BARRIERS WE
MUST BREAK THROUGH
(SALVATION)
MF Blume
March 9,
1997 am
Acts 16:29-33 Then he called for a
light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his
house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
- The jailer asked what must
he do to be saved. But I want to ask a similar question, "What must I do
to be lost?"
- Many scriptures reveal
ways to be lost, if one really wanted to be lost.
- But the Bible also shows
us these things so that we can avoid them and not be lost.
Ezek 33:9 Nevertheless, if thou
warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way,
he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
1. IMPENITENCE
(refusing to turn to God).
- I worked with a man who
was not saved.
- I talked to him about God
and gave Him tracts and a Bible.
- He looked at them at home.
- One day he gave them back
to me.
- He told me he did not
believe in my religion.
- I told him that I wanted
to make sure he knew what I believed one must do to be saved.
- I told him that if we
were not going to talk again about God then I did not want his blood on my
hands at judgment day.
Ezek 33:8-9 When I say unto the wicked,
O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked
from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will
I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way
to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity;
but thou hast delivered thy soul.
- And I did
not want him pointing his finger at me accusing me of not telling him the
truth if he should be lost for eternity after God tells him he cannot enter
Heaven.
- I did
not want his blood on my hands.
- God said
that a person who refuses to turn from his ways to live for God will be lost.
TURN =REPENT.
- Repentance is TURNING from
ways to live for God.
- I ensure I tell every
congregation of people what to do to be saved. I will tell you this morning.
2. TOO BUSY
Luke 14:16-21 Then said he unto him,
A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at
supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now
ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said
unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it:
I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of
oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said,
I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came,
and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry
said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city,
and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
- These people were too busy,
also.
- Business and family matters
held them back from serving God.
Isaiah 28:12 To whom he said, This
is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:
yet they would not hear.
- Living for God is a rest
to the soul.
- God is bidding mankind
to the Supper.
Revelation 19:9 And he saith unto me,
Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
- Jesus called people to
the supper, but the people said they were too busy.
- Too busy to come.
- They will not be in the
supper.
Luke 14:24 For I say unto you, That
none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
- In other words, they will
not be saved.
3. PROCRASTINATION
Acts 24:22-23 And when Felix heard
these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them,
and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost
of your matter. (HE PUT THEM OFF) And he commanded a centurion
to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none
of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.
TIME WENT BY
Acts 24:24-25 And after certain days,
when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul,
and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way
for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
TWICE HE PUT IT OFF - HE PROCRASTINATED
Acts 24:27 But after two years Porcius
Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure,
left Paul bound.
Felix never did get saved. Look
at the words.
- He deferred (PUT OFF) them.
- "When Lysias comes I will
talk to you some more "
- "Go thy way for this time"
- "When I have a convenient
season"
- "after two years"
He put the matter off. He waited
for a more convenient time.
Fact of the matter was that IT
WAS GOD'S ACCEPTABLE TIME regardless if it was Felix' convenient time or
not. Felix will not be in Heaven.
2 Cor 6:1-2 We then, as workers
together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in
vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day
of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation.)
"FELIX TREMBLED" ACTS 24:25
- God was dealing with him.
- I seen God deal with people
as they trembled.
One man testified to me that
he went to church with his mother as a young boy.
- The power of God and conviction
moved upon him.
- He was tense and uptight.
- God was calling him THEN.
- When the altar call was
given he escaped out of the church.
- And said he tried to look
relieved he was out.
- He took his mind far away
from God and that sermon.
- But the thought always
came back.
PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF
OF TIME
4. INSENSIBILITY
Acts 28:23-25 And when they had appointed
him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and
testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out
of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And
some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when
they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken
one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
The Holy Spirit was right on!
The Holy Ghost inspired men to write about those who will be insensitive.
SOME ARE SO INSENSITIVE that they will not believe.
Acts 28:26-29 Saying, Go unto this
people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing
ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest
they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known
therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and
that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed,
and had great reasoning among themselves.
- Jews would not bend and
give in to God.
- They became dull after
hearing so much and never moving.
- Those who hear the Gospel
again and again become "Gospel hardened".
- Conviction loses it's
effect upon them.
- They can sit through sermons
that would break down the worst of sinners, and not flinch!
- They became insensitive.
- That would be their doom.
- All they did was reason.
- Nothing more than REASONING!
5. PERIL AWAITS
THOSE WHO NEGLECT SALVATION
Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we ought to
give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any
time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast,
and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard
him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
1. Miracles confirmed this
truth I preach to you.
2. After all God's effort to
send the Gospel across the whole planet, through men who gave their lives,
who suffered persecution and died to bring you the Word...
3. And those who resist are
treading on the blood of martyrs!
4. After all that effort...
- Miracles and the very blood
of preachers.
- People still resist!
5. How can they escape if they
reject such great salvation? Some here today have been forsaken by their
families for their salvation.
- They were willing because
they realized how great that salvation really is.
Hebrews 12:25-26 See that ye refuse not
him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on
earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh
from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying,
Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
- BREAK THROUGH EVERY BARRIER
THAT HOLDS YOU BACK FROM SALVATION.
- EVERY REASON THAT CAUSES
YOU TO RESIST MAKING YOUR STEP.
- LET IT HIT YOU LIKE THUNDER
THAT NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT.
- Stand tall for God no matter
what ANYBODY thinks!
- Cast out your ashamedness
for the things of God Amongst those whose names are eternally recorded in
the Hebrews 11 "Roll-call of the Heroes of faith," we read of the following....
Hebrews 11:36-38 And others had trial
of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute,
afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in
deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall
be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of
his Father with the holy angels.
- They knew that openness
about their faith would lay their lives on the line, but they could not disappoint
God.
- They could not let God
down.
- I saw my life could go
the beaten pathway of the majority.
- ...never do the perfect
will of God, and go with the flow like the rest.
- God called me to the ministry.
- I wanted a godly life.
- ...A godly wife and family.
- I had to get serious and
look way ahead in my life.
- An example of breaking
through what holds you back:
- As a single man, having
met different young women, and realized they did not want God, I sought God.
- I grabbed hold of God
and would not let go.
- I prayed for over an hour
for one single thing.
- "God, you called me to
the ministry. I believe you to bring me a wife to help my ministry".
- I cried and prayed and
cried and prayed.
- I wrestled, like Jacob
did.
- Time went fleeting by
and the angel said...
Genesis 32:26 And he said, Let me go,
for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless
me.
- I would not stop praying
until I knew I touched God.
- You must learn how to
cry out to God.
- You must learn how to
break through and "pray through".
- I told God, "I grew up
in a home that was split apart with divorce, and I do not even want to get
married if that is going to happen to me. So bring me the right one. I am
believing you for YOUR WILL and nothing less!"
- The next girl I met was
my wife at a Church Campmeeting while attending Bible School in New Brunswick,
as she was visiting from Newfoundland.
- YOU MUST BREAK THROUGH
THE BARRIERS OF...
- Impenitence.
- Being too busy for God.
- Procrastination.
- Insensibility.
- What great and wonderful
experiences I've had living in the will of God!!!
- Miracles.
- Blessings.
- Divine favour.
- Inheritance.
- Protection.
- True riches.
- A secured home in New
Jerusalem.
- Too many let go before
they get their need met.
- Unbroken barriers hold
them back.
- *YOU CAN break through!