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

Sunday Sermonette

December 30, 2012 Firstfruits "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase." (Proverbs 3:9) There are seven New Testament references to "firstfruits," all of which are metaphorical applications of the Old Testament commandment to offer the firstfruits of one’s increase to the Lord. We now have to give our own firstfruits to the government in the form of "withheld" amounts from our wages. It is still good, nonetheless, to honor the Lord with the "firstfruits" equivalent of our increase, regardless of the government. The New Testament references are all beautiful spiritual applications of this concept. At His resurrection, Christ Himself has "become the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Corinthians 15:20). When we receive Christ, we receive our eternal salvation first of all in terms of "the firstfruits of the Spirit" (Romans 8:23). Furthermore, we ourselves are, to Him, a sort of firstfruits pledge of future growth. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18). This thought is also applied to the first converts of a new mission field. Paul speaks of "the firstfruits of Asia" (the western part of Asia Minor) and "the firstfruits of Achaia" (southern Greece) in Romans 16:5 and 1 Corinthians 16:15, respectively. He also speaks of believing Jews as having preceded Gentiles into the kingdom as a holy firstfruit (Romans 11:16) to the Lord. The last of the New Testament references to firstfruits relates to the 144,000 Israelite witnesses in the coming great tribulation. "These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb" (Revelation 14:4). Beautiful and pointed though these metaphors may be, however, they in no wise lessen our responsibility to honor God with our own firstfruits. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

December 23, 2012 We Can Know that We Know Him "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." (1 John 2:3) The apostle John's vocabulary in his gospel, epistles, and even in Revelation is quite distinctive. The verb "know," for example, occurs more in John than in any other gospel, and more in 1 John than in any other epistle. He emphasizes by this that the Christian life is based on knowledge. In the words of today's verse, for example, we can test the genuineness of our knowledge of Christ as Savior by whether or not we keep His commandments. Note some of the other tests listed in John in his first epistle, as follows: "Ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him" (1 John 2:29). "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (3:14). "Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us" (3:24). "But whoso keepeth |i.e., 'guards'| his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him" (2:5). "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (5:13). There are other similar "tests of life," but these make the point. A person who has been really born again through faith in Christ and His saving work can have assurance of his salvation, if he truly believes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; if he guards and honors God's Word; if he manifests the presence of the guiding, purifying Holy Spirit in his life; if he keeps His commandments and lives righteously, and if he manifests real love for his Christian brethren. This is not to say that if he fails one or more of these tests he is necessarily unsaved. There are, however, no grounds for real assurance of salvation without them. Therefore, as Paul suggests, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

December 16, 2012 God Is Faithful "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:9) When we place our trust in Jesus Christ as omnipotent Creator and gracious Redeemer, He then faithfully undertakes to provide everything we need to live an effective, fruitful, victorious Christian life. For example, when we are tempted to sin or are tested in any other way, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). In this connection, He undertakes to ground us firmly in His truth and to keep us from moral and spiritual harm. "The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). When we do sin, however, He assures us that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). With all our failings, He has undertaken to eventually perfect us in Christ, and He faithfully will continue this until it is done. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; . . . Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). All that He has promised, He will do. Even when we are unfaithful to Him, He remains faithful to us. "If we believe not [that is, 'are unfaithful'], yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). Today's verse above, assuring us of God's faithfulness, follows the promise that He will "confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:8). Therefore, we seek also to be faithful. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)" (Hebrews 10:23). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

December 9, 2012 Faint Not "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." (Hebrews 12:3) The Christian life and ministry can grow wearisome and hard at times, but with Christ Himself as our example, the Lord admonishes us not to faint, but always to press on. If our prayers seem to go unanswered, He reminds us that "men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). When we grow tired and are tempted to quit, the Scriptures assure us that "in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9). When God has entrusted us with a certain ministry, we need to learn to say, as with Paul, "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not" (2 Corinthians 4:1). As we see God's mercy-drops of blessing begin to fall, we then can say, as he did, "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). We can even encourage others to faint not, as He did: "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory" (Ephesians 3:13). The same Greek word is translated "weary" in 2 Thessalonians 3:13: "Be not weary in well doing." Finally, even when God has to rebuke us, we must learn to take it patiently. "Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him" (Hebrews 12:5). But with all these strong exhortations to faint not, we also need to know just how we can obtain the needed strength to keep on keeping on. The answer is in God's great counsel to Isaiah: "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

December 2, 2012 The Urgency of Christ's Work "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (John 9:4) It is striking how often the Lord Jesus used the term "must" in connection with the different aspects of the work He came to do. Since He is our example, we also must be serious and urgent about our Father's work. Even as a boy in the temple He told His parents, "I must be about my Father's business" (Luke 2:49). Then early in His ministry, as He went from place to place, He said, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent" (Luke 4:43). Toward the end of His earthly ministry, He said one day, "I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" (Luke 13:33). He also said to His disciples that "he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day" (Matthew 16:21). He had told the great teacher of Israel, Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." To explain how this could be, He then said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:7, 14-15). Before we could ever be born again to everlasting life, therefore, Christ must be lifted up on the cross to die for our sins. Still, all "the scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49), and accordingly, "he must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9). Yet, even this did not fully complete "the works of Him that sent me," for Christ had said that "the gospel must first be published among all nations" (Mark 13:10). Therefore, we also must work the works of Him who sent us, before our days of opportunity are gone. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH