Posts Tagged ‘John MacArthur’

The Awesome Influence of Mothers and Grandmothers, Part 2

Posted: May 10, 2013 in Sermon on Mother's Day
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A Mother's Influence

A prayer a son remembered that his mother prayed for him when he was a child almost everyday, “God help me if you ever do that again.”

1) Our mothers gave us physical life at great risk of their own lives through the child-birth process. They, first of all carried us nine months with much discomforts and dangers such as high blood pressure. They stayed up with us all night when we were sick and cooled our fevered brow. They rushed us to emergency rooms. They have made great physical sacrifices for us.

2) Our mothers, also, have made great emotional sacrifices for us. When we hurt they hurt. Our disappointments are their disappointments. When children do wrong and hurt because of their wrong, their godly mothers hurt worse.

3) Our mothers have made great finanical sacrifices for us. They supported us when we were home and still helped after we left until we got our feet on the ground.

First, There is the Spiritual Influence of a Mentor (2 Timothy 1:2) See Part 1

Next, There is the Spiritual Influence of a Mother and Grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5) See Part 1

A. Mothers protects us spiritually

Paul commends the saving faith that was in Timothy but also says that saving faith was first in his mother Lois. Paul adds that the way Timothy’s mother influenced him to have saving faith in Christ was through exposing him to the Word (2 Timothy 3).

1. In chapter 3, Paul is describing the dangerous last days in which you and I are living (3:1-13). Paul lists 19 characteristics of the spiritually dangerous last days in which we live for God.

2. The remedy for living in the spiritually dangerous last days is the Word of God. Timothy’s mom exposed Timothy to the Word from his childhood (3:14-17).

My Mom exposed me to the Word of God when I was growing up. When I was younger I did not appreciate it. I even resented it at times. I had to go to Sunday school, youth meetings, and all of the services. On top of all that, she persisted in reading God’s Word to us boys at night. I will never forget her reading the story of Oliver B. Greene’s conversion. All that exposure prepared me for my conversion.

B. Mothers prepare us for the gospel 

In Acts 14, Paul on his first missionary journey went to a small town called Lystra where Timothy lived and most likely was very bored as a teenager. In Lystra were not the required ten Jewish families to establish a synagogue. Paul healed a man who had been unable to walk since birth. That miracle must have gotten the attention of the entire small town including Timothy. Then later the fickle crowd dragged Paul outside of town, stoned him and left him for dead. Timothy saw Paul get back up and go back into town and fearlessly preach the gospel again to his would be murders. This is most likely when Timothy got saved and became Paul’s son in the faith. Two chapters and five years later Paul goes back to Lystra in Acts 16 on his second missionary journey. Timothy has grown so much that Paul added him to their missionary team.

Timothy got saved, later joined a missionary team, and even later pastored churches having come from a less than ideal home less. His dad was most likely unsaved according to Acts 16:1-3. The unsaved dad would not allow his son to be circumcised. Our backgrounds do not have to hinder us from being saved or serving the Lord with all of our hearts. When we stand before God, we will not give an account of our less than perfect parents but of personal responsibility to God.

Because Mom exposed me to the Word, when my pastor preached, God used His Word in my life. And then when we had revival services with evangelist Bill Stafford, I got saved. Most of the credit should go to Mom who faithfully exposed me to God’s Word. She planted the seed of God’s Word, others watered but God gave the increase.

Isaiah 66:13 says that God created mothers like himself: “As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you.”

1. Just like God our mothers gave us life. Our mothers gave us physical life; God gave us spiritual life when we trusted Christ as our Savior.

2. Just like God our mothers love us. Our mothers loved when we were unlovable and unlovely. When we were disobedient and disrespectful. God loved us unconditionally when we were His enemy.

3. Just like God our mothers sacrificed for us. Our mothers have made physical, emotional and finanical sacrifices for us. God has made the ultimate sacrifice for us when He sacrificed His sinless Son for us on the cross. When He made him sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God.

4. Just like God our mothers deserve our praise. Today we praise God for our mothers who have been used by God to bring us to Him self.

Resources for Mother’s Day

Sermons by Stephen Davey: Portraits of Mom

Ten Tips for Mother’s Day Service by Mark Driscoll

No Perfect Moms, Part 1

No Perfect Moms,  Part 2

John MacArthur’s articles on Mothers

Sermons by John Piper on Mothers

Mother’s Day Sermon: The Awesome Influence of Mothers and Grandmothers, Part 1

Posted: May 9, 2013 in Mother's Day Sermon
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A Mother's InfluenceErma Louise Bombeck was a mother of three children. She was also an American humorist, a popular newspaper columnist, and a best selling author. She wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns in 900 newspapers about the ordinary lives of suburban housewives and mothers. By the 1970s, her columns were read by thirty million readers. Bombeck published 15 books, most of which became a best-seller. For example, she wrote, If Life is a Bowl of Cherries; Why Am I in the Pits and The Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank.

Here are some of her quotes:

“Insanity is hereditary. You can catch it from your kids.”

“My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.”

“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.”

In one of her columns, she wrote of God in the act of creating mothers.

She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, “Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one.”

The Lord turned and said, “Have you read the specs on this model? She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable. She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on black coffee & leftovers. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands.”

“Six pairs of hands,” said the angel, “that’s impossible.” “It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother Me.” said the Lord, “It’s the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she already knows what they’re doing in there.”

“She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is not supposed to see but must see. And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed and communicate love and understanding without saying a word.”

“That’s too much.” said the angel, “You can’t put that much in one model. Why don’t you rest for a while and resume your creating tomorrow?”

“No, I can’t,” said the Lord. “I’m close to creating someone very much like myself. I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick – who can feed a family of six with one pound of hamburger and who can persuade a nine year old to take a shower.”

Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and said, “She’s too soft.” “Oh, but she is tough,” said the Lord. “You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do.”

“Can she think?” asked the angel. “Not only can she think,” said the Lord, “but she can reason and compromise and persuade.”

Then the angel reached over and touched her cheek. “This one has a leak,” he said. “I told you that you couldn’t put that much in one model.” “That’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “That’s a tear.”

“What’s a tear for?” asked the angel. “Well it’s for joy, for sadness, for sorrow, for disappointment, for pride.”

Today on Mother’s Day let’s join Erma Bombeck and practice Proverbs 31:28-31 and praise our mothers. If your mother is living you can praise her verbally or if she has deceased you can bless her memory. In Proverbs 31:28-31, the children praise their mother, the husband praises his wife, and the public praises the mothers.

Paul praises Timothy’s mother and grandmother in 2 Timothy. He gets specific; he names them. Lois is the grandmother and Eunice is the mother.

2nd Timothy is Paul’s last letter before his martyrdom for preaching the gospel. He writes and warns Timothy of the coming persecution. Just as Paul is facing danger so is the church. For example, in 3:12, Paul forecasts: “All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Paul instructs Timothy how to live in days of apostasy.

So what is Paul’s point in mentioning mothers? Mothers can help us face the hard times.

First, There is the Spiritual Influence of a Mentor (2 Timothy 1:2)

Paul was, of course, Timothy’s spiritual father who must have been very proud of Timothy because he refers to him as his son over and over again (1 Timothy 1:2, 18; 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:2; 2:1; 1 Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 2:21). At some time in the past, Paul had led Timothy to Christ.

Next, There is the Spiritual Influence of a Mother and Grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5)

Apparently both of these ladies had somehow contributed significantly to Timothy’s conversion.

A. My grandmother Bare protected me physically when I was growing up.

She had TB and all I can remember was her walking on crutches or wheeling around in a wheeling chair. She reminded me of Moses’ mother who protected him from physical harm by placing him in a little ark and hiding him in the Nile.

My grandmother at least on one occasion saved my life. I was playing in my grandfather’s barn and got hot and sweaty. I saw a half empty coke bottle on a shelf and took a drink. I found out latter that it was paint thinner. It immediately took away my breath. I ran to the house and my grandmother saw I was not breathing and smelled my breath. She said, “You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you?” Not really, she moved into her EMT mode and wheeled around in the kitchen and pulled out a can of Crisco Shortening. Pulled the led off. Ran two fingers down into the white lard and got a gob of Crisco Shortening and poked it in my mouth. She pinched my nose and held my month closed so that I had to swallow the lard. As a result, I vomited up the paint thinner and started breathing. God used my country grandmother who raised eleven children in the Depression to spare my life so later I could get saved. She also saved my younger brother’s life when he swallowed a marble. She turned him upside down, held him by the ankles, and popped him on the back and the marble shot out across the living room floor.

In Part 2, we see the spiritual influence of a mother and grandmother.

Resources for Mother’s Day

Ten Tips for Mother’s Day Service by Mark Driscoll

No Perfect Moms, Part 1

No Perfect Moms,  Part 2

John MacArthur’s articles on Mothers

Sermons by John Piper on Mothers

Mother’s Day Sermon: No Perfect Moms, Part 2

Posted: May 9, 2013 in Mother's Day Sermon
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woman-pulling-her-hair-280x280I read of a young mother whose life has been totally devastated. The husband of this mother of young children admitted he was a homosexual and then walked away. Before he abandoned his family, he confessed to having a homosexual relationship with her own father, a closeted homosexual. Both the homosexual husband and father-in-law were involved in full-time ministry.

This mother reminded me of some of the mothers in Matthew 1 that God used in spite of their horrific families.

1. Tamar the Mistreated Mother (Matthew 1:3) (See Part One)

2. Rahab the Prostitute (Matthew 1:5)

Whereas Tamar was a prostitute for a day, Rahab was a career prostitute. In Joshua 2, Rahab runs a brothel in Jericho. Joshua sends the two spies to check out Jericho before they conquer the city. Rahab along with all the other Jerichoites had heard how Israel’s God had delivered Israel out of Egypt and had defeated the Amorites. She requests that when Israel invades and defeats the city that she and her family be spared.

God honored her faith and did spare her and her family. This former prostitute is mentioned twice in the New Testament because of her faith. She is mentioned in Hebrews 11, the hero of faith chapter, along side of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua. “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (11:31). James mentions Rahab as one of his two examples of faith, that if genuine, works in James 2:24-26.

Rahab the harlot became Rahab the heroine of faith. Rahab who once exerted bad influence became a godly influence and was used of God to save her family.

Thank God for every mom who has trusted Christ and is seeking to win her children and grandchildren. If you have such a mother you should rise up and call her blessed.

The next mother in Jesus’ family tree was not a prostitute but she had them in her past relatives.

3. Ruth the Victim (Matthew 1:5)

Ruth was born with all kinds of baggage that was not her fought. She was a Moabite. The nation of Moab came about because the two daughters of Lot got him drunk and committed incest with their own dad. The older daughter gave birth to the nation of Moab and the younger to the nation of Ammon. The Moabites became enemies of Israel and were forbidden from entering the congregation of Israel (Dt. 23:3). Ruth was born into this family.

When Ruth the Moabite was exposed to the true God by Naomi who came to Moab to escape hard times in Israel, Ruth believed in the one true God as her own words testify in Ruth 1:16-17. When Naomi whose husband died, along with her two sons who were married to Ruth and Orpah, Naomi decided to go back to Israel. She told her two Moabite daughter-in-laws to stay in Moab and remarry, but Ruth refused because she now also was a believer.

Ruth did not allow her wicked relatives before her to influence her. Just because parents are drunkards or perverts doesn’t mean we have to be. Some children live their entire adult lives blaming their parents. Some children live in bitterness. Every person has overcome issues whether it be parents or other Christians that have disappointed us, etc.

Even though Ruth was a victim, she did not have the victim mentality. Ruth had a beautiful marriage with Boaz even though she had a terrible background of incest.

She refuses to think of herself as a victim. She is moving ahead with her life and service to the Lord.

The last imperfect mother spotlighted is Bathsheba.

4. Bathsheba the Adulteress (Matthew 1:6)

Matthew doesn’t even mention her by name perhaps to stress she was the wife of Uriah who was a Hittite or another Gentile woman in Jesus’ Jewish family tree. Bathsheba was David’s neighbor who had some indiscreet outdoor bathing habits. She was also the willing accomplice in David’s great sin of adultery in 2 Samuel 11-12. There is no sign that she was forced or raped by David. She willingly sinned with him.

She, however, evidently became a positive influence in David’s life and Solomon her son. In first Kings 1, when David is old and inattentive to the affairs of his kingdom. David’s son Adonijah, attempts to become the next king when Solomon was David’s and God’s choice. Bathsheba goes into the king’s presence to tell him of the attempted coup of Adonijah. David acts swiftly, thanks to Bathsheba, and Solomon is made king.

God uses Bathsheba to keep the line through which Jesus will descend. Matthew 1:6 says that Solomon was the link to David through whom Jesus was born. Not Adonijah!

Imperfect people are all the people with whom God has to work. There is not one model family in Scripture to my knowledge. Was Adam and Eve’s family exemplary? Their older son murdered his younger son out of jealousy. What about Abraham and Sara? Abraham was a chronic liar. Isaac was deceived by his son Jacob because of his fleshly appetite. Jacob was a deceiver. Noah got drunk. David’s sins are common knowledge. Even Jesus’ brothers and sisters rejected Him until after they were grown.

What is the Message of these Imperfect Mothers?

1. Jesus can save and forgive any sinner. As a matter of fact, every time Jesus saves and forgives a person, He saves and forgives a sinner because all of us are sinners. He can save a Tamar or a Rahab or a Ruth or a Bathsheba.

2. Jesus uses imperfect people who are forgiven. God does not condone our sin, He forgives our sins and changes us and delivers us from our sin and uses us to help others in sin.

3. Jesus uses people who come from imperfect homes or tragic backgrounds who have been abused, mistreated, or neglected.

Mothers here this morning, you are a blessing and we thank God for you. If your mother is passed you can still give God thanks for her. Everyone of us can be used of God.

Elisa Morgan is the former president of MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers). While she was president, MOPS expanded from 350 to over 4,000 groups in the USA plus 30 more groups in other countries around the world. MOPs impacts 100,000 mothers each year. You might be thinking, Elias Morgan must have come from a strong Christian home to carry out all that. Right? Wrong!

She writes,

I’m probably the least likely person to head a mothering organization that impacts thousands of mother’s lives for the gospel. I grew up in a broken home. My parents were divorced when I was five. My older sister, younger brother, and I were raised by my alcoholic mother. While my mother meant well, most of my memories are of my mothering her, rather than her mothering me. Alcohol altered her love. I remember her weaving down the hall of our ranch home in Houston, Texas, glass of scotch in hand. I would wake her at seven each morning to try to get her off to work.

Ten years ago, when I was asked to consider leading MOPS International, a vital ministry that nurtures mothers, I went straight to my knees. How could God use me – who had never been mothered – to nurture other mothers? The answer came, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9) God would take my deficits and make them my offering to Him – and find His grace to be sufficient in my weakness.

Resources:

Arian Warnock’s sermon on Mother’s Day

Sermons on Mothers at The Gospel Coalition

Sermons on Mothers by John Piper

Sermon on Mothers by John MacArthur

Sermon: A Tribute to Moms by Stephen Davey

Garbage In Garbage Out, Part 1

Posted: May 3, 2013 in Personal Growth
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Garbage In

Dr. Walter Cavert reported a survey on worry that indicated that only 8 percent of the things people worry about were legitimate matters of concern. The other 92 % were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control.What are you worrying about now? What did worry about recently that did not materialize?

If worry is your problem, Paul gives us a three-fold remedy if you are plagued with worry:

1. Pray instead of worry (Philippians 4:6-7)

Paul simply instructs us to stop worrying about the problems of life and start praying about them. Practically, you can fulfill this verse by making a Worry List and write down the problems you are worrying about at this time. Then take your pen and mark through the word Worry and write above it Prayer. I challenge you now to convert your Worry List into a Prayer List.

Worry is not the same as concern. We should be concerned for others as Paul described Timothy in Philippians 2:19-20. Paul said concern for others should characterize the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:25: “the members should have the same care or concern one for another.” Worry is selfish which hinders us from ministering to others.

Worry in self-concern. This is what Paul is condemning. This is what Jesus forbade in Matthew 6:25-33: “Stop worrying about your life, what you eat, what you wear. But seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” Worry is selfish which hinders us from laboring for the kingdom of God.

You might say, “Well I’m just a worry wart. My mother was a worry wart.” Does that give us the right to disobey God’s Word? What if your mother had been an alcoholic?

2. Feed the Mind Properly (Philippians 4:8)

The average American is bombarded everyday with at least 1500 advertisements from all the media outlets: Internet, TV, newspapers, magazines, and billboards. Each advertisement is trying to control our thinking. If they can control our thinking, they can control our actions and ultimately our pocketbooks.

MacDonalds has convinced millions of 3 and 4 year olds it is more fun to eat a Happy Meal than a Kid’s Meal at Burger King. MacDonalds beats Burger King four to one. Four kids persuade parents to drive past Burger King and pull in MacDonalds and buy a Happy Meal.

Not only has the media succeeded in controlling our minds about their products but also about morality and religion. Homosexuality is no longer sodomy but an acceptable alternative lifestyle. As a result the younger generation has a totally different view of homosexuality. Perhaps our legalistic churches who have ridiculed them as “qreers” from the pulpits have also aided and abetted the secular media.

For example, you can view the YouTube of pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church who preached for the concentration of homosexuals behind electric fences and the ultimate death of “queers and homosexual.” It is no surprise our young people are turned off by churches. God hates the sin of homosexuality but His Son died for them just as He died for every sinner. Why not corral all adulterers, drunkards, or thieves behind electric fences and not just homosexuals?

A much more Biblical approach on is Matt Chandler’s message on YouTube “Jesus wants the rose.”

What are We to Think About? 

Someone called this list “The briefest biography of Christ.” Paul fires off a quick catalogue of worthy objects. The Word of God is the best source of what to think about. Paul’s list of what could be a list of Christ’s attributes is like David’s description of the Word in Psalm 19:7-9. Look up these two references and see the similarities between the attributes in Paul’s list and David’s list.

In computer science the principle is GIGO or “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” A computer processes the information it is given. The expression “Garbage in, garbage out” became famous when used by the defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran in the O. J. Simpson murder trial. Cochram argued that sloppy technicians and racist police tainted the mountain of blood evidence and the evidence was contaminated.

Same is true with human computers or our minds. Paul’s next point tells us how not to feed our minds garbage (Part 2)

Resources:

Stephen Davey’s sermonWorry: When Your Hope’s in the Bank

The Gospel Coalition sermons

John Piper’s Don’t be Anxious about Your Life

David Jeremiah: Slaying the Giants in Your Life: Worry

John MacArthur’s A Worried Christian

You Can Love The Jerks in Your Life!

Posted: May 2, 2013 in Sermon on Fruit of the Spirit, Sermons
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LoveYourEnemies

A young woman came to her pastor desperate and despondent. She said, “There is a man who says he loves me so much he will kill himself if I don’t marry him. What should I do?” “Do nothing,” her pastor replied. “That man doesn’t love you, he loves himself. Such a threat isn’t love, it is pure selfishness” (John MacArthur, 1st Corinthians, page 329).

True love is the opposite of this selfish suicide. Authentic love is giving, sharing, sacrificing for the spiritual benefit of another person. This is how God loves.

God is Love

1st John 4:8-10 says, “God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

God sent His Son to propitiate or satisfy His own wrath and anger at sin. God dispatched His Son to punish Him for our crimes to vindicate His justice as the righteous Judge of the Universe who cannot be bribed.

God sacrificed His Son for our benefit. This is John 3:16 love. Was the world of sinners that Jesus died for deserving of His love? No! Do all the people in our lives merit our love? No! But if we are like God we will love them. One church member recently criticized his church on Facebook because of their music. Does this slanderer deserve your unconditional love? Jesus loved Judas to the end.

This God like love is not optional for believers. Jesus commanded, ”Love your enemies bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Not only do we not love our enemies we do not love people we do not like. God sent His Son to die for those who hated Him. Jesus died for those who hated Him.

God Equips Us With His Love

How can we love people who are jerks? Only with God’s love which He supplied us with at salvation (Romans 5:5). God commands us to love Him and our neighbors in Matthew 22:37-39. But then God endows us with His love to fulfill this commandment.

The Holy Spirit Produces in Us The Fruit of the Spirit of Love

In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Like salvation, the fruit of the Spirit is “not of works less any man should boast.”

As we yield to the Spirit or as Paul states it in Galatians 5:16, “walk in the Spirit” God creates this fruit in us. It is not our responsibility to work up this fruit of love. As we yield to the Spirit, He grows this fruit in our lives.

“The Christian life, the fruit of the Spirit, is a constant reckoning of the flesh as dead and a constant relying on the present Spirit of Christ to produce love, joy, and peace within.” John Piper 

The fruit of the Spirit operative in a believer produces other fruit. MacArthur calls the fruit of the Spirit, attitude fruit. If we have attitude fruit we can produce action fruit:

1. Praise to the Lord (Hebrew 13:15)

2. Winning souls (1 Corinthians 16:15)

3. Godly works (Colossians 1:10)

Just as the works of the flesh evidence no salvation (Galatians 5:19-21) the fruit of the Spirit indicates salvation. Jesus made this truth clear in Matthew 7:16-18:

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

The Fruit of the Spirit Empowers us to Love God

The fruit of the Spirit empowers us to love God. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Jesus said, we love God by keeping His commandments (John 14:15). This is not rocket science. Am I obeying God’s Word? Yea or Nay?

The Fruit of the Spirit Enables us to Love Believers

The fruit of the Spirit enables us to love believers in very practical ways (1 John 3:16-18). Again, don’t make this to complicated.

Stephen Davey shared how some children defined true love.

Rebecca, age 8, said, “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend down to paint her toenails anymore, so my grandfather does it for her – that’s love.”

Danny, age 7, said, “When my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him to make sure the taste is okay – that’s love.”

Chris, age 7, said, “Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he’s handsome.”

Elaine, age 5, said, “Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”

Karl does not get it. He said, “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”

Lauren said, “I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” She will catch on later.

Let me give one more.

Jessica, age 8, delivered a profound truth when she said, “You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot, because people forget.”

To love others we must give to others (1 John 3:18). A soldier boy wrote letters to his sweetheart but never came home to see her. She married the mailman. Words are cheap.

God can help us to love others abundantly. Paul exhorted us this way in 1 Thessalonians 3:12: “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” We don’t have to be lukewarm, uncaring believers.

“Genuine Christian love … is the one thing in the Christian life which cannot be carried to excess” (Hiebert, The Thessalonian Epistles, p. 155).

When Warren W. Wiersbe counsels young couples in preparation for marriage, he often asks the man: “If your wife became paralyzed three weeks after you were married, do you love her enough to stay with her and care for her?”

Resources:

The Gospel Coalition has sermons on the Fruit of the Spirit from Martin Lloyd Jones, Mark Dever, Tim Keller, Kent Hughes, etc.

J. Oswald Sanders’ The Holy Spirit and His Gifts

Mark Driscoll What is the Fruit of the Spirit?

Lehman Strauss’ Be Filled with the Spirit

Religious But Lost, Part 2

Posted: April 30, 2013 in Sermons
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File_PassionMovie_JudasJohn Bunyan in his Pilgrim’s Progress wrote: “Then I saw there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven.” Judas rubbed shoulders with Jesus for over three years as His co-laborer in the gospel and went to Hell. Judas had Jesus by his side but he did not have Jesus in his life. How tragic to go to hell not just from the gates of Heaven or from the side of Jesus but also from a gospel preaching church. The consequences are the same.

1. A Good Beginning in Life is not Enough (Matthew 10:1-7) See Part 1

2. No One Hears the Gospel and Remains the Same (Matthew 26:14-16) See Part 1

3. The Final Rejection  of the Gospel (Matthew 26:20-25)

In Matthew 26:20-25, Christ extends to Judas another invitation. But Judas continues his masquerade. Not only did Jesus preach much about money but also about hypocrisy as in Matthew 23:27-28. Again very likely with two-faced Judas in mind.

In Matthew 26:46-50, we witness Judas’ final invitation. John in his parallel account notes that at this final rejection of Jesus by Judas, “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27).

We usually think of demon possession creating a monster like Adolph Hitler.

Adolph Hitler, was very tightly engaged with some what were called Black Monks from Tibet. They were mediums who contacted demon spirits. And Hitler was up to his proverbial neck in demonism. And he was supercharged by the forces of hell. In fact, his biographers would say that he didn’t speak in his own voice. If you talked to him before he gave a speech you would hear his voice, when he got up to the podium to give a speech, it was not his voice. He was literally taken over by demonic voices (MacArthur).

But Satan’s most priced trophy is not a Hitler but a religious Judas who can betray and deceive others. T. T. Shields, one of the leading preachers in the thirties against liberalism in seminaries and denominations, once said in a sermon: “In hell whole congregations will rise up and curse their pastors for not preaching the gospel.”

4. The Eternal Destiny  of a Wasted Life (Matthew 27:1-10)

While Judas was chosen from eternity past to be the betrayer of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver as predicted in Zechariah 11:12-13 (Matthew 27:9-10), Judas was responsible for his actions as heard in his own self incriminating words: “I have sinned” (Matthew 27:4). Judas was remorseful not repentant. Repentance leads to a turning from sin. Remorse leads to more sin.

Each of us is responsible. Christ made this very clear in His prophecy of the final judgment in Matthew 7:21-23 for all Christ rejecters. Bill O’Reilly was rightfully venting his outrage at the Boston bombers for their senseless murders. When O’Reilly heard of the death of the first brother, O’Reilly said, “He is now in Hell.” This is absolutely true. But not for the reason O’Reilly thinks. The first Boston bomber is not in hell for murdering innocent people. He eternally separated from God for rejecting Christ as his savior.

Act 1:25 says Judas went to his own place.

MacArthur illustrates “his own place.” The church from the very outset after his life has put him in the lowest place. Even Dante in The Inferno in his passage through hell, you find Judas as depicted as occupying the lowest place with Lucifer and that he is enduring the most punishment possible by God. And part of his punishment is that Judas in Dante’s view is barred and shunned from even the caverns of the damned. He’s beneath them. Dante came to that thought because when Judas died it says he went to his own place. In Dante’s view that is a solitary place at the bottom of hell.

Jesus in His high priestly prayer said Judas was the son of perdition (John 17:12). Only the Antichrist is called son of perdition in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3. Perdition means to eternally waste. While Judas called Mary’s offering a waste in John 12:5, Jesus said Judas wasted opportunities, wasted his life, and now wastes away in eternity.

If your righteousness is only as deep as the self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees, “you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Cry out to Jesus!

Resource:

John Piper’s Judas Iscariot

Stephen Davey’s Living a Lie

 John MacArthur‘s Judas Iscariot, Part 2

Religious But Lost, Part 1

Posted: April 29, 2013 in Sermons
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I had a deacon who did ministry with me once a week. One week we were visiting in a couples’ home. I witnessed the gospel to them. A few Sundays later at the invitation in our church my deacon came forward and trusted Christ as his Savior. I told him after the  service that I thought he already was a believer. He said the evening I was sharing the gospel with the unsaved couple I was really witnessing to him.

I had a pastor friend who was very effective in ministry. He confessed to me that he was not a believer and that he had been living a lie. He received the Christ he had been preaching to others. I baptized him in his own church.

Charles Templeton was an evangelists and friend of Billy Graham. They sometimes preached together. Templeton eventually left the faith and became an agnostic. He wrote a book entitled, Farewell to God. In his book he presents arguments against Christianity. Lee Strobel interviewed Charles Templeton before his death, who said, “I miss Jesus.”

Judas Iscariot tragically also said “Farewell to God.” Charles Templeton preached with Billy Graham all over Europe. Judas Iscariot preached with Jesus all over Palestine.

Every time Judas Iscariot’s name is mentioned in the New Testament, this description is added, “who also betrayed him” or “who was the traitor”.

When people hear our name, what mental description pops into their thinking? I trust it is not the epitaph of Judas Iscariot. The infamous biography of Judas is dispersed through out the gospels. We will begin in Matthew 10.

1. A Good Beginning in Life is not Enough (Matthew 10:1-7)

Judas was once an honorable name. Judas is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Judah. Judah was one of leading tribes of Israel. Judas means, God leads. Probably, his believing parents named him with great hope that their new baby boy would grow up and always follow the Lord. Now, however, no parent would name his or her child Judas.

Luke adds that Jesus chose His disciples after praying all night (6:12-16). Did Jesus know Judas was lost when He chose him? Yes!

One year before Judas public betrayal, Jesus publically acknowledged that one of the chosen12 was a hypocrite in John 6:66-71.

During the last week before Jesus’ death, in John 13:18, Jesus informs His disciples that He chose His betrayer according to Scripture in Psalm 41:9. So while Judas had all his co-laborers in the gospel deceived, he did not have the omniscient Son of God conned. Jesus knows the heart of each of us this very moment. Listen to John’s description of Jesus omniscience in 2:23-24. He can see through our veneer of religiosity.

2. No One Hears the Gospel and Remains the Same

A. Judas stole money

Judas had apparently had a good beginning in life with believing parents. But Judas hardened under the constant exposure to the gospel. We learn from John 12:1-8, that Judas was a “thief.” Judas judged any money given to the Lord or the Lord’s work a waste. Here are Judas’ first recorded words in Scripture. Contrast Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-21. Judas was in the audience when Jesus spoke this warning using the word “thieves” twice. I’m sure those words stung even Judas’ calloused heart. Perhaps the reason Jesus preached more on the subject of money than any other theme is because Judas, the money lover, was in audience.

If that sounds incredible, just think of the scandalous behavior of so-called Christian leaders today who use ministry gifts to buy $39,000 worth of clothes at one store in a year, and send their kids on a $29,000 trip to the Bahamas, and drive a white Lexus and a red Mercedes. As Judas sat beside Jesus with his pious, religious face and went out and cast out demons in Jesus’ name, he was not a righteous lover of Jesus. He loved money. He loved the power and pleasures that money could buy (John Piper)

B. Judas sold Christ

Matthew documents the gradual desensitizing of the religious but lost in Matthew 26:14-16. No one hears the gospel and remains unchanged.

A preacher once preached a sermon entitled, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” He told of Leonardo Da Vinci painting his famous “The Last Supper.” He said that Da Vinci labored several years on this masterpiece, carefully selecting models for the portraits of the disciples and Christ. Finally, it was all done except for the face of Judas. The famous painter searched everywhere but could not find just the right face. He visited the brothels and the slums. He talked to bums and derelicts, but was not satisfied.

Years passed and Da Vinci left his hometown and traveled to other cities of Europe combing the streets and alleys to find his face. Disappointed, he returned home, discouraged of ever finding the perfect model. Then one day while sitting outside the stairs of his downtown studio he saw, staggering down the sidewalk, a man whose countenance embodied exactly what he wanted for the face of Judas. Da Vinci impelled him to pose for him, and for days he excitedly painted in the last face of his masterpiece. When it was completed, the man asked, “May I see the painting?” Da Vince stepped aside as his model gazed upon the work. He seemed transfixed. Finally he spoke, “You still don’t remember me!”

“Remember you?” cried the artist. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“Oh, yes you have,” replied the man. “Seven years ago you painted me—there,” and with a trembling finger, he pointed to the face of Jesus!

Resources:

John MacArthur’s Common Men, Uncommon Call: Judas Iscariot, Part 1

Stephen Davey’s sermon “Living a Lie.”

John Piper’s Judas Iscariot

Can Evangelism and Politics Mix?

Posted: April 2, 2013 in Christians and Government
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Put bluntly, America is becoming more secular. Albert Mohler identifies the problem: “Recent studies have indicated that the single greatest predictor of voting patterns is the frequency of church attendance. Far fewer Americans now attend church, and a recent study indicated that fully 20% of all Americans identify with no religious preference at all. The secularizing of the electorate will have monumental consequences.”

How are Believers to Respond? 

1. Do Evangelism, not Politics (Wayne Grudem gives the first two points)

John MacArthur advocates a version of this view: “The believer’s political involvement should never displace the priority of preaching and teaching the gospel because the morality and righteousness that God seeks is the result of salvation and sanctification” (Why Government Can’t Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism, page 8).

MacArthur is not saying no involvement, but the believer’s participation in government is not as important as spreading the gospel.

MacArthur, however, makes an even stronger statement: “God does not call the church to influence the culture by promoting legislation and court rulings that advance a scriptural point of view” (Why Government Can’t Save You, page 130). My question is, if the Congress had a chance to reverse Roe v Wade, should Christians try to influence their Congressmen to pass a constitutional amendment to end the murder of unborn babies?

2. Do Politics, Not Evangelism

This is the liberal view of the Social Gospel and Liberation theology. This view is a works for salvation view that advocates saving the planet but not saving individual sinners. This view advocates delivering all the marginalized minorities through redistribution of wealth by taxing more and more the top income makers. Some of these believe it is the responsibility of the church to bring in the kingdom and once society has been totally reformed, Christ will return. Some of these are called Christian Reconstructionists.

This is contrary to Scripture. “In the last days perilous times shall come.” “The love of many will wax worse.” Only Jesus can establish His kingdom.

3. Do Evangelism and Politics

Jesus was asked, “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:18). Jesus replied, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (22:21). This was a revolutionary statement.

Jesus indicated there are two separate spheres of influences in people’s lives. One of government and one of religion. This was a huge change from the OT which was a theocracy where the entire nation was considered the people of God and God’s law regulated every area of life. There was no separation of religion and state in the OT. The political leader of the nation was also the spiritual leader of the nation. There was no freedom of religion. There was only one acceptable religion. This is not the case today as Jesus’ statement showed.

We believers are citizens of America and we have certain responsibilities to our government. We pay taxes over which the government has control and authority. We are also citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and we have certain responsibilities to God over which the government has no control. Government can expect us to keep zoning laws for the public safety of our people. But if government starts telling believers what to believe and how to worship then as Peter said, “We ought to obey God and not man.” The first amendment reflects this truth: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

What are the responsibilities of Believers in regard to Government?

1. Christians can Influence those in Government

Wayne Grudem lists many examples of Christians positively and significantly influencing government: “Christians influence on government was primarily responsible for outlawing infanticide, child abandonment, and abortion in the Roman Empire in AD 374; outlawing the brutal battles-to-the-death in which thousands of gladiators had died in AD 404….In England, William Wilberforce, a devout Christian, led the successful effort to abolish the slave trade and the slavery itself throughout the British Empire in 1840” (Politics: According to the Bible, pages 49-50).

Daniel rebuked King Nebuchadnezzar in 4:27. Jeremiah counseled believers in Babylon to “seek the welfare of the city” in 29:7. Joseph was second only to Pharaoh in Egypt and influenced the decision making. Moses boldly commanded Pharaoh in Egypt “Let my people go” in Ex. 8:1. John the Baptist rebuked Herod in Luke 3:18-20. Paul preached to Roman governor Felix in Acts 24:24-25.

2. Christians can pray for those in Government (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Paul teaches churches the responsibility to pray for political leaders from the president (“king”) on down. Paul did not mean we are pray just for presidents we like or voted into office. Who were the political leaders in Paul’s life? Felix and Festus the Roman governors. The Roman Emperor was Nero who martyred believers. Then Paul gives us the reason for praying for our political leaders. We should pray for our political leaders so “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” But hasn’t the church flourished under severe persecution? Did not the church decline spiritually when Constantine ended persecution against the church? Is not the church exploding in Communist China? The answer to all of these questions is “yes” and yet Paul exhorted believers to pray for their political leaders so that we wont have to be persecuted.

The reason why Paul wanted believers to pray for their political leaders was they could more easily give out the Gospel. Listen to this important point made by Paul in verses 3-6: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

E. V. Hill, the pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles who once served as a ward leader for the Democratic party. Hill’s assignment was to get out the vote for the Democratic candidates, and his chief strategy for doing this was to have a block captain for each block of his ward. On election day, the block captains were to contact each resident of their blocks to make sure they voted. When Hill came to Los Angeles and began pastoring the church, he was convicted by the thought, that if he did this for the Democrats, why shouldn’t he do it for God; why not have a Christian block captain for every block of Los Angeles? It was not as absurd as it sounded.

In E. V. Hill’s area of the city, south central Los Angeles, the number of city blocks was 3,100. That became the mission of this church. Church members moved into a block for this very purpose. The church adopted an attitude that they existed for the sake of the gospel.

Hill tells of a funny thing that happened on one occasion. One man had been very put off by the block captain where he lived. She was always inviting him to church and other meetings of the church – always friendly, but persistent. He decided to move. In fact, he decided to move to the other side of Los Angeles. The truck came. He loaded up his possessions. His block captain came out to say goodbye. The truck started off. But as soon as he was gone, the block captain went back into her house, got out the directory of the Mount Zion block captains, found the person in charge of the block to which her offended neighbor was moving, and when he got to his new area, there was the new block community captain standing on the street in front of his new home to welcome him and invite him to church. His comment was classic; he said, “My God, they’re everywhere” (Stephen Davey sermon on Romans 13).

Kevin Bauder Examines Conservative Evangelicals

Posted: April 2, 2013 in Church Ministries
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Kevin Bauder, President of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, writes in his In The Nick of Time, about the separation issue today being fought between some Fundamentalists and Conservative Evangelicals. This is a current aspect of separation being discussed by concerned fundamentalists at Fundamentally Reformed.

Who are some leading conservative evangelicals according to Bauder?

John Piper, Mark Dever, John MacArthur, Charles Ryrie, Bruce Ware, Bryan Chapell, Wayne Grudem, D. A. Carson, Al Mohler, Tim Keller, John D. Hannah, Ed Welch, Ligon Duncan, Tom Nettles, C. J. Mahaney, Norman Geisler, and R. C. Sproul.

Some of the CE organizations are: Together for the Gospel, the Gospel Coalition, the Master’s Seminary, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, The National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, and Ligonier Ministries.

What do these men have in common?

Their commitment to defend the gospel. This is where Historic Fundamentalism started in the 1920s and 30s in the Modernist/Fundamentalist Controversy.

What are some of the differences between Fundamentalists and Conservative Evangelicals?

1. Conservative evangelicals are anti-dispensational. Bauder says CE is less vitriolic than the anti-Calvinism of some Fundamentalists. There is, however, plenty of vitriolism on both sides. Some CE doubt if dispensationalists are believers.

2. CE is tolerate of Third-Wave charismatic theology.

3. CE accommodate a more contemporary version of popular culture. The weakness of some Fundamentalists is to separate so from far from culture to never impact the people for whom Jesus died.

4. CE disagree about what to do with Christian leaders who make common cause with apostates.

Right wing Fundamentalists declare that CE are new evangelicals. New evangelicals, however, are committed to a policy of re-infiltrating ecclesiastical organizations captured by apostates. Chuck Colson with his leadership in producing Evangelicals and Catholics Together and The Manhatten Declaration represents new evangelicalism. CE reject this positions and attitude.

CE defend a different set of doctrines than the some Fundamentalists. The right wing Fundamentalists fight over the King James Version and anti-Calvinism. Right wing Fundamentalists are battling over versions, dress, and music. CE battle Open Theism, evangelical feminism, opponents of inerrancy, the New Perspective of Paul and the Emergent Church.

Some Fundamentalists insist that CE are the enemy.

More and more Fundamentalists are not entering into full cooperation with CE but they are working together in certain targeted areas. Bauder documents:

One seminary recently hosted John D. Hannah for a lecture series, and another hosted Ed Welch. A Fundamentalist mission agency brought in John Piper to challenge its missionaries. A leader who is a Fundamentalist pastor and seminary president has written for a conservative evangelical periodical. A very straight-laced Bible college sent its students to T4G. One elder statesman of Fundamentalism chose to preach in the chapel of a conservative evangelical seminary. Other Fundamentalist schools are slated to host Michael Vlach from Master’s Seminary and Mark Dever from Capital Hill Baptist Church. These steps are being taken, not by disaffected young Fundamentalists, but by the older generation of leadership within the mainstream of the Fundamentalist movement.

Bauder adds: These leaders are neither abandoning Fundamentalism nor embracing conservative evangelicalism. They are simply recognizing that the Fundamentalist label is no guarantee of doctrinal fidelity. They are aware that historic, mainstream Fundamentalism has more in common with conservative evangelicals than it does with many who wear the Fundamentalist label.

The group, Bauder calls the hyper-fundamentalist Right, reject these associations as compromise.

What is Kevin Bauder’s position?

We Fundamentalists may not wish to identify with everything that conservative evangelicals say and do. To name these men as neo-evangelicals, nonetheless, is entirely unwarranted. To treat them like enemies or even opponents is to demonize the very people who are the foremost defenders of the gospel today. We do not have to agree in every detail to recognize the value of what they do.

If we did not have conservative evangelicals to guard the borders, the real enemy would have invaded our camp long ago. Fundamentalism has exhibited a remarkable freedom from Open Theism, evangelical feminism, New Perspective theology, and other present-day threats to the gospel. The reason is not that Fundamentalists have kept the enemy at bay. The reason is that other thinkers—mainly conservative evangelicals—have carried the battle to the enemy. Conservative evangelicals are the heavy artillery, under the shelter of whose barrage Fundamentalists have been able to find some measure of theological safety.

So let’s get clear on this.

Conservative evangelicals are not our enemies. They are not our opponents. Conservative evangelicals have proven themselves to be allies and even leaders in the defense of the faith.

If we attack conservative evangelicals, then we attack the defense of the faith. We attack indirectly the thing that we hold most dear, namely, the gospel itself, for that is what they are defending. We should not wish these brothers to falter or to grow feeble, but rather to flourish. We must do nothing to weaken their hand in the face of the enemies of the gospel.

What is your position in this left to right spectrum? Admittedly there is overlap in Bauder’s labels. Most people do not fit neatly into a single category.

The Call to Worship at Christmas

Posted: December 17, 2012 in Christ
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In 1977, the Chicago Tribune reported the story of Maria Rubio of Lake Arthur, New Mexico who was frying tortillas when she noticed that the skillet burns on one of her tortillas resembled the face of Jesus. Excited, she showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that there was a face etched on the tortilla and that it truly bore a resemblance to Jesus.

So the woman went to her priest to have the tortilla blessed. She testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed that she had been a more peaceful, happy, submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived. The priest, not accustomed to blessing tortillas, was somewhat reluctant but agreed to do it.

The woman took the tortilla home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make it look like it was floating on clouds and built a special altar for it. Mr. Rubio built a utility like shack in the backyard and opened the little shrine to visitors. Within a few months, more than eight thousand people came to the shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla, and all of them agreed that the face in the burn marks on the tortilla was the face of Jesus (except for one reporter who said he thought it looked like former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks.)

Within two years, more than 35,000 people visited the shrine. For 28 years, pilgrims kept coming to see the Holy Tortilla. Over time, the burn marks faded and the image was hard to make out, but people still wanted to worship at the shrine (John MacArthur. The Ultimate Priority, page one).

What Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:22, would apply to Maria Rubio: “You worship you know not what.”

Jesus also told her and us that God “the Father seeks worshippers” (John 4:23). Ever since creation, when the angels sang and shouted God’s praise for His creation, God has sought worship.

Maria Rubio is not alone in distorting the worship of God. A. W. Tozer called “worship, the missing jewel of the church.” A. W. Tozer in The Best of A. W. Tozer, as quoted in Making New Discoveries (Anaheim, Calif.: Insight for Living, 1996), 29.

What is true worship?

Is true worship a feeling when we go to church? Do I worship when my needs are meet at a church service? Is worship self-centered? What is true worship?

The Wise Men in Matthew 2 show us what true worship is. From the Wise Men we learn

1. We Must Know Who God is To Worship (2:1-6)

In Matthew 2:2, the wise men ask “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” They did not ask, “Where is he born who will be the King?” The wise men knew that Christ was now the King of the Jews. They had to be students of God’s Word to know about the sovereignty of God. This knowledge was probably passed down to them from Daniel the prophet while he was in Babylon as a wise man himself.

Christ is the King or the Ruler of the universe, the church, and our lives. Herod was a king among kings, but Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.

True worship involves learning about God from His Word. Only students of God’s Word can be worshippers of the Lord.

2. We Must Be Committed to Worship (2:7-12)

The wise men said, “We have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.” In order to worship the Lord, the wise men expended great energy and financial resources.

Worship is giving to God according to Psalm 29:1-2:

Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,

Give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

1) The wise men invested money to worship

They travelled with a caravan of flocks and soldiers in order to worship the King in a distant land.

What we give to we worship. What we worship we give to. Jesus said, “Where your heart there will your money be” (Matthew 6:19-20). Look at your budget or check book or credit or debit card receipts. After the necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing, and transportation, what do we spend our money on? Recreation? Material possessions? God’s work?

2) The wise men gave time to worship

They traveled over a year to find and worship Christ the King. Herod in 2:7, asked the wise men what time they saw the star. Herod wanted to know how old his rival king was so that he could eliminate him as he attempted to do in 2:16.

A 20 year-old masked gunman dressed in black massacred 12 girls and 8 boys and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. on Friday. There had been only one homicide in ten years in this small community about 60 miles northeast of New York City. This is tragic and unthinkable for the parents of these twenty kids and the families of the six adults. People are asking, “How does this happen?” “How does this happen at Christmas?” “How does someone execute a six year old?”

The first Christmas massacre was when the wise men sought to find the King of the Jews and wicked king Herod sought to exterminate his rival by having all boys under the age of two murdered in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was located five miles south of Jerusalem and had a population of only 500 to 600 people. Probably about the same number of children were murdered by king Herod as were at Newtown, Conn.

“Evil visited this community today,” Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy said of Friday’s massacre. We have to remember that not only is Jesus the reason for the season, but sin is also the reason for the season. That is the reason Jesus was born and God was incarnate so He could go to the cross and die for our sins.

Who worships the Lord?

Not Herod. Herod invested no time or money in worshiping Christ. Not the religious teachers. These had knowledge but were unwilling to give time and money even to travel only 5 miles. They had knowledge and religious activities but were unconverted. The reason some do not worship the Lord is because they have not been converted by Him. It is possible to go to a house of worship and not worship.

The Ethiopian eunuch did not worship because he was unconverted according to Luke’s account in Acts 8:26-39.

3) Giving Money and Time have to be a lifestyle of worship

Worship must be a personal lifestyle during the week before it is a corporate act on Sunday.

MacArthur observed, “The source of most of the problems people have in their Christian lives relates to two things. Either they are not worshipping six days a week with life. Or they are not worshipping one day a week with the assembly of the saints. We need both.

A pastor went to see a man who didn’t attend church very faithfully. The man was sitting before a fireplace, watching the warm glow of the coals. It was a cold winter day but the coals were red hot, and the fire was warm. The pastor pleaded with the man to be more faithful in meeting with the people of God, but the man didn’t seem to be getting the message. So the pastor took the tongs beside the fireplace, pulled open the screen, and reached in and began to separate all the coals. When none of the coals was touching the others, he stood and watched in silence. In a matter of moments, they were all cold. “That’s what’s happening in your life,” he told the man. “As soon as you isolate yourself from God’s people, the fire goes out.” The man got the message (MacArthur. The Ultimate Priority, page 106).

How do we worship six days a week?

The wise men sought to worship Christ over a year before they actually bowed before Him and gave Him gifts.

There are two key words for worship in the N.T

1. Worship as in Matthew 2

2. Serve as in Matthew 4:10

a. Serving people as in Romans 14:18. How do we treat people during the week? If we are rude, stuck up, and unkind to people during the week, we are not going to worship on Sundays.

b. In Hebrews 13:15-16, our worship to God is closely related to how we treat people.

When we have worshipped during the week, by giving God our time and service and treating people properly, we can worship on Sunday.

Personal worship during the week feeds our corporate worship service. The more we worship six days a week, the more we will worship on Sunday. If we are not getting anything out of the worship on Sunday, then ask yourself, “Am I putting anything into my personal worship during the week?”

The wise men finally worship in Matthew 2:9-11. The star they had been following for months was the manifestation of God’s presence instead of a literal star. This presence of God directed them to the exact house Jesus was living in, something a literal star could not do. For over a year, the wise men had been in the presence of God. This was the same brilliant shining that led Israel by day and by night or the Shekinah glory of God. No wonder they worshipped when they finally saw Christ.

We believers today have something even greater than the wise men to prepare us for worship according to Peter’s testimony in 2 Peter 1:16-21. Here is how James Montgomery Boice explains our advantage:

Our experience parallels that of the wise men and shepherds at this point, but is actually superior to theirs. The shepherds received a vision of the glory of God, accompanied by angels. The wise men saw a star. But we have received the Scriptures, which are the very Word of God and are described to us as a “light shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). The context of that reference is interesting. It comes from the second letter of Peter and follows a section in which Peter has cited the fact that he was an eyewitness of the heavenly glory of Jesus Christ. He was one of those who was with Jesus on the mountain when He was transformed and a voice from God was heard, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (2 Peter 1:17). That experience of Peter (and James and John, who were with him) would compare quite favorably with the experience of the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem or that of the magi as they studied the heavens. Yet immediately after that Peter speaks of the Scripture as being even ‘more certain” and concludes: “You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (v. 19). In spite of his experience, Peter valued the written Word of God above everything (The Christ of Christmas, Moody Press: Chicago, page 78).

The light of God’s Word is greater than the star that directed the wise men or the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites by day and by night.

God’s Word is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my feet. If we spend time in God’s Word, it will lead us to worship the Lord.

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