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DEAL BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME

November 28, 2004 AM

Sermon Outline

PS 119:17

INTRO: As I think of Davids life, I think of a man with humble beginnings. I think of a man of courage. I think of a man of great devotion to God. I think of a man who was able to frame into beautiful poetry the deep feelings of his relationship with God. And, yes, I think of a man who was described as a man after Gods own heart (1 Sam 13:14). But how can we think of Davids life without recalling the several incidents which can only be remembered as times of shame ... of giving the enemies of God an occasion to blaspheme (2 Sam 12:14). Sin did mar the record of Davids life. His feelings of inadequacy before God may well be the reason for such a plea as this: Deal bountifully with thy servant...

I WE HAVE NO LEGITIMATE CLAIM ON GOD

A. Sin, of course, is the problem

1. Ps 90:8 - Thou has set our iniquities before thee...

2. Isa 59:12 - ...our sins testify against us...

3. Isa 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray...

4. Rom 3:23 - For all have sinned...

5. our guilt before God invalidates any claim we might believe we have!

6. in fact, God owes us absolutely nothing

B. God has been more than fair with His creatures

1. Gen 3:21 - ...and clothed them - who? the disappointing sinners!

2. Deut 29:5 - ...your clothes are not waxen old... - who? the people so often spoke against God (Num 21:5)

3. 2 Pet 3:9 - ...but is longsuffering to us-ward...

4. if we look at the history of Gods relationship with his creature mankind, we cannot help but see that He has been, by human standards, more than fair!

5. He has reached out over an again to bridge divides, gulfs

6. Mt 23:37 - this is what God has received for His trouble!

C. And people have kept sinning

1. that has been the history ... even to this present time

2. John wrote, The whole world lieth in wickedness (1 Jno 5:19)

II STILL, THE PRAYER, THE PLEA IS A SINCERE ONE

A. Indeed, what can an honest, but guilty person do?

1. the psalmist throws himself on the mercy of the court

2. undeserving, but trusting in the mercy, the grace of God!

B. Eph 2:4-6 - But God, who is rich in mercy...

1. as real as is our sin is the reality of Gods mercy

2. Ps 147:11 - ...in those that hope in his mercy

III WHAT COULD BOUNTIFULLY MEAN?

A. It could certainly have a very general meaning

1. the plea might be for Gods blessings in all avenues of life

2. the inadequacy confessed in such a plea recognizes God as the source of all blessings

3. Phil 4:19 - Oh, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

B. I wonder if it might be more specific than that?

1. Ps 103:10-12 - He hath not dealt with us after our sins...

2. I wonder if the psalmists plea is not for an abundance of mercy in view of the reality of sin?

3. are there not those times when our consciousness of sin in our lives brings us to the point of such a plea? should this ever be our plea?

IV HIS DESIRE?

A. That he may live...

1. earlier we noticed that we are quickened...together with Christ

2. this quickening takes place when one is baptized - Col 2:12,13

3. God deals bountifully with us when He makes us alive again ... we, who had been dead in our sins

4. so, Rom 6:11 - alive unto God...

5. or, Phil 1:21 - For to me to live is Christ...

B. That he may keep Gods word...

1. here is the living of a righteous life

2. here is the manifestation of our gratitude for Gods dealing bountifully

3. 2 Cor 5:14,15 - it is constraining love which chooses to keep His word

4. but I wonder if we really understand just what Gods dealing bountifully with us means ... the depth, the breadth, the height of it?

5. is our love for Christ superficial? but not constraining?

CLOSE: To live in and for Christ, to keep the word of God glorifies God. The psalmist, then, prays for a life that is praise to God! The question for you and me is a very simple one ... is your life praise to God?

Cecil A. Hutson

28 November 2004

God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)