11/2/96, PM, Pr. Hill

Christ's Words of Salvation

Christ praises God for hiding the wonderful news from some and revealing it to others.  It is pleasing unto the Father, we must remember that.  It will be a great comfort to those saved.  

"Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest . . . for my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

We cannot get away from the truths of Jesus.

11/2/96, AM, Pr. Sarver

Heaven will be a world of love.  Love never ends. 

I.    The receivers of this love
II.   The agents of this love
III.  The perfection of this love
IV.  The circumstances of this love
V.   The effects of this love

I. 
A.  All are lovely
-  Nothing unclean or ugly
-  Everything beautiful
B.  All [will] be perfectly lovely

This love will be a perfect, holy love.  Love on this earth cannot be without sin.  no uneven walking with God in heaven.  No sin will come between us and God.  There will be no pride, no self-centeredness.  Barnabas and Paul shall be reunited.  Luther and Zwingli will shake hands once again.  If there could be sorrow in heaven, it would be sorrow over what we had done to each other in times past.  Everyone will be filled with ecstatic joy.  If you don't go to heaven, you are going to a place where there is no love.

10/27/96, PM, Pr. Semeroth

You must be above reproach.  That is without blemish, spotless.  "He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but will live in light."  He delivered us from the domain of darkness.  Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and therefore glorify your heavenly Father.  So let shine the light of you before men.  His disciples will shine, but the point is to what extent they shine.  They must shine like the noonday sun.  You do not just let your guests smell the wonderful food you are cooking, you invite them to eat it.  Do not just let others see your bright and shining light, but offer the gospel to them.  God has commanded, and God has called, wherever you are whoever you are can tell others even if your call is not to be a preacher.  One thing we must determine, we will be a bright light born worthy before the nation. 

10/27/96, AM, Pr. Semeroth

They obeyed God when Paul was with them, even more when he was absent.  Phil. 2:12-17; Eph. 6:5-6; Col. 3:22-23; Phil. 1:6

Obedience to Christ is working out your salvation with fear and trembling.  It calls for continuous, strained, hard effort.  We receive comfort and encouragement from God.  It is the quality of work that achieves the effort.  "What is the chief end of man?  Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

[A] Warning against laziness:

1. Grumbling is a sin against God
2. Grumbling is usually against leaders
3. Grumbling threatens unity.  Bear in mind that the Philippians are rich Romans.  Do all things without grumbling.  Do not grumbling for it puts church unity under threat.  Unity was under threat in Philippi.
4. Grumbling presses high on the sin of apostasy.  It brings with in your heart sadness.
5. Grumbling brings God's judgment.  "Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer."  Pagan Philippi is the corrupt and perverse generation.

We must show ourselves to be children of God beyond reproach.  teh children of God are those God is saving and adopting into His family.  There is not illustration we can use to illustrate God's love for his children.

• In bearing family likeness the children of God produce holiness, justice and love for others.
• If you are not a child of God, you are a child of Satan, and are on your way to hell.

10/20/96, PM, Mr. Horan

Mark 15:42 - 16:4

I.  Joseph of Arimathea
    A.  Who he was
    B.  What he did
II.  The women
    A.  Who they were
    B.  What they did

Joseph of Arimathea was a man of wealth but that was not enough for him.  He had to summon up courage.  It took courage.  In an instance if he asked this, his prominence would go flat.  He would probably be put out of the temple.  It is unusual that Pilate was to let someone take a traitor down from the cross, but Pilate had not thought Jesus to be guilty at all.  Joseph did not have courage before.  Where did he get the courage?  God gave him the courage.

"No good thing resides in me."  God graciously gave Joseph of Arimathea great courage to do a great thing.  Sometimes the greatest of faith is not found in the most distinguished.  "The last shall be first, and the first, last."  Christ still delights to bring men through their difficulties and into light.  Al sins are beyond our power to cleanse.

10/20/96, AM, Pr. McDearmon

I.  The context of the words
II.  The immediate historical fulfillment of them
III. -
IV. The timeless teaching of these characteristics

A.  Their knowledge
You shall come forth refreshed and invigorated. 

1. They know He is the one, true, living God.  "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our god, the Lord is one!"
2. They know He is the all-wise and sovereign God.  They know man's steps are ordained by God.
3. They know He is the omnipotent God.
4. ...A gracious God.
5. ...A helping God.
6. ...A revealing God.
7. ...Their own God.

B.  Their strength
"The Lord is my strength and my shield."

1. A capacity of mind
2. A capacity of emotion
3. A capacity of will

C.  Their actions

"The people who know their God will display strength and take action."  Daniel 11:32

10/13/96, PM

Death is the wall that humanism cannot and will not climb.  People do not want to face death.  You'll never be able to handle life with any stability unless you have Biblical wisdom.  We are in the minority.  There are very few people who will believe the Bible.  Wisdom is better than folly just as much as light excels or is better than darkness.  Wisdom is far more profitable than foolishness.  God by His grace will get us through trials eventually, either fast or slow.  How do you want to die, like a fool, or like a wise man?

A.  Compassion
B.  Choice
C.  Conclusions
-  We ought not to indulge ourselves to think we're wiser than Solomon
-  We ought to trust Solomon's judgment

Every moment of your life should be shadowed by the fact that you are going to die. 

1. Wise men and fools are both going to die.  They may die differently, but the point is, they're going to die.
2. Wise men and fools shall be forgotten alike.  "So I was great."  Solomon did want to be remembered.  Fame is foolishness.  "About the only thing most people get," someone said, "is their name in the encyclopedia."
3. Wise men and fools both think alike.  Here Solomon is thinking like a fool.  Don't think things now that may be grievous to you when you are eighty.  Some of the most miserable people are those who are old, for they have become tired of life, and therefore, bitter.  Our citizenship isn't down here on earth, it's in heaven.

What am I living for?  Am I living my life under the sun or for the glory of God?

10/13/96, AM

Solomon is trying to find the meaning of life from underneath the sun.
I.    He tested life
II.   He hated life
III.  He accepted life

I.
A. Pleasures
B. Employment
-  Some joy found relative to creativity

1. Great works
1. Buildings and houses
2. Gardens and vineyards
2. Workers
1. Those bought
2. Those born
3. Great wealth
1. Silver/gold
2. Male & female singers
4. His self-worth
5. Rewards - good feelings
6. Profit
1. It won't satisfy.  
2. It's a selfish life

"No profit under the sun."

10/6/96, PM, Mr. Quirk

[Family difficulties?]

1. Arguing and quarreling
2. Harsh, mean-spirited, critical speech
3. Relating older to younger
4. Sin of anger
5. Envy, jealousy, selfishness, discontent

Do we see pouting when another gets the honor for some accomplishment?  "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith."

You need to get a clear picture of what is harmony in the home.  Make a decision of what you want to be the standard.  Doing this, you help others.

10/6/96, AM, Mr. Burchett

Luke 13:10-17

The Afflicted Woman

She had an affliction caused by a spirit.  We find in the text that there is a very real devil.  A real Satan.  Satan had visited her eighteen years.  Bent over double.  Not a little, she was bent over double and could not even look you in the eye.  Robbed of the simple human dignity to look you in the eye, standing up straight.

The Wonderful Miracle

An overruling of the laws of nature by nature's God.  that is what it was.  Nobody said anything against it's being a miracle.  Everyone was too amazed.

The Reaction of the Ruler

He is an elder Pharisee with much knowledge.  He rebukes the people and particularly the woman, for allowing this on the Sabbath.  He has, cowardly, not a word for Jesus, hoping He won't respond with mercy.  This man entirely missed the point.

Jesus' Rebuke

He uses the example of taking care of one's beast.  For it is a helpless beast that does not understand the Sabbath.  He then drew the comparison and humiliated the crowd.

Three Observations

1. Notice what heartless religion can do to a man:   This scribe was hard on others' sins but ignorant of his own.
2. Observe the purpose of God in the afflictions that you bear in your body
3. Note well the compassion of Jesus Christ toward needy sinners.

You can have a wonderful physical body and be chained to Satan's stall.  You need to have that chain broken.

"Remember Lot's Wife," part III, 9/29/96, PM, Pr. McDearmon

Practical Observations

1.  We observe a self centered and worldly choice made in Lot's early years
2. --
3. Lot had no credibility with his own family
4. Lot hesitated before leaving Sodom
5. [Sodom is] An example of what a society sinks to when it is left to itself
6. The effects of the conduct of the wicked upon a righteous man
7. --
8. --
9. An example of God's preserving grace
10. We observe the great difference in God's dealing with the wicked and the righteous.

Escape for your life.  There's no safety in anything but Jesus our rock.

"Remember Lot's Wife," part II, 9/29/96, AM, Pr. McDearmon

I.  Lot's wife was a privileged woman
II.  She went some of the way toward salvation
III. She loved the world
IV. She perished

I.  Life of Lot in 7 parts
   A.  Early years in Lot's life
   B.  Lot's choice
   C.  His capture
   D.  Lot in Sodom
   E.  His escape from Sodom
   F.  Lot's final disgrace
   G.  New Testament assessment

This righteousness of Lot is all of grace and none of Lot's. 

Genesis 11; Luke 17:32

Humility, 9/22/96, PM, Mr. Maiella

1. They both show blessings of God
2. Both could be a source of sinful pride
3. God could use both to teach us humility

Humility is a cornerstone of Christian living.

A.  What is Humility?
Low, lowly or low-lying, or to bring low something physical or spiritual.

B.  Life of a man of God:  Saul of Tarsus

1. The undeniable transition from pride to humility
2. The divine means for this transition

"Paul, bondservant of Jesus Christ."

C.  Practical lessons
Humility is a grace which Christians should wear.  Do not confuse humility with large plans provided you do it with a Christian motive.

1 Thess. 2:10-12; Col. 3:12, 4:5; Luke 3:5; 1 Tim. 1:12; Phil. 3; Acts 8:2-3; Eph. 3:8; 1 Cor. 15:9-10; 2 Cor. 12; Rom. 7:25; 2 Cor. 11

9/22/96, AM, Mr. Horan

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent but he was afraid of the crowd and gave in.  They hurled abuse at Him.  It is the voice of Satan that said, "Save yourself and come down off the cross."  The Father forsook Christ.  Everybody thought that Christ was calling Elijah.  In their hearts, they knew what He was saying.  There was never any wrong done to Christ by any of the women.  They were looking on and ministering to Him until the very end.

1. As we see Christ dying, we see a glimpse of true human nature
2. All the priests were jealous for Christ only preached the truth
3. We see the mysteries of salvation portrayed

Jesus was humiliated that we might be honored.  Had Christ not died, who could face death?

9/15/96, PM, Pr. McDearmon

Colossians 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them."

I.  The context of the command
    A.  This is the love you should be giving your wife
    B.  This is the love which should be provided you if your husband is a Christian

"Storge" means a natural affection based in one's Christian instinct.

1. In a man's seeking of a wife
2. In his desire to protect his wife
3. In his desire to provide for his wife

A man doesn't need to go to school or church to learn to want to provide for and protect his wife.  That comes naturally until he is perverted.

["Agape"]
Nature cannot produce this kind of love.  This is a self-giving love.  Unlike "eros" it involves the bent and direction of a renewed will.

"Remember Lot's Wife," 9/15/96, AM, Pr. McDearmon

Remember Lot's wife.  This strongly implies that we are very susceptible to forget the life of this woman.

I.  Survey
    A.  The nature of the kingdom of God
    B.  The quickness of His coming
    C.  The condition of the world at the time of His coming
    D.  Remember Lot's Wife

People will be excited to think of the coming of Christ saying, "Look, here!" and "See, over there!"
"Escape for your life, do not look behind you," said the Angel, but Lot's wife looked back.  She loved earth more than heaven, and therefore became a pillar of salt.  Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it.  Whoever loses his life shall preserve it. 

1. Remember Lot's wife was a privileged woman
2. Remember Lot's wife went some [of the] way to salvation
3. Remember Lot's wife loved the world
4. Remember Lot's wife perished

Your privileges cannot and will not save you.  We ought to be grateful, but we must use our privileges, our talents.  You must repent.  You must love God and obey Him.  The longer you put it off, the harder your heart becomes.  Lot's wife perished.  In the very act of her sin, God killed her.  She perished just outside the city of refuge.  Remember these things and remember Christ, who said, "He  who loves anyone more than me, is not worthy of me."

9/8/96, PM, Pr. McDearmon

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance to be administered only to those baptized Chistians that are members of His (Christ's) church.  If the Lord's Supper has Christ's authority on it, it is a great sin to attend to it in a disorderly selfish.  "If any one is hungry, let him eat at home."

1 Cor. 11:17-22; 2 Pet. 2:13; Jude:12

9/8/96, AM, Pr. McDearmon

"Curses are like chickens, they always come home to roost."
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."

I.  Your chickens will come home to roost
    A.  Strong warning:  do not be deceived
    B.  Self-evident truth
    C.  Spiritual explanation
    D.  Specific application

A day of reckoning is coming.  God is not mocked.  You will always get what you have sown, and often very much more.  The wages of sin is death.  You are making your choices now.  The choices you make about marriage will make your life full of misery or [joy].  Sooner or later your own wickedness will prove to be a rod on your own back.  Be sure your sin will find you out.  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  While we have opportunity, let's be good to all men.  What you do now, you shall meet later. 

Jer. 2:19; 1 Cor. 15:33; Gal. 6:7; Jam. 1:16; Ps. 2:2-4, 10:11, 12:4, 73:11; Job 4:8; Prov. 11:18, 22:8; Hos. 8:7, 10:12-13; 2 Cor. 9:6

The Lord's Supper, 9/1/96, PM, Pr. McDearmon

"Do this in remembrance of Me."  1 Cor. 11:26

I.  This is a supper of proclamation
    What are we proclaiming?  We are heralding Christ's death.  We herald the truth that we are lost in our sins, but in Christ we have hope. 

II.  This is a supper of anticipation or hope  Matt. 26:29, Luke 22:18
    We anticipate participating in the Lord's Supper in heaven.  It points to the blessed hope of Christ appearing.

III.  This is a supper of fellowship or communion
    -  They all drank from the same cup
    - The only setting for the Lord's Supper is "when you come together as a church."

Obedience to the Lord's Table is joining together all members.  We are here as sinners hopelessly corrupt.  We all depend on Christ for our salvation.  He is our strength, hope, righteousness, yes, our salvation.

IV.  The Lord's Supper is an ordinance with a discriminatory guest list.  Not all believers are invited.  How did He conceive of those who are members of Christ's church?  He (Paul) conceived of them as "sanctified in Christ Jesus."  But how do people show others they belong to Jesus?  By means of baptism.  I must be in Christ, and be properly related with Christ's resurrection as shown in baptism and afterward properly related to Christ's death as shown at the Lord's Table. 

Who is warranted and unwarranted to come to the table? 
-  Not for unbelievers
-  Not for religious groups other than the church
-  Not to be administered privately
-  Not for unbaptized Christians
-  Not for baptized Christians [who are] not members of a like minded church
-  What about the paedobaptist?  Is the paedobaptist baptized?  No, he/she is not.

The Lord's Supper, 9/1/96, AM, Pr. McDearmon

There is one God and He is of the same character.

There is one church, all purchased by Christ's blood.

There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

There is but one destiny for those who believe.  Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.  The outer tabernacle was a sign for the time then present.  Hebrews 8:6, 9:8  Our Lord said to the Samaritan woman that a time is coming when you shall not worship in Samaria or Jerusalem.  

[We believe in] the simple, external appointment of the Lord God, called the Lord's Supper.  We are Baptists out of conviction
I.  A Clarification of terms
    A.  Trinity:  three in one
    B.  Sacrament:  Latin "sacramentum" = "an oath"
    C.  Ordinance:  something ordained by authority
    D.  Communion:  a sharing in
    E.  Eucharist:  Greek "eucharistio" = "that of expressing gratitude"   Acts 2:4, 20:7
    F.  "The table of the Lord:"  It reminds us that it's not ours, but Gods
    G.  The Lord's Supper:  the observance is Christ's institution, not ours

II.  Christ's authority and the Lord's Supper
    A.  He commands your participation
    B.  Submission to His authority must comprehend the partakers of authority

III.  The significance of the body
    A.  Consubstantiation
    B.  Transformationalism
    C.  The error of sacramentalism
    D.  The reformed baptistic view:  They deny the previous three.  The elements remain unchanged.

It is a supper of remembrance.

8/25/96, PM, Mr. Horan

Mark 15:1-20
Jesus spoke nothing in His defense.  However, if He had wished, He could have struck all His accusers dead on the spot.  He did not, because it was, as He knew, His purpose to die and save the sinners.

Every time Pilate refers to Jesus as the "King of the Jews" he says it in a sarcastic, mocking tone, knowing that in reality Jesus was physically no rival to Caesar, just a rival to the Jewish teachers whom Pilate cared nothing about.

Pilate was astonished when the Jews asked for Barrabas for he found no fault in Jesus.  Pilate was the one in charge and should have released Jesus, but he had no conscience.  It was God's will for Jesus to be crucified, however, and all things ordained by God will come to pass.

1.  The sorry spectacle of Pontius Pilate
     At heart he was a coward and a man-pleaser.