Sermon
#1454 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: Questions and Issues
Men Raise
Text: 1 Peter 3:15
Subject: Questions Men Raise About
Spiritual Things
Date: Monday Morning --
Preachers'
School --
Introduction:
Bros. Walter and Cody have asked me to deal
with some specific questions and issues you and I face as pastors. So I thought
a good starting place would be 1 Peter 3:15. The questions I have been asked to
deal with are all questions I have been asked countless times over the past 30
years as a pastor. The fact that these are questions you have either asked or
been asked tells me that we all face the same issues, though we are separated
by many miles, live in different countries, and come from different cultural
back grounds. Let's look at 1 Peter 3:15. Then I will address the questions I
have been asked to deal with.
[1 Peter 3:15] "But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"
When Peter tells us to be ready to give an
answer to every man that asks the reason of our hope…
·
He is not suggesting that we should even try to answer all the
questions men raise about the gospel and the things of God.
·
He certainly is not suggesting we should debate with men about holy
things.
·
He is telling us that we should be ready to give men the reason of our
faith and hope in Christ. We should be able to take men and women to the Word
of God and say, "Here, this is the reason I believe what I do. It is right
here in the Book of God."
I want to raise and answer six questions.
Some of them are in areas of vital importance. Some are of somewhat less
importance. Yet, even those that may be of less importance are very important
and may be matters of vital importance, if they are not properly answered and
understood. In other words, we will not be dealing with mere points of
theological speculation this morning. So I want you to follow very carefully
through the Scriptures. If you have questions, jot them down in your notes, and
I will be happy to answer them when we are done, if I am able to do so.
I. The first question we will
deal with is first in number and first in importance. It is a question raised
by the Lord Jesus himself. You will find it in Matthew 22:42 -- "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?"
Be sure you see the context in which our
Lord asked this question. The religious crowd of the day, the liberals and the
conservatives, the intellectuals and the fundamentalists, had all ganged up on
the Son of God and tried to pose questions to trick him. Our Lord answered
their questions, but only very briefly because they asked questions about
things that just don't matter. He answered them only to lead them to the
greater, indeed, the one great question of real importance.
·
The Pharisees, who despised the Roman government, asked him whether we
should pay taxes, trying to trick the Savior into declaring insurrection (vv.
15-22).
·
The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, asked him about
whose wife a woman would be in the resurrection (which they denied) who had had
seven husbands (vv. 23-33).
·
Then, the Pharisees and Sadducees (who hated each other) got together
and asked, "Which is the great commandment?" (vv. 34-40).
Then, in
verses 41 and following, our Lord put this question to them, and answered it.
[Matthew 22:41-46] "While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, [42] Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The
son of David. [43] He saith unto them, How
then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, [44] The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
[45] If David then call him Lord, how is he his
son? [46] And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."
He who is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
is both the son of David and David's Lord. He is both the eternal God and the
perfect man, fully God and fully man.
A. We are Trinitarians because
this Book plainly declares the doctrine of the trinity (1 John 5:7).
[1 John 5:7]
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
B. Our Savior is God the
eternal Son, the only begotten Son of the Father, the eternally begotten So of
the eternally begetting Father.
He who is our Savior is God manifest in the
flesh, as fully God as though he were not man, and as fully man, as though he
were not God. Were he not both God and man, he could
not be our Savior. But, because he is both God and man, all that he did, and all that he does, must be infinitely meritorious and
effectual.
[John 1:1-3]
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God. [3] All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made."
[John 1:15-18] "John bare witness of him, and cried,
saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh
after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. [16] And of his
fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. [18] No
man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him."
[Colossians 2:9-10] "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily. [10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head
of all principality and power:"
[1 Timothy 3:16] "And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory."
C. This incarnate, almighty
God-man, our Mediator, is Jehovah's voluntary Servant (Isa. 42:4).
[Isaiah 42:1-4] "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. [2] He shall not cry, nor
lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. [3] A bruised
reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall
bring forth judgment unto truth. [4] He shall not fail nor be
discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth:
and the isles shall wait for his law."
[John 10:16-18] "And other sheep I have, which are not
of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there
shall be one fold, and one shepherd. [17] Therefore doth my
Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. [18] No man taketh it from me, but I lay it
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father."
II. Is the
[Luke 17:20-21] "And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and
said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: [21] Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
[John 3:1-7]
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews: [2] The same came to Jesus by night, and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. [3] Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the
[Romans 14:7]
"For none of us liveth to himself, and no
man dieth to himself."
[Philippians 3:3] "For we are the
circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh."
III. Was
the baptism of John the Baptist Christian baptism?
[Matthew 3:5-6] "Then went out to him
[Matthew 3:13-17] "Then cometh Jesus from
[Acts 19:1-7]
"And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at
[Romans 6:1-7] "What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin, that grace may abound? [2] God forbid. How shall we,
that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? [3] Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection: [6] Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin. [7] For he that is dead is freed from sin."
IV.
Why did John the Baptist send his disciples to Christ to ask him, "Art
Thou the Christ, or look we for another?"
[Luke 7:18-23] "And the disciples of John showed him of
all these things. [19] And John calling unto him two of his disciples
sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? [20] When the men were come
unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he
that should come? or look we for another? [21] And
in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of
evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. [22] Then
Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have
seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. [23]
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."
V. In
what sense did women prophesy?
[Acts 21:9]
"And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did
prophesy."
Philip's virgin daughters prophesied. There is no
indication that these girls had taken a vow of virginity! They were simply
young women who were not yet married and were virgins, as all unmarried women
should be. These young ladies had a gift of prophecy.
That does not imply that they taught and explained
the Scriptures, or preached in the public assemblies of the church. That would
have been a direct violation of the Word of God (I Cor. 15:34-35; I Tim.
2:11-12). When Luke tells us they "did prophesy", he simply means
either that they worshipped God or that they had the gift to foretell future
events by the Spirit of God.
This was one of the many extraordinary signs of the
fulfillment of Joel's prophecy in apostolic times (Joel
But
this is crystal clear. -- They were not female preachers.
[1 Corinthians 14:34] "Let your women keep silence in the
churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded
to be under obedience, as also saith the law."
[1 Timothy 2:10-15] "But (which becometh women professing
godliness) with good works. [11] Let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection. [12] But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. [13] For Adam was first
formed, then Eve. [14] And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression. [15] Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety."
VI.Why
on earth did Paul take the Nazarite vow with those four men at
[Acts 21:17-26] "And when we were come to
This is, without question, one of the saddest
paragraphs in the Bible. A terrible, tragic thing is about to take place. No
man was a greater, or more consistent exponent of the
believer's freedom from the law than Paul. Yet, he is about to go back under
the yoke of bondage!
James and the elders at
Without question, this action was contrary to
everything Paul taught (Gal. 2:3, 11; 3:1-3; 5:1; Col. 2:16). By example and by
association, Paul gave approval to legalism. His action could only encourage
others to retain the spirit of legalism and both confuse and dishearten the
Gentile believers. To this day, legalists point to this passage as an argument
why we should live under the yoke of the law.
Why did Paul submit to this legal ceremony? The
believing Jews had not yet seen the destruction of the temple. During this time
of transition, most Jewish believers continued to observe the customs of the
law. God virtually had to break their hands to get them to let go of Moses and
the carnal ceremonies of the law. But why did Paul, who knew better, do this
horrible thing?
No doubt, he was trying to be conciliatory to the
believing Jews who were yet weak in the faith (I Cor.
Besides, the compromise did not work (vv.
27-40). It never does! The Jews were not conciliated. It is a vain thing to
imagine that men can be pleased and that their approval of the gospel can be
won by compromise. However, it must not be forgotten that God graciously
overruled even this sad blemish in Paul's life to accomplish his purpose. This
too proved to be good for Paul, good for God's elect, and for the glory of God.
Had he not gone into the temple that day, he would not have been arrested, he
would not have gone to