Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Oct. 26, 2014 Sunday Sermonette

Sorry there was not a post for Oct. 26. I was out sick! My apologies!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Sunday Sermonette

October 19, 2014
It Is Christ
“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34)
 
In our text, Paul asks if there is anyone who can issue a guilty sentence against believers. In light of all Christ has done and the fact that the Father “hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22), only Christ has the authority to condemn. Will Christ condemn those for whom He died? Obviously not, and Paul gives four reasons why the very suggestion is absurd.
 
First: “It is Christ that died.” He is the very one who left heaven to die as a substitute for us. True, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), but “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Certainly, the one who bore condemnation for us will not turn and condemn us.
 
Second: He “is risen again.” He did not stay in the grave but rose victorious, proving that God the Father had accepted His sacrifice. Certainly “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) who desires “that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29) will not turn and thwart His own work and plan.
 
Third: He is even now “at the right hand of God,” where He is, among other things, preparing a place for us (John 14:2-3). He intends for us to join Him and will not condemn us. One would think He had done enough for us, but no.
 
Fourth: He “also maketh intercession for us.” As long as we, His “brethren,” still live, He is interceding to God on our behalf. He asks the Father for our acceptance, not for our condemnation.
 
If the only one with authority to condemn will not condemn, then we have the assurance that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). JDM-ICR

h/t: J D MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Sunday Sermonette

October 12, 2014
The Wisdom of God
“And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” (1 Kings 3:28)
 
Although God’s wisdom is expounded in depth in the Scriptures, there are only seven times that the specific phrase “the wisdom of God” is used as such. The above text is indicating that God’s wisdom can actually be manifested in men through divine inspiration. The Persian king recognized this also in Ezra. “And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges . . . all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not” (Ezra 7:25). The wisdom of God thus is always consistent with the laws of God—that is, with the Scriptures.
 
The first New Testament reference is from Christ. “Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles” (Luke 11:49). Here the Lord is applying a scriptural principle from 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, in effect calling the Scriptures themselves “the wisdom of God.”
 
Then Paul three times uses the same phrase: “In the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God.” Human wisdom can never, by itself, discover God, but this very fact is bound up in the divine wisdom, revealed only through the Word of God. “We preach . . . Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” That is, through both the written word and the living Word, we can proclaim true wisdom. “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery . . . which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23-24; 2:7).
 
Finally, with God’s wisdom manifested through chosen men of God, we also can preach true wisdom in Christ, “to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10). HMM


h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sunday Sermonette

October 5, 2014
First Things First
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
 
There are innumerable things to do and things to buy and things to read. How does one choose between them? An important guideline is the use of the word “first” in the New Testament. For example, consider the following priority items.
 
Priority in awareness: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers . . . saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for . . . all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4). The primary intellectual heresy of these latter times is the anti-God philosophy of naturalistic evolutionism, as succinctly outlined in this passage.
 
Priority in behavior: “Cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26). The thoughts of our hearts will inevitably control the words on our lips and the works of our hands.
 
Priority in giving: “[They] first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5). One’s possessions, talents, time, and all other resources belong to the Lord, but such gifts are acceptable to God only when offered by one whose heart first has been given fully to Him.
 
Priority in witness: “For I delivered unto you first of all . . . how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
 
Priority in concern: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).
 
Finally, as the Lord Jesus Himself has commanded, our first priority in every decision should be to do that which honors the kingdom of Christ and His righteousness. HMM

h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH