Passing from Death unto Life

Berean Baptist on May 28, 2018

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

The resurrection is an intriguing subject because it falls outside the realm of the physics of nature into the realm of the supernatural sphere of God. Science says that dead is dead. There is no scientist or any doctor who can revive a dead body and this is because humans do not have the power of life. But it is not so with God. God gave life, God can take away life, and God can restore life.

Jesus’ resurrection is proof positive that the dead can live, and they can do so in a body. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the model for all resurrections both of believers and unbelievers. All dead bodies will arise, but when they arise and where they go when they arise is another matter.

John 5:24 is about a resurrection from death to life but it does not speak of the resurrection of the body. This is the resurrection of the spiritually dead. It matters right now, today, whether you have been called from spiritual death into spiritual life. Your status as a spiritually alive born-again believer in Christ or as a spiritually dead unbeliever determines where your body and soul will reside forever in eternity.

Those who hear the words of Christ and believe that God sent Him as a sacrifice for sins—those who desire to repent of their sins and trust Christ alone for salvation—are those who have passed from death unto life. These have been raised into spiritual life and in the resurrection their bodies will be called up to rejoin the soul and spirit in heaven.

If you have passed from death unto life, praise God! If not, trust Christ today. Repentance and faith in Him ensures that when your body dies, it will also be raised into a perfect, glorified body to live with Christ forever.

 

                                                                                                                Pastor V. Mark Smith

Thy People Shall Be Willing

Berean Baptist on October 30, 2017

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. (Psalms 110:3)

At the end of Matthew’s gospel is one of the most familiar of all texts concerning the work of the church. It ends with the commission of world evangelism given to the apostles by the risen Christ. The task of preaching the gospel to the nations was daunting to say the least, and seemingly unreasonable given the nearly wholesale rejection of the Lord’s own ministry. He was despised, rejected, beaten, humiliated, and crucified which was no indication the message He preached would gain widespread acceptance.

There was, however, a very important factor that made the task possible. It was His resurrection from the dead which told the disciples that anything was within His power. He was “declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). If the risen Christ commanded world evangelization, it was therefore possible. Jesus further declared the success of His commission by saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).

This brings me to the 110th Psalm with its powerful message of the authority of Christ. In verse one of the psalm, David wrote, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” This is a conversation between two persons of the Godhead. God the Father spoke to God the Son promising He would receive all authority in His kingdom. The suffering and death of the cross would result in His exaltation to the right hand as the King of heaven and earth.

This psalm holds the distinction of being the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The importance of it cannot be overestimated especially as it relates to the closing verses of Matthew. There are two critical factors for the success of the commission of Matthew 28:19-20 that arise out of Psalm 110:3. The psalmist wrote, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…” As witnesses of the gospel, the disciples were not much willing as they forsook the Lord and despaired in His death. They saw no hope of a dead Messiah fulfilling His promise of being the King in an earthly kingdom. However, their hope was revived with the resurrection. The power of the risen Christ and His promise to remain with them by the presence of the Holy Spirit gave them the sorely needed motivation for gospel preaching. They were willing to attempt an impossible task because the strength to accomplish it was not their own.

It is wonderful to have courage induced by the strength of Christ, but as impressive as this is, it is not enough to complete the task. This alone will not turn wicked sinners with depraved hearts to Christ. The factor of a willing soul-winner is needed but another factor must also accompany it. The second factor is a willing lost soul. This is equally impossible without supernatural ability because no souls are willing to come to Christ. Man’s will is bent away from Christ and will be forever unless it is changed by the Holy Spirit. This is what the Holy Spirit does in regeneration. He brings dead sinners to life and enables them to choose Christ in repentance and faith. When scripture says, “Thy people shall be willing” we know the gospel will be successful because God makes it so. He empowers the soul-winner with the courage to preach and then guarantees the success of the preaching by empowering the sinner to believe.

This is a topic that requires much more time and space, but it should be noted the word says, “Thy people shall be willing.” No others become willing except those who have been chosen by God to believe the gospel. This powerful combination of enabled soul-winners and enabled lost souls is far more than enough to convert those intended to be reached. Thank God none of this depends on our power. There is no success without God’s power and nothing but success with God’s power.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Who Needs Whom?

Berean Baptist on September 11, 2017

This past Monday I got up to start my day in the usual manner. Every day starts with a review of one of the sermons I will preach the following Sunday. I had just finished my Sunday morning review when I picked up the TableTalk devotional which is next on the list of the morning reading. To my surprise, the devotion for the day included this important statement: “God doesn’t need you! Never has. Never will. For anything. Ever.” This was an interesting assertion because I had just seen the same concept in my own sermon on the resurrection.

In this sermon, I examined the terrible lie that was concocted by the wicked religious leaders who tried to conceal the truth of the resurrection. I looked at their lie to wonder how would God deal with it. What could be done to fix it and how would people learn the truth when the most influential, powerful leaders of religion told a story in direct contradiction to the truth?

It’s a very good question considering only eleven uneducated men were given the responsibility to preach what the leaders so steadfastly denied. How were they to overcome such powerful opposition? As it turns out, God did not need them to fix things. Although God never lies, He certainly did set up all the circumstances that made this lie testify to the truth.

In His resurrection plans, God never allowed the disciples to dwell on the promise Jesus gave that He would rise from the dead. He told them many times, but it is as if they never heard it. They never latched on to it as a means of hope which is proved by two of them in their conversation with the resurrected Christ on the road to Emmaus. If they had believed it, they would have been a constant presence at the tomb eagerly waiting for the exact moment to see Jesus just as He came back to life. If this had happened, it would help make the lie the body was stolen more plausible. God did not want them anywhere near the tomb until it was over in order to make the leaders’ lie completely self-defeating.

It was the leaders who insisted that Pilate post a guard and put the Roman seal on the tomb. Their efforts were to ensure there was no way the body could be stolen. It was so tightly secured that when the resurrection happened, the lie the body was stolen was impossible to believe. God did not need the disciples to fix this for Him—the religious leaders did the job themselves and God directed them every step of the way.

Today’s theology is dominated by seriously bad thinking. The idea is that God cannot do anything without us. God sits in heaven crying because He is helpless. He is so disappointed because He created man and loved Him and now nobody will love Him back. So, God needs to be made happy and we are the only ones who can help Him. The truth is God does not need us. Never has. Never will. For anything. Ever. He doesn’t need you—you need Him. Always have. Always will. For everything. Forever.

This theology is proved over and over again in scripture. God is sovereign over all affairs and always has been. Adam’s fall was not a surprise. Jesus’ death was not a responsive afterthought. The lie about the resurrection was not a problem for God to overcome.

The author concluded with this thought: “God is not looking for ‘helpers’ to assist Him in saving the world…God has never commanded us to go save the world for Him. He calls us to follow Him as He saves the world through us.” You see, it is not about you—it’s all about Him.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Unparalleled Sorrow

Berean Baptist on May 22, 2017

Psalm 88

Each week when I write on the Psalms, I begin in nearly the same way. I do a simple reading of the text to see if there is anything that stands out and speaks to me in a special way. Next, I go to commentaries to see what others have said and usually to pick up some historical background. When I finished reading this psalm, I said to myself, “Oh man, how sad and how so much like Christ!” I did not feel I needed to go further because it sounded so much like the agony of Christ as He went through the sorrows of the cross.

The psalm needs a comment on every verse, but I cannot do that here. As you read, the parallels to Jesus are so striking that you will not miss my commentary. Surprisingly though, after reading commentary, there were some commentators that made no connection to Christ. Since apparently it can be missed, let me point out just a few verses. Once you see the pattern, you can easily fill in the blanks.

Notice verse 4: “I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength.” In Jesus dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All power belonged to Him, but as a man He subjected Himself to the weaknesses of the flesh. He was cruelly beaten until it was impossible for Him to lift His cross. He was a man with all strength taken away.

Verse 7: “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou has afflicted me with all thy waves.” God poured out on Him the fury of hell because He had taken sin on Him. No one knows the extent of the pain and suffering. It was the equivalent of the infinite suffering of hell for those who would believe.

Verse 8: “Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou has made me an abomination unto them…” Who can help but think of Peter who cursed in his denial, “I do not know the man!”

Verse 11: “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?” Jesus knew the Father would raise Him. If He agreed to die, the Father would complete the plan. A dead and corrupted Christ in the grave would dishonor the Father. He must be raised to take on a glorified body. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection which ensures the Father would be glorified in our resurrection.

Verse 14: “LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?” Does this not sound like, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Verse 15: “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up…” As just a boy, Jesus said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” As a young man He said, “For this cause came I into the world.” What cause? The cruel death of the cross. He lived with the view of where He was going from the time He was old enough to understand.

Someone wrote this is the saddest of all the psalms. Who cannot agree when it gives such a vivid picture of the sorrows of Christ? He went lower than anyone has ever gone. Here is our solace. To the bitterest of depths went Christ (v.6), but He arose triumphantly over the grave. Sin, Satan, death, and hell are defeated. His sorrow is your joy, for by believing in Him the dark night of the worst terrors is done.

 

Oh the grace of Christ the Sovereign to receive around His throne

Distant souls from every nation, once estranged, but now His own!

Bound by blood, we’ll stand together, unified by love’s great cost;

With one voice, we’ll sing forever, “Thank you, Jesus, for the cross!”

 

Faithful Friends

Berean Baptist on April 18, 2016

 

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. (Psalms 41:9)

As I read the 41st Psalm, I am reminded of John’s words in 1 John 2:5-6: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Psalm 41 is another psalm that gives a glimpse into events in the last week of Jesus’ life. Perhaps we can call it coincidence that we would read so many psalms like this that so closely parallel our Sunday morning series in Matthew.

The connection between 1 John 2 and Psalm 41 becomes apparent to me as we see the integrity of Christ despite the false actions of His friends. In verse 7, there are whispers and plots of harm. In verse 9, a trusted friend who sat at Jesus’ table turned against Him and betrayed Him. This is an obvious reference to Judas who received only goodness and love from the Lord. Judas brought Him down, or so he thought. However, as we saw in Psalm 40 last week, the resurrection was Christ’s triumph. In this Psalm He says, “Mine enemy doth not triumph over me” (v. 11).

Where do we find the 1 John connection? In verse 12, Jesus said: “And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever.” Those that truly love the Lord have this same kind of integrity. As John said, we desire to walk as He walked. If we do, charges of evil against us are always false charges just as they were false when hurled at Him. When betrayed by a friend, which sometimes happens, it is not because we deserve it. We have kept God’s word by loving our brother as we do ourselves.

In the last week of Jesus’ life, He was set upon by those who had no real cause against Him. The constant questions intended to entrap Him, the denial of His authority and earlier claims that the good deeds He did were actually works of Satan, were so outside the pale of reason that the most skeptical should have said, “Look for something else. We know this cannot be true.” Nevertheless, the charges stuck in their mind and when the betrayal of the trusted friend came there was no doubt as to the outcome of His trial.

His integrity didn’t really matter to them. No matter how justly He walked they were going to crucify Him. This would be a major concern if it was the accusers that were the final judge. They were not. Jesus stood justified before God because of His perfect obedience to His Father. God would cause Him to triumph in that integrity.

This is what I am saying to you today. When you walk the way Christ walked and you know you have been obedient to His commands, how people judge you does not really matter. God will vindicate you at the last day because you stand in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

As a pastor that must preach on unpopular topics, I think about things like this. I will be accused by some who do not like what I preach. If I do not compromise the truth, I have no fear because God will stand by me. I do not want to be overly cryptic, so let me just conclude by saying, I hope faithful friends remain faithful friends even when telling them the truth is unpopular.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Promise of the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on April 12, 2016

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalms 40:1-2)

In last Sunday morning’s message, we had the opportunity to study Psalm 110 in which David declared Jesus to be the sovereign Lord. In the Gospel of John, chapter 5 Jesus gave a wonderful exposition of the resurrection, and then He said there are witnesses that testify to the truthfulness of His words. John the Baptist was one of those witnesses. He was a truly remarkable prophet that had the unique privilege of announcing Jesus as the Lamb of God. Jesus also said the Father bears witness of Him, but that witness is only received by those whom the Father will reveal the Son. A third witness in that passage is the scriptures. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (5:39).

With the command to search, we would expect to be able to go to the Old Testament and find Christ. This is why Jesus took the Jews to Psalm 110 where David bore testimony to His Lordship. Our congregational reading today takes us to another place where Jesus is found in the Old Testament psalms. The entire 40th Psalm is about Christ, but verses 1 and 2 are the particular focus of my article today. These verses speak of the resurrection with verse 2 being a personal favorite: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” These are words of praise as Jesus acknowledged the Father’s promise. In the eternal covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son, the Father promised to bring safely home all those for whom Christ would die. The first fruit of this promise is that Christ would be resurrected—a critical event without which the promise fails. The resurrection of Christ was the Father’s stamp of approval on the redemptive work of the Son. When this promise was fulfilled, heaven must have thundered with praise because at this point redemption was forever sealed.

However, there was never any doubt this would happen. Heaven was already populated with the souls of the patriarchs and the prophets and all the people of God that died prior to the resurrection. Because God is timeless, a promise made in eternity past is as certain as if it had already happened. When you read scriptures like Psalm 40, you can see yourself. If you are a believer, you know you are as safe for heaven as if you were already there.

Many people wonder how Christians face bad days with a smile. They wonder why peace fills our heart when they struggle with so many things that burden them to despair. The interesting irony is that we face the same life struggles they face. We have job issues, financial concerns, family disappointments—and yet these things do not rule us. Our happiness is not determined by how well a stock portfolio is doing or whether Junior got accepted to Harvard. We have already risen with Christ and we know that when He shall appear we shall also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1, 4).

Contemplating the certainty of the resurrection will keep our thinking straight when the cares of life start to become too heavy. Christ was in the horrible pit, but the promise kept Him waiting patiently. There was a time limit on the grave—three days. There is also a time limit for you. Wait patiently for it. Redemption is nigh.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Puzzling but not Impossible

Berean Baptist on November 4, 2015

Psalm 31

 Psalm 31 is another of the remarkable poems of David that speak of the death and resurrection of Christ. We are prone to wonder how much the Holy Spirit revealed to David as he wrote because these psalms also have an immediate application to David’s life as well. If you will notice the fifth verse, David wrote, “Into thy hand I commit my spirit: thou has redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.” We can see how David would have written this about himself because he was fully dependent upon the Lord for strength. The New Testament records that David had a heart for God and we are encouraged to emulate him in our own affections for our heavenly Father. Though we can see the application of the verse to David’s life, we also know these are words spoken by Jesus as He hung on the cross. Just before He surrendered His life, He said, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

The confusing part of this psalm is how it alternates between the life of Christ, His death, and His resurrection. These are not presented in a clear, orderly fashion from one step to the next, but rather the joy of the resurrection may be immediately displaced by the suffering of His life. An example of this is seen in the latter part of the fifth verse which speaks of Christ’s redemption, an obvious reference to His resurrection, and then by verse ten we are brought back to His life—“For my life is spent with grief.”

I hope you can see by this how challenging Bible interpretation can be. Most of us read through the Psalms quickly without considering the deeper implications. We might even feel there is no use reading slowly because we just cannot understand. If this were true, the Bible would be nearly useless for a Christian. And yet these same Psalms tell us the word of God enlightens and strengthens us. How can this be if we have no understanding?

Our heavenly Father knows this. He never intended for His words to be understood by those without a regenerate heart (1 Cor. 2:14). However, He most certainly did intend that His people should hear and understand (1 Cor. 2:12). The enlightening of the mind to truth is one of the wonderful works of the indwelling Holy Spirit. When the Christian applies himself to study and asks for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding will come. God wants you to know Him better and the only way you can is by His self-revelation in the written word.

I encourage you first of all to read; and secondly to read carefully and deliberately. There is no secret I reveal in a sermon that you may not already know by your own diligent study. Yes, you will have questions because none of us can plumb all the depths of scripture. God gave pastors and teachers to help you and we promise to do so; but He did not give us to do all the work for you.

Do not be discouraged with your reading. Keep it regular and consistent, and I promise upon the authority of the word itself, you shall see and know God better through scripture.

 Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Kingdom Is Coming!

Berean Baptist on July 13, 2015

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.  [43]  Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. (Psalms 18:42-43)

 

In the 18th Psalm, the Holy Spirit widened the application of David’s words to give us a picture of the resurrection of Christ. The language is that of a soldier, a commander that was a man of war and had seen his fair share of conflicts with the enemy. The Holy Spirit used David’s experience to depict a cosmic battle that took place as God beat back the forces of evil that would have prevented the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

However, the Psalmist does not stop with the resurrection. David could not have known the extent of his prophecy, or perhaps that he was even writing prophecy, yet his words fit with the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel who speak of the Second Coming and the glorious kingdom that Christ will establish on earth.

In reviewing this Psalm, I was particularly impressed with the latter half that speaks of the defeat of all Christ’s enemies and the complete subjugation of all nations beneath His authority. Verses 42 and 43 are explicit: “Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.” The New Testament reiterates this theme in passages such as Philippians 2:9-11 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-25.

There is much evidence in scripture about the coming kingdom, simply too much for us to allegorize the texts in order to explain them away. When God created the world, He reigned supreme and all creatures were under His dominion. When Adam sinned, he attempted to throw off the yoke of God, and the punishment for disobedience was a curse put on the earth. God did not intend for the curse to last forever. He determined it would be lifted in such a way that He would receive the highest exaltation and His greatest glory. His ability to restore this fallen world to its pre-fallen state will cause none to mistake His sovereign power again. Christ will be glorified forever.

It is most interesting that the promise of future restoration always flows through David. If this promise is not literal, David looks like a fool for his unfounded faith and apparent wild expectations. And yet, there are more spiritual gymnastics performed to cut out the literal restoration of the Davidic throne than there are to destroy any other doctrine of scripture. It seems to me we would as well dismiss a literal heaven as to deny the reestablishment of David’s throne.

I believe we should look for a kingdom and a temple and a throne where Jesus will rule all nations with a rod of iron. “Thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.” Present conditions seem to belie this future reality. But as surely as God with fury and vengeance overcame the powers of darkness to raise Jesus from the dead, He will subdue all enemies under His feet. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:3-4). King Jesus shall reign!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Battle for the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on May 21, 2015

The 18th Psalm is another of the remarkable Old Testament passages that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. We notice at the beginning of the Psalm that David wrote it after he was delivered from the hand of Saul. David related his own experience of deliverance and yet as he wrote the Holy Spirit had much more profound intentions as these words relate to the deliverance of Christ from the death of the tomb. David depended on God to deliver him as he refused to lift his hand against God’s anointed. There were times when David had Saul’s life in his hands, but he never raised a finger against him. This was a battle he chose to leave in the hands of the Almighty.

In David’s action, we see the character of Jesus Christ. He was led to the death of the cross and yet he never opened His mouth in His defense nor did He command angelic armies to release Him. Jesus went to the death of the cross obediently fully expecting the Father to raise Him from the grave. This Psalm reflects His righteous obedience and the fury of God as He beat back the forces of evil that were determined to keep Him in the tomb.

At first, the cross and the tomb appear to be the ignominious defeat of Christ. Satan surely believed he had won the victory and the demons who are his evil companions encamped around the tomb to keep watch to make sure their victory was not short lived. The resurrection would mean their defeat which they struggled with all their might to prevent. God the Father left the body in the tomb for three days and on the third a battle for the resurrection commenced. Verse 5 speaks of death that tried to hold Jesus locked behind the stone that was rolled against the door. Verse 6 is the cry of the Saviour as His soul pleaded for deliverance from the grave. In verse 7, the wrath of God began to shake the earth. The cosmic battle was engaged—an unseen battle that none were aware was happening. In verse 8, the fury of God is seen in the smoke that came from His nostrils as He vented his extreme anger at Satan and his forces of evil.

Verse 14 says He shot out lightening. Imagine the power of God as He wrenched death from the clutches of Satan. Jesus in His flesh was no match for the powers of evil just as no man can withstand demonic power on his own. He constantly prayed for strength and complete deliverance. As He believed would happen, verse 17 says He was delivered from His strong enemy. It is interesting that at the crucifixion those that mocked Christ said, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” This is a quotation from the 22nd Psalm, and indeed Christ did trust God to deliver Him. He did not ask to be delivered from the cross. It was predestined and necessary. He rather trusted God to deliver Him from the tomb. The greatest display of God’s power is not that He could save His life, but that He could restore life to the dead. The Psalmist wrote in 18:19, “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” The mockers said of God, “Let him deliver him if he will have him.” Yes, God would have Him because of His perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sin. Both Psalm 22:8 and 18:19 say God delighted in Him.

It is too easy for us to pass over this Psalm without thoughtful consideration. None of us knows the depth of commitment Christ made nor the actual power of God that raised Jesus from the dead. These are not trivial matters. No human can fathom the majesty and holiness of God. Consider this as you read. You step into another dimension that will not be fully realized until you stand face to face with God. Be sure you face Him with Christ and not without.

  Pastor V. Mark Smith