Sunday Sermonette

August 17, 2014
An Approved Workman
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

 

Teaching God’s Word of truth properly and effectively is not play; it is hard work! The command to “study” means, literally, to “labor earnestly.” There are far too many unprepared teachers of the Bible today, not even to mention false teachers. “My brethren, be not many masters [that is, ‘don’t many of you try to be teachers’], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1).

 

A workman who has presented himself for testing, and has then passed the test, is an “approved” workman, and he will certainly have spent much time training in his profession before presuming to make application for a job. In this most important of all vocations, it is vital that the Word be “rightly divided,” for if, when the test comes, he cannot do this, he will “be ashamed” for having the presumption to engage in such a vital occupation without the necessary calling and training, or dedication.

 

The Lord had to train His disciples for three years before they were ready to start teaching the Word on their own. The apostle Paul also, even though he had already received the finest schooling in Israel, still had to be specially prepared for three years after becoming a Christian before he was ready (Galatians 1:15-24). The equivalent of three years’ full-time study still seems a good minimum before one should presume to take on a regular ministry of teaching or preaching the holy Scriptures.

 

Every Christian should seek to win people to Christ, of course, as soon as he himself meets Christ. He should also begin immediately to search the Scriptures (e.g., the Bereans, in Acts 17). But an “approved workman” needs to be thoroughly taught and to have studied in the Word himself. HMM

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

Sunday Sermonette

August 10, 2014
John's Creator/Savior
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

 

It is remarkable how many names and titles are associated with Jesus Christ (meaning “anointed Savior”) in the first chapter of John’s gospel. In verse 9, He is called “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” He is “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” in verse 14, and “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father” in verse 18. John the Baptist called Him “the Lord” in verse 23, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” in verse 29, and “the Son of God” in verse 34. The disciples then called Him “Master” in verse 38 and “Messias” in verse 41, as well as “Jesus of Nazareth” in verse 45. Nathanael acknowledged Him as “King of Israel” in verse 49, and Jesus called Himself “the Son of man” in verse 51.

 

But the very first title ascribed to Him by John, as he introduced his gospel, was simply “the Word” (v. 1), from a word hard to translate in its fullness. In the New Testament, it is rendered by “word,” “reason,” “communication,” “doctrine,” speech,” and many others. With reference to Christ, it tells us that He is always the One who reveals, speaks for, manifests, explains, and incarnates the Heavenly Father.

 

John 1:1 even takes us back before Genesis 1:1, where we learn that the pre-incarnate Christ created all things (c.f. Colossians 1:16). “In the beginning” He was, before He created! All things were made by Him. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).

 

As the eternal, omnipotent Word of God, the pre-incarnate Christ spoke all things into being. Jesus Christ is the Word; and the Word is God! HMM

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

Sunday Sermonette

August 3, 2014
The Heart Is Deceitful
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

 

Just as in modern languages, ancient Hebrew used the term “heart” to mean the inward motivations which control a person’s words and deeds. According to the prophet Jeremiah, the spiritual heart is so innately wicked and deceptive that one cannot even understand his own heart—but God does!

 

One urgently needs a new heart, and God promises just that. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). “This is the covenant that I will make with them . . . saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts” (Hebrews 10:16).

 

The problem, of course, is heart attitude. In the third chapter of Hebrews, this is illustrated in terms of the attitudes of the children of Israel in the wilderness. First, their hearts had become hard heartsthrough their lack of gratitude, and three times the author warns us to “harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:8, 15; 4:7). As a result, they soon acquired erring hearts. “They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways” (Hebrews 3:10). Finally, their hearts were evil hearts, and God would warn us through them. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).

 

An evil heart is defined here, in effect, as an unbelieving heart. A heart which refuses to receive and believe the Word of God is a wicked heart, inevitably generating wicked ways and evil doings. But Christ will create a new heart for all who will believe on Him and confess Him as God and Savior. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Romans 10:9-10). HMM

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

Sunday Sermonette

July 27, 2014 Spiritual Cleanliness “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” (Matthew 23:25)   Three of the eight “woes” in Matthew 23 deal with a particular aspect of spiritual cleanliness. This one seems to emphasize personal cleanliness. The next verse amplifies the thought: “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26).   The emphasis is on the internal heart. The biblical principle is very clear. If our hearts are not right, our lives will not be righteous. If what is “inside” is not clean, the “outside” will never be clean. Perhaps a list of the more obvious Bible references will help refocus our commitment. • “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). • “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34-35). • “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:29). • “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3). May our “cup and platter” be as clean as God’s holiness is able to make it and “let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:4). HMM III h/t: HENRY M MORRIS III, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

July 20, 2014 Prepare to Meet Thy God “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” (Amos 4:12)   There is only one thing that everyone can know for sure. Not even death and taxes are certain, for some will never die. But “every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).   Even those who don’t believe in God, those who ridicule His Word, those who disobey His laws, those who worship false gods—everyone must some day meet God. There is no better advice than: “Prepare to meet thy God!”   If anyone should ask what God, the answer is the true God, the Creator. Not the false gods of pagan pantheism, not the natural systems and processes of evolutionism, but the one and only God of creation. He is the one who knows the thoughts of man and “maketh the morning darkness” (Amos 4:13) for all who reject or ignore Him. The word here for “darkness” is used only one other time in Scripture and is synonymous with hell—“a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness” (Job 10:22).   In the coming judgment, “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17). The message of Amos needs to be heard in every generation: “Prepare to meet thy God!” For “the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment” (Psalm 1:5), and the judgment is sure: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” and for those who die unprepared, “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 9:27; 10:31).   The only way to come into His presence prepared, of course, is through Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Lord of all the hosts of heaven. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

July 13, 2014
Godless Religion
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:5)

 

Included in Paul’s graphic description of the “perilous” characteristics of the “last days” (not the church age, since the prophesied last days were still future when he wrote of them in his last epistle, 2 Timothy 3:1-3) is this warning concerning the religious leaders of the last days. They would observe the outward form (church buildings, sacraments, religious services, etc.) of “godliness” (that is, “religion”), but would reject its supernatural aspects. They would desire the trappings of religious professionalism since they would be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (v. 4).

 

Such specifications aptly describe the modern world of scientism and liberal theology, which pervades practically all religious denominations and overlaps with all kinds of liberal social movements (women’s liberation, gay rights, “New Age” pantheism, and others). Although these are widely diverse in structure and purpose, they all share one vital feature in common: They reject supernatural Christianity, especially literal creationism. Many liberal preachers give nominal allegiance to the teachings of Christ and the Bible, but they invariably deny the mighty power of God in special creation, as well as the great worldwide miracles of the Bible—the Flood, the dispersion, etc.

 

This prophecy is not given in Scripture simply as a matter of information. It contains a warning urgently needed by Bible-believing Christians who are under pressure today to compromise with humanistic liberals on this great doctrine of God’s creative power. Many have accepted the evolutionary system of “ages geology,” and this is tragic and dangerous. Instead of compromising with evolutionary naturalists and religious liberals, as many evangelicals today are inclined to do, Paul warns: “From such turn away!” HMM

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

Sunday Sermonette

July 6, 2014
Kingdom of Priests
“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:6)

 

These were the words of God to Israel, even before they received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. As a priest serves as an intermediary between God and men, so this “kingdom of priests” had been called by God to bring God’s Word to man. As a holy nation with such a high calling, its people also should have been holy (that is, consecrated to God) in life and witness. But instead, after almost 2,000 years, God had to lament: “All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people” (Romans 10:21).

 

A day will come when “all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26), but God has, in the meantime, chosen a new people, in whom “there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). We are now “one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5).

 

We now have been given the same high privileges long ago given to Israel. We who belong to Christ have been “born again” into the “kingdom of God” (John 3:3), and this is nothing less than a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. The apostle Peter said: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

 

Not only are we a holy priesthood, we are a royal priesthood, a kingdom of priest-kings. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (v. 9). We, indeed, have a high calling, and should devote our lives to showing forth His praises, for He “hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; unto him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (Revelation 1:6). HMM

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