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Ephesians 3:8-11, 20-21                                                                                                                   ⁸ “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, ¹⁰ so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,                                                                                            ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

WOW! With an exciting title like that, even I can’t wait to hear this Sunday’s sermon!

John Calvin is often quoted as saying, “The chief duty of the church is to make the invisible kingdom of God visible to the world.” While I certainly believe that to be true, I believe this idea of “making the invisible visible” goes farther than that. This coming Sunday morning, as the Lord allows, I will share three areas in which the Church fulfills our goal of “making the invisible visible.”

First, we exist to make the invisible gospel visible! The Bible says that we are walking, talking gospels that are read by everyone. Lost people can neither see nor understand the things of the Spirit of God, (including the gospel) so it has been given to the people of God to make it visible to them!

Second, we exist to make the invisible Kingdom of God visible! While some believers think that the Kingdom is only something that is “out there” in the future, the truth is that the Kingdom is already present on earth and is manifested in the Church!

Yes, I am premillennial in my theology and I am convinced that there will indeed be a literal 1,000 year rule of Jesus Christ on earth fulfilling God’s covenant with David. But, I also believe that there is an “already” aspect to the Kingdom right now as Jesus rules and reigns as King of Kings in the hearts and lives of His people. He is already our King and we are already His Kingdom!

Finally, the church exists to make the invisible Glory of Jesus visible! Our resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord indwells His people through the Person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is glorious and His glory can be seen – even during His temporary absence from earth – in His people. Several verses tell us the ways in which we can glorify Jesus in our life today.

One of the great tragedies of life is for someone or some group to live and die never knowing and never fulfilling their reason for existing! This should not, and must not, be true of the Church! We simply exist to make visible to this lost and dying world the gospel, the Kingdom, and the glory of Jesus!

I hope you will think over these verses and pray over these verses and come to Church Sunday morning ready to be transformed by the Word of God.

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

“Gettysburg” the 1993 movie by Ronald F Maxwell, is surely my favorite movie of all time. I have watched it several times and own more than one DVD copy of it! One of my 200 or so favorite scenes takes place just before “Pickets Charge” on the last day of the Battle, July 3^rd, 1863. In that scene, General Lewis A. Armistead is preparing his Virginians to step out onto the open ground and form up for a nearly 2 mile march against the Federal lines on Cemetery Ridge.

The men are being pelted with cannon fire and shrapnel is falling all around them. Some of the men are moving from tree to tree to find the safest possible place. General Armistead then utters the famous line, “Steady men. There is no safe place here. One place is as good as another.”

He was absolutely right. There was no safe place there; and, as the events of yesterday have again proven, there is no safe place here either.

We struggle to make sense out of a senseless act. We seek to find safety in the face of a completely unexpected attack on innocent people who were either participating in, or watching, the 2013 Boston Marathon. Only time will tell the final toll of this attack, but as I am writing this morning there are three confirmed dead and one-hundred and forty-seven injured. Many of those injured are seriously injured, and one of the dead is an eight year old boy.

As Christians, we understand that we live in a fallen and broken world. Adam’s sin touched every human and the very earth on which we live.

This is a dangerous and deadly place. There is no safe place here.

Every day that we get out of bed we realize we may never get back into that bed again. Every time we get into our car, or an airplane, or a piece of equipment we realize that we may not live to get out of it again. Accidents, criminal acts, and the weakness of our physical body all conspire against us to keep us from ever really being safe in this world.

On a personal note as a Pastor, I read a book by a man who is one of the greatest – if not “the” – greatest pastor of all time, Richard Baxter (1615-1691) where he wrote, “I preach as a dying man to dying men; and never sure to preach again.” That is great advice and advice of which I often think!

The painful truth is that none of us know how long the Lord will allow us to live in this world. While health care is dramatically improving – as I am living proof – many people still die as children, teens, and young adults. We just do not know how long we will live.

I am writing this morning because I love you and I want to say to you, “There is no safe place here!” Not in your home, your car, at work, or at play. Over the past few years, we have read of people being killed while attending a service at their church.

All we can do – and must do – is be ready to meet the Lord. Repent, believe, and (if you are saved) live in such a way that will bring honor to the Lord. The next face you see may be His; the next voice you hear may be His; the next step you take may be on streets of gold.

“Prepare to meet your God…” Amos 4:12 There is no safe place here.

John 14:1-3 ¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day I will bring another sermon in my series entitled “Survey of Bible Doctrines” on the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are very few subjects in the Bible that so captivate the attention and thinking of people as does this one!

This will be the final sermon in this series on “Christology” as I will next bring a few sermons on “Ecclesiology” (The Doctrine of the Church).

On the subject of the return of Jesus Christ, there is a lot to think about…

The very next event on God’s prophetic clock is “The Rapture.” This is the removal of God’s people from the earth prior to the beginning of the great period of judgment on this earth that is called in the Bible, “The Tribulation.” This is, of course, one of the most controversial of Bible teachings; but, it is not as unclear as some like to make it. It is next!

The “Tribulation” is a period lasting seven years that is divided into two parts of 3 ½ years each. This will be an unprecedented time of suffering and anguish as the antichrist is allowed to have great power and influence on earth.

Following these difficult days, Jesus will return as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and set up the promised Kingdom of His father David on earth, which will last for 1,000 years.

At the end of that time, Satan will be temporarily loosed on earth to lead one final rebellion against God that will end in his ultimate and final destruction at the “Battle of Gog and Magog.”

Following that, all of the unsaved of all ages will stand before God at the “Great White Throne” judgment and begin their eternal suffering that is the price for their rejection of God.

But, as we think about these things, I am mindful of a great quote on this subject that Bobby Boyles said here a few years ago – “The Second Coming of Christ is two-fold and it takes seven years to unfold!”

I want to give you some questions and verses to think about this week as you prepare your spirit to hear the Word of God:

What will happen when Jesus returns in the air to take His chosen people out of this world? Cf. 1^st Thessalonians 4:13-18

What will be the key differences in this event and His physical return to the Mount of Olives seven years later? Cf. Revelation 19:11-21

What will He (and we) do for the next 1,000 years? Cf. Revelation 20:1-6

Following the final judgment, where will He (and we) be and what will He (and we) be doing for all of eternity? Cf. Revelation 20:7 – 22:21

I hope you will read over and pray over these verses and come to church Sunday ready to learn what God has promised that He will do in the days to come.

I hope to see you here Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning I will continue my series on “A Survey of Bible Doctrines” with sermon #13 entitled: “Christology – The Ascension and Present Ministry of Christ!” With all of our excitement about the resurrection of Jesus (and we should be excited about the resurrection of Jesus) and His imminent return, the ascension of Jesus back to His Father and His present ministry as our Great High Priest are often overlooked. This ought not to be!

So, my remedy for this unhappy situation is to preach a sermon on these topics – this coming Sunday morning!

Ascension to heaven is a vitally important thing. So important, in fact, that other religions have copied the idea. Both the Muslims and Mormons teach that the founder of their religion was ascended up to heaven. I am sure there are others religions that make this claim for their leaders also.

But we know that Jesus did ascend back to heaven from the Mount of Olives forty days after His resurrection. He ascended in the presence of many of His disciples. It was at that time He gave them the last reminder of “The Great Commission” and we are told that they were so awe struck by that sight that an angel of God had to chastise them for not leaving right away to begin their work!

That “Great” work is our work; and it is the greatest of all work – bringing the lost to Christ and then leading them to become fully devoted followers of our Lord! It is not only vitally important that we understand that Jesus did ascend to heaven; it is also important that we fully understand what He has been doing since that time and what He is doing now.

Jesus is – right at this very moment – serving as our Great High Priest in heaven! He will continue to do so until the time of His return.

The work of a Priest, and especially the High Priest, was two-fold: he was to represent God to man and man to God. This is what the Lord Jesus is doing now. His first great work to represent us to God was to offer to God a spotless sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of those who repent of our sins and trust Him as our Savior. The sacrifice Jesus brought to the heavenly Temple was Himself – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

His second work as our Great High Priest is to mediate the New Covenant. He is not, as were the sons of Aaron, a merely human priest who had to first sacrifice for his own sins; He is the mediator of a “Better Covenant” bought by a “Better Sacrifice.” Since a “Covenant” demands two parties – we, as the other party, have at least four responsibilities to Him:

First, we are commanded to draw near to him!

Second, we are commanded to hold fast to our confession!

Third, we are commanded to encourage one another!

And Fourth, we are commanded to continually and increasingly meet together!

As we more fully understand what He is doing for us right now, we will be better able to respond rightly by doing the four things for which we are responsible to Him. I hope that you will read over these verses; think over these notes; get prayed-up and fired-up about meeting with God and His people on Sunday.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side…

John 12:12-19                                                                                                                                  ¹² “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷ The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Over the past ten weeks, I have been preaching a series of sermons on Basic Bible Doctrines. This coming Sunday, as the Lord allows, I will preach the fourth of seven sermons on the subject of Christology entitled, Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Israel. This is, of course, Palm Sunday. So, I will be focusing on the Messiahship of Jesus.

The word “Messiah” means the “Anointed One.” It is the same as the New Testament word, “Christ.” Jesus fulfilled dozens of prophecies of the coming Messiah. In fact, you will have a list of 47 of them that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime.

Another happy and sure thought is that since Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, HE will also fulfill the remaining prophecies of the Messiah including the fact that He will return to the Mount of Olives and establish a literal 1,000 year Kingdom on earth.

There are four specific themes taken from these verses that I want to apply to our lives in this sermon:

Jesus presents Himself to Israel as their Messiah on the week of Passover – exactly at the right time. This is the time that the Jews celebrate the exodus from Egypt and looked forward to the coming of the Pascal Lamb, Who would take away their sins.

He came to them, but they rejected Him five days later!

At first, the people responded to His arrival as they should have. They welcomed, worshiped, and celebrated Him. It is sad that they did not mean it and that they finally rejected Him when He did not do what they wanted.

Jesus came as the King of Peace. It is easy to overlook the importance of peace. We think about holiness, righteousness, justice, and deliverance; but, peace is a gift of God that cannot be underestimated.

It was true then, and it is still true today, that many people only want to follow Jesus when He provides them what they want. They want to see miracles and they want to be taken care of. One of the reasons this godless “Health, Wealth, and Prosperity” word-faith teaching is having such a wide impact on people is this very thing.

Jesus did not come primarily to do something for us or to give something to us. (That does happen, but it is not the primary reason He came.) Jesus came to glorify His Father and to accomplish His holy will.

Finally, we will see again that unsaved religious people hate Jesus and really want Him out of their lives and out of their way.

Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He came to die for His people and He will return to set up His Kingdom.

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. It is all about Jesus.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

Acts 10:34-43  

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning I will continue our series of “Bible Doctrines” with another sermon in the area of “Christology” (that is the doctrine of Christ.)

This week, we will look at the purpose of God in having Jesus live in this world for thirty-something years as a man. Certainly, the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ are the three most important aspects of his earthly life; but, there is more to God’s plan of redemption that just these three things!

It takes more than “just” forgiveness to save a soul. If all we do is become sinless, we will be in the same place as Adam and Eve before the fall; without sin charged against us, but also without God’s righteousness which is absolutely essential for entrance into God’s Kingdom! Therefore, Jesus not only had to die for our sins, He had to live a sinless life in perfect obedience to the Laws of God in order that those two requirements for entrance into God’s presence can be imputed to us!

There are four specific facts about this that I want to cover carefully in this week’s sermon:

First, the glorious fact is that Jesus can indeed die for our sins because He had none of His own for which to atone! We will look at several New Testament passages which affirm this fact. He knew no sin, so God IMPUTED our sins to Him and IMPUTED His sinlessness to us!

Please take careful note that these blessings are IMPUTED to us, not IMPARTED to us. We do not become sinless, but God accounts us as being sinless. Our sins are placed on Jesus’ account and His sinlessness is placed on our account!

Second, since we also lack the positive righteousness that God demands of those who would enter His Kingdom, the righteousness of Jesus is IMPUTED to us when we repent of our sins and trust Him as our Savior!

Third, while we continually break the Laws of God, Jesus perfectly obeyed them and His obedience is also accounted to (IMPUTED) to us!

Fourth and Finally, the IMPUTATION of the sinlessness and the righteousness of Jesus Christ to our account before God is the single and solitary basis of our acceptance by Him – and, the reason that Jesus Christ is the single and solitary way by which anyone can be saved!

Here are some key verses in addition to our text over which you will want to read and pray before the sermon this Sunday: John 8:44-47; 2^nd Corinthians 5:21; Genesis 15:6; Romans 5:19; and, Philippians 3:8-9.

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

As the Lord allows, on next Sunday, 3/3, I will continue our series on Bible Doctrines that will kick off 7 sermons on “Christology” (The Doctrine of Christ). I have planned to study the Messiahship of Jesus on Palm Sunday and His death and resurrection on Easter.

Of course, I want to encourage you to not miss any of these messages! This coming Sunday our first sermon will cover these basic issues of the deity and incarnation of Jesus. As you prepare your heart for hearing God’s Word, please read through, think through, and pray through the passage in Luke.

One of the first and most vital things to understand is simply this… Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. As the old saying goes, “Jesus is just as much God as if He were not man at all, and just as much man as if He were not God at all.” But, He is God and He is man; and, He is both 100% God and 100% man!

I hope you will take careful note that this passage also has a lot to say about those who followed Him then, and those of us who are following Him now. People have not changed so much after all.

In this passage, the humanity of Jesus is clearly on display. It appears that these events took place very soon after He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, one of his longest recorded sermons. As any weary human would do, He got into a boat and went to sleep.

We will look at snapshots of Jesus from His earthly life that highlights His humanity. His birth, childhood, ministry, and death demonstrate clearly that He was completely human and like all humans, he was often weary. And, of course, because He was human He could die. While He accomplished several vitally important things in His earthly life, the reason He came to earth was to die on the cross and pay for our sins. He did that and He had to be human to do so.

Of course, He was still 100% God and we will look at several events in his life that show that truth. One of the classic ways to do this is the seven “signs” given in The Gospel of John. And, we will look at three implications of His deity and Lordship over His creation.

The passage also deals with His followers. As we look at these men in the face of the storm, we wonder if they have any faith at all. And, we are reminded that often it may appear that we do not have any real faith at all!

Finally, we will see how our lack of faith affects our fears. We tend to have several fears and the fearfulness of these followers will give us insight in to our fears as well.

This is an exciting passage and I have been blessed beyond words as I have worked through it. I hope you will be able to attend and bring others with you to be part of our worship service.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning I will continue my series on Bible Doctrines with a sermon on the Trinity entitled, “The Triune Nature of God.”

First, let me give you some very technical definitions of some of the most popular errors about the Triune Nature of God: (don’t panic… we will not spend much time here!)

1. Adoptionism: is an error concerning Christ that first appeared in the second century. Those who held it denied the preexistence of Christ and, therefore, His deity. Adoptionists taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. As a reward for His great accomplishments and perfect character Jesus was raised from the dead and adopted into the Godhead.

2. Arianism: The heretic Arius taught that only God the Father was eternal and too pure and infinite to appear on the earth.  Therefore, God produced Christ the Son out of nothing as the first and greatest creation.

3. Dynamic Monarchianism: teaches that God is the Father and that Jesus is only a man, denied the personal subsistence of the Logos and taught that the Holy Spirit was a force or presence of God the Father.

4. Modalism: (Oneness Pentecostalism) One God manifested from time to time in differing modes; i.e., “Father” “Son” “Holy Spirit”

5. Tritheism: Tritheism is the teaching that the Godhead is really three separate beings forming three separate gods.

So, how can we understand what the Bible reveals about this mysterious Being that is revealed in Scripture to be, “One God in Three Persons!”

First, the Bible is clear that there is only One True and Living God! Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5a; Isaiah 45:21-22

And, that One True and Living God is the God of the Christian Bible!                         John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27; Acts 10:43

So, if there is only One True and Living God, how do we come to be believe that He eternally exists in three divine Persons? Simple! In addition to proving this fact, we just need to prove three more Bible-based facts:

First, we must prove that the Father is God!                                                                   John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1st Corinthians 15:24

Second, we must prove that the Son is God!                                                               Matthew 16:13-16; John 1:1-3, 14; John 20:28

Finally, we must prove that the Holy Spirit is God!                                            Genesis 1:1-2; Acts 5:3-4; 1st John 4:2

As God allows, I will use our time on Sunday morning to prove these biblical statements!

Therefore, since there is only One True and Living God Who is the God of the Christian Bible; and, since God the Father is God, and God the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God: ergo, the One True and Living God of the Christian Bible must be One God eternally existing in Three Persons!                                                   Genesis 1:26; Psalm 110:1; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 20:41-44; 2nd Corinthians 13:14

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and family and friends by your side!

As the Lord allows, I will continue our series of doctrinal sermons this coming Sunday with a message on what is called, “Theology Proper.” This fancy title simple means what the Bible teaches about God, Himself. I hope to answer two fundamental questions:

How do we know that God actually exists?                                                                           This is, of course, a perfectly legitimate question. In fact, I would worry about the thinking of a person who has not pondered it! I intend to answer this question in five areas: (1) Jesus says so; (2) The Bible says so; (3) The Impossibility of God not Existing; (4) Design and Congruity in the Universe; and, (5) Personal Encounters!

Some of the key verses we will examine are… John 8:42; Genesis 1:1, 26-27; Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20; and 8:28.   

What is God like?                                                                                                                            So if there is a “God” what is He like? I will offer my answer to this under seven headings: (1) He is Spirit; (2) He is Holy; (3) He is both Transcendent and Immanent; (4) He is Immense; (5) He is Complex; (6) He is Beautiful; and, (7) He is Love!

The verses we will explore include Luke 24:36-40; John 4:24; Isaiah 6:1-3; 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36; Psalm 34:18; 1^st Kings 8:24-27; Psalm 27:4; 1^st John 4:8, 16.

Yeah, I know that you are thinking… and I am thinking this also – “This may take a couple of weeks!” I am prepared to do this in two consecutive sermons if necessary.

I hope you will read over and pray through these verses and think over these ideas as you prepare your spirit to hear the sermon this Sunday.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and family and friends by your side!

This coming Lord’s Day, as the Lord allows, I will continue our series of Major Bible Doctrines with a sermon about what the Bible does in the life of a believer. Obviously, the Bible also impacts the life of an unbeliever, but in a totally different way.

As we think about “The Work of the Word” in our life, the first thing that we need to consider is the impact that it was having in the lives of the believers at Thessalonica. In 1^st Thessalonians 1:4-10, Paul gives many specific details as to how God was working in them through the means of His Word.

The goal of God in the life of His people is Transformation! And the way He brings about this transformation is through our reading and heeding His Word. Usually, this is a long-term process, but, on many occasions He transforms His people “on the spot” when we encounter a convicting truth in His Word.

I remember what I call my “Great Awakening” in 1998 when I was struggling with some things in His Word that appeared to be in contradiction. Of course I know there are no contradictions or errors in His Word, so I was studying and studying and studying to reconcile these issues.

One wonderful day I was listening to a recorded message by a brother who had already been in heaven for two years when I heard him speak three simple words on the subject with which I was struggling. In one blinding moment, the lights of heaven came on… I fully understood the Biblical teaching on the subject… and I exclaimed, “Of course it does!” (I guess that is one of many moments in my life when someone near enough to observe this behavior would be convinced that I had finally and fully lost it!)

Suddenly, “on the spot” I got it! Since that very moment, my life, my faith, and my ministry have been transformed. That experience, and the testimony of others who have similar “on the spot” transformations, keep me encouraged that God can transform His people. Whether it is “on the spot” or over the long-term, transformation into the image of Jesus is the will of God for His people; and the means by which He does this is through hearing and heeding His Word.

As we work through these verses, we will see four specific areas of the believer’s life in which this work takes place. This is how God awakens us to spiritual truth; this is how He gives us the gift of saving faith; this is how He saves us; and, this is how He sanctifies us throughout our earthly life as believers.

I hope you will read over, think over, and pray over these passages of Scripture. I hope that you will ask the Lord to prepare your mind and your spirit to hear the sermon on Sunday.

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and family and friends by your side!