Gathered Unto His People

Bro. Don Stayton was called home to glory late Sunday night, December 20. For him, faith has become sight. For us, we grieve, but not like those who have no hope. Like Bro. Don, our hope is in the Lord who is only good, always wise, and completely sovereign. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.
 
Please keep Ms. Donna and all the family in your prayers. The funeral arrangements are as follows:
  • Visitation on Saturday, December 26 from 5-8pm.
  • Funeral service on Sunday, December 27 at 11am.
  • Internment at Cresthaven Cemetery 
All the above will be held in the Bible Baptist Church sanctuary. All who attend are asked to wear a mask, unless they have an actual medical exemption. Following the internment there will be a meal in the Family Life Center for the family only, and will be served by the family.
 
We want to magnify the Lord that Bro. Don faithfully served, while honoring his life and comforting his family. We also want to safeguard the family, out of town guests, and our own community from any increased exposure to COVID-19. That is why we ask for the masks to be worn, and why the meal is restricted to the family, served by the family. Your understanding is appreciated, especially by the Stayton family.


Do You Know Jesus?

Do you know who Jesus is? The only way to truly answer that question is to search for answers in the scriptures. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Jesus is a DIVINE Person

  • “In the beginning” – That’s eternity 
  • “with God” – That’s equality 
  • “was God” – That’s divinity
Jesus is God spelling Himself out in a language we can understand.

Jesus is a HUMAN Person

In John 1:14 we learn that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” and John was an eyewitness to this so he parenthetically adds “(and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
 
God the Son become the God-Man with His birth in Bethlehem. That was so because man has a problem. That problem is sin, and sin pays wages. Sin earns death. Men are spiritually dead by nature, and to physically die in that condition leads to eternal death and eternal punishment for our sin. Only man is able to pay for man’s sins, and only Christ’s death could purchase our pardon. The divine Christ became human in order to free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death (see Hebrews 2:14-18).
 

Jesus is the God-Man

Jesus understands us. He knows and cares. During His brief ministry on this earth He caused the blind to see, the crippled to walk, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak. All of that was to authenticate and demonstrate who He was, and how He alone is able to make you whole. Jesus never ceased being divine, and He will forever be a man. He was not and is not half-and-half. Jesus does not wear His divinity hat sometimes and His humanity hat other times. He is the only and the perfect God-Man.

Ask yourself two questions.

Do I know this Jesus? Does Jesus know me?
 
Jesus addressed a large group of religious people when He said…
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” John 10:27-30
 
Do you know this Jesus? More importantly, does He know you?


The Day Death Died

Fear is powerful. Scripture teaches that the fear of God is the way of knowledge, wisdom, fruitfulness and joy. There is such a thing as healthy fear, but often our fear is unhealthy. You may discern the difference when your fear leads you to sinful practices. Fearing poverty, some put their career before anything and anyone else. Fearing loneliness, many behave against their better judgment thirsting for acceptance. Fearing failure, many will lie, cheat, steal, or worse. This means that the problem isn’t fear but what we do with our fears. 
 
The greatest of all fears is the fear of death. That fears is universal, because death comes to us all. The rich cannot buy their way out of it. The intellectual can’t outsmart it. The physically gifted cannot outrun or outlast it. Death is the great leveler of humanity. No event is so sobering because no event is so final or so mysterious. The prospect of going through the veil by ourselves is enough to overwhelm any of us with fear.
 
Fear is what has humanity by the throat right now. We’re afraid to touch or be touched. We’re afraid of the air we breathe because we’re afraid of COVID-19. Our fear what we don’t understand, and we don’t know much about this new coronavirus other than out fears that it is a death sentence, either for ourselves or our loved ones.

Good news for the fearful!

Here is some good news. Christ Jesus came into this world to free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. John 11 recounts the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and provides a preview of Christ’s own resurrection. That chapter teaches us some comforting truths as we think about our own mortality. That will be our text this Easter morning.
 
One of my favorite passages of all scripture is John 11:25-6, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
 
View this morning’s livestream by following this link or by clicking the “Watch Video” button on our church’s Facebook page. A Facebook account is not required to visit that page.


One Way

Would you drive from Mount Vernon to Louisville by heading to Harlan? Of course not. We all know that to get to the desired destination we have to take the right road. We have to go in the right direction.

The same thing is true of trying to get to heaven, yet many believe that all religions lead to God. The truth is that no religion leads to God!

In the Bible we read that:

  • Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”1
  • Despite the danger from the same religious leaders who had killed Jesus, Peter plainly preached that salvation is only in Jesus: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”2
  • Paul said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all.”3
  • The Apostle John said, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”4
The Bible is God’s Word, and it makes clear that apart from Christ there is absolutely no way to the Father and no eternal life in heaven. Other religions offer systems of thought that cross the gap between men and God, but Jesus is the only One who has bridged that divide. Christ said “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”5 Only those who take the narrow way of Jesus Christ will find eternal life in heaven.
 

Jesus’ Exclusive Claims

 
Jesus claimed:I am the way.” Jesus does not merely show a way to God, He is the only way to God. He spans the otherwise unreachable distance between a righteous God and unrighteous sinners like us.
 
Jesus claimed:I am the truth.” Truth implies an objective standard that does not change like cultural fads or trends. Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”6 Come to Him “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”7
 
Jesus claimed: “I am the life.” Without Jesus we are spiritually dead. But when we repent of our sins and believe on Jesus we are made spiritually alive. Scripture says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”8
 

Christ’s resurrection from the dead was the absolute proof that He was indeed the Son of God, just like He said He was. He is the Light of the world that conquers sin, death, and the grave.

Rising from the dead proved that Jesus had paid the price of our sin. The resurrection proved that God the Father accepted the substitutionary sacrifice of God the Son. More evidence of Jesus’ resurrection is that before He ascended back into heaven He met with over 500 of His followers to leave final instructions and encouragement (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-9).

There is no way to be saved but through Jesus Christ!

 
Religion—including the religion of atheism—cannot save or prepare one for eternity. The only way to be prepared is to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus, the One who gave His life in place of ours: “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”9
 

Jesus is the way that must be taken, the truth that must be believed, and the life in which we must walk. Will you believe in the One who can—and will—bring you to God? Place your faith in Christ alone today. He promises, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”10

Bible references: 1John 14:6, 2Acts 4:12, 31Timothy 2:5-6, 41John 5:12, 5Matthew 7:13-14, 6Hebrews 13:8, 7John 8:32, 8John 3:18, 91 Peter 3:18, 10John 6:37

Bible Baptist Church exists to see unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ. If you have any questions about what you have read, or if there is any way in which we can minister to you, please contact us.