Valentines Day, Sunday Sermonette

February 14, 2016 The Greatest Love “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Genesis 22:2)   There are many types of love in the world—romantic love, marital love, erotic love, brotherly love, maternal love, patriotic love, family love, and love for all kinds of things—pets, food, money, sports, and on and on. But what is the greatest love?   Love is probably the greatest word of the Bible, and, by the principle of first mention of important biblical words, the first time the word “love” occurs should be a key to its use all through the Bible. Rather surprisingly, love is first encountered here in our text, speaking of the love of a father for his son, of Abraham for Isaac, the son of promise. Furthermore, the father is being told by the very God who made the promise to offer his beloved son as a sacrifice!   From the New Testament (see Hebrews 11:17-18), we know that this entire scene is a remarkable type of the heavenly Father and His willingness to offer His own beloved Son in sacrifice for the sin of the world. This tells us that the love of this human father for his human son is an earthly picture of the great eternal love of the Father in heaven for His only begotten Son.   And that means that this love of God the Father for God the Son is the ultimate source of all love, for that love was being exercised before the world began. When Jesus prayed to His Father the night before His sacrificial death, He confirmed this great truth; “for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world,” He prayed (John 17:24). Indeed, “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and the eternal love within the triune Godhead is the fountainhead of all true human love here on Earth. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

February 7, 2016 Labor--The Gift of God “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13)   Some people may have the feeling that having to work for a living is an imposition of a corrupt society. Since they were brought into this world through no choice of their own, therefore the world owes them a living, they think. Is working a punishment because of our sins?   Well, God did “curse” the ground because of sin, but in an important sense it was for man’s own good. “Cursed is the ground,” He told Adam, “for thy sake” (Genesis 3:17). It would require “the sweat of thy face” (v. 19) before man could eat his bread, and even then it would be “in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life” (v. 17).   But the work itself would not be a punishment, for even before he sinned, God had given Adam the responsibility in his Edenic garden “to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Furthermore, we shall have work to do in the new earth in the ages to come, for we are told that “his servants shall serve him” there (Revelation 22:3), even though there will be no remnant of sinfulness there at all.   Even in this life, work is a blessing when we see it as “the gift of God.” If we see it only as drudgery and hardship, then it can indeed be “in sorrow.” But the Lord Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).   If having to work for a living will encourage us to come to Christ for salvation and peace of soul, then it is truly “for thy sake” that God’s curse was pronounced on the ground. The key to joy in labor, instead of sorrow, is noted by the apostle Paul. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. . . . for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 31, 2016 Outward Appearances “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)   Man does, indeed, look on the outward appearance rather than inward convictions. This has always been true, but never more so than in these latter days, even among evangelical Christians.   There is very little emphasis in the Bible on such things, however. As far as dress and adornment are concerned, Paul said: “I will therefore that. . . . women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (1 Timothy 2:8-10). The same principle surely would apply also to men.   With respect to physical conditioning and development, the following is almost the only reference in the Bible: “Bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things” (1 Timothy 4:8). The apostle Paul himself (probably the most effective and fruitful Christian of all) was a man of most unimpressive appearance (2 Corinthians 10:10). “I was with you in weakness,” he reminded them, but nevertheless it was “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:3-4).   There is nothing wrong, of course, with physical beauty or athletic prowess, unless they center attention on self rather than Christ, but it is the “inner man” of the heart, where true strength and beauty should be sought. Therefore, as Jesus said: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). The Lord looks on the heart, and so should we. HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 24, 2016
Jots and Tittles
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

 

Concerning Scripture, Christ taught that every “jot and tittle” (i.e., even portions of letters, not to mention words and phrases) was inspired and would last forever. In many portions of Scripture, the teaching rests on a seemingly rather insignificant component of a word or phrase.

 

For example, consider the phrase “yet once more” in Hebrews 12:26, quoting Haggai 2:6. We see, in verse 27, that the argument requiring a coming judgment on all of creation hinges on it pointing back to a similar judgment in the past. Similarly, in Galatians 4:9, we see Paul couching his comments to the Galatian believers, who had returned to a legalistic system, in a question that turned on the active voice of a verb rather than passive. We have not only “known God” but “are known of God.” InJohn 8:58, a clever use of verb tense was made: “Before Abraham was, I am,” thereby asserting Christ’s deity. Note also in John 10:34-36 how Christ cleverly used the mood of a verb while quoting from Psalm 82:6 in order to defuse the charge of blasphemy leveled against Him. Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:16 (based on a quotation from Genesis 22:17-18) shows how even the singular or plural form of a word is equally inspired.

 

Consider Christ’s answer to the Sadducees who denied personal resurrection when He said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). Christ is their God, not simply was. “And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine” (v. 33).

 

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” Let us handle Scripture with the same care and love it with the same fervency as did Christ and the apostles. JDM

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

Sunday Sermonette

January 17, 2016
Divine Logistics
“And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.” (2 Chronicles 14:11)

 

Asa was one of the better kings of Judah (great-grandson of Solomon), and his prayer is a beautiful model of how a servant of God can pray when all the human odds are against him. Asa’s army consisted of 580,000 foot soldiers, whereas the invading Ethiopians had a million-man army with 300 chariots. Yet “the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa” (2 Chronicles 14:8-9, 12), and his prayer prevailed.

 

The Bible has many such examples: Abraham (Genesis 14:1-16); Gideon (Judges 7:7; 8:10); King Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14, 19, 35). Before King Saul gained a great victory over the hordes of the Philistines, it was the courageous testimony of Jonathan, his son, that led the way. “It may be that the LORD will work for us,” he had said, “for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). Later, David won many battles against all odds, including his personal victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40-49). The servants of the Lord do not need a majority to prevail in the battle against sin and Satan, for “if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). That is the key, of course. We must not beseech the Lord to fight on our side. He will be for us, if we are first on His side!

 

This was the message of the prophet Azariah to the godly King Asa: “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Political power, military might, financial resources—all are futile. “Our help is in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 124:8). HMM

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

 

Sunday Sermonette

January 10, 2016 Touch Not Mine Anointed “And [David] said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” (1 Samuel 24:6)   These words have been widely misappropriated in later times as a warning to any who would presume to question or rebuke an erring pastor or other Christian leader. In the theocracy of Israel, there were three groups of men specially chosen by God and then anointed for their offices—prophets, priests, and kings—and God indeed “suffered no man to do them wrong” (Psalm 105:14). However, all three offices were completely fulfilled in Christ. The Levitical priesthood has been abolished, and Christ is our eternal high priest. The prophetic office ceased with the completion of the Scriptures, and Christ has inherited David’s throne forever.   As far as New Testament anointing is concerned, this is now accomplished in every true believer. “Now he which . . . hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). No longer are we dependent on special instruction and guidance from priests and prophets, for we have the inerrant, infallible, written Word of God, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).   Christians can, and should, learn and grow spiritually from godly teachers of the Word and faithful pastors of the flock, but all—leaders as well as learners—must continually be subject to correction from God’s Word, “neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). HMM h/t: HENRY M MORRIS, INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH

Sunday Sermonette

January 3, 2016
Salvation in the Spirit
“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

 

Nicodemus was confused the night when Jesus first spoke of the necessity of the new birth and then equated it with the symbol of baptism. Christ then indicated that the reality in both was the supernatural work of God, the Holy Spirit. “Except a man be born of water [that is, the Spirit], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God [with ‘and’ understood as ‘even’].”

 

The miracle of regeneration is thus a work of the Spirit, and just as “the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). It is not some soul-winning methodology but the Holy Spirit who does the work, and He (like the invisible wind) may work in a great variety of different ways.

 

This work of the Holy Spirit in bringing salvation to the unsaved is so great and so complex that it must be described in a variety of figures to convey the whole reality. In the first place, He must bring conviction of sin and the need of salvation. “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8).

 

Then, as the sinner repents and believes on Christ, the Spirit baptizes him into Christ. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). As a member of Christ’s body, he is made a partaker of His resurrection life. Simultaneously, “after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13), and “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). All of this becomes the mighty miracle of spiritual birth. “According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). HMM

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