You Are the Answer to the Question

Introduction. Life is filled with many questions. Some are troubling. Some are elusive. Some we cannot answer. Many are answered in God’s word. Others depend upon our own choices. This morning I’d like for us to consider a few questions in which it is important for us to recognize—You (and I) are the answer to the question!

I. Is Your Life Going to Be Happy? It is easy to operate under the false assumption that happiness depends on how things are going in our lives. Experience has proven that some of the happiest people in the world are often those who have faced some of the most difficult circumstances in life.

A.      Paul learned contentment in all circumstances (Phil. 4:10-13).

1.      Happiness does not depend on possessions. Jesus taught “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15).

B.      True happiness rests in obedience to God.

1.      “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord” (Psa. 144:15).

2.      When a man from Ethiopia learned about Jesus and obeyed the gospel, the Holy Spirit teaches us “he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).

II. Will You Have Friends? In childhood some patterns are often established that are very unhealthy. For some reason or another certain people begin to flock to one another and pressures and tensions often lead to exclusion and isolation and a false notion that having friends rests in the choices of others. Christians should be kind to all, but we should not seek friendship with some around us.

A.      Friendship with the world is enmity against God (James 4:4). When it comes to those who are righteous, godly, and the kind of people we should seek as our friends, to be a friend we must...

B.      Be friendly—“A man who has friends must himself be friendly” (Prov. 18:24).

C.      Be unselfish. “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:4).

D.     Do things for others. Dorcas lived her life in such a way that after she died her friends remembered that in life she “was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did” (Acts 9:36).

III. Are You Saved?

A.      God wants all to be saved. Paul told Timothy that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

1.      He has done His part—accepting salvation in Christ is our choice. At the end of the book of Revelation, “‘the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely’” (Rev. 22:17).

B.      You answer for yourself.

1.      Will you “almost” follow Christ? (Acts 26:28-29).

2.      Will you wait until it’s “convenient”? (Acts 24:24-25).

IV. Will the Church Grow and Be Strong?

A.      The church grew in the first century. It went from 120 (Acts 1:15) to 3000 (Acts 2:41) to 5000 men (Acts 4:4). Why?

1.      God gave the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

2.      Christians planted the seed.

a.       “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem” (Acts 6:7).

b.      After the death of Stephen, “those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

3.      This word must not simply move to faith—it must grow within those who have accepted it.

B.      The church is only as strong as its members

1.      Twice the book of Acts puts it this way: “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:24)— “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” (Acts 19:20). The word “grows” as it works in people.

2.      We must grow in grace and knowledge—i.e. our manner of life and knowledge of God’s word (2 Pet. 3:17-18).

V. Will the Church Remain Strong in the Faith?

A.      The church can turn from sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

B.      Christians must “test all things.” Paul told the Christians in Thessalonica to “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thes. 5:21).

C.      We must search the Scriptures. The Bereans were praised because “they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

VI. Will You Go to Heaven?

A.      All people are going some place.

1.      In the judgment scene that Jesus describes at the end of the Mount of Olives discourse, Jesus says that after judgment the wicked “will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).

2.      Our works determine the place (Rev. 20:12).

B.      Jesus has prepared a place for His people (John 14:1-3). Have you prepared yourself that you might be one of His people and be with Him when He comes?

Conclusion. How will you answer these questions? Understand, no one else can provide the answer—you (and I) are the answer to these questions in our own life. May we answer them in a way that is best—in a way that pleases God.