Message Of

The Ministry

By RICK WILDER, Pastor

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

P.O. BOX 91222 – HENDERSON, NEVADA 89009

E-Mail: Rwilder317@aol.com

When man was first created, he was placed by God in a garden that was a paradise. There was no sin, therefore there was no sickness, pain, suffering or death. Man walked with God in loving communion and fellowship. Man had no guilt, fear or condemnation. The presence of God was not dreaded when man was still sinless.

But Satan came along and put doubt in the mind of man concerning God's Word. He said to the woman "Yea, hath God said?" Genesis 3:1; or in other words "do you know for sure what God said?" or "how do you know God said it". He then contradicted God's Word, Genesis 3:4 Ye shall not surely die: When God's Word was made to appear to be unreliable, the door for sin was opened wide.

Then Satan sought to make God look unloving by making man think that God was really holding back something that would be good for the man. In Genesis 3:5 Satan said For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Man doubted God's Word and His love, and being deceived, man went ahead and sinned against God. That day, the whole human race became a "fallen race" separated from God by sin and distrust of God!

Now, because of man's sin, man is filled with guilt, condemnation, fear of death and judgment, and is fleeing from the presence of God. Right after man first sinned, man heard God's voice and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he (man) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:8-10.

Since Adam, man has been hiding from the living God behind religion, idols, atheism, philosophy and good works (self righteousness); this is because man thinks that God offers a miserable life and is anxious to judge him! Man would rather make false gods or deny the existence of God rather than face the God he has sinned against.

When God came into the world in human form as the Son of God; John 1:10 says, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Man crucified his own creator! In fact, the history of the human race since the "fall of man" has been to deny, reject, persecute and even kill the messengers of God!

Because of man's sin nature, man hates the very knowledge of the living God. He will not even accept the "gift of God" which is eternal life, because he doubts and fears God's plan and presence. Consequently, the human race is living alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Colossians 1:21.

It is into this world God sends us to show the world that God loves us and is a "good" God. To this world, God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation II Corinthians 5:18. In II Corinthians 5:20 the Bible says, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

The world needs to understand by our lives and witness, that God does not want to punish them, but rather to save and forgive them. They need to come to know through us, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in good- ness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;

Man needs to be convinced that God does not hate him, God loves him; that God is not anxious to punish man, but rather to forgive him. God is not anxious to punish man, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A man, because of his sin nature, needs to be convinced that God is a good God: Hebrews 11:6 says, But 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. John 3:17 says, For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Our Lord said in Mark 16:15, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel (good news) to every creature.

Tell every person the good news that God loves us, that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead so we could be saved and live with him forever! Isaiah 52:7 says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

God's first message to man was not one of external behavior or eternal judgment, but rather of God's love, benevolence and wisdom in creation. We see God's love and delight in the human race, as God creates a paradise for man to live in and dwell with God!

A "tree of life" is placed in the garden, where man could eat and live forever! Genesis 2:18 says, And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. So God created woman for man, marriage and the family.

After all of God's love and kindness to man, man chose to take from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" in disobedience to God's one law. God had encouraged man to take from the "tree of life" and warned him not to take from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil," lest man die.

But, as soon as man defied his God and sinned, God came seeking to reconcile the two rebels to himself. Man did not seek God, but god came seeking, to save that which was now lost. God spoke to the two new sinners about their sin and the consequences of their disobedience. Then, God instituted His plan of salvation as God allowed an innocent substitute to die for the guilty sinner, bearing the shame and punishment due to the guilty party!

Right from the first two sinners God showed that justification was through substitutionary atonement, by the blood. From that time God started choosing people out of the human race that would believe God and come to God for justification through substitutionary sacri- fice.

This substitutionary sacrifice by an animal only acted as a temporary covering for man's sin until God sent His Son to be the substitutionary sacrifice for the whole world. Christ Jesus our Lord was the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

After God establishes the message of salvation, God goes on to show His people that we are a "set apart" people from the world. That God's people are to become like their God in holiness. That the world ought to know that they need the salvation of our God by our testimony and witness. God should be glorified by the way we worship the "living God", and by the way we live by faith in this world!

The pride of fallen man does not want to relinquish his "self-righteousness." Man wants to think that his good works, religion, or human merit will get him to heaven. But, the holiness of God revealed in His Word, Law and presence will utterly destroy such a delusion!

Romans 3:19-20 says, Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. ... for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Isaiah, the great prophet of God when coming into God's presence cried: Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:5.

The evidence that we understand who God is and have worshipped in His presence is that we know we are totally unworthy of God and eternal life. We are so convinced, that we know that we must be saved by Christ's merits alone!

We know that not only is salvation not of our own merit, but that, not even a part of our merit plus Christ's equals salvation. Isaiah 64:6 says, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

If someone calls on the name of the Lord and believes in Christ but still trusts in any human merit, they might start trying to live a Christian life but, they will not be born again!!

The new birth and salvation only comes when all human merit is rejected and the living Christ (not an idol Christ) is trusted fully for eternal life. Our Lord demonstrates this in Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

These people believed in Jesus, called Him Lord and yet because they trusted in their "spiritual gifts" and good works, our Lord says to them "I never knew you" (not I knew you but you lost your salvation), but "I never knew you, depart from me."

It would be better to smite our breast and say "God be merciful to me a sinner" than to trust in any good work or gift as evidence of salvation. It is infinitely wiser to not have any confidence or trust in self so that all our trust is in the Lord himself!

Because all God's children worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3:3. In Philippians 3:7-9, Paul says, But what things were gain to me, (the good things I trusted in before salvation) those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things (any good thing I have or do, that I might trust in) but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness.

At the same time as we have no confidence in the flesh, we have complete confidence in God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In John 5:24 Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, (life that cannot end, ever!) and shall not come into condemnation; (you will never be condemned by God and loose your salvation) but is passed from death (spiritually) unto life (spiritually).

The Bible says in Acts 16:31 Believe (trust in, rely upon) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 15:11 says But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Remember, God's grace is God's favor and love that He gives to us (even though we are sinners and do not deserve it) because God wants to bring us back to Himself for all eternity! Ephesians 2:8-9 says For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. We can never deserve "grace" because it it bestowed upon us based upon God's love not our goodness! Remember, we are a "fallen race" incapable of deserving salvation!

Then, some will say "if you accept Christ and are always saved, then you can murder someone and still go to Heaven." But, what they do not understand is that God saves you when you know you cannot save yourself, then, you are born again.

When you are born again, the Spirit of Christ comes to live in you and makes you a "new creature" in Christ Jesus. II Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Now, no longer are you a fallen person but a redeemed, born again child of God. You have become a member of God's forever family.

In Acts 20:32 Paul says, And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. The Christian life is a life of growing in God's grace and knowledge.

Paul says in I Corinthians 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

The Christian life is not what you do for God, but what God does in you and through you for our good and His glory. Galatians 2:20 says, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If a Pastor does not understand how God's grace changes a person on the inside for God's glory, he will create a legalistic system that changes the outward appearance but does not fill the heart with God's grace. Our Lord said in Matthew 15:9, But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. He also said Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Matthew 15:6.

Changing the outward appearance is not necessarily evidence of grace because the Pharisees cleansed the outside of the cup but the inside was still corrupt. Going soul winning to build a big church is not necessarily evidence of grace from God because our Lord said the Pharisees compass sea and land to make one proselyte, (convert) and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matthew 23:15.

Grace changes your heart to love God, His people and to have compassion on the lost and want to bring them to Christ for God's glory and their eternal good.

The purpose of preaching to Christians ought to be so they love God and love their neighbor. Galatians 5:6 says, For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision (an outward mark) availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

I Corinthians 13 says that if we do not have "Charity," which is God's unconditional love, we are just making noise and what we do profits us nothing and we are nothing! This love, charity, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:5.