“Back to Basics”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 21, Issue 09   July 24, 2011

My theology is summed up in the words of Acts 4:12 “There is no other Name under heaven whereby we must be saved.”
 
I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to cover. I believe those who magnify the Word of God in their life are those whom God will use.

Why do such names stand out on the pages of history as Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Martin Luther? Because of their fearless preaching against sin, and because they preached Jesus Christ without fear or favor.

We need a good old-time kind of revival that will cause you to love your neighbors and quit talking about them. A revival that will make you pay your debts and have family prayers.

Conversion: What does converted mean? It means completely changed. Converted is not synonymous with reformed.

Conversion is a complete surrender to Jesus.
It's a willingness to do what He wants you to do.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in your heart and confess Him with your mouth and you will be saved.” God is good. The plan of salvation is presented to you in two parts…..believe and confess.

Jesus said: “Come to me”…..
  • not to the Church…..to me
  • not to a creed…..to me
  • not to a preacher….. to me
  • not to an evangelist…..to me
  • not to a priest…..to me
  • not to a pope…..“Come to me and I will give you rest.”
You can attend the services, teach Sunday school, return thanks and do everything that would apparently stamp you as a Christian - even pray. But you won't ever be a Christian until you do what God tells you to do.

That’s the road and that’s the only one mapped out for you and for me. God treats all alike. He has the same plan for one that He has for another.

Salvation is a Personal Matter: “Seek ye the Lord” that means each one must seek for himself.

If you were sick, all the medicine I might take on your behalf wouldn't do you any good.

Salvation is a personal matter that no one else can do for you. You must attend to it yourself.

Some people are emotional. Some are demonstrative. Some will cry easily. Some are cold and can't be moved to emotion. I serve God with the same zeal that I served the devil before the cross intercepted my path.

Billy Sunday said, “You think you could get saved better in some other place. You can be saved where you are as well as any place on earth. I say, “My watch doesn't run. It needs new surroundings. I'll put it in this other pocket, or I'll put it here or here on these flowers.” It doesn't need new surroundings. It needs a new mainspring and that's what the sinner needs.”

You need a new heart, not a new suit.

Jesus Christ became a man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He died on the cross for us, so that we might escape the penalty pronounced on us. Now, never mind about anything but our part in salvation. Here it is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.”

You may say, “It's so mysterious. I don't understand.” You’d be surprised to find out just how little you know. You plant a seed in the ground - that's your part. You don't really understand how God makes that seed grow do you? It is mysterious to you, yet there it is.

If a man wants to shout and clap his hands in joy over his wife's conversion, or if a wife wants to cry when her husband is converted, I’m not going to rain on their parade. I’ll rejoice with them. You may not have come to Jesus that way, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

Matthew stood in the presence of Christ and he realized what it would be to be without Christ, to be without hope, and it brought him to a quick decision. “And he arose and followed Him.”

How long did that conversion take? How long did it take him to receive Christ after he had made up his mind?

And you tell me you can't make an instant decision to please God?

The decision of Matthew proves that you can.

While he was sitting at his desk he was not a disciple. The instant he arose he was. That move changed his attitude toward God.

What about being “Born Again”? The plan of salvation was made long before there was any sin in the world. Electricity existed long before there was any light bulb for it to illuminate.

I believe that the reason the story of Matthew was written was to show us how a man could be converted quickly and quietly. It didn't take him ten years to do something - he simply got at it.

  • Charles G. Finney was out in the woods alone, praying, when he was converted.
  • Sam Jones, a mighty man of God, was converted at the bedside of his dying father.
  • Moody accepted Christ while waiting on a customer in a shoe store.
You believe in your heart - confess him with your mouth.
With his heart man believes and with his mouth he confesses.

You may hear people say, “I don't think I have to confess with my mouth.”
Let’s see…..your thoughts — God’s thoughts???

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Christ is His resurrection name. He is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

Check this out: Because of His divinity He understands God's side of it and because of His humanity He understands our side of if.

Believe on the Lord Jesus. He died to save you. “He Died for Me!”

During the struggle between the Union and the Confederate forces, a man from the south became a member of a Confederate group called Quantrill's Raiders. They used gorilla warfare tactics, raiding small towns and villages and then disappearing in the night. Prior to one of their intended raids, the Union forces had been tipped off and were lying in waiting for them. They were successful in capturing all of the Raiders but one, a teenage boy who escaped. The rest were sentenced to be executed before a firing squad.

The raiders were lined up facing the firing squad. Just before the shots rang out the young boy ran out of the crowd and up to the commanding officer. He yelled, “Stop! I think you should know that I'm one of them. But you didn't bring me here, I came by my own choice.” He then pointed to one of the men in the line and said, “This man is my friend. He has a wife and children and I have no one. I'd like to take his place, if you will let him go.” The officer in charge replied, “If that is your desire, I will grant it.” The teen walked into the line, in place of his friend and was executed with Quantrell's Raiders.”

“The freed man later became very successful in business, and late in his life was a supporter of Evangelist Billy Sunday. He also had a monument placed at the grave of the teen who died in his place. The inscription read:

Sacred to the memory of Willie Lee
He took my place in the line
He died for me

Sacred to the memory of Jesus Christ.
He took our place on the cross and He gave His life that we might live.

I want to tell you that the way to heaven is a blood-stained way. No man has ever reached it without Jesus Christ and he never will.

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