R989 Christmas in God’s Economy

When the dog and the chicken man come to church. Yes, it's an unusual title, but it's a great message on the way today. Welcome to The Encouraging Word, featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author and evangelist.

And though the title is unique, we're going straight to the Bible itself, God's encouraging word, Philippians chapter 3, as a matter of fact, in just a moment. As we prepare for that, know that we're here for you. We'd love to connect with you online at www.tewonline.org. We've got a brand new site.

Love to have you drop by. That's www.tewonline.org. And don't forget, we're available for you on the phone as well at 866-899-WORD. Many folks are asking about the daily encouraging word physical copily of the Bible Guide.

You can ask for it by calling 866-899-9673. Now today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. I trust you're all doing well, even in the midst of a world without Christ. It's good to be alive. Do you know that I think that we've got one of the most wonderful opportunities ever to share God's truth in our world without Christ? It is a wonderful time to be a Christian because we've got hope.

I want to invite you today to give your life to Jesus Christ. I'm going to ask you to trust him because he's the one who will forgive you. He's the one who will write your name in God's book in heaven. He's the one who will give you peace. I will guarantee you that because I know it to be true in my own heart. And I'm just here today one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

And I love you today. Everyone will need a Bible. We're going to be in the book of Acts chapter 5 and verse 42.

Acts chapter 5 and verse 42. You say to me today, pastor, just one verse. Yep, I'm going to read just one verse. I know that may come as a shock to some of you. But what you're going to discover very quickly is this one verse is so packed with the riches of God's grace.

It speaks to the whole preceding chapter. In fact, it speaks to our world without Christ. And today I'm going to be sharing with you what it means to share truth in a world without Christ. For many, many years, our church has been on television.

Over 50 years. And even as I speak today, we are so privileged to hear from all 50 states in America. Can you imagine that through the encouraging word? We get letters, phone calls, people coming to know Christ.

Lives changed from Idaho to California to Illinois to New England and state of Washington. And I'm glad to say even Alabama where they need the gospel so dearly. Just think about that. Just think about, I want you to think about that.

Now here's the question. What is it that they are hearing? What are we saying? We made a commitment, the encouraging word. We made a commitment. We do one thing. And we share God's truth with the searching world. Now I want you to know, folks, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm saying because I'm going to transition into something here. When I watch television today, there are many incredible, wonderful, Bible-believing, Bible-based, solid ministries, and I'm thankful.

But I'm going to tell you there's a lot of junk out there. The pollution of God's truth is rampant in America. In America today, the more of a show you put on, the more people are going to be inclined to watch. And I want to say to you today without any apology that if you wanted me to, if you as a congregation, my congregation, if you came to me and you said to me, don't worry about sharing truth. Just put on a good show. Just say what people want to hear.

Have a performance. I will guarantee you we will quadruple the number of people who will watch us and support. We could start another whole empire.

But we're not going to do that. You see, every one of you today, folks, listen to me. Every one of you today finds yourself in a world without Christ. All of us. Around us today, we find a world without Christ.

Everything in America today is turning against Jesus Christ. And so the question that you and I have to ask is what is it that God would require of us? How do I fit into this? If I was to just look at my life, my name is Don Wilton and I'm a Christian man and I'm the most blessed man in the world. Now there's a number of reasons why I'm the most blessed man in the world. Number one, because I'm married to Karen. Number two, because I have a wonderful family.

Number three, because I am blessed to be pastor of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. No man could be more loved and I could not be more grateful than the privilege. And I live in my world. I love my world. I love life.

But I'm a Christian man living in this world. And the world is pulling at me. There are a lot of things that I want. I want to be popular. I want to get a pat on my back.

I want to be told you're jolly good. Because I'm a person who stands up in front of people, I want to be able to draw everybody. I want, I mean, we all have needs and dispositions in this world because we are mixing in the world in which we live. We are part of the world. Now Paul put it like this.

He said, you must be in the world, but not of the world. In one church like this, just in our church, if our deacons made that decision, now I'm not saying that I would agree and I know that they wouldn't do this. But if our deacons were just to lift certain biblical mandates off this church, we would probably quadruple the attendance here next week. I drove past a church yesterday and they billboard for Sunday. This is a church. They billboard for Sunday said, Poetry Sunday.

How nice. Poetry Sunday. All over the world today in our world without Christ, we are affirming what God's truth is saying. God's word says there will come a time in your world when your world will not want to know the truth about God. And so I go back to the Bible. This is our textbook, folks. God's word.

This is absolute truth. I'm sharing with you today absolute truth, God's word. That's why we call ourselves the encouraging word. We at First Baptist Church share with America what? Someone tell me the encouraging word.

Let's all say that together. We at First Baptist Church share with America the encouraging word. I want to say to you today, I want you to take what God has to say, because when you take what God has to say, you're listening to the supreme authority. The one who gives us life. The only one who can make us different. There's a lot of us who believe that the way to bring about change in America is to change who's in control. Change the person in the White House, change the person in the State House, change who the leader is. Well, we're all engaged in the political process and we must be.

We need to be engaged. But folks, until we undergo a heart change, we will never change, because Jesus Christ is the one who changes our hearts. So watch this. In Acts chapter 5 and verse 42, this is what we read, day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Somebody say, Amen.

I just feel I've got to read that again. Verse 42, day after day and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. I have an encouraging word for you today and it's all about Jesus.

Now, friends, I'm going to share five bullets with you this morning. Because when you go back before verse 42 in this chapter, what you read about is the world in which these very same people lived in the early church. And because God's word is timeless and ageless and always relevant and because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, God's word is as relevant for you and me today as it was for them.

That's why this word is so precious. And my question is this, what did these people do? They were maligned. They lived in a world where they were legislating against the gospel.

Sometimes there were some radical steps. They were put in prison. They were flogged. They were persecuted. People didn't like them. There were times when nobody wanted to come and listen to them. They criticized them.

And yet the Bible says day after day in the temple courts, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. What did they do? Five things.

Number one, write this down. They themselves lived for Christ. There it is. They lived for Christ.

We're talking about sharing truth in a world without Christ. So I'm going to personalize that. What is it that God is telling me? What's God saying to me? I'm Don Wilton. I'm a father, a husband. I'm a granddaddy. I'm a friend. I'm pastor. What must I do in my world? Some of you say, well, pastor, it's easy for you because everybody knows that that's what you're supposed to do.

I'm a man just like anybody else. What did these people do? Number one, they themselves lived for Christ. They lived with purpose. They lived with conviction. They lived with demonstration. There was a purpose about everything they did. And everything they did was driven by the fact that God had called them to live lives that were pleasing to Jesus Christ. They lived with purpose. They lived with conviction. They lived with practical demonstration.

That's one of the hardest things for us to do. Jesus put it like this. He said, be salt and light. So for me to live as a Christian man in this world means that I have to be salt and light. I need to give flavor and I need to illuminate the darkness.

I need to be asking God to help me to have a light shining out of me so that the darkness of the world, when they see me, they see light in me, not the same darkness in which they live. Please forgive the interruption, but as we partner together with you, we want to give you tools that will help you illuminate the darkness, not only in your life, but in others. As you share these great resources, you'll find all the resources online at www.tewonline.org. There's also resources you can call for. The free daily encouraging word Bible guide is something most folks are using especially at Christmas to maybe give a few away for gifts. Call and ask for your copies at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Back to today's teachings from Dr. Don Wilton. They themselves lived for Christ. Number two, they themselves believed in the power of God. When you get into this passage, which I'm not going to all kinds of details, but from verse 14 to verse 16, the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 5 that amazing things were happening in the church.

People were getting healed. God was manifesting his power. And these Christian people, the way in which they shared truth in their world without Christ was simply by believing in the power of God.

Do you? I believe that God is all powerful. I believe that God has because he always was. I believe that God is and I believe that God will be. I believe that God is all powerful. The spirit of the living God is our advocate.

Don't you love that? That's who the Holy Spirit is. He's the Supreme Court. There's nobody higher.

We've got an advocate who never loses a case. I believe that. I'm asking you. I'm calling you. I'm saying to you today, not only here in beautiful Spartanburg, South Carolina, but I want you to know in the world in which we live that I believe in the power of God.

Do you? Well, they themselves lived for Christ. They themselves believed in the power of God. They themselves understood the attacks of Satan.

Well, you get into from verse 17 on and you become aware of the attacks of Satan. Wow. Everybody look at me. That old devil got your number. Here's what Peter said. Peter said that the devil is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

And in America today, we're all sitting at our picnic tables. And Satan is coming dressed as a polar bear. Sometimes he looks so cute and cuddly.

He's painted in all kinds of colors. Everybody else loves him, so why shouldn't we? He comes in the name of compromise. He comes in the name of popularity.

And we all sit there and say, coochie coom teddy bear, come and sit at our table. The Bible says the devil is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. They themselves understood that Satan is real. They understood that Satan is active, but they also understood that by the power of God, Satan is defeated. I speak God's victory upon you, my friend. I defy Satan in your name in the power of God and by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says resist the devil and he will flee from you. Sharing truth in a world without Christ. They themselves live for Christ. They themselves believed in the power of God. They themselves understood the attacks of Satan.

Number four, they themselves stood firm despite the opposition. I love verse 29 and verse 30 of this passage in Acts chapter 5. Peter and the other apostles replied, we must obey God rather than men. I've made a decision, beloved congregation, as a Christian man. I'm going to work tirelessly for the betterment of my fellow man. I want to be more involved in charities. I want to go on more mission trips. I want to serve more in the helping ministry center. I want to become engaged more in the political processes of our country as an individual citizen. I want to do more things.

I want to help out alcoholics and people who are desperate. I want to be engaged more and more. But I have made a profound decision that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I am going to stand firm even in the midst of my world without Christ.

I choose to obey God rather than man. But finally, they themselves kept the main thing, the main thing. I love that because that's been our mode of operation in this church for years and decades. They made a decision to keep the main thing, the main thing. That's that wonderful passage day after day in the temple courts.

And from house to house, they never stopped teaching and preaching the good news concerning Jesus Christ. Wow, wow, wow. Just think about that. Wow.

They themselves, they kept the main thing, the main thing. You can keep me accountable to that. I want us to resolve that we would save to know nothing other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I want us to encourage one another. Let's focus on Jesus. I'm just like Peter because I hear Jesus speak to me and He calls me and I get out of the boat and I have confidence when I get out of the boat and I begin to walk to Him because I know it's Him. And as I walk to Him, I take my eyes off the Lord Jesus and I begin to notice the storm around me.

And I see the fact that we no longer have the same credit rating. And I become concerned about my finances and my retirement accounts and I see what's happening in Washington and my heart breaks because so many of our brave service men and women are losing their lives and I see the collapse of morals and I watch how that pornography is flooding the streets of America like sewers. And I take my mind off and I see all of these things in my world without Christ and when I take my eyes off Jesus, I just begin to sink right in the middle of all of it. I get caught up in my world without Christ. My heart is in bondage and I walk around in a fog and I have a heaviness in my life and I become incapacitated and I don't know what to do and I become critical and I start analyzing and dichotomizing and tearing strips off everything everybody else does and I become distracted and before long I find myself sinking in the very world in which I live and then I look up and I keep the main thing, the main thing and I look back into the strong, beautiful, lovely face of Jesus. The one who came and who loved me so much that he died on a cross just for me and he looked out from the cross and he said, Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing. Jesus told us we don't know what we're doing.

Hello! And I look in his face and I see the spotless Lamb of God and when I keep the main thing, the main thing, I reach out to take his hand and I find out that his hands already reached down to me and he just lifts me up from my world without Christ and he gives me strength and energy and hope and joy and gladness and resolve. He tells me what to say and how to live and where to go and the peace that I can have and I present to you today Jesus. It's been a powerful message from Dr. Don Wilton but the next message, one from his heart, could be the most important 60 seconds of our broadcast today.

Here's Dr. Don. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news. Welcome to the family of God.

Some of you have just, as best you know how, said yes to Jesus Christ and you're beginning afresh or rededicating your life. We have resources for you. Won't you call us at 866-899-WORD.

We want to put these in your hands as soon as possible. That's 866-899-9673. But we're also connecting online at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org where you'll discover great resources like this. As you reflect upon your life this season, think about your friends and family members outside of Christ or those who are drifting away from God. Could this be you? This Christmas, Dr. Wilton wants to encourage you to make a commitment to meet Jesus every day so you can learn more about him and be able to live a life of trust and not fear. With your gift of $30 and support to the encouraging word this month, you will receive the Spirit of God within you. A beautiful 52-week leather-bound devotional written by 52 trusted pastors and leaders, including Dr. Wilton. You will find blessings upon blessings as you read uplifting scripture verses, daily devotions and prayers. Plus, you will receive psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, instrumental music CD by gifted pianist and Louisiana College President, Dr. Rick Brewer. Call us today at 866-899-WORD to request the new devotional and music CD. They will make great Christmas gifts of encouragement, too. Thank you for your continued partnership. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you from all of us here at The Encouraging Word. Our time's gone for today, but we're connecting 24-7 online at TEW online. That's TEWonline.org. And this phone number, 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. The Encouraging Word.