellowship if their life moving forward does not match their profession (Matt. 18:15-17).

Yes, let's pray hard for conversions. But then let's do every thing Scripture requires of us in the long work of making disciples---a work that generally requires lots of teaching, lots of time, lots of invitations, lots of meals together, and finally the commitment of an entire church body. –

Jonathan Leeman

I take a both/and approach. I think inviting someone to Christ at the end of the sermon reinforces the idea that something must be happen in order to be saved. But I steer away from emotional appeals, long extended invitations, and any kind of social pressure to get someone to “make a decision.” I’m not interested in decisions; I’m interested in conversions, changed lives, and making disciples.

So while I do offer the possibility of someone coming to the front who needs counsel or assistance in surrendering their life to Christ, I fully recognize it is the Holy Spirit who does the work or nothing truly happens. Repeating a prayer does not save. No matter how many times you repeat it. Only faith in Christ accompanied by repentance from sin can do that; and only God can do that in a sinner’s heart so that they may be saved.

---

[i] It may have been more difficult to keep records of names and the number of how many made ‘professions’ of faith.

[ii] http://www.9marks.org/ This is a ministry of Dr. Mark Dever and Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C.

[iii] Ecclesiology is the study of the Doctrine of the Church.