Sunday Sermonette

February 17, 2013 Faith in All the Ages "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets." (Hebrews 11:32) Hebrews 11 is a thrilling catalog of the faithful servants of God in all the ancient ages. There were Abel, Enoch, and Noah before the Flood; then Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in the patriarchal age; followed by Moses, Joshua, and Rahab in the time of the exodus and conquest. Finally, today’s verse summarizes the periods of the judges (Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthae), the kings (Samuel, David), and the prophets. All these were men and women of great faith, though each had to endure great testing. They, as the writer says, "stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword . . . had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder . . . destitute, afflicted, tormented" (Hebrews 11:33-37). In every age, men and women of faith were more often than not despised and persecuted by the world (even by the religious world!), but the Bible notes, parenthetically, that it was they "of whom the world was not worthy" (Hebrews 11:38). In God’s sight, they all "obtained a good report through faith" (Hebrews 11:39), and this is worth more than all the world, for it is the entrance into a far better and eternal world. Note that faith is not a sentimental wishfulness, but a strong confidence in God and His Word, through Jesus Christ, who is Himself "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Like those of past ages, we can also "run with patience the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1), through the faith He offers us. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

February 10, 2013 Not Yet "These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come." (John 8:20) This is the last of seven times in the gospel of John that the phrase "not yet" is used in reference to the forthcoming death of Christ. Although this was the very reason He came into the world, the event itself could not be hurried. When His mother wanted Him to provide wine for the wedding, He said, "Mine hour is not yet come" (John 2:4). When His brothers urged Him to show His mighty works in Jerusalem, His answer was, "My time is not yet come" (John 7:6, 8). When His enemies tried to take Him at the feast of tabernacles, "no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come" (John 7:30). Even when He preached His great promise of living water, John noted parenthetically that "the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:39). But His hour did come, and they did lay hands on Him, and put Him to death. Then He was glorified, and the Holy Spirit was given. And now we await another great time that has not yet come. John speaks of this also: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but . . . we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). In that great time to come, all things will be made subject to Christ. "But now we see not yet all things put under him" (Hebrews 2:8). These great promises and others associated with them have not yet been accomplished--the world is far from being in subjection to Him, and we are far from being like Him. But the hour will come, just as the first one did, and it will be glorious. For "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

February 3, 2013 Wrong on Two Counts "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." (Matthew 22:29) When the Sadducees, who were the theological, philosophical, and scientific elite of the day, came to Jesus with a trick question in an attempt to discredit Him, He responded with the stinging rebuke in today's verse. While His response dealt specifically with the fact of resurrection and the nature of the afterlife, His twofold evaluation of self-reliant scholars still fits today, particularly in regard to evolutionary speculations. By the time Darwin had published his book Origin of Species, attributing evolutionary progression to natural selection, he had probably become an atheist and so set about to ascribe creation to natural causes. He attributed to nature abilities which clearly belong to God alone. He knew something of the Scriptures, but his memoirs show that he had little understanding of basic biblical teaching. He felt that if there was a God, He had little power or had not been involved in the affairs of this earth. Most atheistic evolutionists today follow Darwin's intellectual footsteps. But what of Christian intellectuals, theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists, or advocates of the framework hypothesis, who claim to know God but yet deny His awesome power in creation? They too reject the clear teaching of Scripture regarding creation, relegating God to the mundane task of overseeing the evolutionary process, reducing His power to something man can accomplish. Peter aptly describes this attitude when he calls it willful ignorance (2 Peter 3:5). It has been suggested by some that all human error can be traced to one or both of these categories: not knowing (and/ or believing) the Scriptures, and underestimating the power of God. JDM h/t: J D MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 27, 2013 Everlasting Contempt "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2) Some claim that the Old Testament knows nothing of a resurrection, but this promise of God clearly refutes such a notion. Not only will some be raised to everlasting life, but some to everlasting shame and contempt! What a bitter end this will be for those who now look with contempt upon the Bible. The Hebrew word translated "contempt" is used only one other time, in the very last verse of Isaiah, but is there translated "abhorring." "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh" (Isaiah 66:24). There is probably no doctrine of the Bible more hated by unbelievers than the doctrine of everlasting punishment. It was this teaching (not the imaginary evidence for evolution) that turned Charles Darwin away from God. Nevertheless, it was verified by Christ Himself. "It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where . . . the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). Christ will say to the "goats" on His left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: . . . these shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:41, 46). Paul also warned that those who "obey not the gospel . . . shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). Everlasting contempt, everlasting fire, everlasting punishment, everlasting destruction--these await all who reject God and His saving word, through Christ. How much better to "awake to everlasting life!" HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 20, 2013 Let Them Alone "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone." (Hosea 4:17) The Lord is long-suffering, and those who speak in His name should be also. There do come times, however, when further witness becomes useless or even harmful, or when continued interaction merely invites contamination with ungodliness. In such cases we must simply leave such people alone, following them with prayer and trusting God alone to deal with them. Such was the ten-tribe nation of Israel, led by the tribe of Ephraim, just before God sent them into Assyrian captivity. God, through the prophet Hosea, told Judah henceforth to let them alone--they were hopelessly given over to pagan evolutionist idolatry. The words "joined to" in today’s verse mean, literally, "under the spell of." The Lord Jesus used similarly harsh language in reference to the hypocritical Pharisees of His own day: "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:14). There are other similar warnings. Of those who come, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," Paul says, "from such turn away" (2 Timothy 3:5). He has also warned us to "shun profane and vain babblings |that is, the empty philosophizing of those who reject God|: for they will increase unto more ungodliness" (2 Timothy 2:16). "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). Most, if not all, such warnings seem in context to apply especially to people who once knew and understood the truth, perhaps even professing to accept it for a time, and then knowingly rejected it. When such men oppose our testimony, God says to let them alone; He can deal with them better than we. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 13, 2013 If So Be "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." (1 Peter 2:3) The little phrase "if so be" (Greek ei per) is used four times in the New Testament, each time setting forth a vital spiritual result established on the basis of a vital spiritual premise. The premise in today's verse is that a new Christian has truly experienced the saving grace of Christ. The result will be that these "newborn babes" will truly "desire the sincere milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2). The "word" (Greek logikos) is always both pure and reasonable. Then, "ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8:9). When a person truly receives Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells his body, and the result is that he will henceforth live in the guidance of the Spirit instead of the flesh. But this life in the Spirit will necessarily entail suffering for the sake of Christ, and this is the premise that assures our future inheritance and glorification. The indwelling Spirit bears witness that we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:17). Finally, our future resurrection is assured by the certainty of the bodily resurrection of Christ. "We have testified of God," Paul says, "that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not" (1 Corinthians 15:15). Christ's resurrection is proved as well as any historical fact has ever been proved, so the dead surely rise also. These "if-so-be's" of Scripture, although seemingly expressed in the form of conditions, actually speak great assurances. The true Christian life is one of thirst for the logical words of God, guidance by the indwelling Spirit of God, certainty of future resurrection, and anticipation of a glorious inheritance in Christ. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 6, 2013 God's Day of Rest "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3) Why would God sanctify His day of rest (cessation from creating)? Four observations point us toward the answer. First, His rest is the perfect conclusion to His work of creation. After God completed His creation work (Genesis 1), we don't find Him scrambling around the universe to fix poor designs, to educate Himself on parts of the universe beyond His knowledge, or to quell opposition to His reign. Instead, He rests--perfectly in control of all He has done, knowing everything about all He has created, and ruling absolutely in supreme freedom. What a fitting celebration of His character! Second, His rest is ongoing. "The works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3). Since creation, God has never second-guessed His activity, tried to create the universe again, or given any hint that His initial creation was somehow flawed. It was exactly how He designed and planned it from the start. Who else could create so perfectly and completely? Third, His rest is holy. No man has ever created like God did, and, therefore, no man ever rested like God did. While man enjoyed a measure of rest (from toil) in the beginning, he lost it when he sinned (Genesis 3:17-19), and he has been laboring against opposition to his rule ever since then. God's rest is utterly unique. Fourth, His rest is wonderful. God can withhold rest from His fallen and depraved creatures. Yet He offers rest to those who believe through Christ! "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). What profound and glorious reasons God had to set apart His day of rest! NTJ h/t: INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH