"Anchor Points" Part 2 - The Apostolic Connection (Dr. David K. Bernard)
by David K. Bernard

Kind: sermon
Scripture: Genesis 1, Colossians 2:9, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 2:40, Hebrews 12:14

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-bernard--anchor-points-part-2-the-apostolic-connection-dr-david-k-bernard
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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the first anchor point in our lives is the existence of god there is a god who's real who loves me who cares for me who has a plan for my life and truth is based on the word of god in our day people challenge the very existence of god and if they believe he exists they challenge the very existence of truth that truth is relative it's up to whatever you want to do that even such basic things as marriage as being male as being female can be redefined according to your personal preference that's the culture that we live in that nothing is absolute go back to genesis 1 that says god created male and female and they say no that's wrong that's subject to change that's in your personal opinion that can be changed whatever you want it to mean how much more basic can you get than that sooner or later they'll be saying well the sun doesn't shine anymore that's just your opinion that the sun is shining i don't think it's shining therefore it's not and so we start with god now i will say this believing in god is definitely a matter of faith you can't prove the existence of god with a mathematical formula or scientific experiment but not believing in god is also equally a matter of faith i actually think believing in god is the more reasonable faith it makes more sense because if you look at the universe around us we could debate over evolution and creation all that but but go back beyond that how did this all begin if we all evolved where did all the dirt come from where did all the you know whatever evolved into where did that come from and so you're ending up with one of three explanations you have to say well the universe has always been here an eternal universe you can't prove that that's just a faith statement we haven't been here for eternity we can't even comprehend what eternity means so to say our universe is eternal and that's a faith statement actually scientists believe it all start with a big bang so they don't they don't think it's eternal but they don't know what came before the big bang they have no way of knowing and then the second thing you can say is the universe created itself so there was nothing absolutely nothing and suddenly boom this little miniscule spark banged now i've read all kind of theories well there was some kind of force feel and they they used quantum physics and all that but i said wait a minute where did that come from you can't use that as an explanation of the big bang because then where'd the force feel come from where'd the fluctuations in the quantum field come from i'm saying there was absolutely nothing nothing nothing and then suddenly something the universe created itself or you could say god create the universe they're all matters of faith you either have to believe an eternal god or an eternal universe you have to believe in a god who could create the universe or you have to believe in a universe who could create itself when it didn't exist it just seems to make a whole lot of sense to believe that god did it especially that when we call on god and seek after him we can feel his presence and he reveals himself to us in a personal way so that's where we start the first anchor point is there is a god the second point is the word of god god created us human beings to have fellowship with him he created us with the ability to communicate to the ability to love as such we are creating his image why would god bother to create us in this way or create us at all unless he wanted to have fellowship with us unless he wanted to communicate with us all humans seek to communicate all humans seek relationship we can't survive without relationship little babies in orphanages that are not touched they they fail to thrive and they die physically from lack of human interaction because it's an essential part of human identity to talk to communicate to love to relate in some way that's because we're created to do that and so the god who created us must want to communicate with us he must have a purpose therefore we should seek out in this world the word of god now when you study all the world's religions and philosophies most of the world religions don't even claim to be the word of god they are man's search for god and they're the most philosophies speak and most religions of the world speak about how you can find god but what's unique about the bible it's god seeking after us as i said most of the world religious books don't even claim to be this is the word of god a few do but when you investigate the claims they they seem to be so contradictory but the bible speaks with unique authority when you read it it grips your heart i had a debate with a muslim some years ago and of course they believe the koran is the word of god they're one of the few other religions that believe they have the actual word of god so we just debated over the bible verse versus the quran and i explained how the bible has noble teaching how it's written by apostles and prophets how it has prophecy in accord with science and literary excellence i went through all that and well he said all the same thing for the koran until we got to the very last point and this is what i said when you read the bible there are promises in that book there are experiences that happened 2000 years ago and if you believe that book and you pray and ask god you can have the same experience today you can have miracles you can be filled with the holy ghost and speak in tongues you can be delivered from drugs your life can be restored you can be physically healed and emotionally healed your marriage can be restored if you believe the promises and the statements in this book it comes alive he had no explanation he did not try to say if you read the quran you can receive the holy ghost you can receive miracles you can be healed you can be delivered because there's something different about the bible it's unique as the word of god i was talking to a man one time he came to my office i had baptized him and he was all concerned about evolution how can we reconcile science in the bible and i said well i gave him a few points i said i'd give you some books to read how that god created the world but let me tell you something more basic than this we're talking about science but what about human life think about this of all the books of the world all the religions of the world only the bible says the basic problem with you and with me is we're sinners and the only solution is a savior none of the other books of psychology and religion will tell you you are a sinner but now think about that is the bible right have you and i sin is there any person who has never sinned even if they didn't have the word of god is there is there anybody who's never sinned according to their own conscience who's never done anything wrong according to what even they thought was wrong there's no one who's never sinned the bible says all have sinned as one writer english author chesterson said the doctrine of the sinfulness of humans is the only doctrine in the bible that can be empirically proven in other words you can prove it by experimenting you can do a survey and prove the bible is true on that one point if nothing else because if people are honest they will admit they've sinned so this is an obvious truth the whole human race is sin that's our problem but nobody will tell you that the only book that's brave enough to tell you the truth is the bible if the bible can tell you the truth in the most important areas of your life then we can trust it in areas that we don't know about such as creation such as heaven such as judgment we don't know about those things except what the bible says but we know the bible is telling us the truth about our own lives what i'm saying is we must trust the word of god the third anchor point is jesus christ jesus christ as god manifests in the flesh now for sake of time i'm not giving you a lot of scripture but i'm just giving you some anchor points that you can study and think about but you must believe in god that's necessary but that's not sufficient it's great that you believe in one god but even the demons believe in one god there's more than that you must believe that god specifically has been revealed in flesh as the lord jesus christ the son of god to redeem you from your sins and you must trust in him you must specifically believe in jesus christ as the revelation of the one true god our creator has become our savior that's the beautiful message of the apostolic pentecostal church there are many people that believe in god there are many people believe jesus is the son of god but we've got to make a connection jesus was a true human being but he was more than just a man he was also the revelation of god and he wasn't just one portion of god or a part of god or an agent of god or just an extension of god in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily colossians 2 9 when it says bodily that means a real human being you see in order to be our savior jesus had to take our place he had to be human just like us and he was in every way except for sin which after all sin is a later development it's a foreign element intruding to the human race it was never intended to be part of human identity so jesus comes with the original human identity that god intended when he created adam and eve he was a real human only as a human could he take our place pay the price for our sins only as a human could he shed his blood and die so to be the savior he had to be a real human being that's why you see him praying that's why you see him talking to god because he had to do everything that we could do he had to be in the same position that we were in that's why he grew hungry and thirsty and weary god doesn't do that but as a man he subjected himself to these things but the bible also says he was the godhead bodily colossians 2 9 godhead that is everything that makes god who he is the sum total of god's nature and characteristics if you think carefully about that god is perfect god is complete god is absolute so when you say the godhead bodily it cannot mean only a part of god because if you could divide god up he's not god if you could take part of god away from him he's not perfect if you have to add something to god he's not perfect so when it says the god it that means simply his totality he can't be anything other than he is so just those two words godhead bodily tells you all you need to know about jesus he is the one true god of the old testament and all of his identity manifested in a human being but if you're not quite sure what i'm saying is right keep looking at that verse it says the fullness of the godhead if you think the godhead could be less than complete if you think god could somehow come in less than who he really is will perish the thought because it says the fullness of the godhead now fullness if the glass is full you can't put anything more in it but just to make the point clear the apostle paul inspired by the holy ghost said all the fullness really logically that word all is not necessary the word fullness says it all you only need that one word god hit but just like a hammer a carpenter with a hammer trying to clench the nail he says in jesus dwelt oh boom the fullness boom just one more time of the godhead just so you'll get the point jesus is the almighty god manifested in the flesh he is the revelation of the one true god he's the jehovah the great i am he's the king of kings and lord of lords hallelujah he is the light of our salvation he's the bread of life he's the living water he's the first and the last and everything in between praise god praise god that's an anchor point fourth anchor point is the new birth experience peter preached on the day of pentecost the simple gospel which the simple gospel is jesus died for our sins he was buried and he rose again to turn death into life defeat into victory all three points are essential if he didn't die then he didn't pay the price for our sins if he wasn't buried his death wasn't a reality if he wasn't resurrected he was defeated but by his resurrection he won the victory if you study it out in acts chapter 2 the the birthday of the church now we have lots of scriptures besides acts 2 but don't ignore acts 2 after all it is the birthday of the christian church it is the first time the holy spirit was poured out it is the only place in the bible where you have all 12 apostles at the same place at the same time preaching the same message of how to be saved that's pretty significant and the people cried out what shall we do they weren't asking how to get an extra blessing how to get power to serve god more effectively no he peter had just preached you've crucified the messiah you've murdered the lord and so they're asking how can we be forgiven of our sin a murder how can we now accept jesus as our savior we rejected him how can we now acknowledge him and confess him according to some people's theology peter just should have said oh well good news is you don't have to do anything i can see that while i was preaching you changed your mind about jesus before i started you rejected him while i was preaching you've accepted him and so the good news is once you accept jesus in your mind you're automatically saved you've already received the holy spirit now you didn't feel anything but you know uh you didn't see you didn't receive the holy ghost as you just saw us but you know that's just for a special few don't expect that you'll feel anything don't expect that you'll speak in tongues our experience is rather unique uh don't expect that you can have the same thing so uh the good news is don't do anything just go home you're already saved even though you didn't know it you're already filled with the holy spirit even though you didn't know it but now what i've told you just accept it and go home and of course we want you to come back we'd like for you to pay tithes but really once saved always saved so if you never come back that's okay too that's some people's theology but that's not what peter said he said okay now that you believe what i'm telling you you've got to act on your belief you can't just sit there and think it you've got to act upon it you know it's as if i would shout out the building is on fire the building is on fire if you sat there and say well brother bernard thank you for that information i appreciate that that's a good thing to know if that's all you did do you really believe me no when it comes to saving your life believing is not shown by what you think or what you say it's by what you do amen if you really believe my word i say the building is on fire run out save yourself if you really believe that what are you going to do you're going to act you're going to run out and you're going to save your life now in recapping that little story we could you could say well brother bernard saved us or we could say the word of brother bernard saved us or we could say because i believed in his word i was saved or you could say because i listened to his word obeyed his word i will save all that's true but notice it's analogy with the word of god we're saved by faith in god's word we're saved by faith in jesus christ not by our ability not by our goodness but when we have that kind of saving faith we respond to god now baptism in jesus name the baptism of the holy ghost those are not human works those are god's work in us when you're baptized the preacher is not saving you the water is not saving you your own action is not saving you if it were you could just go jump in the lake and you're saving yourself but what you're doing at baptism you're showing up and saying okay god i really believe what you said your word says if i would repent and be baptized i would have remission of sin so i really thought that was right so here i am showing up but of course if god doesn't do anything nothing happens which is why when we're baptized we always call the name of jesus because we're saying okay here i am jesus i showed up i believe i'm waiting for you if you don't save me i'm going to be lost so i pray in the name of jesus and the lord shows up and he's the one who washes away our sins he's the one who does the work we just show up in faith believing but you got to show up you got to act you got to respond and so peter said in essence now that you believe you need to act on your belief and the first thing is repent of your sins and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call this is still the message for the world today praise god that's an anchor point i was doing a radio interview one time in the the there's a christian station and so the man said well you know everybody has their own relationship with god so how can you say that anyone has to follow a certain specific way of doing things as you pentecostals say everybody's got to do this and this but doesn't everybody have their own relationship with god by faith however god accepts them is fun i said well i do believe everybody has to have their own relationship with god and we don't stand in judgment upon that it's between the individual god however since you asked the question this is the end of the program it came at a very good time i said notice what the scripture says repent and be baptized every one of you that's for everybody and you shall receive the gift of the holiest of the promises unto you your children all that are father even as many as the lord our god shall call now god's call goes out to the whole world so if if if you are able to receive god's call if you are experiencing the toe in your heart that means god wants you to receive the holy ghost so yes everybody has their own relationship but according to acts 2 38-39 everyone should go through repentance water baptism in jesus name and the baptism of the holy ghost that is the foundation that's the minimum that's for everybody that's an anchor point if you keep reading peter said with many other words luke recorded he said to them save yourself from this untoward generation which means this perverse or wicked generation that in a nutshell is the life of holiness he says now that you're saved you've got to keep yourself saved you've got to stay pure you can't go the direction of the world you've got to go a new direction that's another anchor point that i'll just mention and that number five is the life of holiness we must pursue a holy life being born again is essential jesus said unless you're born again you can't even see the kingdom of god but the life of holiness is essential because hebrews 12 14 says without holiness no one will see the lord again it's not our works but it's submitting to god's work it's just like if i'm going to go to nashville i've got to get on the highway but just getting on the highway doesn't get me there i must go on the entrance i must get on the on-ramp i must get on the highway but i must travel along that same highway until i reach my destination so the new birth is the entrance but if you're going to get from here to heaven you've got to travel the highway of holiness that's the only way to get there follow the signs follow the leading of the holy ghost let god take you there praise god that's an anchor point well i'll give you two more and i'll quit number six is life in the spirit it's not holiness is not our works it's god's work in us i'm no better you're no better than anybody else in the world it's not we don't live you know because okay we dress tomorrow so we don't drink we don't say well muslims do that salvation is not equated to that it's got to be the work of the spirit that leads you to do these things and we need to be sensitive to the holy spirit that's why we need to pray that's why i need to come to church and worship that's why we need to have a being led on a daily basis that's how we can live for god is by the spirit the whole pentecostal movement is based on life in the spirit that's the sixth anchor point you can read the rest of acts 2 and see how the church prayed they worshiped they met together they had fellowship they had miracle signs and wonders it was life in the spirit it's a whole life a new way of life and then the final anchor point which is what i started with in hebrews and that is the coming of the lord you see when we don't really believe in the coming of the lord or when we believe it theoretically but not practically we just think about this life how can i get more money how can i get a better position how can i be successful and it's not wrong to have money and be successful all that but if that's our exclusive focus then our life is not going to be pleasing to god but if we don't think there's a judgment we don't think the lord is coming or it's not important to us then we our priorities are in this world how can i look better and that's what tempts us will well how can i improve my appearance and how can i improve my status and how can i improve my life and as i said it's not wrong to desire food and shelter and so forth but that should not be our main focus if we remember even if god gives us 70 80 however many years that's just a short time span in eternity my main focus is not these few years my main focus is eternal life that changes the decisions you make today some decisions about how am i going to spend my money what kind of clothes i'm going to wear all that kind of stuff that becomes insignificant when you think of eternity so what if we walked outside today and you're looking at the clouds and that's beautiful clouds and that's that's neat and then suddenly there's a ray of light suddenly expands and suddenly a bright light brighter than the sun starts coming we say wait a minute that's not just a cloud that's not just the sun that's the coming of the lord or what if you come out tonight you look in the sky look at the stars how pretty they are where's constellation where's sabinas where's and then you see a bright star and suddenly gets brighter and brighter and brighter and you begin to realize wait a minute that could be the coming of the lord i think it would change our priorities every once in a while if we walk outside and just look and say what would it be like if right now while i'm watching the lord comes that will change your priorities that will make you more intent about winning souls that will make you more purposeful in the choices of your daily life to walk in holiness or not walk in holiness that will make you more intent upon seeking god in prayer and having fellowship in fact just thinking about that you'll begin to feel the presence of god it'll change your day what if we could live daily in awareness of the coming of the lord the anchor points are not just behind us we have to have we need to look back in our experiences of anchor points of when we first came to god but we need to look forward to a place we've never been there's an anchor point that's tying us to a place we've never been the coming of the lord