November 4, 2007
Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Is There Something That We Missed?

(Romans 9:32)

 

Introduction: Have you ever wondered if there is something really important in the teachings of Jesus Christ that we missed? We often study the Bible and listen to messages about the Faith. People in ages past missed some very important concepts and truths. Here are a few examples:

 

1)      Some Jews immediately recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah, but others did not. Saul and Gamaliel failed to recognize Him. Andrew told Simon his brother, “We have found the Messiah.” (John 1:41.) Philip told Nathaniel,” We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and prophets wrote.” (1:45.) Others mocked saying, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (1:46.)

2)    The Pharisees had the Law of Moses, but missed what it taught. Paul asked, How did those who had the Law fail to attain unto righteous-ness, but those who did not have it find righteousness? He answered, Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. That stone was Jesus Christ. (Rom. 9:30-33.)

3)    When Nicodemus heard Jesus’ words about the necessity of being born again, he asked, How can these things be? Jesus replied, Are you a teacher in Israel and know not these things? (John 3:9-10.) Here is something that a prominent leader among the Jews, serving in the Jewish Sanhedrin, missed in his study of the Law of Moses. The Law foretold the coming of Jesus Christ and Kingdom. How could they not know these things?

4)    History teaches us that many through the ages since the first century missed, not just some unimportant matters in Christianity, but central precepts and truths in Jesus’ teachings. Have we missed some significant truths??

 

There are common failings in religious matters that have plagued people of faith. For example, there is a tendency to “strain at gnats and swallow camels,” as Jesus said to the Pharisees. (Matt. 23:24.) The danger is not that we might miss some little thing and be lost, but that we fail concerning the big issues of life and faith. The things that we might miss are the weightier issues of Christianity. We should be careful upon what we place emphasis. The way to avoid that problem is to follow the lead of Jesus Christ and see what he said was important in the practice of Christianity. When Jesus left earth, the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth. Jesus said that we can know that truth today. (John 8:31-32.)

 

Traditions blind us to truth and fear keeps us from accepting the truth. The Jews probably reasoned among themselves, But this will mean the end of our religion and customs and power. This cannot be true! Jesus must be an imposter; he is not the Messiah because the Messiah would free us from Roman bondage. They missed something (Someone) very important.

 

Will He Find Faith on Earth?

 

Jesus told the parable of “The Unjust Judge” and a widow who went often to him to plead her case. The judge said that he did not fear God or man, but he would avenge the widow of her adversary because she was so persistent. He did not want to be wearied by her. Then Jesus said, God will also avenge his elect which cry day and night unto him. Then he added this concern: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8.) Will we still cry out to God for help in life? God is not an unjust judge; he cares about us. But do we believe in Him? Are we as persistent as the widow? (Heb. 11:6.) Jesus often criticized his disciples by saying, Oh, ye of little faith!

 

The faith of Jesus Christ seems to be under attack more now than anytime before. Faithful disciples seem hard to come by; they are decreasing in number. Jesus once said, “Enter ye in the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in thereat. But strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14.)

 

There is little wonder why Jesus named faith as one of the weightier matters. All that we do in Christianity is by faith. The Hebrew writer made the point that the great men and women of old responded to God by faith. The word, faith, is found 24 times in Hebrews 11. Just before chapter 11, he repeated those significant words, “The just shall live by faith.” (10:38.) And we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but those who believe to the saving of the soul. We are justified by faith; that is, we are righteous by faith. (Rom. 5:1.)

 

Faith is the building block upon which Christianity rests. Peter admonished, “Add to your faith; virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7.) Even though love is greater, faith is the foundation because it is the one spiritual sense by which we experience and enjoy the Kingdom of God.

 

One of the big things that we should be concerned about missing is FAITH. Remember that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17.) Faith comes by asking God to increase our faith. (Luke 17:5.) Jesus once asked his disciples, “Do you now believe?” (John 16:31.) After all this time, Do you now believe? Yet, He warned them that quickly the time was coming when all of them would be scattered and he would be left alone. At Jesus’ crucifixion, all the disciples fled. Only his mother and some of the other women with her remained at the scene of the cross. Peter left and went back to his own occupation of fishing.

 

Take Heed What You Hear

 

It is possible to hear the words and not hear the meaning. Jesus said, “Take heed what you hear.” (Mark 4:24.) At the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he said, “Whosoever hears these words of mine and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man that build his house on a rock. . . .  Everyone that hears these words of mine and doeth them not, I will liken him to a foolish man.” (Matt. 7:24, 26.)

 

The danger is not that we might miss an important commandment or doctrine, but rather that we might not hear what Jesus said. That is, we heard it, but we didn’t do it. Paul wondered why everyone had not obeyed the Gospel. He asked, Is it because they have not heard? No, that is not the reason. They had all heard. Just as nature everyone speaks of the glory of God, the Gospel had been made known. The sound had gone throughout all the earth. (Rom. 10:16f.)

 

In order to hear the Gospel, you have to want to hear it. The Hebrew writer explained it this way. He said, “For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Heb. 4:2.)

 

The danger is not that we might miss some little thing, but rather that we might miss the whole thing. James wrote, “Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18.) Paul said to the Corinthians: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58.)

 

Jesus taught the parable of the sower going forth to sow seed. The seed fell into four different kinds of soils: wayside, stony, thorny and good soil. Only the good soil brought forth fruit; thirty, sixty and an hundred-fold. Jesus concluded the parable by saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:1-9.) The Lord concluded each of the seven letters to the churches of Asia by saying, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 2 & 3.)

 

Seek First the Kingdom of God

 

Jesus contrasted how people of the Kingdom should live with how those without faith and understanding of the Kingdom live. He concluded, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek, but your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. (Matt. 6:32-33.) The Jews missed the truth that God’s Kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom, is spiritual. Jesus said, “Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21.)

 

Christians, generally, do not live as if we understand that the Kingdom of God is in existence today. We are anxious about tomorrow and today. We do not live by faith in the King. We are overwhelmed with worldly thinking, retiring rich, and providing for ourselves that we live as if God does not exist at all! God’s kingdom to most of the religious world does not exist today. Most Protestants think that it is yet to come; the remainder do not act as if it is in existence.

 

Our faith and behavior stand in bold contrast to the teachings of Jesus Christ. At times in history, some boldly stepped out in confidence that the Lord rules today in his Kingdom. But few are those examples.

 

Some among us believed it firmly. Two such leaders and editors were David Lipscomb and James Harding. They believed that the vision of the Kingdom of God was lost due to the “institutional church.” To make an institution of the church and center all of one’s teaching around what one does on Sunday, the day of worship, will cause one to miss the daily walk by faith in God. In every age, God is trying to break into our world, into our lives and into society.  Jesus told the seventy when they were sent forth to heal the sick and say to them, “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” (Luke 10:9, 11.) Later he said, “If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.” (Luke 11:20.)

 

Jesus turned the power-structures of men upside down. He taught the opposite of what men normally practice. The greatest is the servant; the last would be first and the first last. (Matt. 20:26.)

 

This is where faith enters again. Do we really trust God that he will provide for our needs? Do we believe that God really acts in our world or has he turned it over to natural law? These are the two views that separated Harding and Lipscomb from so many others in their day. Many others practiced “Churchanity” instead of Christianity. Everything centered around what happened on Sunday instead of what happened every day in the life of the believer and his Lord (King).

 

“The life of faith, life in the Kingdom, is a life lived in the shadows of the Second Coming. To live in the shadows is to live in anticipation of God’s ultimate victory. It is characterized by supreme hope in the reality of God’s kingdom. We live our lives in the present age knowing that things are not as they should be but with the expectation of what they will be. Biblical faith is lived as if the heavenly city has been planted on earth. We live as if the future is already present.” (Kingdom Come, John Hicks and Bobby Valentine, 2006, 35.)