Sermon theme: NO EXCUSE, by REVEREND OBED DANQUAH

SCRIPTURE: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin”. ( John 15:22).

Introduction:

Beloved in Christ Jesus. It is easy to point finger at the Jews who crucified Jesus Christ and feel we are exempted from such crucifixion. We may hold firm, the doctrine of the Word of God and yet be of a rejection of Jesus Christ.

When we face little changes in life, we go murmuring against Jesus forgetting how much He laid His life to save us from the hands of Satan.

And to some, scripture has become a tool for creating wealth forgetting that by fabricating and sugar-coating the word of God that in itself becomes a complete rejection of Jesus and an aggravated sin.

The sin that the Jews committed once has in these days being committed every day with little or no fear of His second coming. Beloved, Christ has spoken, and therefore, we cannot pretend not to have heard Him. Amen.

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The main body of the Sermon : 

Beloved in Christ Jesus, it is a common knowledge that the Jews rejection of Jesus Christ was the most peculiar sin above all other sins committed against God.

Indeed, the coming of Jesus Christ was not enigma or a mystery because God used a handful of Prophets; big and small to speak and write about it.

In Isaiah 7: 14, we read, ” therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel”. Beloved, this prophecy, and vis-a-vis its context is an indication of a child already moldered by God and due to be born within a nine months period, and has already been given a name through the prophecy. And as the name goes, it provided the very presence of God Himslef, among the Jews; Immanuel- ” God is with us”. Amen.

Beloved, another interesting revelation by God through Isaiah is in 9:6 and it states, ” for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace”. Undoubtedly, the coming of Jesus, from human descendants of King David was meant to proclaim King of the universe and lead God’s people to a new level of freedom and prosperity, which is salvation and eternal life

Nothwithstanding the prophecies from well-known or big Prophets and or say, smaller prophets such as Micah, whose name expresses as, ” Who is a God like You”, and whose writings spoke powerfully about the character of our incomparable God of heaven and earth, noting in the book of Micah 5:2 that reads, ” But you, Bethleham Ephrathat, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting”. Amen.

Beloved, despite all these prophecies, the Jews took no notice and yet went ahead to reject Jesus Christ. However, few people such as Simeon and Anna that waited for Him no sooner beheld Him even in His infant state and rejoiced with Him. Simeon whose name became known as; God- the Receiver, met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and took Jesus in his arms as they entered the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirement of the law of Moses on the 40th day, to present Jesus to the Temple ( Luke 2:25-35). In the same Scripture, Luke narrated that Anna was the second person apart from the parents of Jesus to have seen and accepted Jesus.

Beloved, have you wondered why Jesus Christ was not accepted by the Jews? Does the idea of personality or ostentatious lifestyle that depicts kingship, Prince or big man or perhaps Oga as our Nigerian brothers and sisters refer a person in a powerful position come to mind?

Well, I guess because Jesus Christ did not come arrayed in pomp and clothed with outward power or outward ganishing of prince and the honour of king like some chiefs or pastors in recent times portray was some reasons why they did not regard Him and consequently rejected Him.

But we know also that Jesus Christ was a root out of a dry ground, and he was from the womb of an ordinary woman, Mary whose earthly or physical father, Joesph was a carpenter. These and perhaps some unknown reasons or facts to the Jews were what caused them to reject Jesus.

But despite the Jewish denial of Jesus, as a Messiah, they were in yet very bitter against Him, thus hunting his life or should I say, stalking Him wherever He went to seek for His life and blood.

Eventually, the fiendish malice of the Jews was gutted and they sat down at the foot of the cross, and watched the dying threos and the expiring agonies of their crucified Messiah. Oh, what a callous traits did these Jews had? Oh, what a coward move was that? But thank God for turning the wicked act into a saving grace. Amen.

Beloved, the Jews to some extent, knew Jesus Christ very well but was it after all from the bottom of their heart? Because those who crucified Him, wrote on the cross ” Jesus of Nazareth, the King of Jews”, and yet, in their heart, they knew Him not!

The acronym of the writings were INRI and it reads in Latin as IESVS NAZARENEVS REX IVDEÀORVM, ( lesus Nazarenus, Rex Ludaeorum). The English language translates this in John 19: 19 as, Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. And in John 19:20, it shows that the inscription was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek so that many of those present could read and understand.

Beloved, let me ask you this question, many of you who are listening to this sermon or are reading it are probably behaving same as the Jews. And the worse of all, whereas the Jews crucified Jesus once, we as so-called professed Christians are crucifying Him every day.

And this is the way you crucified Jesus; you read the bible eveeyday, you go to church many times, you call yourself, Pastor, Apostle, Bishop, Archbishop or Pope and yet you crucify Him daily. Yes, you do so by neglecting His claim despite the fact that you hold the right doctrine concerning Him, yet you give Him, no honour. You also do not accept Him as worthy of your trust.

In fact, you probably trust and fear the Devil even more than Jesus. For instance, when you are told the Devil is the one that has caused you sick or caused your marriage to break or caused you financial stress or have made you lost your position at work or lost business entirely, the Devil then becomes the talking drum. And when such happens, I bet you do all you can to mention the name of Devil as many times as you possibly can and may go wherever to do whatever all in the name of asking the Devil to leave you alone.

But little effort you may put in to honour Jesus when you are saved in any situation. Beloved, who then is your redeemer?

And are you really and truly looking for the second coming of Jesus? If so, what preparations are you making now in your life to receive Him? You mention the blood of Jesus many times to save you! How well do you understand the blood of Jesus? Some of you will use the saving and holy blood of Jesus to curse your neighbour simply because that person has hurt you and caused you a grieve of some sort? Hello, have you measured the number of times you have grieved Jesus and yet you continue to enjoy His grace?

And when you curse your neighbour with the holy blood of Jesus, do you know the repercussion that may come on you? I pray you desist from that habit today.

And for those who put away the gospel of Jesus Christ all in the name of the current Christological abuse by some ministers of God and the abuse of the whole christiandom, vis a-vis the advantage some ministers of God take on their congregation and so forth, rejecting Jesus will not be the answer to the abuse of the church and its doctrine.

Because, God Himself spoke to a handful of prophets who wrote in the Old testament and as well, Jesus Christ also forewarned us in the New testament about the happenings of such malice.

In Ezekiel 13: 9 we learn this ” My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divination. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign LORD”. If this is what the Lore has said, why must you wish to take the punishment of false prophets to yourself. Let them face their own brunt and just follow Jesus the way He has purposed for you.

Jesus also said in Mathew 24:24-25, that, ” For false Christs and false Prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even to elect. See, I have told you beforehand”. This is a prophecy from Propeht of all times. And we are all witnesses to this false preaching and prophecies, kingsland magical wonders in our current Christian experiences; the horrow of Christian manipulations the Devil is using to havoc. But in spite of all this, it should not take your love and faith away from Jesus.

Clearly, these false prophets are crucifying Jesus and you, as a believer of God, who as a result of these false prophecy and tanishing of the image of Jesus using that as a basis not to follow Jesus or accept His Word, becomes a culprit in your denial and makes you t cause an aggravated sin and indeed a becomes part of the team of crucifixion of the One who came to save you from the hands of Satan.

So, as a believer of God, if you reject Jesus Christ like the way the Jews did, you have invited another sin to your already challenging behaviour before the Lord and that is unwise. In fact, the opportunity cost of having to reject and neglect the Word of God is the aggravated sin you have caused to yourself. And I am afraid you cannot pretend by saying you are unaware or you are ignorant of it. Note, ignorant is not an excuse before the law and cannot be an excuse before Christ either; for He knows what is on your heart.

If for nothing at all, you have today learnt the following, ” if I had not come and spoke to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin”. Is that clear? Beloved, from today, you have no excuse to reject or despise Jesus by not having faith in Him and following Him.

Consequently, do not reject the Word of God, be an obedient and a true follower of Jesus Christ. Do it with all your heart, soul and Spirit. Do not use the language of hypocrite and don’t be a hypocrite either.

And to you, the ministers of Christ Jesus to whom you are called to follow His examples and obey His commandments in truthfulness, do not take your calling and work for granted. Speak the truth about the Gospel. Do not sugar-coat it. Do not use or seek materiality to replace the truth about His Word. Because whatever material things you make from using the Gospel of Jesus dubiously, you shall someday soon, leave them behind and account for every work and or every advantage you have taken over the Gospel of Jesus before Him.

Minister of God (i.e Osofo; in Ghanaian Akan language) stop preaching untruthfully to amass wealth because very soon, you shall be found wanting and shall lose all that and may end up becoming a miserable person. Yes, I am speaking to you who is misrepresenting the Word of Jesus Christ. Preach truthfully and don’t allow money making with God’s Word as your calling. Preach the truth about Jesus and let that be the basis of your calling. Amen.

And for those who are living in righteousness, keep the good work but becareful you do not allow yourself for the Devil to make you drift back to where you started.

Beloved, Jesus has spoken, and I have delivered His message amid His warnings. And in case you did not hear Him well, he said, ” if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now, they have no excuse for their sin”. Yes, we all have no excuse to reject Jesus.

Beloved, you have no excuse to postpone when to follow Jesus. You have no excuse to utter lies about the word of God. You have no excuse for murmuring against Jesus about the situation you find yourself today; for better or for worse, no, you have no excuse. And in fact, you have no excuse to say, you do not know why you cannot commit all your life unto Jesus. You have no excuse. Get to read your bible very well from today, learn how to research meanings and pray for revelations to gain better insights. Make some serious efforts and stop grumbling. Stop finding unreasonable excuses because Jesus will not accept them. I am afraid you have no cloke to your sins now.

Beloved, Jesus has spoken and therefore you must listen. Be mindful, be wise, follow Jesus, and soon, you shall be set free again from the hands of the earthly manipulator. I am talking to you, Mr. or Ms. Minister of God ( Papa Osofo anaa Maame Osofo). I am talking to you; one who is still worldly galavanting and despising Jesus. I am talking to you, who feels that money or worthy things can give one an everlasting life. I am talking to you, one who feels as though power is everything. No! He Who creates all these things has the ultimate power to take your life and take everything away within a twinkle of an eye. Yes, His name is Jesus, One who died for you and He is the One Who is soon to come, the Son of God.

Conclusion:

Sometimes we feel when you proclaim Jesus publicly by going to church regularly and walk gingerly as though we are the most righteous persons on earth, we have honoured Him. No. Jesus, the all-knowing and omnipresent Son of God, can identify and indeed knows the heart of each and every one. So when you reject him inwardly, by not following His Word and outwardly pretend to be righteous, you are only aggravating your sins.

Beloved, if you did not know all these, you have learned them today. So, stop making mockery of Jesus and follow Him to gain His continued love and grace.

And as a Minister of God, don’t count on the number of members you have, just to make you feel you have attained the heights of God’s mark. No! you may have over a million members but perhaps not even one person’s soul has truthfully been won to the Kingdom of God because all you preach to them is superstitions, materiality, fear and social and economic isue but fail to share the true doctrine about Jesus Christ and His second coming and why we must hold fast, the truth about His Word.

Benediction :

Saviour, O’ Saviour, we have heard you speak to us this morning. And we have come to accept that indeed we have no excuse. We cannot continue to reject or despise you. We hold firm, your doctrine and trust in you, O’ Jesus. Because we accept and appreciate that you died and rose on the third day, all in the name of salvation and peace for us, forever. Amen.

Indeed, our own wisdom and knowledge is insufficient and therefore, we cannot use our so-called intelligence to evaluate Who you are than by faith, humbly accept you and follow you. So help us to be faithful and obedient to your Word.

Thank you for making it clear to us that by rejecting you, we aggravate our sins here on earth and in heaven.

Thank you, Jesus, for accepting our humble plea, and again, forgive us with all our inequities. We are by this prayer, honour you with our all hearts, soul and spirits. Amen.

by REVEREND OBED DANQUAH

DATE: SUNDAY, 23RD JUNE, 2019.

LOCATION: AT THE HOLY TEMPLE OF ENRICHING LIVES MINISTRIES, ELMINA, CENTRAL REGION OF GHANA.