Resurrection Day Sermonette

March 31, 2013 He Gave Himself "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." (Galatians 1:4) There can never be a greater gift than this. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only has given us forgiveness and salvation and all spiritual blessings, He gave Himself! The pure, glorious Son of God gave Himself, substituting Himself in our place to suffer the righteous judgment of God on our sins. Six times this wonderful affirmation is found in God’s Word. The first is in our text, assuring us that, when He gave Himself, He paid the price to deliver us from this present evil world into the eternal world to come. Then, in the next occurrence, this promise is made intensely personal. Christ "loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). The gift Christ gave is more than the world could ever give. The supremely sacrificial nature of His gift is then emphasized. "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2). The sacrifice has brought us to Himself, for "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. . . . That he might present it to himself a glorious church" (Ephesians 5:25, 27). The offering was sufficient to pay for the redemption of all sin, as He "gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:6). This ransom is not merely to redeem us from the penalty of sin at the judgment, however, but also from the power of sin in our lives, and this is the testimony of the final occurrence of this great declaration. Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

March 24, 2013 Magnified Mercy "Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die." (Genesis 19:19) This rather presumptuous plea of Lot to the angels who had spared his life when they called down fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah is noteworthy because it contains the first reference in the Bible to the mercy of God. Lot was a believer and a righteous man, but carnal in attitude and greedy in motivation. Yet God not only showed grace in His dealings with Lot, but even magnified mercy! As appropriate for the principle of first mention in Scripture, this first reference to "mercy" lays the foundation for the dominant theme of the doctrine of mercy throughout Scripture. The key is that God’s mercy can only be described properly in superlatives, and this fact is noted repeatedly throughout Scripture. "The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him," said David (Psalm 103:17). "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him" (Psalm 103:11). His mercy, therefore, is both eternal and infinite. Nothing could ever be more "magnified" than this! No wonder, therefore, that Paul says He is "rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" (Ephesians 2:4), and Peter tells us that "his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope" (1 Peter 1:3). It is only "according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5), surely "not |because of any| works of righteousness which we have done." Therefore, with David, we can say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Psalm 23:6). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

March 17, 2013 The Quick and the Dead "And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead." (Acts 10:42) This is the climax of the first Christian sermon to the Gentiles delivered by Peter in the house of the Roman centurion, Cornelius. Peter emphasized the truth that Jesus was not just the promised Messiah of Israel, but that "he is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36), and that it is He alone who will judge the "quick and dead." This striking phrase occurs only three times in the Bible, each time denoting that Christ is Judge of all men. Paul wrote to Timothy as follows: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:1-2). Peter wrote concerning the gross Gentile sins from which his readers had been delivered: "|They| shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). The term "quick" is the same as "living." When Christ returns, "the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16), and then all believers, including those still alive in the flesh at His coming, "must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10). This will be the judgment of the "quick." All the saved are alive in Christ at "the resurrection of life." But He must also judge the dead--that is, those who are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1) at "the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29), "For the Father . . . hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22). "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God . . . and they were judged every man according to their works. . . . This is the second death" (Revelation 20:12-14). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

March 10, 2013 The Sin of Complaining "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:15) Christians who complain about their circumstances would do well to ponder this sobering verse and its background. God had greatly blessed His people, Israel, delivering them supernaturally from slavery in Egypt, protecting them against their enemies--even miraculously supplying daily bread and water for them in the desert. Still they complained--about their food, about the imaginary luxuries they had left behind in Egypt, and against their leaders. "And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled" (Numbers 11:1). Finally, when they complained about the manna, "the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly." He sent them quail to eat in such abundance as to last "even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you." Then, "while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed . . . the LORD smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:10, 20, 33). God has blessed every Christian with forgiveness of sin and eternal life. He daily fulfills His promise to supply every need (not every desire, however), and we should live a thankful life in return, regardless of our particular lot in this world. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). "Do all things without murmurings and disputings" (Philippians 2:14). Complaining about what we don't have may well result in God taking away what we do have—and still worse—sending leanness into our souls. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

March 3, 2013 Without Form and Void "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light." (Jeremiah 4:23) The language in this verse is clearly patterned after Genesis 1:2, the description of the primordial earth: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." That it is a metaphor, however, and not an actual reference to that primordial earth is evident from its context. The previous verse speaks of "my people" (that is, the people of Judah) and the following verse of "the mountains" (there were no mountains as yet at the time of Genesis 1:2). Furthermore, the broader context makes it plain that the prophet is speaking of a coming judgment on the land of Judah because of the rebellion of its people against their God (verse 16 specifically mentions Judah, and verse 31 mentions Zion). The land is to be so devastated that the prophet compared its future appearance to the unformed and barren earth at its very beginning. This ultimate fulfillment will be at Armageddon. The same Hebrew words (tohu for "without form," and bohu for "void") occur again in this context in an awesome scene of judgment described by Isaiah: "For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations" (34:2), gathered together in the former land of Edom to fight against Jerusalem when Christ returns, "and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion |i.e., tohu|, and the stones of emptiness |i.e., bohu|" (34:11). Instead of the regular surveyor’s line and markers ordering the property boundaries, God’s judgment will bring such disorder and barrenness to the land that it almost will seem to revert back to its primeval state at the beginning of time. "Nevertheless we, . . . look for new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:13), and that earth will be beautiful and bountiful with "no night there" (Revelation 22:5). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH