Brother Bob said:
To me this is saying that I am unsure about my salvation and its sad :tear: , but you are fully assured of yours. That is questioning the surety of my salvation.
I in no way question the surety of salvation, yours or any other. I fully believe the Bible teaches, "once saved; always saved," as us 'grace types' including many Baptists often say.
What I find sad, is that one can be saved, with everything God has for us, that has been made certain, living as "spiritual paupers" in fear, as though they do not believe any of it, and actually 'enjoy' in living in doubt and defeat.
I have an illustration that I have used, of two houses, in Goshen on the night of Passover.
Walking down the street, I spotted two houses, side by side. At the doorway, and from the outside, they look very similar. Both of them had something never seen before - blood on the doorposts and over the lintel. But the similarity stopped right there. One was brightly lit; the other was completely dark. From the one, the air was filled with sounds of joy, laughter, and praise; It sounded like a party, or a joyous celebration! From the other, came only sounds of weeping, sobs, and anguish; it sounded like a funeral, or the aftermath of a great tragedy. I decided to check this out a bit further, so knocked on the door of the closest home, the darkened home. The door was opened, a bit, my hand was taken, and I was quickly pulled inside, where the door was quickly shut again, and triple barred. A strange sight was to be seen, when after my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a family all packed up like they were moving out. All were dressed to travel, and hurriedly eating a meal of whole roast lamb and unleavened bread. There was a fire laid in the fireplace, apparently just waiting to be lit. And through out it all, the sobs and cries of dismay. I asked about the occassion for this.
"Haven't you heard?" was the response, as some food was handed me. "The Angel of the LORD is coming through the land, tonight, and is going to kill all the firstborn of every house, and we are to move out, and no longer will we be slaves to Pharoah. We are all packed up and ready to move, and after we finish this food, we are to burn the carcass of the Lamb on the fire. We have spread the blood over the door, for when the LORD sees the blood, He will pass over the house, sparing the firstborn." And the anguished cries rose in intensity to almost deafening levels.
"Why all the weeping and wailing, darkness and locked doors?", I ask the father.
"We're just not sure, that will happen, we may be in danger, here, and we are saddened because if it doesn't happen as the LORD has said, even though He said we would be safe, then probably things will get worse, even though the LORD said He would take us out of Egypt, into the Promised Land. I don't know about leaving our homes, and moving out of here, either, even though we are supposed to be going to be free. We did what the Lord said, and spread the blood, so that the LORD will pass over, but, we don't know. How can we be sure? and if we are hidden in the darkness, maybe the Lord will not actually smite the home, taking the firstborn, and if He does we are sadde..." I leave this depressing scene, right in the middle of a word, even. I want to hear no more of this. I've got to be able to find something else, somewhere.
Back on the street, I decide to check out the 'partying house,' next door.
Again, I knock. The door opens, and I'm again quickly pulled inside, just as before. When my eyes, finally adjust to the bright lights, I notice almost the same strange scene, as in the previous house, from the garb of the right down the the fire that has been laid. The only noticable difference is the attitude and the lights. Again, I ask the occassion. And I receive the precise same response, as at the previous home, exactly word for word. And the shouts of praise and songs increase in intensity, to almost deafening levels, this time.
The contrast is truly puzzling to me, so I ask one more question. "How can you be so sure and so happy, given all you have just told me, including that the firstborn may die, here?" I ask the father.
"Didn't you hear a word I said?" he asks. "The LORD will pass over this house, we are going to be safe, we are leaving this place, and we are going to the promised Land! Why would we not be happy?"
My question for everyone is very simple. Which house was the "safe one" that night? Was one any more or less safe than the other? Were there degrees of death to the firstborn, and degrees of "pass over"? Not at all. The house of defeat was just as safe as the house of victory, and vice versa.
The LORD came and did pass over, and deliver. Both Houses! Just the same. No difference, there. Which one would you want to live in??
Despite your apparent dislike for 'dramatic illustrations,' this serves to ilustrate my point about living in victory with joy vs. living in defeat in despair, IMO. (Do you really mean you haven't used
any illustrations or poetic langauge in over 30 years of preaching? I'm not sure I can even comprehend such, frankly, from a preacher. Almost all, if not all, I have heard preach very many messages have used at least some sort of illustrations at some time. And Jesus and all the NT writers, as well as most, if not all the OT writers, all use illustrations of sorts.)
Part 2 to follow.
Ed
. I hope things will carry on as we have, if not, May God Bless you and your family.