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.