6/21/08
Almost
Persuaded
Famous “Almosts”
*
“Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades” (or corn hole, croquet)
* Mauricio Gugelmin,
* Famous movie “almosts”: "You want vermouth?
You can't handle vermouth!"
"Use your brain, Luke." * The Tackle: On the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV,
Rams' linebacker Mike Jones performs The Tackle
on Titans receiver Kevin Dyson, who fell one yard
short of the goal line. * Famous “almosts” in the Bible: * Five not-so-wise bridesmaids, who didn’t bring
any extra oil * Moses almost made it into the Promised Land * Peter almost made if as he walked towards
Jesus on the sea * The rich young man almost followed Jesus * These “almosts” could have been successes, if
they had just put a little more effort into
their relationships with God
Profile of an Almost Christian
Herod
snapshot 1:
early life, upbringing
Herod was raised as a Jewish boy
the ways God speaks
Creation, words, people, places, music,
thoughts
when God speaks, He convicts
(illustration: pilots of
enola gay/heroshima/afterthought)
General Paul W.
Tibbets:
"The nose lurched up — I mean
it lurched dramatically — because if you immediately let 10,000 pounds out of
the front, the nose has got to fly up. We made our turn, we leveled out, and at
the time that that happened I saw the sky in front of me light up brilliantly
with all kinds of colors.
"At the same time I felt the
taste of lead in my mouth. And where we had seen the city on the way in, I
(now) saw nothing but a bunch of boiling debris with fire and smoke and all of
that kind of stuff. It was devastating to take a look at it."
Tibbets said that even though he knew this mission was
important, he had no idea it would cause the kind of devastation that it
did. The “Little Boy” bomb killed
between 70,000 and 100,000 people, and injured countless others. Your afterthoughts can be very convicting.
Herod never forgot the Bible stories of his youth . .
.
snapshot 2:
political prominence
the dangers of one’s environment
each day a chance to grow, or to lose
ground, spiritually
(illustration: one man
thrives, one man dies: what makes the difference?)
Daniel actually
grew stronger in pagan
Herod did not continue to
pray as he got older. He didn’t
personally accept the Lord as his Guide in life. Young people today face a choice: to take
their parents faith and belief, and forge a new, personalized, meaningful
relationship with God.
Herod did not make this
transition. It takes effort to make this
transition from the religion of your parents to the relationship of your
present. Herod had other things on his
mind, you might say.
snapshot 3: Herodias/temptation
dabbling leads to demise
the only way to deal with temptation is
to resist it in the Holy Spirit
“Resist the
devil and he will flee from
you.”
James
4:17
Enter, John the Baptist
Herod had “been to the river”
but he hadn’t been baptized
Conviction had set in
“Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him
safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him
gladly.” Mark 6:20
If we refuse to listen to voice
of conscience and to Word of God, God will send a person into our lives to warn us and to pull us out of the fire
We are given multiple opportunities to repent, to
surrender, to be converted
Throughout our lives the Lord appeals to us in
various ways
Our success & eternal future is dependent how
we respond at these times
John told Herod to let go of Herodias and this
adulterous relationship
John was a lover! Only a lover would tell you to let go of
something that is destroying your life!
John was faithful to Herod! He
was honest with him!
Who has God placed in your life like John? Is there someone in your life who loves you
enough to tell you to KNOCK IT OFF AND COME TO YOUR SENSES!
PRAISE GOD FOR SUCH A PERSON!
Do what they tell you, and you’ll be all right . .
.
Herod chose image over ethics; reputation over
righteousness
John’s murder
Banquet in honor of Herod’s birthday
Social elites are there, Herod is
drinking, and Salome is dancing
“Wine is a
mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1
Herod’s head is full of wine. Conviction is not as strong when you are
under the influence, because God communicates with us through our minds.
“This I
say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the
rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being
past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness
with greediness.
But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been
taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your
former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new
man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:17-24
Metanoia = concscience
Paul encourages
Timothy to have “faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected,
concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck”
1 Timothy 1:19
(illustration: what
silencing the voice of conscience accomplishes: inability to hear) Man who lived near a railroad. Always heard the loud train go by, rumbling
and shaking the house. After a while he
learned to ignore it. He no longer even
heard it, but went with his business.
Till one day, when a huge tornado flattened his house and killed
him. He never heard the tornado, because
it sounded the same as a train, and he had blocked that sound out of his
mind. When you ignore and silence the
voice of Conscience, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the time comes when you no
longer even hear His voice. You have
effectively shut yourself off from God.
You can tell when you’ve done
that, because you can walk away from a message you’ve just heard, or walk away
from something you just read, and even though it is speaking directly to you, it doesn’t even phase you. You’ve deadened your ability to hear God’s voice.
snapshot 4: trial of
Jesus
One last chance to choose life
We
don’t know when our last opportunity to choose life will be
Could be today. Could be tomorrow.
Each
chance to choose life has eternal weight
When Herod first heard of Jesus
. . .
Thought “This is John, whom I beheaded; he
has been raised from the dead!” Mark
6:16
Guilty
conscience
The wavering & indecisiveness
of Herod
“Now when
Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time
to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see
some miracle done by Him.” Luke 23:8
Jesus didn’t come to this earth
to gratify curiosity
Jesus didn’t come to this earth
to put on a show
Jesus came to this earth to
save our souls from sin & death
Silence is what Herod
got
Worse than
rebuke
“Then he
questioned Him with many words, but He
answered him nothing.” Luke 23:9
Herod had rejected the voice of
truth from his childhood
Herod had rejected the voice of
truth from John the Baptist
Herod had continued to reject
the voice of truth throughout his life
When we don’t listen to God’s
voice, little by little His voice becomes softer and softer
Until there is silence.
Beyond the reach of conviction?
I believe that not one soul hearing my
words right now or reading them later is beyond the reach of God’s conviction
If you are hearing or reading
these words, it is because God is trying to reach you
You can bet on it
Herod even now could have
humbled himself, repented, and set Jesus free
Just became angry, offended
“Then Herod, with his men of war,
treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous
robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became
friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each
other.” Luke 23:11-12
Pass the buck, shirk
responsibility, easy to do
When we reject God’s voice, we
make friends with the world
Cost him eternal life
Herod almost became a disciple
King Agrippa to Paul: “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 26:28
“Almost but not wholly saved, means to be not
almost but wholly lost.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 118
You can’t put off life without
dying
The lesson: Don’t be careless with your
spiritual life. Choose Jesus Christ now,
today. Choose to accept His death for
your sins. Choose to accept His lordship
over you. Choose to become a disciple of
Christ—holding nothing back. Whatever He
says, do it.
Don’t put off salvation or
obedience for another day
That day may never come
You won’t hear God’s voice any stronger than you
do RIGHT NOW
May be some here who are
wanting to fully accept Jesus Christ, and receive a new heart, new life.
May be some here who already
are a disciple of Jesus Christ, but some area of your life has not been
surrendered to Him, and you are walking in disobedience. Now is an opportunity to surrender that area
to Him, so He can heal you.
There is nothing convenient
about salvation. We just simply need it.
“In times past He winked at
sin….but now He commands everyone everywhere to REPENT”
There may not be another
chance to choose life. There wasn’t for
Herod.