Preaching Justification @ Auburndale Baptist

Well my pastor gave me another opportunity to preach the Sunday evening service at Auburndale Baptist. Last summer I preached Psalm 51 "True Repentance" as part of the Psalms series and it went great. It was the first time my family, friends, and church had ever heard me preach. I was truly honored to have that platform to share the gospel. Fast foward to March 21, 2010 & I'm back again preaching Luke 18:9-14 "Justification for the Humble & Broken." This time many more of my family & friends showed up and I was excited about the message God had given me.

In Luke 18 Jesus tells the parable of the tax collector & the pharisee. It is a story of the wicked vs. religious, the shameful vs. the proud yet the twist in the story is that the unrighteous tax collector was justified rather than the praying Pharisee. But why? Well the Pharisee trusted in his own flawed righteousness rather than the perfect righteous of Christ. But the tax collector was repentant and looked totally away from himself to God for mercy & jusitification. He made right with God by faith alone in Christ alone apart from any works. The tax collector may have had a sin filled past but by faith he was counted righteous (Rm 4:5) & his sinful record was nailed to the cross when Christ died for him. No matter how guilty or unworthy we may feel God promises justification to the Humble & broken. God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.

IN SEASON & OUT OF SEASON

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season..." -2 Tim. 4:2

Paul said this to a young man named Timothy. Paul's instruction was clear, always preach the true gospel at all times as God gives you grace because "the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine." My pastor recently encouraged me with this verse as I prepare to preach this Sunday night at Auburndale Baptist Church. I'm praying for grace to be a consistent light for Christ wherever I go. I must have God's word in my heart to not only kill sin in my life but also to share the gospel wherever I may be. For someone to be ready in season & out of season it takes determination, faith, prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit. To stay hot you better be close to the fire.

This morning I was reading over my sermon notes & a Jehovah's Witness knocked at my door. It was like God didn't want me to wait until tomorrow night to preach, it was time to go to work right now. I could hear Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4:2 in the back of my mind as I opened the door. I have talked to many Jehovah's witnesses & done a lot of research about this religion. To list a few major differences they have with historic biblical Christianity: Jesus was Michael the archangel who became a man, Jesus did not rise from the dead in his physical body, The soul ceases to exist after death & there is no hell, and Salvation is by faith and what you do. Now as I talked with this nice man my goal wasn't to debate but to share the true gospel from the Bible. It went well, I made him think about some serious issues that concern his own soul's condition. He even said, "I will have to do my research."

I believe God is clear in Scripture that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The criminal who died on a cross next to Jesus had no time to 'do good works & be a good person.' In his dying breaths he expressed faith in Christ & Jesus said to him, 'today you will be with me in paradise.' That criminal lived a life of sin but through faith alone apart from any works he was saved because he trusted in Christ who had done all the work on his behalf. Jesus died for our sins like they were his sins (even though he had never sinned) & Jesus gives us his perfect righteousness through simple faith. "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:8-9) "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God" (Rom. 5:1).