IT WASN’T THAT, BUT IT WAS THIS

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   There are times when events happen on this planet and the outcomes are almost unexplainable.

1.    We ask ourselves:  “How did that happen?”

2.    Example:  An individual escapes from a horrific car accident without a scratch.

 

 

3.    The best answer that we might be able to give is:  “The laws of physics worked perfectly on behalf of the individual.”

 

B.   There are individuals who look into the Bible and try to find out the physical reasons as to why something occurred.  These individuals are called modernists. 

1.    They will try to point out a natural explanation for a miracle.

2.    We might respond with these words:  “It was not that, but it was this.”

3.    And, that brings us to the title of our lesson this morning.  We will be looking at some Bible examples of different types of happenings and explaining “What is wasn’t and what is was.”

 

I.             THE ARK OF NOAH’S DAY

 

A.   In Genesis 6-8, we read about Noah and the worldwide flood.

 

B.   Only Noah and his family were saved from those powerful flood waters that covered the earth.

 

C.   Why?

1.    Some might say:  “Because he was in the ark.”

a.    It is true that Noah was commanded to build an ark (Gen. 6:14-16).

 

Make thee an ark of gopher wood:  rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch.  And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of:  The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, and the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.  A window thou shalt make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

 

b.    Noah and his family did enter into this ark.

1)    God’s invitation (Gen. 7:1).

 

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark:  for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

 

2)    Noah and his family entered the ark (Gen. 7:7).

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

 

2.    In reality, it was not the ark that saved Noah.  What really saved Noah was his obedient faith.

a.    Faith (Heb. 11:7)

 

By faith Noah, being warned of God things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became the heir of righteousness which is by faith.

 

b.    He was given commands by God.  His faith moved him to obey those commands.

1)    Genesis 6:22

 

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

 

2)    Genesis 7:5

 

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

 

c.    An obedient faith caused Noah to build the ark and get in the ark when God invited him into the ark.  That obedient faith caused God to protect and watch over the ark as it faced the 40 days and nights of rain and the lengthy period of time it floated on those waters.

 

II.           THE BLOOD OF A LAMB

 

A.   A lamb is a very simple creature of God. 

 

 

B.   In the land of Egypt, the children of Israel were told to slay a lamb and put its blood of the door posts and lintels of their homes (Exo. 20:22-23)

 

And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin:  and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.  For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

 

C.   Was the power in blood to stop the destroying angel that night?  Some might say:  “Yes.”

 

D.   We would answer:  “It was not the blood, but the obedient faith of the children of Israel” (Heb. 11:28).

 

Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

 

1.    Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).

2.    These individuals heard what God told them to do and did exactly as commanded.  NOTE:  God commanded a lamb to be killed.  But, He could have commanded a bull or goat if He chosen to do so.  Regardless of the animal chosen, obedient faith was essential to their salvation.

 

III.         THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN RIVER

 

A.   The Jordan is a slow moving, muddy river that flows from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the northern tip of the Dead Sea.

 

 

1.    The river has existed for thousands of years.

2.    Individuals have walked and swam in that river for years.

 

B.   On one occasion, a prophet of God told a leper named Naaman to dip seven times in that river to be cured of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:10).

 

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

 

C.   It took some convincing, but eventually Naaman dipped in the Jordan and was healed (2 Kings 5:14).

 

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:  and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

 

D.   Was the power in the Jordan River to heal Naaman? 

1.    No.

2.    We could take lepers there today and dip them into the water, and they would remain lepers.

 

E.   Again, the power was in an obedient faith. 

1.    Naaman heard the words of the prophet and did as the prophet commanded him to do.  Thus, he was healed.

2.    It was not the waters of the Jordan, but it was Naaman’s obedient faith.

 

IV.         SPIT, MUD, AND WATER

 

A.   Spit and dirt are very nasty to most people.  There is no power in such except the possibility of getting sick or getting a disease.

 

             

 

B.   However, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, he used mud made from spit and dirt and combined it with water from a pool in Jerusalem to heal a man of his blindness (John 9:6-7)

 

When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.)  He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

 

C.   Was there any power in the spit, the dirt, the combination of the two or the water in the pool of Siloam that could cure blindness?  No.

 

D.   Once more we find that it wasn’t the mud or water, it was the obedient faith of the blind man that enabled him to see.

 

V.           THE WATERS OF BAPTISM

 

A.   When a person is initially saved, the process ends in his being baptized in water.

1.    When the Ethiopian eunuch was taught the gospel, he was taught the need to be baptized (Acts 8:36).

 

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:  and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized.

 

2.    This man was baptized that day by Philip.  According to Jesus Christ, he was saved (Mark 16:16).

 

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…

 

B.   Is there power in the water to save a person from his/her sins?  Again, the answer is:  “No.”

1.    The power is not in the water.  The power is in an obedient faith on the part of the sinner.

2.    He hears God’s command to be baptized and does as God has commanded due to a deep faith in his heart.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   There is one point that we need to make as we come to the conclusion of this lesson.

1.    Salvation and cleansing both involve a process.

2.    Whatever God authorizes in the process becomes part of the salvation or cleaning.

a.    The ark was necessary in Noah’s salvation.

b.    The Paschal lamb’s blood was necessary in the deliverance of Israel.

c.    The waters of the Jordan were essential in Naaman’s healing.

d.    The mud and the waters of the pool of Siloam were needed in the healing of the blind man.

e.    And, the water is an absolute necessity in one’s being washed from his sins.

 

B.   The power of salvation or cleansing was in those things because God authorized those things to be done.  The real power, however, involves the obedient faith on the part of those to whom God makes known His will.

 

C.   As the hymn declares:  “Trust and obey.  For there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”