Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday Sermonette

January 25, 2015
The Indwelling Christ
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
 
The fact that Jesus Christ is actually in each believer is both a great mystery and rich in glory. In fact, it is our very hope and assurance of glory in the age to come.
 
How Christ may be both seated at “the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3) and yet living in us is surely a mystery, yet it is fully true. He Himself told His disciples: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. . . . Abide in me, and I in you. . . . He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 14:23; 15:4-5).
 
The apostle Paul also confirmed this great truth: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). One of his prayers for the Ephesians was “that Christ [might] dwell in [their] hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17).
 
The mystery as to how this can be is resolved in yet another mystery—that of the tri-unity of the Godhead. Christ, the Second Person, is present in His people through the Holy Spirit, the Third Person. Christ said: “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter. . . . Even the Spirit of truth; . . . for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).
 
In fact, as our text says, His indwelling presence is our very hope of glory, for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9).
 
Thus, where we go, He goes; whatever we say, He hears; even what we think, He knows. Christ, by the Holy Spirit, is our ever-present comforter and guide and counselor. This is, indeed, a glorious mystery! HMM

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

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Sunday Sermonette

January 18, 2015
A Created People
“This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.” (Psalm 102:18)
 
Only God can create, and whenever this verb (Hebrew bara) is used in the Bible, the subject of the verb, either explicitly or implicitly, is God!However, certain “progressive creationists” contend that “creation” does not have to be instantaneous, but can be a protracted process—some form of evolution. The verse above is used as a proof text for this position, the idea being that the Jewish “people” are being gradually created (“molded”) into a nation that will eventually bring praise to God.
 
This type of scriptural distortion illustrates the extremes to which theistic evolutionists and progressive creationists will go in order to force long evolutionary ages into Scripture. In the context, the psalmist is not speaking of a long process, but a future event. He is speaking of a future time to “have mercy upon Zion,” when “the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come” (v. 13). At that future time, “the LORD . . . shall appear in his glory” (v. 16). Then will come the glorious day “when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD” (v. 22).
 
It is only then that “the people shall be created” who “shall praise the LORD.” When a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ by faith as his Creator and Savior, he does indeed become “a new [creation]” (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the miracle of regeneration is always recognized in Scripture as an instantaneous event accomplished by the Creator in the mind and heart of the believer at the time of conversion. As for the Jews who are alive when the Lord returns, “in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David” (Zechariah 13:1). Multitudes will believe and become, at that time, “new creature[s] in Christ Jesus.” HMM

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


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sunday Sermonette

January 11, 2015
Going and Returning
“I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” (Genesis 46:4)
 
Imagine the turmoil that Jacob must have felt when he heard the news that Joseph was alive and wanted him to move to Egypt. His son, whom he had thought dead for many years, was not only alive but governor of Egypt! As difficult as this was for him to believe, Jacob no doubt had myriad other emotions crowding in on him. God had directed him to Canaan, as with his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. This was the land of promise, and yet circumstances seemed to indicate that God was leading him away. In the past, God had always spoken to him directly before each important move, and Jacob must have had that in mind as they traveled.
 
The company stopped at Beersheba, the southern boundary of the promised land. Here Jacob had lived with his parents (Genesis 28:10). Here God had repeated His covenant to Isaac (Genesis 26:24), and here Jacob decided to build an altar to ask God for clear leading before leaving the land (Genesis 46:1), and God graciously answered: “I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation” (Genesis 46:3). Furthermore, God assured Jacob, in our text, that when His purposes in Egypt were accomplished, He would “bring thee up again” into the land of promise. Many details were as yet unknown to Jacob, but he gladly obeyed.
 
This pattern is applicable to us. As we endeavor to follow God’s leading, we should proceed as best we can discern the situation (assuming there is no scriptural teaching to the contrary), all the while praying for wisdom and clarification. He may shut the door and redirect, or He may confirm our decision. We can proceed in the confidence that He will go with us, and when the time is right, He will lead us on. JDM

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

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Sunday Sermonette

January 4, 2015
Nailed to the Cross
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” (Psalm 103:2-3)
 
When Christ was nailed to the cross as our atoning sacrifice, our sins—all of them—were nailed there, as well. His death paid the entire penalty, “having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). This is the theme of the thrilling third verse of “It Is Well with My Soul.”
 
My sin—O the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (John 1:9). On what basis? “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (v. 7). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).
 
The fact that our sins are gone, “as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12), and we bear them no more, gives us the courage, strength, and stamina to bear up, with His help, under the trials of this age—the theme of the song’s first two verses.
 
If ever the circumstances of this present life threaten to overwhelm us, we can “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). The certainty of our future overrides any uncertainty in this life.
 
“It is well, it is well with my soul.” JDM

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