“SERMON ON THE MOUNT – AND BEYOND !!!”

By Jeremy Stopford, Semi-retired pastor

“25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV) [my emphasis]

If you don’t look it up, you won’t know what it means! Back in the old days there was a disease called “consumption.” I always thought it was “diarrhea,” but the dictionary advises otherwise. Today it is called “pulmonary tuberculosis.” I don’t know all the medical facts, but as the name implies, it was a wasting disease, destroying in particular the lungs. How horrible to die by suffocating little by little.

Yet today we are approaching a disease which could be called “spiritual consumption.”

Do you know it’s symptoms? Do you know anyone who has it? Do YOU have it? And if YOU have it, how do you get rid of it?

“Spiritual Consumption” first of all involves THE CONSUMING WORRY, as seen in verses 25 and 31. The old King James Version said, “take no thought” which has been translated above as “do not worry” in both these verses. A consuming worry is one which makes one perpetually uneasy, anxious, indeed – worried!

Sometime before I turned 13, my parents bought me a “sunfish” – that would be a sailboat which included on the deck a place for my two feet. I LOVED to sail! By the end of every summer, my red hair would have turned bleach blond! I remember when I was first learning how to sail, I would often capsize! The brilliance of the sunfish is that it readily uprighted, so capsizing wasn’t a big deal for the newcomer to sailing. But when one is first learning how to sail, one must learn quickly the most important rule about sailing: DON’T STAND UP! Standing up in a boat can cause an imbalance which can either cause great harm (why, the mast can hit you) or frustration (you might tip over!).

A consuming worry! What worries – like the possibility of tipping over a sailboat – can consume even the strongest servants of the Lord Jesus? The Savior describes this brilliantly. Simply put (verses 25-27), food, water, and clothing! Perhaps the modern word would be…STUFF! The Lord illustrates from nature – His creation (verses 26 and 28). The birds aren’t anxious, because they know they are fed by their Creator. The lilies of the field don’t work, because they know they are beautifully clothed by their Master – why even more beautifully clothed than Solomon, the wealthiest man ever to live in Biblical times. Even a thought of worry cannot help you grow an inch (verse 27)! That thought becomes verbalized in verse 31: “‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’”.

The “consuming worry” bottom line causes a person to be of little faith (verse 30): and that person does not look to God nor to His Word.

Secondly, spiritual consumption also involves THE CONSUMING SEARCH (verse 32): “For after all these things the Gentiles seek”.

Just who ARE the “Gentiles”? Initially, of course, they are in Scripture the non-Jews. 1 Corinthians 10:32 reads, “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God…”. The “Greeks” in this verse are the non-Jews, or, as seen in many other versions, the “Gentiles.” So why would the Lord use the Gentiles in His message as concerning a “consuming search”? Because, as described throughout Scriptures, the consuming search of the Gentiles is…THINGS (again, as we say today, “STUFF”!).

The Bible gives at least three good instances – I’m sure there are more! – about being consumed with searching for STUFF! One passage should be very familiar, the other two perhaps not so much. In Luke 12:15-21, Jesus introduces His lesson with an overwhelming truth: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Verse 15). The farmer was a good farmer, a very productive farmer. He was so good that he desired to tear down all his barns and build bigger barns. That in itself is not bad – in fact, that might have been a wise move. EXCEPT there is one catch: his purpose was that his goods would give him an ease of life for eternity. He had no consideration for the Savior, nor for the brevity of life. In Acts 8:18-20, a follower of Peter named Simon lusted for the power of the Spirit which the disciples freely expressed. He wished to purchase that power with his money. His consumption was for the Spirit/salvation using earthly reason (and money!). Finally, 2 Corinthians 10:5 reads, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Here, there were those who were seeking intelligence! On the surface, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But Paul was referring to those who sought intelligence rather than first seeking true faith in the Lord Jesus through the cross. In the end, what have they really gained? NOTHING!

Thirdly, spiritual consumption is defined as THE CONSUMING PASSION (verses 33-34).

The Lord Jesus say “SEEK FIRST”. This can be defined as “aim at, strive after, let these be your consuming passions above any earthly needs”. And just so there isn’t any guess work, He then tells His hearers (and US His listeners/readers) what to SEEK FIRST.

We are to SEEK FIRST His Kingdom (verse 33a). I love Colossians 3:1-3. When I was a freshman in a secular university as a new Christian, I sought out an on-campus Christian fellowship. That fellowship provided me not only memories but also a strong foundation in my walk with Christ in all the years to follow. One of the leaders of that fellowship was a senior named “Ray”. His life verses were this text in Colossians. Ever since I was under his leadership, I have called these verses “The Ray Principle”:

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

What did Paul say? SEEK (verse 1), SET (verse 2), and SETTLE (verse 3). Good true SPIRITUAL STUFF!

The Lord said not only to seek first His Kingdom. We are also to SEEK FIRST His Righteousness (verse 33b). The entirety of the Scriptures is our Heavenly Father pleading with His creation to seek first His way of doing and being right. His plea even goes to far as sending His one and only Son to the cross, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). We seek first His righteousness because He first seeks US!

We are not only to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. We are finally to SEEK FIRST His Day (verse 34). What does this mean? One can easily paraphrase this verse to say, “Tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Each day has its own troubles.” What guarantee do you or I have that today will not be your LAST??? So seek first His day. That means to seek first His Lordship for THIS day. He’s already taking care of tomorrow. Why, He’s already taking care of today!!! So seek first His day – His glory, His purpose, His goals for this day in your life.

As we close, LET’S BE PRACTICAL! To seek Him first means to cast on Him all our cares, as well as our cares for others (see 1 Peter 5:7). So what then should we do FIRST? You bet – PRAY!

I close with an amazing illustration which has repeated itself a multitude of times in my life – and I’m willing to wager (although I’m not a betting man) that this scene has been in your lives many times as well! I’ve lost my car key (or “fob” as it is in many cars today)! So what do I do FIRST? Well, I think through where I was the last time I remember seeing the keys. HELLO! If I knew that, I wouldn’t have to look for the keys! But nonetheless, I try FIRST to re-think my steps. And THEN? I re-trace my steps. I go from the car to the front door (the front door key is attached to the ring which holds the car key). Then I go to the kitchen where I often put the keys. And then I go to each room of the house, desperately looking for the aforementioned missing object. After at lest an half hour – or sometimes not at all until that EVENING – I end up in the bedroom. And what is sitting on the dresser next to the bed? Why, it is the car key! Oh I remember now! Before going to bed last night, I said to myself, “Self – since I forgot to leave my car key by the front door when I came home this evening, let’s start something NEW, Let’s keep the key on the bureau next to the bed. Thus the key will be the last thing I see at night, AND the FIRST thing I see in the morning!”. Well, that FIRST thing didn’t work, WHY NOT? Because Jesus said to seek Him FIRST!

Let’s covenant together to seek Him FIRST today!

Matthew 6:22-24

“22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV)

The story is told of the pastor who was traveling from Rochester NY east to his home in Georgetown NY. If you know New York State at all, especially in winter, there is a rule about the weather: if you don’t like the weather you have in the morning, just wait! By noon it will be different! Well, Pastor Ken left Rochester on the main Interstate 90, and it was raining. Pretty soon the temperature dropped, and the rain turned to sleet. And what do you know! Not too long afterwards, the sleet turned to…SNOW! When Pastor Ken got off I-90 to head south to Georgetown, he was completely in the DARK! He pulled off the road and discovered that his headlights were completely covered in 2 inches of…ICE! When he cleared off the ice, guess WHAT? He could see clearly! And then he could safely drive HOME!

Verses 22-24 are the foundation for the rest of this chapter. They develop a principle, which principle is followed by 3 simple but profound fruits.

PRINCIPLE: The eye is the lamp of the whole body – what we look at and what we let in to our mind.

Have you read 1 John 2:15-17 lately? Here this passage is:

“15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

This leads us to FRUIT #1: A focused eye produces a fruitful life (v. 22)

The old King James uses a word which is quite foreign to today’s Bible student. Verse 22 in the King James reads, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” The word “single” [or “good” in the New King James Version] is from the Greek word, “haplous”. It is defined as “having a focus of purpose”. It is also translated as “pure” (The Living Bible) and “sound” (Amplified Version).

In my first charge in a small country church town, we lived in an 100 year old parsonage (come to think of it, in my SECOND charge we lived in a parsonage built in 1894!). We lived across the street from the neighborhood farmer and his wonderful wife. And with his barn came, well, mice and rats. Well let me tell you! We had a black and white cat named “Callie” who understood “haplous” very well! He would post himself in one of the doorways near the door to the garage. He would brace himself. And then? He would wait, and wait, and…all of a sudden there was this POUNCE! And the poor helpless animal became another victim that Callie proudly displayed for his parents – us! You see, Callie was SINGLE AND VERY HAPPY! The parsonage life in a farming community was the life for him!

But what if you used that focus – not to pounce on people (or mice or rats, for that matter!) – but on personal holiness? Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.” To “be made rich” is wonderfully translated elsewhere as “be made fat” (KJV), “be blessed” (Septuagint – the OT Greek), “enriched” (Amplified), and “rich” (Living Bible).

Isn’t that what we want, what we hunger for? God wants to create, and we are hungry, to be a spiritual man who sees things just the way they are, and responds in a way that reflects the Savior upon Whom he is focused! Which leads us to…

FRUIT #2: An unfocused eye, beyond being unfruitful, is DARK – an instrument for the devil’s use (v. 23).

“Dark” or “darkness” means “blurry”. Literally, it means “having double vision”

Blurred by WHAT??? How about: Sin. Lusts. Desires. Prejudices. The world’s standards.

The Bible says we are to “love one another” (John 13:34-35 AND 21 other references!) and we are to “hate evil” (Psalm 97:10 AND 2 others). The world says that all men are inherently good. So it is possible for the Christian with the unfocused eye to live in the fear of the world rather than in the fear of the Lord. It is possible for the unfocused Christian to have a fear of what the world will think of him, a fear of being misunderstood. As a result, he is, well, USELESS for the Lord!

Let’s look at an amazing Biblical example. One of Paul’s co-workers was a fellow named DEMAS. We learn of him directly in 3 passages: Col. 4:14, Philemon 1:24, and 2 Tim. 4:10. To the Colossians and to Philemon, Paul referred to Demas as working along with Paul’s personal physician, Luke. Further, Paul considered Demas a “fellow laborer.” 2 Timothy 4is believed to be the last chapter Paul ever wrote before he went home to glory. What does v. 10 say about Demas?

“for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” [my emphasis]. What a sad commentary about someone who at one time was one of Paul’s trusted fellow servants. Demas is a perfect example of FRUIT #2: he had an unfocused eye, a DARK eye. He was no longer of use for the Savior. And if THAT is true, for whom is he useful? Hmmm…

Finally, there is FRUIT #3: a focused eye gives true DIRECTION (service) in what really matters most (v. 24)

The great American writer, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) had a thought about verse 24. He said, “this verse is a proof text against Mormonism and their old belief in having more than one wife. For the verse says, “no man can serve TWO masters.” (Groan…)

Lehman Strauss was one of the greatest authors and speakers that God used throughout the later years of the last century. He had no car and no house. He said, “those tie me down.” He commented that as a result, he was completely yielded to serve!

Both the Old and the New Testament say that the follower of the Lord is to “love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength”. God never said that we can’t have THINGS. He doesn’t want THINGS to have US, thus blinding our service for Him.

AS WE CLOSE:

There is the story of the farmer whose prize cow gave birth to 2 calves: one red, and one white, He proclaims to his wife, “when the time comes, I will sell one and keep the proceeds to live on, and then I will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord’s work. She asked him, “which one will you live on, and which one will you use to help the Lord’s work?” He wisely replied, “We won’t bother to decide now – we’ll treat both the same.”

A few months later, the farmer says to his wife, “The Lord’s calf is dead.” The wife reminds him, “but you never decided which is the Lord’s calf.”

“Yes,” the farmer replied. “The red cow was always to be the Lord’s calf.”

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: the Lord’s calf always dies.

That is the heart of this passage in Matthew 6:22-24. The singular heart is the one which has died to self and lives focused only on the Savior.

And you know what? The heart focused only on the Savior is…SINGLE AND QUITE HAPPY!

Am I really? Are you?

“SERMON ON THE MOUNT – AND BEYOND !!!”

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

“Treasure”. Allow me to relay a, well, what Dr. Becker might call a “joke”:

“A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget’s Thesaurus crashed as it left a New York publishing house last Thursday.

According to the Associated Press, witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, punchy, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, boggled,  overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, and perplexed.”

A “thesaurus” is a book which is a wonderful resource for pastors, other servants of the Lord, those doing research, Scrabble players (!), as well as those who are simply searching for that right word to say or write. Throughout college, it was one of those reference books that was invaluable to all those assignments that somehow always were due the NEXT morning! Of course, y’all never had that problem.

Wasn’t that above joke FUNNY? So WHY, you ask, is this important to our study? Interestingly, the word “treasure” in our text is from the Greek word – are you ready? – “thesauros”. Its meaning is quite similar to what we have in our English language. In the Greek, “thesauros” has both a negative and a positive importance. Negatively, it is NOT worldly things! Setting that nugget of information aside, positively it IS: a place of safe keeping; a storehouse; the valuable placed in that storehouse.

With that in mind, wisely our Savior used the word “thesauros” to illustrate with great power His desire for the hearts of those who would be walking with Him – both then and now. So how about us? What is my “thesauros”? What is yours?

Our Savior is giving us 3 good principles to understand “thesauros” and to be able to answer the question, “What or Who/who is our ‘treasure’”?

PRINCIPLE #1 says “The Christian is in a battle for the world’s attitudes” (Matt. 6:19)

The amazing things about the “things on earth” – that is, things of this world – is that they are more often than not GOOD things. If they were in appearance something BAD, it would be easy to discern it as BAD now wouldn’t it? But the “things on earth”, the things which govern the world’s attitudes, are a battle ground for those who love the Lord Jesus as Savior, What things? I’m sure today the list is endless. Let me make a few suggestions. How about THINGS! A house. A BIGGER house. A house which I really can’t afford, but when I own a house it means that I have really arrived, man!

A “thing” could be a TV! I remember one Thanksgiving night standing in a long line at…you got it, Wally World (ok, Walmart). What were we in line for? A TV!!! Not just ANY tv, but a 19” tv. What? Just a puny little tv? Well, that’s all we really wanted for our bedroom. And for $70 and 3 hours of waiting, we took home our…treasure. It was a good treasure to us. And believe it or not, when we moved from that house, we were able to sell that tv for exactly $70.

How about “family”? Can your spouse or your children become “treasures”?

How about “position”? We’ve all heard the term “moving up the ladder of success”. Some people literally walk over other people – friend and foe alike – in order to get to that position in the job that they thought they MUST have in order to be considered a success, to have arrived. Believe it or not, that also can happen in a church. There are many churches where even the trustees have the mindset that “what they say goes” when it comes to the oversight of the church facilities. The Lord did not have much say in what they had “say” in!

So that is Principle #1. Our Savior begins this section with a warning. The world’s attitudes are a battle ground. It does not take much effort for the world’s attitude to become the saint’s attitude. And when the world’s attitude becomes the saint’s attitude, the Lordship of Christ is no longer the priority of that saint. Has that happened to you, to me, to our churches?

PRINCIPLE #2 says “The Christian must have a right view of himself.” (Matt. 6:20)

If we are to have “treasures in heaven” we must make at least two major decisions on earth. FIRST, we must fix in our hearts that “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through”! One of my favorite scenes in the Old Testament is when Patriarch Jacob, in Egypt, is asked by Pharaoh, “how old are you?”. Now you or I might answer “I am [x] years old.” Not wise Jacob! He had a right view of himself, knowing this world is not his home. So how does one then answer that question? Jacob said:

“The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few

and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to

the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

[my emphasis] Genesis 47:9

The psalmist was equally wise. Another classic line is found in Psalm 84:5. Here is one of the 3 blessings listed in the psalm (look up the other 2!):

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” [my emphasis]

The psalmist states his heart is set on pilgrimage. It is set. It is fixed. Why? Because he knew, as Jacob did before him, that this world is not his home!

Second, we must learn from the Scriptures what the Lord Himself determines are true “treasures”. Here is a suggested list of some good Biblical treasures:

(a). A heart which is filled with God Himself or the things of God’s Word:

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:35)

(b). Eternal profits rather than earthly profits:

“Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21 – and context)

(c). The gospel rather than a social gospel:

“whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Cor. 4:4 and context)

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)

(d). Filled with the wisdom and knowledge one has in Christ !!!

“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1-3)

PRINCIPLE #3 says “if your profits are in heaven your heart will be there, too!” (Matt. 6:21 The Living Bible)

Who should be my greatest treasure? Did you catch the question? This is not a “WHAT” should be my greatest treasure. Rather, the question rightly says “WHO” should be my greatest treasure?

That should NOT be an hard question. But for many of us – including born again, blood bought earthbound (not in heaven, yet!) sinners, it often IS an hard question. We have set aside the reminder that we are in a battle for the world’s attitudes. We DON’T have a right view of ourselves. AND, if that were not enough, we have fallen under the category of “SETTLED FOR”. We have “settled for” earthly gain rather than heavenly profits.

BUT if our treasures are heavenly, so will be our goals, our purposes, our values, our desires, our hungers while on earth.

So there you are, sitting in the huge crowd near the mountainside while the Savior is delivering the Sermon on the Mount. You say to yourself, “I’ve lived a good life. I’ve been blessed by God in so many ways. I’ve got a good nest egg. I’m set for life. But WAIT!!!! Jesus is saying WHAT??? “You’ve settled for earthly treasures, my child. Now settle for ME ALONE.”

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND?

May the Lord give each of us grace to TREASURE HIM ALONE!

Shared at Smyrna Baptist Church Smyrna, NY

July 25, 2021 11am

STOP THE PRESSES! HOLD YOUR HORSES! GIVE A LISTEN! Just WHERE is this week’s edition of the “Sermon on the Mount” study? Sorry, dear people. The study in Matthew has been set aside for at least one week for a very important announcement: Yesterday in church, I had the privilege of sharing about an amazing event which will actually take place sometime tonight (July 26, 2021). Are you ready?

My life is divided into 2 sections: BC and AD. BEFORE Jesus and AFTER coming to Jesus. For me, that was BEFORE age 19 and AFTER.

Before age 19, I believed in God. I remember that when I was younger, I used to lay flat on my back on the grass. Then I would look up at the clouds – and do what? I would have conversations with my unknown God!

Dad retired when I was 13. At that time we moved from our home near New York City down to our new home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. All that led up to that fateful day when I was 17. My best friend Jim and I were swimming in my parents’ pool when Jim said, “I got saved at the revival at church last week.” IMMEDIATELY I told Jim, “you keep that stuff to yourself.” But for the next 2 years I watched Jim. I watched his changing and changed life. Jim was going from “old things were passed away” to “behold, all things become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When I was 18 years old, I worked as a counselor at a boys’ camp in New Hampshire, the same camp where I had been a camper for 3 summers in the 1960’s. One of the counselors, named George, asked me to watch his cabin of boys one night while he was taking one of his 2 nights off we were given per summer. When I walked into his cabin I saw a stack of brand new Bibles, individually wrapped in plastic, located on his bureau. When he came back from his night off, I asked, “George, can I buy a Bible?” He wisely said, “No, I’ll give you one in the morning.”

The next morning at breakfast, George gave me the Bible. Inside the front cover he wrote that he was giving me the Bible at the boys camp. With that summer’s date. THEN? Then he wrote on the cover page 2 verses: [read from that Bible:]

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” 2 Timothy 3:16

The September after I came home from camp, George sent me a 4 page letter explaining how I needed to know – and how I could know – Jesus as my personal Savior. [I still have that letter!]. Included in that packet was a book entitled, “Now That I Believe,” by Robert Cook – former president of Kings College in New York. I set both letter and book aside.

We need to advance to when I was 19 years old, just over a month removed from my high school graduation. One night I couldn’t sleep. Ever have one of those nights? So for whatever strange reason, I was led to re-read that letter I hadn’t looked at for 10 months! And then I started reading that book, “Now That I Believe.” It wasn’t too long before I came to an HUGE conclusion: I DIDN’T believe in Jesus as my Savior.

I knew Jesus had died on a cross. That was HISTORY.

I DIDN’T know that He had died on a cross FOR ME!!! Now that was a MYSTERY!

That night, as best as I knew how, I asked Jesus to be my Savior.

THEN THE WHIRLWIND BEGAN!

Within 2 months, while a freshman at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York – REAL UPSTATE, like a few miles from the Canada border upstate – I started attending a Baptist church under the pastorate of Rev. Herman Underwood, who would soon become my spiritual mentor to the day he died some 40 years later!

Within one year I had transferred to a Bible College in Canada.

That first day of school, I met a girl from central NY. Let’s see if we have this straight. A guy from Ft. Lauderdale goes out of the country to Canada and meets a girl from central New York! The next story in my new adventures in Christ? Within 2 years of my receiving Jesus as Savior, Thuvia and I were married! And that counselor, George? He would be one of my ushers! He served with Tim, a fellow student at Bible School. AND he served with David, one of Pastor Underwood’s sons! Pastor Underwood’s daughter Kathy would be our organist. My best man, a fellow named Allen Carpenter, would go on to serve the Lord as pastor in about 5 different churches before he got called to be with the Lord at a very young age.

Within 15 years of my receiving Christ, I would begin serving as pastor of my first charge, a church “in the middle of nowhere”. How in the middle of nowhere? Several years later a friend asked for us to host her and her boyfriend’s wedding there BECAUSE: it was a plain colored church, built in the mid-1800’s, “in the middle of nowhere” – for her, a perfect setting for a Civl War themed wedding!

And as unbelievable to me, about that same time I began my 27 year career working as a parking enforcement officer with the City of Norwich (NY) Police Department.

Years later, a missionary friend who served for many years in Pakistan wrote a book with a title taken from many of the psalms: “WHAT GOD CAN DO”!

And that’s what God has done – and continues to do – for me! He faithfully works in me to draw fresh attention to Himself. Wow! What God can do!

OH! The date I came to know Jesus as Savior?

JULY 26, 1971

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK!

What God can do for me, He can do for everyone!

“…whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest!”

(Matthew 11:28)

Close in prayer – and praise!

EPILOGUE After the service, my wife and I went to our car to prepare to go home for the day. As we got into the vehicle, the thought suddenly hit me. I said to her,

“Weren’t you saved at the Bible Camp when you were 8 years old?”

“Yes”

“That means you were saved during the summer of 1961…

“That means you received Jesus as Savior 60 years ago this summer!”

I know the date I received Jesus as Savior. My wife knows how old she was and where she was, but she doesn’t know the exact date.

But you know what? GOD KNOWS THE HEARTS!

WHAT GOD CAN DO!

Have YOU received Jesus as YOUR Savior?

Do you know anyone who needs to trust Him today?

Catch the eternal vision of men and women, boys and girls, in the “valley of decision” (Joel 3:14)