Preach With Conviction and Clarity
Matthew
2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Notes:
1. Gold was a gift for a king;
2. Incense, a gift for deity;
3. Myrrh, a spice for a person who was going to die.
4. These gifts may have provided the financial resources for the trip to Egypt and back.
MAGI
- Who they were.
- How they responded to Jesus.
- The star they followed.
- Jesus’ age when they found him.
- Significance of their gifts to Jesus.
- Essence of true worship.
King, priest and prophet:
1. Gold Material wealth
2. Incense Prayer
3. Myrrh Repentance
Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts.
The only gift is a portion of you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
You can give Him:
- Your mind
- Your eyes
- Your ears
- Your words
- Your hands
- Your feet
- Your body
- Your heart now!
Sermon _____________
WE THREE KINGS PLUS ONE
2:11 On coming to the
house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Christ’s Attractability:
- Mothers
(Brought their children to Him) - Children
(Were attracted to Him) - Sinners
(Came to Him) - Men
(Followed Him) - Soldiers
(Were charmed by Him) - Centurion
(Confessed Him as Lord) - People
(Healed by Him) - Pilate
(Was astonished at Him) - Samaritan
(Praised Him) - Shepherds
(Worshipped Him) - Martha
(Served Him) - Demoniac
(Wanted to be with Him) - Crowds
(Gathered to Him) - Material Wealth
(Property, economic value) - Prayer
(Supplication, appeal) - Repentance
(Regret, penitence)
Christian’s Riches: A to Z
The Believer’s Riches in Christ from A to Z :
Accepted in the beloved
Born of God
Crucified with Christ
Delivered from the power of darkness
Enriched in everything in Him
Forgiven for Christ’s sake
Grounded in love
Hid with Christ in God
Instructed in the way of the Lord
Justified by His grace
Kept by the power of God
Led by the Spirit of God
Made nigh by the blood of Christ
Nourished in the Words of faith
Ordained to eternal life
Perfected forever
Quickened together with Christ
Redeemed from the curse of the law
Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
Translated into the kingdom of His Son
Unreprovable in His sight
Victorious through our Lord Jesus Christ
Washed from our sins in His own blood
Xalted from among the people
Yearned over by the Holy Spirit
Zealous of good work
SERMON _____________
A MAN NAMED JOHN
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea,
Preach the gospel at all times.
If necessary, use words.
St. Francis of Assisi
John Preached:
- Repentance
- Kingdom
- Prophecy
- Water baptism
- Restitution
- Godliness
- Wrath to come
- Against pride
- Heaven and hell
- Spirit baptism
- First advent
- Judgment on sin
- Salvation
- Love to others
- Business honesty
- Absolute justice
- Jesus is the God’s Lamb
- Jesus is the Spirit Baptizer
- Jesus is sin-bearer
- Man’s unworthiness
- Jesus is the Bridegroom
- Greatness of Jesus
- Rejection of Jesus
- Jesus the Anointed
- Jesus is God’s heir
If I knew the Lord was coming in three years, I would spend two years studying,
And one year preaching Donald Barnhouse
3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Repentance is a change of mind.
Conversion is a change of action.
Repent:
- A turning to God
- A turning from evil
- A turning to serve
D.L. Moody
Man is born with his back toward God. When he truly repents, he turns right around and faces God. Repentance is a change of mind. Repentance is the tear in the eye of faith.
SERMON _________________
The will of God will not take you
Where the grace of God cannot keep you
He chose you:
- Jesus wants you!
- Jesus will have you!
- Jesus will bless you!
When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.
William James
SERMON __________________
Without Jesus, I can not;
Without me, He will not!
What must I do?
- Stop!
- Stand still!
- Turn around!
- Hurry back!
- Don’t pass by!
- Gardiner Spring
It is one thing to mourn for sin because it exposes us to hell, and another to mourn for it because it is an infinite evil; one thing to mourn for it because it is injurious to ourselves, and another thing to mourn for it because it is wrong and offensive to God. It is one thing to be terrified; another, to be humbled.
Notes:
Confess your sins to the Lord,
And you will be forgiven.
Confess them to men,
And you will be laughed at.
Confess Him as Lord:
- Intellectual   understanding
- Emotional affirmation
- Volitional obedience
Men who only believe their depravity, but do not hate it, are no further than the devil on their way to heaven.
Charles H. Spurgeon
3:3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
George Whitefield
said,
“We are all born Armenians.”
It is grace that turns us into Calvinists.
Places of callings:
- Wilderness of the Baptist
- Cemetery demonic
- Roadside blind man
- Temple children
- Night midnight cry
- Garden Savior
- Heart believer
If you receive the call of God and refuse to obey, you become the dullest, most common-place of Christians because you have seen and heard and refused to obey.
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
The standard for the judgment
Of Christians is Christ.
Wrath of God:
- Coming in the future
- Divine in action
- Lasting in effect
- Revealing in nature
- Fierce in separation
- Crested by sin
- All deserve it!
The divine wrath is slow indeed in vengeance, but it makes up for its tardiness by the severity of the punishment.
Valerius Maximus
3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Fruit is not the salvation of souls, that is God’s work.
Fruit is “the fruit of the Spirit,” love, joy, peace, etc.
He produces:
- Fruit of repentance
- Joy for the occasion
- Saint for inheritance
- Vessel for service
- Soldier for conflict
- Praise for the blessings
- Judgment for the sinner
Handel H. Brown
A man thinks he is repenting when he says,
“I’m sorry. Give me a second chance and
I’ll do better.” This is not Christian repentance, for it is egocentric.
SERMON_____________________
3:9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham.
To convince and condemn
Is all the law can do.
C.H. Spurgeon
Abraham Known by Many
"Abraham is one of the most renowned persons the world has ever seen. Besides the conspicuous place he holds in the Bible history, he is introduced into the Koran of Mohammed, and is regarded by the Arabians as the father of their nation, and by the Jews as theirs.
The ancient Persians pay him the highest honor, and think he was Zoroaster. In India, too, Abraham is honored by some sects as their distinguished ancestor. The people of Egypt, Chaldea, and Damascus acknowledge their obligations to this illustrious man. But what shall we say of the blessings which he received from God? His believing posterity has been multiplied as the stars of heaven. His venerable name is invested with immortal honor in the history of the church and of the world—second only to Him whose name is above every name.
Canaan, the Land of Promise, was given to his natural posterity for fourteen centuries, as their peculiar inheritance. And, above all, from his seed the divine Savior in due time appeared in the flesh, to ransom, by His sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory, a multitude of immortal souls, whom no man can number."
Abraham was:
1. Obedient resigned, subservient
2. Unselfish kind, sympathizer, patron
3. Courageous steadfast, bold, daring
4. Benevolent giving, charitable, generous
5. Incorruptible changeless, immutable
6. Mighty prayer effective, persuasive, vital
7. Faithful tenacious, persevering
He that would govern others first should be master of himself.
Leaders have two important characteristics: first, they're going somewhere; second, they're able to persuade other people to go along with them.
A good leader inspires other men with confidence in him. A great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.
Leaders who lead well, lead by example and are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in.
SORRY, I AM STILL FORMATTING THESE NOTES!
Thomas
Szasz
If he who breaks the law is not punished, he who obeys it is cheated. Punishment is no longer fashionable. Why! Because it creates moral distinctions among men; and, to the “democratic,” mentality, this is odious.
SERMON_________________
I tremble for my country
When I reflect that God is just!
Thomas Jefferson
God is able:
- Create come
to be, materialize - Keep preserve,
perpetuate - Supply provision,
replenished - Power supremacy,
truth, love - Succor shore
up, sustain, favor - Work bear
fruit, be effective - Uphold reassure,
defend, protect
St. Patrick:
- God’s
might to direct me. - God’s
power to protect me. - God’s
wisdom for learning. - God’s
eye for discerning. - God’s
ear for my hearing. - God’s
word for my clearing.
SERMON_________________
3:10 The ax is already at
the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
What I feared to be
parted from,
Was now a joy to
surrender?
Augustine
Good in Matthew
- Good
fruit 03:10 - Good
works 05:16 - Good
gifts 07:11 - Good
tree 07:17 - Good
cheer 09:02 - Good
comfort 09:22 - Good
ground 13:08 - Good
seed 13:27 - Good
work 16:10
Watchman
Nee
Show the world the fruits of Christianity and
it will applaud.
Show it Christianity and the world will
oppose it vigorously.
SERMON_________________
04-30-2010
3:12 His winnowing fork
is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into
the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
- Hell is truth seen too late.
- Hell is prepared for those who prepare for it by rejecting Christ.
- There are good parking places on the road to hell.
- Every soul winner believes in hell.
- Those trying to prove there is no hell usually have a reason for it.
- If more hell was preached in the pulpit, there would be less hell in the community.
- People may laugh themselves into hell but never laugh themselves out.
Man’s View:
Augustine
- No hell reckoning,
chastening - No eternity forever,
perpetuity - No afterlife purgatory,
hell, paradise - No conviction guilt,
fault, complicity, lie - No rules! lordship
direction, command
Good Points about Hell
- We've been a little unfair about hell. We've talked all about how bad it is, but there are some good points about it.
- There won't be any hypocrites in hell. A lot of people stay out of church for this reason, but there won't be any there. There, all souls will act just alike. (All hypocrites here go there, but they won't be hypocrites anymore.)
- There will not be any churches in hell. All the people who cuss the church, get mad when invited to attend, even hate the church, will never be bothered again.
- There will be no preaching. Those who hate words like salvation, born again, repentance, joy, and Jesus will be free from ever hearing them again.
- There will be no more Christians witnessing, no more religious programs to listen to, no Bible.
But to those who think that "religion" is
"social" let me point out this: you fight noise pollution, but it's
nothing compared to the "weeping and wailing" of hell!
Overpopulation? Man, you don't know anything. Isaiah 5:14 says hell had to enlarge itself to take care of the crowds.
Hell must be pretty bad for Jesus to come and die to keep us out of it!
SERMON_________________ Poll, the number
of Americans that believe in hell is up from 54% in 1965 to 73% today. The
problem isn't that postmodern people don't believe in Hell, it is that they
don't think they will go there. In 1965, 17% thought they were headed there,
today only 6% see it as their destiny.
The national anthem of hell is,
“I did it my way.”
SERMON________________
Hell IS
- A Place of Consciousness
- A Place of Torment
- A Place of Darkness
- Eternal Separation from loved ones who are believers
- Without the Slightest Hope of Release
- The Torment of Memory in Hell
SERMON_________________
Abandon hope,
All ye who enter here
Dante
God’s View:
- Hell is real
- Hell has people
- Hell is eternal
Augustine
The perpetual death of the damned will go on without end and will be their common lot, regardless of what people prompted by human sentiments may conjure up.
SERMON _________________
3:15 Jesus replied; “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism
Ephesians 4:5
It is proper:
A subjective Savior focused, pointed
Suffering kinsmen atone, make amend
A holy priest self-surrender, pure
A saintly walk dedicated, faithful
A corresponding act equivalent, aligned
Answering life accountability, duty
Epigrams on Repentance
- No man is rich enough to buy back his past.
- The unhappiest place in the universe for an unsaved sinner would be heaven.
- True repentance has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.
- It is better to be 100 feet from Hell headed away from it, than 1000 miles away
headed toward it.
E. Paul Hovey
A part of the act of baptism in the Church of India is for the candidate to place his own hand on his head and say, “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.” This is part of the baptismal service of new members, not the ordination of ministers!
SERMON_________________
05-06-2010
3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized; he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
When a Baptist was asked
About baptism, he replied,
“It’s all right, but you mustn’t hang around the river too long.”
Why was Jesus baptized?
- To
be an example - To
equip the saints - To
anoint the apostles - To
strengthen the believers - In
obedience to the law - In
human humility - In
answer to prayer
C.H. Spurgeon
He is not humanity deified, He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all that man is as God created Him.
SERMON________________
John Vianney
The Holy Spirit rests in the soul of the righteous, just like the dove in her nest. He hatches good desires in a pure soul, as the dove hatches her young.
Dove:
Quietness calm, tranquility
Peacefulness rest, stillness
Gentleness soft-heartedness
Harmlessness meekness, simple
Ambrose
I was dead, but because in Baptism I died together with Christ, I received the light of life from Christ. And he who dies in Christ, being warmed by Christ, receives the breath of life and resurrection.
SERMON________________
3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, Whom I love, with him, I am well pleased.
To be brought within the zone of God’s voice is to be profoundly altered.
Voice of:
Light illumination,
reflection
Salvation extraction,
escape, relief
Healing return
to normal, recovery
Deliverance immunity,
rescue, certainty
Provision sustenance,
daily bread
James Earl Massey
God wants to get our attention, and He knows how to get it.
SERMON________________
C.S. Lewis
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.
Believers are:
- Owned by the Father
- Anointed by the Spirit
- Tempted by the devil
A.W. Tozer
I do not find in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, neither in Christian biography, in church history or in personal Christian testimonies the experience of any person who was ever filled with the Holy Ghost and who didn’t know it.
SERMON________________
Kenneth Latourette
As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.
His personality:
Peerless superior,
unequaled, great
Powerful sovereign,
dominating
Persuasive urgent,
irresistible
Philanthropic generous,
indulgent, kind
Portentous promising,
favorable
Proclamation assertion,
manifesto, point
Pre-eminence superiority,
priority, success
Abraham Lincoln
I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, But I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.
SERMON_________________
05-14-10
4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
John Calvin
Satan is an acute theologian.
Satan:
- Attacks unexpectedly.
- Attacks at the weakest point.
- Is deceitfully friendly.
- Uses God’s Word deceitfully.
C.H. Spurgeon
He can make men dance upon the brink of hell as though they were on the verge of heaven.
SERMON________________
Thomas a Kempis
Temptation discovers what we are.
Temptation:
Doubt disbelieve, dissent
Misuse power overbearance
Spiritual pride smugness, conceit
Selfish ambition status-seeking
John Chrysostom
When we are tempted to utter a sinful word, or when we find ourselves being carried away by anger or some other such passion, let us reflect on what privileges we have been granted, what Spirit it is whose presence we enjoy, and this thought will check in us those unruly passions.
SERMON_________________
Temptations usually come through a door that has been deliberately left open.
Temptations:
Self-satisfaction egotist, conceit
Self-destruction suicide, execution
Self-glorification pride, selfishness
Charles G. Finney
When Charles Finney was asked how he could believe in a devil, he retorted: “Why, don’t you try opposing him sometime and, you’ll find out whether he exists or not.”
SERMON_________________
4:3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
J.W. Jepson
Temptation is the appeal of the emotions to control the will in opposition to the truth.
Nothing but stones:
- Physical
- Flesh
- Material
Satan’s pretension is that he is equal with God. His perversion is two-fold: he tries to pervert what God says to us, and also to pervert God’s mind about us.
SERMON_________________
4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Fight truth decay.
Read your Bible!
Word of God:
- God cares for you
- The person of Jesus Christ
- The work of Christ
- The Spirit within you
C.H. Spurgeon
If you find a professing Christian indifferent to his Bible, you may be sure that the very dust upon its cover will rise up in judgment against him.
SERMON__________________
4:6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down.” For it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
The proud hate pride in others.
Benjamin Franklin
Enemies of Pride:
Psychological egocentric,
introspective
Power supernatural,
immortal
Pride vanity,
boasting, display
When once a man really sees himself as the Lord Jesus Christ sees him, it is not the abominable social sins of the flesh that shock him, it is the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against the Lord Jesus Christ; the shame, the horror, the desperate conviction that comes when we realize ourselves in the light of Jesus Christ as the spirit of God reveals Him to us. That is the true gift of repentance and the real meaning of it.
SERMON_________________
05-21-10
4:8-9 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “If you will bow down and worship me.”
Larry Grayhill
Without the Holy Spirit, we worship what we do not know.
Bowing down is:
- A spiritual act
- An act of worship
- Obedience of the highest order
The pretensions of Satan are clear. He is the god of this world, and he will not allow relationship to the true God. Satan’s attitude is that of a pretender to the throne, he claims it as his right.
Whenever and whenever the rule of God is recognized by man, Satan proceeds to
instill the tendency of mutiny and rebellion and lawlessness.
SERMON__________________
4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
W.E. McCumber
The devil comes without invitation, but only leaves when commanded.
Victory Over:
Self-satisfaction egotist, conceit
Self-destruction suicide, execution
Self-glorification pride, selfishness
The only soul Satan cannot touch is the soul whose spiritual life and rational life and physical life is hid with Christ in God, that soul is absolutely secure.
SERMON__________________
4:17 From that time on, Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
God promises a safe landing
but not a calm voyage.
It’s here!
Light illumination,
reflector
Salvation liberation,
emancipation
Healing reviving,
restorative
Deliverance exoneration,
acquittal
Provision return
to normal, rescue
Joseph Bayly
God’s people should plan for a voyage of a thousand years, But be prepared to
abandon ship tonight.
SERMON_________________
05-21-10
4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
William Barclay
The possession of the good news of the gospel involves the obligation to share it.
Fishermen are:
Dependent subordinate,
involuntary
Diligent persevering, unwearied
Watchful expecting, on the lookout
Self-denying undefeated, invincible
Daring spirited, bold, nervy, hardy
Successful blessed, thriving, at ease
In order to catch men for the Lord Jesus Christ, you must love Jesus Christ absolutely, beyond all others. You must have a consuming passion of love, and then He will flow through you in a passion of love and yearning and draw men to Himself.
SERMON_________________
William Barclay
The final proof that a man himself knows Christ is that he can bring others to Christ.
Christian Life
Shine beam, glow, sparkle, dazzle
Run be active, stir, agitate, flow
Help sympathize, sustain, bolster
Sow transplant, fertilize, water
Fight defend against, neutralize
Pray petition, supplicate, beg
Fish casting, baiting, trolling
Saint Cyprian
It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life. They have found a joy and wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of theirn souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians, and
I am one of them.
SERMON _________________
5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:
You are what you are and
Not what people think you are?
Christian’s character:
He is poor in spirit submissive, lowly
He mourns grieve, soothe, cry
He is meek prostrate, kneeling
He hungers and thirsts hope for, aspire to
He is merciful tender, forgiving
He is pure in heart lamb, simple, child
He makes peace mediator, dove
He suffers persecution hostilities, conflict
John Wooden
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Notes:
And Satan trembles when he sees,
The weakest saint upon his knees.
The Saint:
- He shall be comforted
- He shall inherit
- He shall be filled
- He shall obtain mercy
- He shall see God
- He shall be a child of God
- He shall be rewarded
Charles Dickens
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has may; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
SERMON_________________
A teacher affects eternity;
He can never tell
where his influence stops.
Consider:
- Place of teaching
- People taught
- Purpose of teaching
- Plan of teaching
- Power of teaching
Our Lord is not the great Teacher of the world; He is the Savior of the world and the Teacher of those who believe in Him, which is a radically different matter.
SERMON_________________
05-28-10
5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the kingdom of heaven.”
Charles M. Schwab
Have the spirit of conquest; Thus you can successfully battle and overcome difficulties.
Man’s spirit:
Broken uncovered, wide-open
Penitent restoration, satisfaction
Gentle tender, warm-hearted
Thirsting un-watered, parched
Compassionate humane, sympathetic
Pure transparent, undisguised
Forgiving condoning, un-resentful
C.H. Spurgeon
Learn this lesson: not to trust in Christ because you repent, but trust in Christ to make you repent; not to come to Christ because you have a broken heart, but to come to him that he may give you a broken heart, not to come to him because you are fit to come, but to come to him because you are unfit to come. Your fitness is your unfitness. Your qualification is your lack of qualification.
SERMON_________________
True humility makes way for Christ,
and throws the soul at His feet.
John Mason
Highway to Heaven: Highway to hell:
Poor in spirit arrogant
Mourn smirk
Meek brutal
Hunger-Thirst sin seekers
Merciful cold-blooded
Pure in Heart, black
Peacemaker warmaker
Persecuted persecutor
Victor S. Frankl
We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but on thing: the last of his freedoms; to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own
way.
SERMON_________________
6-04-10
5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Meekness is not weakness.
It is power under control.
Warren W. Wiersbe
Blessings:
Satisfaction fulfillment, peace of mind
Discretion wisdom, discernment
Instruction learning, proficiency
Salvation restoration, retrieval, rescue
Exaltation importance, sublimity
Beautification transformation, restoration
Valuation reasoning, appraisal, cost
Anger Symptoms
The obvious symptoms of sudden anger are often red face, swollen neck veins, clenched fists, and a stumbling for words. The angry person's vision may also be blurred, because anger clouds the visual centers of the brain.
Dr. Walter Cannon, pioneer researcher in psychosomatic medicine at Harvard University, describes the symptoms more precisely:
"Respiration deepens; the heart beats more rapidly; the arterial pressure rises; the blood is shifted from the stomach and intestines to the heart, central nervous system, and the muscles; the processes of the alimentary canal cease; sugar is freed from the reserves in the liver; the spleen contracts and discharges its contents of concentrated corpuscles, and adrenaline is secreted."
Theophylactus
The meek are not those who are never at all angry, for such are insensible; but those who, feeling anger, control it, and are angry only when they ought to be. Meekness excludes revenge, irritability, morbid sensitiveness, and steady maintenance of right.
Anger:
- I will not permit any man to narrow or degrade my soul by making me hate him.
- An angry man is seldom reasonable; a reasonable man is seldom angry.
- Don't be angry with the people who are smarter than you—it isn't their fault.
- Speak when you are angry, and it will be the best speech you will ever forget.
- A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
- The greatest remedy for anger is delay.
- Every moment you are angry, you lose a minute of happiness.
- Anger is only one letter from danger.
- When a person strikes in anger, he usually misses the mark.
- A man is never in worse company than when he flies into a rage and is beside himself.
- Some people are like buttons—they pop off at the wrong time.
- An angry man opens his mouth and closes his eyes.
- Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason.
- One load that is too heavy for anyone to carry—a grudge.
- He who loses his head is usually the last one to miss it.
- A fellow with the smallest mind is the one who is usually most willing to give someone a piece of it.
- Hating people is like burning the house to kill the rats.
- A chip on the shoulder indicates there is wood a little higher up.
- When we give others a "piece of our mind," we have no "peace of mind" left.
- Some people think they have dynamic personalities because they are always exploding.
- Hatred is self-punishment.
- The more you grow up, the less you blow up.
SERMON_________________
5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
It is safe to tell the pure in heart
They shall see God,
For only the pure in heart want to.
C.S. Lewis
You will see:
Purity and promise
Sin and salvation
Opened Heaven and open way
Spirit and sight
Promise and prospect
Seed and satisfaction
Person and partnership
Oswald Chambers
The purity God demands is impossible unless we can be re-made from within, and that is what Jesus Christ undertakes to do through the Atonement.
SERMON_________________
5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Service without devotion is rootless;
Devotion without service if fruitless
Elton Trueblood
Calling-Conduct
- As a saint be holy
- As a Christian, be Christlike
- As salt be pungent
- As a light be true
- As an epistle, be legible
- As a soldier be valiant
- As a child, be obedient
William Booth
“Not called!” did you say? “Not heard the call,” I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help.
God stand by the gates of hell, and hear the dammed entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.
SERMON_________________
5:15 Neither do people light a lamp nor put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
When I met Christ,
I felt that I had swallowed sunshine.
E. Stanley Jones
Lamp on its stand:
Lighted illuminated, brightened
Essential crucial, vital, imperative
Useful practical, functional, able
Shining glow, bright, brilliance,
Burning defrost, catch fire, ignite
Necessary indispensable, mandatory
Glorious beautiful, sight for sore eyes
Edith Wharton
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.
Robert Alden
There is not enough darkness in the entire world to put out the light of even one small candle.
SERMON_________________
5:22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Anger is momentary passion,
so control your passion or it will control you.
Horace
Angry with God:
Stubbornness self-will, resolute, fixed
Idolatry cultism, demonism, icon
Murmuring allegation, whisper, gasp
Pride self-admiration, conceit
Self-will stubborn, resistant, fixed
Adultery illicit, forbidden, infidelity
Rebellion confrontation, contempt
Backsliding relapse, recidivism, lapse
Sinning heinous, criminal, corrupt
Spiritualism paranormal, scientology
Hindering hampering, interfering
Wickedness foul, shameful, infamy
Epigrams:
- Anger is one letter short of danger.
- Men with clenched fists cannot shake hands.
- Anyone who angers you conquers you.
- The man who cannot be angry at evil usually lacks enthusiasm for good.
SERMON_________________
5:39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Martin Luther
A Christian man is the freest lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.
Jesus tells us:
- Do not retaliate
- Do more than required
- Be kind and generous
Charles H. Spurgeon
Let us go to Calvary to learn how we may be forgiven. And then let us linger there to learn how to forgive.
SERMON_________________
5:36 “And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.”
You deny Christ
When you fail to deny yourself for Christ
Your inability to:
Change improve, make better
Cure make better, restore
Answer plea, refute, clear up
Save unravel, relieve, free
C.H. Spurgeon
Augustine well said, “Good works, as they are called, in sinners are nothing but splendid sins.”
SERMON_________________
5:43 “You have heard that it was said ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
In necessary things, unity;
in doubtful things, liberty;
in all things, charity.
Augustine
With His love:
- Bless not curse
- Good for evil
- Pray for them
- No retaliation
Mother Teresa
Because we cannot see Christ we cannot express our love to Him; but our neighbors we can always see, and we can do to them what, if we saw Him, we would like to do to Christ.
SERMON_________________
5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Epigrams:
- If the Church were perfect, you could not belong.
- A man who knows his imperfections is just about as perfect as anyone can be.
- If you insist on perfection, make the first demand on yourself.
Perfect spirit:
Broken faulty, defective, frail
Meek exposed, innocent, subject
Humble harmless, undistinguished
Merciful forgiving, attentive, humane
Pure virginal, spotless, chaste
Wise sensible, perceptive
Patient reconcile, no malice, forgive
Living survivor, individual, soul
Joyful optimism, play, exuberance
Gracious attentive, welcoming, polite
Norman Cousins
To talk about the need for perfection is man is to talk about the need for another species. The essence of man is imperfection; imperfection and blazing contradictions, between mixed good and evil, altruism and selfishness, cooperativeness and combativeness, optimism and fatalism, affirmation and negation.
SERMON_________________
The Christian is a person who makes it easy for others to believe in God.
Christian Living
- Salt of the earth
- Light to shine
- Teacher of truth
- Keeper of truth
- No hypocrisy
- No selfishness
- No grudges
- Be a peacemaker
- Free from lusts
- A godly family man
Thomas Jefferson
To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other.
SERMON__________________
Epigrams:
- The Christian who is pulling the oars doesn’t have time to rock the boat.
- Christians are the light of the world, but the switch must be turned on.
- To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian; to help them is.
Christianity:
- Charitable
- Neighborly
- Christlike
Woodrow Wilson
No man is a true Christian who does not think constantly of how he can lift his brother, how he can assist his friend, how he can enlighten mankind, how he can make virtue the rule of conduct in the circle in which he lives.
SERMON_____________________
6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
A sinning man will stop praying.
A praying man will stop sinning!
How to pray:
Secretly in private, silently, untold
Watchfully diligently, responsibly
Believingly unhesitatingly, trustfully
Unceasingly continually, all the time
Abidingly changelessly, as usual
Directly point-blank, squarely
Effectually forcefully, powerfully
C.H. Spurgeon
Public prayer is no evidence of piety. It is practiced by an abundance of hypocrites. But private prayer is a thing for which the hypocrite has no heart.
SERMON_________________
Jean Ingelow
I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.
An Acrostic:
Pleads the name of Jesus
Regards the work of Jesus
Abides in the person of Jesus
Yields to the will of Jesus
Expects the promises of Jesus
Remembers the commandments
Roy Pearson
Prayer is not a lazy substitute for work. It is not a shortcut to skill or knowledge. And sometimes God delays the answer to our prayer in final form until we have time to build up the strength, accumulate the knowledge, or fashion the character that would make it possible for Him to say “yeas” to what we ask.
SERMON_____________________
6:7 “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
Cicero
Of all villainies, there is none baser than that of the hypocrite, who at the moment he is most false, takes care to appear most virtuous.
Vain things:
- Repetition in prayers
- Imaginations in thought
- Wisdom in carnal reason
- Words in speech
- Deceit of actions
- Jangling in discussion
- Babblings in talk
- Talkers in church
- Questions in debate
- Religion in profession
- Help in man
- Oblations in worship
A Trappist Monk
There are two main pitfalls on the road to mastery of the art of prayer. If a person gets what he asks for, his humility is in danger. If he fails to get what he asks for, he is apt to lose confidence. Indeed, no matter whether prayer seems to be succeeding or failing, humility and confidence are two virtues which are absolutely essential.
SERMON__________________
6:8 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”
Oswald Chambers
The authority we blindly grope after is God Himself, not a tendency making for righteousness, not a set of principles. Behind reality is God Himself, and the final authority is a personal relationship.
His Authority:
- To
lay down His life - To
forgive sins - To
be over demons - To
be over sickness - To
judge - To
be over all men - In
heaven and on earth!
Pulpit Preaching
The Christian faith is firmly rooted in the incarnation, in the conviction that, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” To believe in Christ is to believe that God has come to earth to dwell with men. In Jesus, we meet the living. Jesus is more than a religious genius or a holy man or a spiritual pioneer. To believe in Christ is to believe that the living God has come.
SERMON__________________
6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray,”
Henry Ward Beecher
I think it is the most fearful prayer to pray in the world.
The Disciple’s Prayer:
Personal internal, mind, heart, soul
Faithful committed, courageous
Worshiping respectful, steadfast
Expecting imminent, impending
Submitting nonresistance, surrender
Petitioning find a way, appeal to,
Confessing remorseful, shamefaced
Depending on tenacious, persevering
Acknowledging recognition, tribute, praise
Martin Luther
The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer above all prayers. It is a prayer which the most high Master taught us, wherein are comprehended all spiritual and temporal blessings, and the strongest comforts in all trials, temptations and troubles, even in the hour of death.
SERMON__________________
6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Every temptation is, among other things,
an opportunity for getting closer to God.
Temptation:
- Falling through
- Praying against
- Enduring in
- Delivered from
- Succor in
- Taken out of
- Christ our example
Thomas Secker
To pray against temptation, and yet to rush into occasion, is to thrust your fingers into the fire, and then pray they might not be burnt.
SERMON__________________
6:19 “Do not store up for you treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”
Men are nailed to the things of this life.
Chrysostom
Safeguards:
- Do
not save up earthy things. - Does
not trust own understanding? - Do
not let your heart be troubled. - Do
not lose what you have in Him. - Do
not love the world. - Do
not lie to each other.
Malcolm Muggeridge
Riches make people decadent and they behave accordingly. When, as in our affluent society, there are many rich, there is much decadence.
SERMON__________________
6:20 “But store up for you treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
William Barclay
The danger of prosperity is that it encourages a false independence.
Storing up:
- Unbreakable bank ignored
- Portion for Him denied
- Parent’s duty neglected
- Mistakes of rich men
- Fool’s blunder repeated
- Sinner’s Legacy Judged
- Fire of earth’s future
Oswald Chambers
In times of prosperity we are apt to forget God, we imagine it does not matter whether we recognize Him or not. As long as we are comfortable, clothed and fed and looked after, our civilization becomes an elaborate means of ignoring God.
SERMON__________________
Cicero
Can anything be more absurd than to make so much the more provision for life’s journey, as there is less of that journey left?
Upward Life:
- Treasure laid up
- Faith looking up
- Love building up
- Life springing up
- Power lifting up
- Believer mounting up
- Caught up to meet Christ!
William Penn
He that does well for good’s sake seeks neither praise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end.
SERMON_________________
6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough
The Body:
- Single eye
- Pure heart
- Right spirit
- Straight paths
- Willing heart
- True heart
- Faithful hand
Oswald Chambers
If our body has been the slave of wrong habits physically, mentally and morally, we must get hold of a power big enough to re-make our habits and that power lies in the word “Regeneration.”
SERMON__________________
6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
The misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen.
Worrying:
- Sinful and produces fear
- A disease that causes other ills
- Borrowing trouble
- Creating misery
- Mental suicide
- Wastes valuable time
- Disgrace to God
- Crime against God
- Mental cruelty
George Sweeting
Bishop William Quayle, awake at night because of fruitless worrying, heard God say to him, “Quayle, you go to bed; I’ll sit up the rest of the night.” Whimsically put, that experience symbolizes a matter of major importance in the cure of worry.
SERMON__________________
A lot of people who are worrying about the future ought to be preparing for it.
Don’t Worry:
- Trust in the Lord
- Remember to pray
- Live by the day
- Recall His faithfulness
- Be aware of His presence
- He will provide your needs
SERMON__________________
What worries you masters you.
Anxiety and Committal
- Commit yourself to Him
- Commit your soul to Him
- Commit your spirit to Him
- Commit your way to Him
- Commit your works to Him
- Commit your burden to Him
- Commit your care to Him
Fulton Oursler
We crucify ourselves between two thieves; regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow.
SERMON_____________________
7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
A.B. Simpson
We cannot ask in the behalf of Christ what Christ would not ask Himself if He were praying.
Seek and Find
Attitude:
- Knock
- Seek
- Ask
Promise:
- Find
- Receive
Dwight L. Moody
Spread out your petition before God, and then say, “Thy will, not mine, be done.” The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me.
SERMON_____________________
7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and may enter through it.”
Oswald Chambers
Men defy, but they cannot frustrate, and in the end they come to see that Jesus Christ’s is the only way.
Gate:
- A way into life
- A open way
- A narrow way
Kelly Peters
Christians are called to actively respond by showing that they are people who do not live according to the ways of this world, but according to the ways of God.
SERMON_____________________
Herbert V. Prochnow
There is a time when we must firmly choose the course we will follow, or the relentless drift of events will make the decision for us.
Wide:
- Broad way
- Crowded way
- Fatal way
C.H. Spurgeon
Who can tell the hideous shriek of a lost soul? It cannot reach heaven. But if it could, it might well be dreamed that it would suspend the melodies of angels, might make even God’s redeemed weep, if they could hear the wailing of a damned soul.
SERMON_____________________
Heywood Broun
Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.
Wide Gate:
Darkness oblivious, blind, unconcern
Hell eternal damnation, abyss
Fool backward, unthinking, weak
Broad spacious, boundless, ample
Thief prowler, terrorist, stealer
Lies perversion, distortion, twist
False deceitful, unreliable, fraud
Wicked evil, villainous, heinous
Liar slanderer, habitual, perjurer
C.H. Spurgeon
The road is so wide that there may be many independent tracks in it, and the drunkard may find his way along it without ever ruffling the complacency of the hypocrite. The mere moralist may pick a clean path all the way, while the immoral wretch may wade up to his knees in more throughout the whole road. Behold how sinners disagree and yet agree in this, that they are opposed to God! It is such a broad road.
SERMON_____________________
Choice, not chance, determines destiny.
Gates:
- Strait gate of salvation
- Wide gate of sin
- City gate of sorrow
- Luxuriant gate of sadness
- Beautiful gate of need
- Closed gate of opportunity
- Iron gate of deliverance
- Knocked gate of gladness
Herbert V. Prochnow
There is a time when we must firmly choose the course we will follow, or the relentless drift of events will make the
decision for us.
SERMON_____________________
7:16 “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”
He who plants thorns
Must never expect to gather roses
False Fruit:
Bitter spiteful, malicious, hateful
Natural uncultivated, fallow, simple
Selfish self-centered, egotistical
Deceitful fraudulent, delusional, false
Corrupt malicious, revengeful, base
Fleshy decadent, indecent, vile
Oswald Chambers
Fruit is not the salvation of souls, that is God’s work; fruit is “the fruit of the Spirit,” love, joy, peace, etc.
SERMON_____________________
7:20 “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
Matthew
12:33
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
True Fruit:
- Repentance Mat 4:17
- Faith Mat 5:3-12
- Sanctification Mat 7:13
- Yieldedness Lk 14:25-27
- Obedience Mat 7:21
- Glorification Rom 3:23
Charles H. Spurgeon
I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.
SERMON_____________________
7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is I in heaven.”
C.H. Spurgeon
Verily, I say to you, you cannot have Christ for your Savior unless you also have him as your Lord.
Lordship Salvation
- No justification without regeneration.
- Faith without works is dead faith.
- Justification’s proof is perseverance.
- Faith in a Savior who is not Lord is false
- To follow Christ, you must bear His cross
- No one will see God without holiness.
Colonel Ross
He that is not saved is under sin. He that is saved is above sin. And he that is sanctified is without sin.
SERMON_____________________
The Church knows you!
The world knows you!
Does Jesus know you?
Christians:
- Believe in Christ
- Repent of sin
- Live holy lives
- Love one another
Blaise Pascal
The Christian religion teaches me two points; that there is a God whom men can know, and that their nature is so corrupt that
they are unworthy of Him.
SERMON_____________________
7:23 “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Away from His:
Friendship harmony, solidarity, Spirit
Fellowship togetherness, one accord
Paradise heaven, Zion, City of God
Presence being, life, existence, body
Heaven paradise, Zion, City of God
Glory splendor, elegance, luxury
Face demeanor, appearance
Jonathan Edwards
The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them. When you come to be a firebrand of hell, you will appear as you are a viper indeed. Then will you as a serpent spit poison at God and vent your rage and malice in fearful blasphemies.
SERMON_____________________
7:24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
The most essential element
In any home is God.
His House:
- Shelter retreat, refuge, haven
- Rest in peace, freedom, quiet
- Fellowship togetherness, hospitality
Fireplace Motto:
- The beauty of the house is order;
- The blessings of the house are contentment;
- The glory of the house is hospitality;
- The crown of the house is godliness.
SERMON_____________________
8:2. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
A stiff neck usually supports
An empty head
Spiritual Leper:
- Sin fall from grace, lapse
- Deep deep-rooted, pervasive
- Pervading exhaustive, thorough, vivid
- Corrupting dirty, sordid, noxious, stale
- Destroying corrupt, vulgar, lustful, base
- Death no life, crossing over, final
C.H. Spurgeon
If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you set aside the witness of apostles, saints, and martyrs. You also impute foolishness or deceit to your dearest friends, some of whom died in faith, exhorting you to believe in Jesus Christ. Indeed, you make all of us who preach the gospel to be liars, and we are not so. Neither do you think so badly
of us when we speak in everyday life.
SERMON_____________________
People who are afraid of death
Are usually afraid of life
The Living Death:
- Deeply rooted
- Slowly spreading
- Loathsom
- Infectious
- Incurable
- Fatal
C.H. Spurgeon
Avoid anxiously the double sin of unbelief.
If you do not believe Jesus, you do not believe God If you reject his Son, you reject him. If you give the lie to the teaching of Christ, you give the lie to God. Flee from this deadly sin!
SERMON_____________________
God is stripping me of everything
To give me everything
The leper came:
Humbly surrendered, defeated, faint
Respectfully polite, reverent, in awe
Confident expectant, optimistic, hope
Believing convinced, certain, trusting
Submissive surrendered, unresisting
It is more important, more thrilling, more satisfying and infinitely more valuable to know the Healer than to be healed.
SERMON_____________________
8:3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Immediately, he was cured of his leprosy.
C.H. Spurgeon
I hope there are none here who claim a right to healing. For if so, the Lord will not listen to them.
His eight touches:
Cleansing sooth, purge, heal, cure
Cooling restorative, invigorating
Opening overture, offer, invitation
Assuring heartening, inspiring
Loosing freeing, deliverance, parole
Blessing happiness, favor, success
Quickening burst of energy, thrust
Healing reviving, recuperative
Sandra L. Douglas
To have a curable illness and to leave it untreated except for prayer is like sticking your hand in a fire and asking God to remove the flame.
SERMON_____________________
Confidence should arise from beneath,
And power descends from above
Put forth His hand
- Power to heal
- Power to send
- Power to sow
- Power to manifest
- Power to direct
- Power to evidence
- Power to return
- Power to reward
Gordon Chilvers
The Holy Spirit is God resident on earth. All divine power resides in Him. He is looking for those who are honest enough to be trusted with the power He can give them. They alone will use it for God’s glory and not for themselves.
SERMON_____________________
Prayer is the
Recovery of the soul’s breathing
What prayer is?
- Empty hand of need
- Cry of despair
- Key to open heaven
- Hedge of protection
- Life’s blood
- Sap of fruitfulness
- Companion of praise
Arlo F. Newell
When praying for healing, ask great things of God and expect great things from God. But let us seek for that healing that really matters, the healing of the heart, enabling us to trust God simply, face God honestly, and live triumphantly.
SERMON_____________________
8:26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Mother Teresa
God didn’t ask me to be successful; He asked me to be faithful.
Which Master?
- Have you been born again?
- In whom do you trust?
- Whose work are you doing?
- What company do you keep?
- What is your conversation?
- What have you learned?
Os Guinness
Find out how seriously a believer takes his doubts, and you have the index of how seriously he takes his faith.
SERMON_____________________
8:27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
When Jesus comes, the shadows depart.
His Humanity:
- Divine in His origin
- Faultless in His character
- Powerful in His actions
- Loving in His grace
- Wonderful in His teaching
- Perfect in His offering
- Unchanging in His priesthood
I.M. Haldeman
If Jesus Christ were not virgin born, then, of course, He had a human father; if He had a human father, then He inherited the nature of that father; as that father had a nature of sin, then He inherited his nature of sin; then Jesus Himself was a lost sinner and He
Himself needed a Savior form sin. Deny the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and you paralyze the whole scheme of redemption by Jesus Christ.
SERMON_____________________
He who has nothing to say about
Jesus Christ has nothing to say.
The Man:
Personality identity, uniqueness, self
Love tenderness, devotion
Holiness moral excellence, virtue
Example representative, example
Reception sociable, friendliness, cheer
Life participation, interaction
Resurrection renaissance, revival, eternal
Return new beginning, resumption
Richard Halverson
Men who fear God face life fearlessly.
Men who do not fear God end up fearing everything.
SERMON_____________________
8:28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
We cannot do evil to others
Without doing it to ourselves
Evil:
- In man
- Is death
- Hates freedom
- Hates Jesus
Unknown
You cannot always prevent people from speaking evil about you, but you can live so that their stories will be false.
SERMON_____________________
8:34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
We are restrained from lawlessness
Chiefly through reverent fear
Criminal Justice System
Prison staff:
- Jail builders
- Politicians
- Police
- Jail employees
- Psychologists
- Social workers
Ecclesiastes
8:11
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.
SERMON_____________________
9:5 “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?”
Blessed is he who forgives
Without remembering and who receives forgiveness without forgetting.
Forgiven:
- Palsied sinner
- Diseased sinner
- Weeping sinner
- Trespassing sinner
- Iniquitous sinner
- Transgressing sinner
- Atoned-for sinner
Oswald Chambers
When we have experienced the unfathomable forgiveness of God for all our wrong, we must exhibit that same forgiveness to others.
SERMON_____________________
9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?”
He that will not command his thoughts will soon lose command of his actions.
Woodrow Wilson
Their Thoughts:
Hopeless despairing, dejected, futile
Hurting tortured, agonized, pained
Hungry dilapidated,impoverished
Thirsty parched, withering, drained
Weak superficial, meaningless
Weary laborious, punishing, hard
Broken defective, out of order, unfit
Shattered incomplete, vague, rough
Desperate despondent, dejected, bleak
Unworthy inferior, obscure, lowly
Lost incorrigible, obstinate
Unregenerate un-repented, un-regretted
When my gasoline tank registers empty, I know it is full: that is, full of air. But the automobile was not built to run on air. To displace the air, I must fill it with gasoline. God’s cure for evil thinking is to fill our minds with that which is good.
SERMON_____________________
9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the at collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
Oswald Chambers
The one striking thing about following is we must not find our own way, for when we take the initiative we cease to follow.
When He calls:
- Hear Him attentively
- Rise up quickly
- Respond immediately
C.H. Spurgeon
The proud flesh wants to serve Christ by striking out new paths. Proud man has a desire to preach new doctrine, to set up a new church, to be an original thinker, to judge and consider and do anything but obey. This is no service to Christ. He that would serve Christ must follow him. He must be content to tread only where Christ has led the way.
It is not for you and me to be originals; we must be humble copies of Christ.
SERMON_____________________
9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Pity weeps and turns away;
Compassion comes to help and stay.
His Compassion:
- Covenant
- Incarnation
- Living in the flesh
- Bearing the Cross
- His return
Doyle Brannon
Sinners can set themselves against the most eloquent preaching, stubbornly resist all logic, stay away from revival meeting, and scorn all truth. But true, heart-felt compassion on the part of the Christian releases a power that in time proves irresistible.
SERMON_____________________
10:22 “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
The mark of true justification
Is perseverance in righteousness?
Four steps:
- Plan purposefully
- Prepare prayerfully
- Proceed positively
- Pursue persistently
Calvin Coolidge
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will no; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
SERMON_____________________
10:27 “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight, what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
Every Christian occupies
Some kind of a pulpit and preaches
Some kind of sermon every day
The Message:
- Peace in the Blood
- Power in the Holy Spirit
- Rest in faith
- Safety in conformity
- Joy is nearness
Anonymous
The minister of a local congregation approached the desk of the city editor. “I just dropped by,” he said, “to thank you for the very generous report on my sermon in your morning edition, and also to register a mild protest. In your article you referred to me as “reverend” but you spelled it “neverend.”
SERMON_____________________
10:30 “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
When God allows a burden to be put upon you, He will put His arms underneath you to help you carry it.
Protected from:
Real loss doubt, distrust, unbelief
Persecution threat, terror, hatred, abuse
Accidents disaster, mishap, calamity
Necessity need, urgency, essential
Sickness bad, poor, delicate, failing
Death expiry, grave, doom, end
C.H. Spurgeon
If God so values me that he counts the very hairs of my head, ought I not to give to God my whole self even to the minutest detail? Should I not give him, not merely my head, but my hair, as that penitent woman did who unbound her tresses that she might make a towel of them with which to wipe the feet that she had washed with her tears? Ought we not to consecrate to God the very least things as well as the greater things?
SERMON_____________________
Benjamin Franklin
I have lived a long time, sir, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: God governs in the affairs of men.
Attention of Grace
- Names His sheep
- Numbers our hairs
- Counts our steps
- Books our thoughts
- Bottles our tears
- Takes our hands
- Supplies our need
Charles Allen
In the Bible, there are three distinctive meanings of grace: it means the mercy and active love of God; it means the winsome attractiveness of God; it means the strength of God to overcome.
SERMON_____________________
10:31 “So don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.”
C.S. Lewis
Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage, but also a weakness we must ask Him to pardon.
Fear not of God’s:
Provision tender loving care
Prayer relief, comfort, remedies
Favor summon, desire, preference
Salvation unshackling, extrication, bail
Assurance truth, evidence, certainty
Promise commitment, covenant word
Presence existence, pervasiveness
Victory conquest, rout, success
C.H. Spurgeon
I would rather go to heaven doubting all the way, then be lost through self-confidence. There is holy fear which must not be banished from the church of God. There is a sacred anxiety which puts us on the question, and examines us whether we be in the faith, and it is not to be disdained.
SERMON_____________________
10:38 “And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Why?
Necessity essential, precondition
Society togetherness, fellowship
Love holiness, mercy sovereignty
Faith reliance, expectation, trust
Hope anticipate, confident, expect
Zeal voracity, fervor, passion
Experience awareness, impression
Expectation eventuality, foresight, ahead
SERMON_____________________
Must Jesus bear the cross alone?
And all the church goes free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone
And there’s a cross for me.
Your cross
- Deliberately take it up
- Boldly face it
- Patiently endure it
- Cheerful resignation
- Obediently follow Him
SERMON_____________________
Ivan Illich
Anyone who consistently takes the prophetic stance must be prepared to end up on a hill like Calvary, because true prophetic testimony of profound unconformity may arouse the fiercest violence against it.
11:7 As John’s disciples were leaving; Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?”
Epigrams:
- If you want to convince others of the value of Christianity; live it.
- An empty tomb proves Christianity; an empty church denies it.
- Christianity is a roll-up-your sleeves religion.
Which are you?
- Multitudes go out to see
- Householders go out to hire
- Backsliders go out to repent
- Righteous go out to leave
- Prisoners go out to liberty
- Believers go out to blessing
- Saints go out to pray
C.H. Spurgeon
How many, my dear friend, were you ever the means of bringing to Jesus? You believe that they must perish everlastingly, unless they have faith in Christ. How many have you personally prayed for? How many did you ever break your heart about? You believe that they must love Christ or be damned. How many have you ever talked to concerning him who is the only Savior?
SERMON_____________________
11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Frederick Speakman
The roads we take are more important than the goals we announce. Decisions determine destiny.
He became what we are that
He might make us what He is.
Athanasius
Jesus is:
Rich prestige, honor, glory, life
Compassionate tolerant, tender, forgiving
Kind gracious, generous, tender
Affable friendly, amusing, polite
Powerful compelling, dominating
King absolute, master, lord
Teacher genius, expert, streetwise
Physician healer, caregiver, surgeon
Friend companion, comrade, chum
Shepherd mentor, protector, lifeguard
William Biederwolf
A man who can read the New Testament and not see that Christ claims to be more than a man, can look all over the sky at high noon on a cloudless day and not see the sun.
SERMON_____________________
Jesus is the yes to every promise of God.
William Barclay
Jesus is:
Prophet feeling, insight, perception
Teacher translator, reformer, apostle
Priest primate, pontifex maximus
Savior logos, anointed, the Word
King absolute, chief, supreme
Sovereign crowned head, monarch
Thomas Jefferson
His parentage was obscure: His condition poor; His education null; His natural endowments great; His life correct and innocent; He was meek, benevolent, patient, firm, disinterested, and of the Sublimest eloquence.
SERMON_____________________
We are always on the anvil; by trials, God is shaping us for higher things.
Go to Him:
Weary ready to drop, exhausted
Disappointed let down, disillusioned
Dying suicide, disease, old age
Guilty culpable, caught, proven
Anxious agitated, distressed, uptight
Greedy unrestrained, addicted
Ambitious keeping up with the Jones
Sorrowful downhearted, wretched, sad
Poor deprived, needy, indigent
Oppressed ill-treated, exploited, wasted
Tempted captivated, infatuated, yearn
Remorseful conscience-stricken, sorry
The beginner, moved by fear, patiently bears the Cross of Christ.
The one who already made some progress on the road to perfection, inspired by hope, carries it cheerfully;
The perfect soul, consumed by love, embraces it ardently.
SERMON_____________________
When I dig another out of trouble, the hole from which I lift him is the place where I bury my own.
Receive
Humility unpretentious, simplicity
Revelation exposure, uncovering
Repentance remorse, apology
Faith reliance, dependence
Submission consent, resignation
C.H. Spurgeon
If you cannot come with a broken heart, come for a broken heart. If you cannot come with faith, come for faith. If you cannot come repenting, come and ask the Lord to give you repentance. Come empty-handed, bankrupt, ruined, condemned, and you will find rest.
SERMON____________________
There are nocrown-wearers in heaven
Who were notcross-bearers here below?
To:
Rest invigorate, refresh, enliven, relax
Learn to understand, realize, appreciate
Serve promote, advance, intercede
C.H. Spurgeon
An old Puritan says, “Come to Jesus, sinner, and if you are lame, come lame. If you say to have no feet, come on your stumps. Come as you can, for he cannot reject you till he denies himself.”
SERMON_____________________
Dante Alighieri
The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality.
Why Come?
- It is very earnest heed
- It is very simple seize
- It fits us exactly wear
- It is very gracious accept
C.H. Spurgeon
The cry of the Christian religion is the simple word “come.” The Jewish law said, “Go and break the commandments, and thou shalt perish. God, and keep them, and thou shalt live.” The law was a dispersion of the whip, which drove men before it. The gospel is just the opposite. It is the Shepherd’s dispensation. He goes before his sheep, and he
bids them follow him saying, “Come.” The law repels; the gospel attracts.
SERMON_____________________
Bruce Wilkinson
When we ask God’s blessing, we’re not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves but nothing more and nothing less than what God wants for us.
Blessings:
Rest relaxes, unwind, slow down
Meekness modesty, unpretentiousness
Supply provision, care, sustenance
Peace stillness, harmony, quiet
Keeping safekeeping, custody, care
Indwelling inhabitant, resident, citizen
Life existence, vital, living soul
Joy contentment, happiness
C.H. Spurgeon
Perhaps no verse in the whole of Scripture has been handled in the pulpit more frequently than this, and yet it has not been exhausted, and never can it be. It is a great soul-saving text.
SERMON_____________________
Some people complain because God puts thorns on roses, while others praise God for putting roses among the thorns.
I will:
- Give you rest
- Make you fishers of men
- Pour water upon the thirsty
- Carry, bear and deliver
- Make a way
- Strengthen you
- Provide victory
Elisabeth Elliot
The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.
SERMON_____________________
11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn form me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
George Elliot
I could not live in peace if I put the shadow of a willful sin between myself and God.
Promised twice:
- Rest for you
- Character of His
- Place with Him
- Abiding in Him
- Peace for you
- Presence near Him
- Association with Him
C.H. Spurgeon
I might call to witness all those who have ever proved this. Never did a man wear the yoke of Christ but he always loved to wear it.
SERMON_____________________
Peace is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it.
Rest:
- A sinner’s rest disturbed
- A restless one delivered
- A second rest found
- A worker refreshed
- The Spirit resting on you
- A busy group resting
- Persecuted martyrs resting
L. Thomas Holdcroft
There may be those on earth who dress better or eat better, but those who enjoy the peace of God sleep better.
SERMON_____________________
12:15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. May followed him, and he healed all their sick.
It is more important, more thrilling, more satisfying and infinitely more valuable to know the Healer than to be healed.
The King:
- He came
- He saw
- He conquered!
Apocrypha
Honor a physician with the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him; for the Lord hath created him. For of the Highest cometh healing and he shall receive honor of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration.
SERMON_____________________
12:18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”
The collapse of character often begins on compromise corner.
Character of Christ
- Chosen Eph 1:4
- Obedient Phil 2:8
- Beloved Lk 3:22
- Anointed Jn 6:27
- Revealing Jn 3:34
- Lowly Mat 11:29
- Sympathetic Isa 42:3
- Conquering Isa 53:11
- Trustworthy Acts 4:12
B.F. Westcott
The revelation of Christ in His person and work was absolute and complete, but without the gradual illumination of the Spirit, it is partly unintelligible and partly unobserved.
SERMON_____________________
If you wish to be disappointed,
Look to others.
If you wish to be down-hearted,
Look to yourself.
If you wish to be encouraged,
Look upon Jesus Christ.
Eric Sauer
Behold the:
Christ logos, the Word, anointed
Servant subordinate, attendant, help
Lamb symbol of peace, pacifier
Man individual, flesh and blood
Sower preparer, cultivator, planter
King absolute, supreme, chief
God first cause, begetter, father
Edmund de Pressense
He who was foretold and foreshadowed by the holy religion of Judea, which was designed to free the universal aspiration of mankind from every impure element, he has come to instruct, to obey, to love, to die and by dying to save mankind.
SERMON_____________________
12:20 “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”
When we do what we can,
God will do what we can’t.
Weak:
- Strength is vanity
- Power is delusion
- Might is a lie
Phillips Brooks
The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best strength that he may be able to bear the burden.
SERMON_____________________
A person’s character is put to a severe test when he suddenly acquires or quickly loses a considerable amount of money.
Worthless:
Money gold, cash, silver, currency
Talent ability, instinct, aptitude, gift
Time past, present, future, term
C.H. Spurgeon
You remember how the old Puritan put it. He had been rich and then was brought to poverty. And he said he didn’t find much difference, for when he was rich he found God in all, and now that he was poor he found all in God. Perhaps the latter is the higher state of the two.
SERMON_____________________
Clarence Autrey
The poison of rattlesnakes cannot be removed, nor the snakes subdued, by spraying them with perfume. Nothing but the surging tides of revival can cleanse the frontier of human corruption.
Revival can begin with:
- Onepoor man
- One ignorant man
- One weak man
- One backsliding man
- One praying man
G. Aiken Taylor
God has never seen fit to make numbers or organization the basis of out poured blessing. Rather, it has again and again been the individual or the small group who are completely surrendered to Him and who undertake their work trusting Him and who undertake their work trusting solely in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SERMON_____________________
12:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
He who labors as he prays
lifts his heart to God with his hands.
Bernard of Clairvaux
Conditions:
- Rest your heart
- Keep His commandments
- Do not condemn
- Live your life in Him
- Put aside your troubles
- Be spiritually minded
- Pray for grace and power
Augustine
Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.
SERMON_____________________
12:33
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
Augustine
Good
- Contact with Living Water
- Spiritual acceptability
- Death of old life
- Chastening and pruning
- Abiding in Christ
C.H. Spurgeon
A sermon often does a man most good when it makes him most angry. Those who walk down the aisles and say, “I will never hear that man again,” very often have an arrow rankling in their breast.
SERMON_____________________
We cannot do evil to others
Without doing it to ourselves.
Joseph Desmahis
Bad:
Natural guilty, hard-hearted, worldly
Selfish self-centered, egotistical
Deceitful deceptively, fraudulent
Corrupt depraved, rotten, vile, fallen
Fleshy material, unspiritual, lustful
C.H. Spurgeon
Look at fallen human nature. Whitefield used to say that it was half beast and half devil. I question whether both beast and devil are not slandered by being compared with man when he is left to himself.
SERMON_____________________
13:4 “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”
The intellect is always fooled by the heart.
Hearer:
Indifferent superficial, casual
Emotional spontaneous, rash
Double minded ambivalent, unsure
Dishonest criminal, cheat
Oswald Chambers
The Christian is one who bases his whole confidence in God and His work of grace, and then the emotions become the beautiful ornament of the life, not the source of it.
SERMON_____________________
Motivation without knowledge
Produces fanaticism
Hearer:
- Unresponsive
- Unconcerned
- Inattentive
- Indifferent
- Negligent
- Hostile
- No sorrow for sin
- No guilt
- No concern for Jesus
- Careless
- Calloused
- Hardened
David R. Chamberlain
Humanism vainly attempts to help people lift themselves by their own bootstraps, but the gains are only illusory. Humanity repeats Lucifer’s sin of pride and self-sufficiency, with equally tragic results.
SERMON_____________________
13:5-6 “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.”
Albert M. Wells, Jr
Some Christians are like Christmas trees.
They are decorated on the outside and dead on the inside.
Hearer
Superficial weak, trivial, shallow, petty
Quick alive, vital, enlivened, flesh
Emotional impulsive, unguarded, blind
Euphoric dance, carouse, party down
Exciting thrilling, stimulating, electric
Shallow skin-deep, trivialize, trifle
Billy Sunday
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
SERMON_____________________
13:7 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”
Theologically, wealth is a more serious problem than poverty.
Lauren Hogebrink
Hearer:
Career occupation, vocation, job
Home residence, house, domicile
Car vehicle, motor vehicle, auto
Hobby amusement, revelry, play
Clothes apparel, wear, attire, garb
Prestige class, status, materialism
Appearance superficiality, impression
Wealth investments, possessions
Peter Maurin
The world would be better off if people tried to become better. And people would become better if they stopped trying to become better off. For when everybody tries to become better off, nobody becomes better off. But when everybody tries to become better, everybody is better off.
SERMON_____________________
13:8 “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop: a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Martin Luther
Conversion is not a mere changing of habits, but a change of heart, a spiritual rebirth of man; that it is brought about by the power of God working through the Word.
Soil:
Wayside roadside, nearby, close
Shallow superficial, no depth, slight
Weedy overgrown, choked, dense
Fertile fruitful, lush, bountiful
Oswald Chambers
We are not to make men converts of our opinions. But we are to make them disciples of Jesus.
SERMON_____________________
C.H. Spurgeon
As for that sandy gospel which lets you fall away and then come back again, it is the wickedest falsehood on earth.
Overview:
The sower is Jesus
The field is the world
The seed is the Word
The wheat is the children of God
The tares are Satan’s children
The enemy is Satan
The harvest is the end of the world
Paul Lowenberg
Bruised hand, take the scepter; bruised head, take the crown; blessed Son of God, take the throne for “Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.”
SERMON_____________________
13:16 “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
Oswald Chambers
If I see better than I act on, I am sealing my soul with damnation.
Your eyes:
Blessed confirming, consenting
Seeing observant, watchful, aware
Guided straightforward, undeviating
Expectant anticipate, hopeful, eager
Lifted ascending, supportive
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired so long as we can see far enough.
SERMON_____________________
13:49 “This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous.”
Orin Gifford
You may juggle human laws, you may fool with human courts, but there is a judgment to come, and from it there is no appeal.
Shall come of:
Separation seclusion, isolation, solitude
Glory grandeur, splendor, luxury
Fulfillment closure, conclusion, end
Antichrist monarch of hell, Lucifer
Judgment decision, condemnation
Peter Cartwright
I have great respect for the President, but all men need to be restored, and unless our good President repents of his sin, he will be judged by God.
SERMON_____________________
14:9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request b e granted.
The blood of the martyrs
Is the seed of the church?
Tertullian
Distressed:
Sinner culprit, criminal, terrorist
Savior lifesaver, rescuer, liberator
Servant undistinguished, inoffensive
Spirit Paraclete, Comforter, Dove
Saint disciple, pilgrim, believer
Ralph Larson
We poor humans boast of our freedom, and then exhibit our shackles of material enslavement. We insist that nobody can tell us what to do, but the clanking of our chains gives our plight away.
SERMON_____________________
14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them, “Take courage! It is I. don’t be afraid!”
Men who fear God face life fearlessly.
Men who do not fear God end up fearing everything.
When Christ says:
- It is I
- Arise
- Go and tell
- Believe
- God is feared
- Speak
Henry Ward Beecher
God planted fear in the soul as truly as he planted hope or courage. It is a kind of bell or gong which rings the mind into quick life and avoidance on the approach of danger. It is the soul’s signal for rallying.
SERMON_____________________
We promise according to our hopes,
And perform according to our fears.
Bow of promise:
- Help in need
- Strength in weakness
- Cheer in despondency
- Guidance in perplexity
- Peace in trouble
- Joy is sorrow
- Power in service
Oswald Chambers
The promises of God are of no use to me until by obedience I understand the nature of God.
SERMON_____________________
14:29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
The Christian life is like an airplane:
When you stop you drop!
Come
- Mat 11:28
- Mat 14:29
- Jn 11:43
- Rev 22:17
- Rev 22:20
William Bridges
Christian faith is nothing else but the soul’s venture. It ventures to Christ, in opposition to all legal terrors. It ventures on Christ in opposition to our guiltiness. It ventures for Christ, in opposition to all difficulties and discouragements.
SERMON_____________________
14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
Fear is a sin:
- Repent of it
- End it
- Run from it
Billy Graham
Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us.
SERMON_____________________
Notice: Only one got out of the boat!
The teaching:
- A bold request
- A gracious invitation
- A successful venture
- A momentary failure
- An earnest prayer
- A speedy deliverance
- A gentle rebuke
- A blessed result
Marlene LeFever
Becoming an effective teacher is simple. You just prepare and prepare until drops of blood appear on your forehead.
SERMON_____________________
15:25 The woman came and knelt before him, “Lord, help me!” she said.
Heaven is full of answers to prayers
For which no one ever bothered to ask.
Billy Graham
Her prayer:
Short brief, concise, cautious
Humble obscure, subordinate
Fervent passionate, intense
Desperate dejected, bleak, forlorn
Rational pleading, justified, casual
Respectful attached, loyal, compatible
Worshipful adoring, in awe, deifying
Persevering steadfast, unshakable
Determined inflexible, unwavering, cool
Full of faith conviction, certainty, belief
C.H. Spurgeon
Unbelieving prayers! Shall I call them prayers? Prayers without faith! They are birds without wings, ships without sails, beasts without legs. Prayers that have no faith in Christ are prayers without the blood on them. They are deeds without the signature, without the seal, without the stamp. They are impotent, illegal documents.
SERMON_____________________
John Bunyan
In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
William Culbertson
Keep praying, but be thankful that God’s answers are wiser than your prayers.
- Were not her prayers good?
- Was not her case needy?
- Feel her need sufficiently?
- Not earnest enough?
- Had no faith?
- Don’t give up!
C.H. Spurgeon
It is the burning lava of the soul that has a furnace within; a very volcano of grief and sorrow; it is that burning lava of prayer that finds its way to God. No prayer ever reaches God’s heart which does not come from our hearts.
SERMON_____________________
15:30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.
It is more important, more thrilling,
More satisfying and infinitely
More valuable to know the Healer
Then to be healed.
He healed them:
- Lame unsteady walk
- Blind walking in the dark
- Cripple useless
- Dumb lips sealed
John H. Gerstner
Miracles may be denied, but healings are not. Christ produces a sound faith, and faith has a therapeutic value.
SERMON_____________________
15:31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
A candle lights others
And consumes it!
Walk
- In newness of life
- By faith
- In the Spirit
- In love
- In wisdom
- In the truth
- After His commandments
A tramp, obviously under the influence of alcohol, approached evangelist D.L. Moody.
”Mr. Moody,” said he, “you’re the man who saved me.” As the great evangelist observed the bearded face, bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, and torn clothes, he replied, “Yes, it looks as if I did save you. If the Lord had, you wouldn’t be in this condition.”
SERMON_____________________
16:5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ”Be careful” Jesus said to them. “Be on our guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
John Erskine
Most people have some sort of religion; at least they know what church they’re staying away from.
Carnal Clerics:
- Fundamental legalism
- Sanctimonious asceticism
- Communal pietism
- Religious institutionalism
- Hard-line pharisaic
- Wild-eyed mysticism
- Rigid monasticism
Walter Bagehot
The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.
SERMON_____________________
16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Martin Luther
Whoever sees Christ as a mirror of the Father’s heart actually walks through the world with new eyes.
Oswald Chambers
Who is Jesus Christ? God exalted in Christ crucified.
What did they say?
- Soldiers
- Mary
- Disciples
- 1st thief
- 2nd thief
- Centurion
- Priests
- Angels
- Satan
- God
- Passerby
Martin Luther
Whoever sees Christ as a mirror of the Father’s heart actually walks through the world with new eyes.
SERMON_____________________
In Jesus
We discover all of God we can know;
in Jesus
We have all of God we can need.
Jesus said, “I AM the”
- Bread of Life
- Light of the world
- Gate
- Good Shepherd
- Way, the Truth and the Life
- True Vine
C.S. Lewis
“I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic, on a level with man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.
Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
SERMON_____________________
Jesus clothes the Beatitudes with His own life.
Is there any:
- Example to follow?
- Command to obey?
- Error to avoid?
- Sin to repent of?
- Work to do?
William Booth
“Not called!” did you say? “Not heard the call,” I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help.
God stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there.
And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.
SERMON_____________________
16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
When Jesus comes,
The shadows depart!
Christ
- Glory in His Deity
- Glow in His Love
- Reality of His Humanity
- Sufficiency of His Death
- Indwelling of His Spirit
- Beauty of His Character
- Hope of His Glory
The great Word of the Gospel is not God is love. That is too stationary, too little energetic. It produces a religion unable to cope with crises. But the Word is this: Love is omnipotent forever because it is holy. That is the voice of Christ rose from the midst of time, and from time’s chaos and convulsions, yet coming from the depths of eternity
where the Son dwells in the bosom of the Father The key to history is the
historic Christ above history and in command of it, and there is no other key.
SERMON_____________________
Frederick Faber
Earth grows into heaven, as we come to live and breathe in the atmosphere of the incarnation. Jesus makes heaven wherever He is.
Living God:
Foundation supporting structure, base
Supply provision, equipment, stock
Food sustenance, daily bread
Power authority, command, sway
Access direct approach, front door
Union merger, coming together
Glory splendor, elegance, luxury
Benjamin Franklin
I have lived a long time, sir, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men.
SERMON_____________________
Jesus Christ is not a crutch;
He is the ground to walk on.
Son of God:
Commended praiseworthy, deserving
Taught advised, forearmed
Affirmed authenticated, certified
Crucified executed, impaled, killed
Demonstrated proven, verified, settled
C.H. Spurgeon
Infinite and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s abreast. Supporting a universe, and the needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and the carpenter’s despised son.
SERMON_____________________
16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
There are two dangers that
The church must avoid.
Isolation from the world
And imitation of the world
You’re Church?
- Anthems without adoration
- Creeds without conversion
- Listeners without holiness
- Ministers without a message
- Programs without prayers
- Religion without regeneration
- Rituals without reality
- Sermons without salvation
- Stained windows no soul winning
- Sweet organs without spiritual order
- Theology without kneeology
Beautiful but empty!
Bob Harrington
You can have the largest church auditorium, the biggest Sunday School, and run up a steeple on the church so high that it interferes with astronauts circling the earth, but the angels in heaven won’t give a holy grunt until some old sinner comes down the aisle and gets right with Jesus.
SERMON_____________________
John R.W. Stott
Before Christ sent the church into the world.
He sent His Spirit into the church. The same order must be observed today.
Real Church people:
Broken in need of repair, defective
Dependent
Imperfect fallible, vulnerable, frail
Teachable persuadable, convincible
Forgetful absentminded, oblivious
Troubled worried, confused, beset
Lost obstinate, having no regrets
Theodore Roosevelt
The true Christian is the true citizen, lofty of purpose, resolute in endeavor, ready for a hero’s deeds, but never looking down on his task because it is cast in the day of small things; scornful of baseness, awake to his own duties as well as to his rights, following the higher law with reverence, and in this world doing all that in his power lies, so that when death comes he may feel that mankind is in some degree better because he lived.
SERMON_____________________
16:20 “Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.”
C.H. Spurgeon
There are no crown-wearers in heaven, who were not cross-bearers on earth.
His reasoning:
Anticipation precaution, foresight, heeds
Necessity imperative, requisite, must
Acceptance comes to terms with
Submission obedience, subordination
T.R. Glover
The Lord promised His disciples three things: they would be entirely fearless, absurdly happy, and always in trouble.
SERMON_____________________
16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
The devil comes without invitation,
But leaves only when commanded.
Satan
Opposes retaliates, defies, rebels
Steals predatory, deception, forge
Sifts muddles, confuses, mixes
Endeavors struggles, plans, projects
Tempts corrupts, distorts, perverts
Transforms modifies, deforms, twists
Hinders obstructs, stifles, disables
John Stott
Satan, when tempting someone, says that sin isn’t very bad, isn’t very big and isn’t very important. But after the person has yielded to temptation and sinned, and has begun to think about asking God’s forgiveness, ten Satan reverses his field. And to his victim Satan declares that sin is so big, so bad and so awful that asking forgiveness will hardly
suffice.
SERMON_____________________
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
Wicked Ways:
- Malignant temptation
- Cruel work in binding
- Despotic sway
- Deceitful works
- Wicked purposes
- Hurtful messengers
- Resists the Angel of the Lord
William L. Sullivan
Thought, purpose, logic, industriousness, but without radiance or love: Isn’t it an accurate description of Satan?
SERMON_____________________
17:2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Oswald Chambers
Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His glory a second time; He came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and accomplished His death at Jerusalem.
His face:
Glorious stunning, brilliant, strong
Agonizing tender, distressed, acute
Covered obscured, secret, discreet
Steadfast iron-willed, unyielding, firm
Set dare, defy, determined
Struck stinging, aching, tender, raw
Marred bruised, scarred, imperfect
Illuminating radiant, dazzling, gleaming
Revealed unmistakable, bold, daring
Oswald Chambers
If Jesus Christ had gone to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, we might have worshiped Him, but we would have had no power to live the kind of life He lived. But Jesus did not come to show us what holy life was like: He came to make us holy by means of His death.
SERMON_____________________
17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
The three persons in the Godhead are three in one sense and one in another. We cannot tell how, and that is the mystery.
Voice:
Word venerates, honor, observe
Works perform, serve, be useful
Blood life requirement, necessity
Spirit force, spark, flame, soul
John Wesley
Tell me how it is that in this room there are three candles and one light, and I will explain to you the mode of the divine existence.
SERMON_____________________
17:8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
Matthew presents Jesus as the Royal Savior; Mark, as the Servant of man; Luke, as the Son of man; John, as Son of God.
Just Him:
- Eyes
- Voice
- Head
- Hands
- Soul
- Heart
Eric Sauer
If you wish to be disappointed, look to others. If you wish to be down-hearted, look to yourself. If you wish to be encouraged, look upon Jesus Christ.
SERMON_____________________
18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Too often an abandoned child is one
Who is still living with his parents?
Dependence
Honesty upright, trustworthy, fair
Humility modest, simplicity, plain
Innocence harmless, purity of heart
Obedience nonresistance, pliancy
Trust honor, reverence, faith
James Baldwin Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
SERMON_____________________
18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Loneliness seems to have become The great American disease
Jesus:
- Where? Divine location
- 2 or 3 Divine drawing
- Together Divine unity
- My Name Divine authority
- Am I Divine presence
- Them Divine center
C.H. Spurgeon
What the moon is to the night or the sun to the day or the Nile to Egypt or the dew to the tender herb or the soul to the human frame, that is the presence of Jesus to his church.
SERMON_____________________
St. Francis of Assisi
Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.
I am there:
- Center of attraction
- Object of Calvary
- Power of prayer
- Privilege of service
- Joy of believers
- Purpose of gathering
- Church in discipline
George Eliot
The idea of God, and the sense of His presence, intensify all noble feeling and encourage all noble effort, pour new life into our languid love, and give firmness to our vacillating purpose.
SERMON_____________________
19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
Our Lord’s teaching does not mean anything to a man until it does, and then it means everything.
Rabbi:
- Ruling Master
- Teaching Master
William Ward
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
SERMON_____________________
19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Edith Wharton
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.
His Attractability:
- Mothers brought their children
- Children loved Him
- Sinners came to Him
- Men followed Him
- Mary loved Him
- Soldiers were charmed by Him
- Centurion confessed Him
- People wondered about Him
- Pilate was astonished by Him
- Samaritans praised Him
- Shepherds worshipped Him
- Martha served Him
- Demoniac wanted to stay with Him
- People gathered to Him
Jeremy Taylor
He died not by a single or sudden death, but He was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world; for He was massacred in Abel; He was tossed upon the sea in Noah; it was He that went out of His country when Abraham was called from Haran, and wandered from his native soil; He was offered up in Isaac, persecuted in Jacob, betrayed in Joseph, blinded in Samson, affronted in Moses, saw in Isaiah, imprisoned with Jeremiah. He was stoned in Stephen, flayed in Bartholomew, roasted in Lawrence, exposed to lions in Ignatius, burnt in Polycarp, frozen in the lake where stood the forty martyrs of Cappodocia. The sacrament of Christ’s death cannot be accomplished, said Hilary, but by suffering all the sorrows of humanity.
SERMON_____________________
19:20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said, “What do I still lack?”
They that know God will be humble, And they that know themselves Cannot be proud
He still was:
- Covetous possessive, insatiable
- Indulgent greedy, voracious, never full
- Materialistic fleshy, carnal, worldly
Raymond L. Cox
Will you be satisfied with the fruit of your life’s work? Will the efforts you are making now bring you satisfaction when the things of time are receding and eternity looms just ahead?
SERMON_____________________
Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.
He had no:
- Love agape, understanding, filial
- Rest stabilization, roots, calm
- Peace tranquility, detachment
- Hope aspiration, goal, objective
- Joy happiness, contentment
- Security faith, confidence, courage
Jay Kesler
Things are to be used and God is to be loved. We get into trouble when we begin to use God and love things.
SERMON_____________________
19:25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Theodore Roosevelt
In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Can’t be saved:
- No desire
- Refuse His calling
- Hold on to sinning
- Only confess part
- Reject atonement
- Impenitent
- Unbelieving
- Trust good works
- Unforgiving
- Selfish motives
- Neglectful
Robert C. Cunningham
It is not culture but conversion that we need first. Not education, but transformation. Not new knowledge, but a new nature. We must become new creations by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit before we are ready to live Christ’s life and bear His image.
SERMON_____________________
20:5 so they went."He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
Charles G. Finney
If God commands something that is the highest evidence that we can do it.
Obedience:
- Went at once
- Worked with a will
- Never left service
- Received full reward
V. Raymond Edman
We are prone to argue with the Lord against an assignment that seems to us difficult, dangerous, and impossible. But our part is to trust Him fully, to obey Him implicitly, and to follow His instructions faithfully.
SERMON_____________________
Aristotle Wicked men obey from fear, good men, from love.
Our duty:
- Let us expect
- Let us pray
- Let us inquire
Henri Amiel
Never to tire, never to grow cold; to be patient, sympathetic, tender; to look for the budding flower and the opening heart; to hope always, like God, to love always: this is duty.
SERMON_____________________
19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Danita Harris
God’s stubborn love embraces the worst in us. He’s not letting go of you, so don’t let go of Him.
With God:
- All things are possible
- Best of all favors
- No respecter of persons
- No unrighteousness
- Man’s wisdom is foolishness
- Abide in Him for safety
- We will suffer wrongfully
Henri Nouwen
Dependence on people often leads to slavery, but dependence on God leads to freedom. When we know that God holds us safely, whatever happens, we don’t have to fear anything or anyone but can walk through life with great confidence.
SERMON_____________________
21:2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.”
John Mason
True humility makes way for Christ, and throws the soul at His feet.
His Humility:
- In the manger at His birth
- In the homelessness of His life
- In the dependence of others
- In the service of His disciples
- In the borrowing of the donkey
- In the asking for a drink
- In the burial in another’s grave
C.S. Lewis
A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness,“ on the walls of his cell.
SERMON_____________________
22:8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.”
E. Ray Jones
To falter before the forces of life when the power of God is available is unfortunate and above all unnecessary.
Undeserving
- Not loyal to the King
- Not loyal to the Son
- Not pleased with the marriage
- Live in self-interests
- Were cruel to the messengers
- Were punished
- Punishment not joy
Cecilius Statius
He who does not believe that God is above all is either a fool or has no experience of life.
SERMON_____________________
22:42 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
H.G. Wells
Is it any wonder that to this day this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?
He is the:
- Teacher educator, master, mentor
- Worker active, occupied, energetic
- Sufferer victim, martyr, persecuted
- Savior lifesaver, rescuer, liberator
- Master patriarch, owner, landlord
- Friend intimate, confidant, comrade
- Judge administrator, advocate
Napoleon Bonaparte
I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force... Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions of men would die for him.
SERMON_____________________
23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.”
Hank Hanegraaff
False teachers invite people to come to the Master’s table because of what’s on it, not because they love the Master.
False Teachers:
- Demand respect
- Teach but don’t practice
- Demand service but don’t give
- Seek praise of men
- Parade their religion
- Reject truth
- Seek head table
- Seek personal attention
- Glory in titles
- Rob men of truth
- Exhibit long prayers
- Win others to themselves
- Pretend to be righteous
- Live in moral filth
Jonathan Edwards
Spiritual pride is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of truth. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment.
SERMON_____________________
23:8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.”
No man can follow Christ and go astray.
You call Me:
- Master but do not obey
- Light but do not see
- Way but do not walk
- Wise but do not listen
- Rich but do not ask Me
- Eternal but do not live
- Gracious but do not trust
- Noble but do not serve
- God but do not fear Me
If I call you condemned, Do not blame Me!
Thomas Carlyle
If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he has to say, and make fun of it.
SERMON_____________________
A man gets the seal of condemnation When he sees the light, And prefers darkness
7 Woes:
- Preoccupation
- No spirituality
- Unconfessed sin
- Hypocrisy
- Impenitence
- Perverseness
- Delusiveness
Rolf L. Veenstra
Though you’re old you was actually crucified with Christ, it is possible for the dead ego to climb out of the casket and mess up the new you, which is what Paul calls being “carnal or fleshy.”
SERMON_____________________
23:25 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
God hates those who praise themselves.
Inside:
- Nicodemus Inward life
- Samarian Inward supply
- Saul of Tarsus Inward light
- Demoniac Inward liberty
- Palsied Man Inward blessing
- Simon Inward love
- Pharisees Inward cleansing
Tyron Edwards
The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves, our weaknesses, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine grace, we may overcome and turn from them all.
SERMON_____________________
24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives; the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
To sensible men, Every day is a day of reckoning.
Signs:
- Deceptions
- False christs
- Wars
- Famines
- Pestilence
- Earthquakes
- Anti-Semitism
- Betrayals
- Hatred
- False prophets
- Lawlessness
- Decreased love
- More missions
- New Jewish nations
- New Jewish temple
- Martyrdom
- Satanic powers
- Sex crimes
- Procrastination
- Legarthy
Oswald Chambers
It is easy to see the specks and the wrong in others, because we see in others that of which we are guilty ourselves.
SERMON_____________________
24:13 “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Rapture of the Church:
- Anti-Christ Revealed
- Great Tribulation
- Armageddon
- Return of Christ
- Binding of Satan
- Millennial Kingdom
- Satan’s Rebellion
- Last Judgment
- New Heaven and Earth
Carl Henry
The final chapter of human history is solely God’s decision, and even new He is everywhere active in grace or judgment. Never in all history have men spoken so much of end-time, yet been so shrouded in ignorance of God’s impending doomsday.
SERMON_____________________
24:31 “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Calvinism
Election according to foreknowledge of God.
Natural depravity and sinfulness of man.
Redemption by the Blood of Christ.
Effectual calling by the power of the H.S.
Ultimate perseverance by God’s might.
W.G. Shedd
The only sure sign that any man is one of the elect is his perseverance in the Christian life; for he is elected to holiness as well as happiness. Perseverance, like faith, is the gift of God.
Tyron Edwards
Doctrine is the necessary foundation of duty; if the theory is not correct, the practice cannot be right. Tell me what a man believes, and I will tell you what he will do.
SERMON_____________________
24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Mark Twain
It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.
Words of Christ:
- Lasting ageless, imperishable
- Arresting conquering, capturing
- Gracious benevolent, courteous
- Living inhabiting, sheltered, home
- Inspiring compelling, irresistible
- Father’s almighty, everlasting, logos
- Repeated echoed, reechoed, etc.
Billy Sunday
I am a Christian because God says so, and I did what he told me to do, and I stand on God’s Word, and if the Book goes down, I’ll go with it.
SERMON_____________________
24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Read it to be wise.
Believe it to be safe.
Practice it to be holy.
His words:
- God-given in their origin
- Life-giving in their nature
- Faith-producing in their influence
- Prayer-inspiring in their working
- Peace-assuring in their benediction
- Soul-sustaining in their intercession
- Wonder-begetting in their ministry
J. Carter Swaim
The real influence of the Bible cannot be measured; it is reckoned only in terms of hearts that have been lifted up, decisions that have been changed, the men and women who, in response to its impervious demands, have done justice and loved kindness and walked humbly with God.
SERMON_____________________
25:10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.”
Do not wait for the last judgment, it takes place every day.
Went In:
- Immediate hastily, quickly, promptly
- Intimate favorite, inseparable, near
- Joyous elated, blissful, euphoric
- Personal honor, duty, belief, reasons
- Eternal unending, undying, no end
- Actual certain, positive, accepting
Zoroaster
Taking the first footstep with a good thought, the second with a good word, and the third with a good deed, I entered Paradise.
SERMON_____________________
To be alone, completely alone, is hell.
Door Shut:
- Universal worldwide, all-inclusive
- Complete climax, total, fulfilled
- Just objective, impartial, fair
- Final consummation, conclusive
Oswald Chambers Jesus Christ did not come to pronounce judgment; He Himself is the judgment; whenever we come across Him, we are judged instantly.
SERMON_____________________
25:14 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, which call his servants and entrusted his property to them.
A Christian is the keyhole Through which other folk see God.
Believer is called:
- Children for kinship
- Saints for holiness
- Christians for identification
- Brethren for fellowship
- Sheep for character
- Servants for employment
- Friends for companionship
Ignatius Loyola
Teach us, Lord, to serve you are you deserve, to give and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do your will.
SERMON_____________________
25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.’
A servant is known
By his Master’s absence.
Good Servant:
- Soul winner
- Humble servant
- Faithful steward
- Benevolent
Oswald Chambers
If you are devoted to the cause of humanity, you will soon be exhausted and have your heart broken by ingratitude, but if the mainspring of your service is love for Jesus, you can serve men, although they treat you as a door-mat.
SERMON_____________________
C.S. Lewis
God can’t give us happiness and peace apart from Himself because there is no such thing.
Happiness:
- Not in unbelief
- Not in pleasure
- Not in money
- Not in fame
- Not in position
- Not in military glory
- Not in earthly works
In Christ alone!
Aristotle
No one praises happiness as one praises justice, but we call it a blessing, deeming it something higher and more divine than things we praise.
SERMON_____________________
26:18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”
This world is the land of the dying;
The next is the land of the living.
Things that are near:
- Conscious sufferer
- Approaching deliverer
- City’s vicinity
- Saving gospel
- Securing price
- Living presence
- Portentous time
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. God forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.
SERMON_____________________
26:33 “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.”
If God were not willing to forgive sin,
Heaven would be empty.
You will see:
- Signs appear
- Blessed Servant
- Judgment of the nations
- Christ’s appearing
- Believers vindicated
- Suffers rewarded
- Worthy receive crowns of glory
- Saints will be glorified
- Faithful will abide in Christ
Sir James Barrie
The gates of heaven are so easily found when we are little, and they are always standing open to let children wander in.
SERMON_____________________
26:37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Blessed to us is the night,
For it reveals the stars.
Agony at Gethsemane:
Sorrow grieving, wretchedness
Trouble destitute, weakling, victim
Pain raw, writhing, tormented
Agony extreme, unbearable, torn
George Gordon
Grief should be the instructor of the wise; sorrow is knowledge; they who know the most must mourn the deepest over the fatal truth.
SERMON_____________________
26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “MY Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
The best prayers have often more
Groans than words.
And He prayed:
- Lonely prayer
- Humble prayer
- Filial prayer
- Persevering prayer
- Prayer of resignation
C.H. Spurgeon
God the Holy Ghost writes our prayers, God the Son presents our prayers and God the Father accepts our prayers. And with the whole Trinity to help us in it, what cannot prayer perform?
SERMON_____________________
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Basil
Despise the flesh, for it passes away. See to the welfare of your soul, for it never dies.
The Flesh:
- Watch your self
- Watch your eyes
- Watch your nose
- Watch your mouth
- Watch your tongue
- Watch your hands
- Watch your feet
- Watch your emotions
Rolf L. Veenstra
Though you’re old you was actually crucified with Christ, it is possible for the dead ego to climb out of the casket and mess up the new you.
SERMON_____________________
26:45 Then he returned to still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Don Quixote
Behind the cross there’s the devil.
The hour is near:
- An hour of woe
- A means to an end
- A reciprocal action
- A cheering Lord
- A returning Savior
- A near redemption
- An approaching day
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love; time is eternity.
SERMON_____________________
26:75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times...” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Every heart has its own ache.
A weeping:
- Backslider lapse, recidivism, relapses
- Mother modern, career, working
- Sinner offender, culprit, criminal
- Savior way, life, and truth
- Mourner lamenting, depressed, sad
- Sympathizer sensitive, emotional, aware
- Apostle reformer, evangelist, vicar
C.H. Spurgeon
Peter not only denied his Master, but as if he knew that true Christian would not swear, he did it. He cursed and swore to convinced them that he was not a disciple of Jesus Christ.
SERMON_____________________
27:18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
Covetousness is simply craving more of what you have enough of already.
Envied
· His reputation
· His power
· His authority over men
· His gracious words
· His deeds of mercy
· His mastery of Scripture
· His separateness
· His elevation of life
· His holiness
William Barclay
Envy does not so much want the things for itself; it merely wants to take them away from the other person. The Stoics defined it as grief at someone else’s good. It is the quality, not so much of the jealous, but rather of the embittered mind.
SERMON_____________________
27:25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!
C.H. Spurgeon
There may be some sins of which a man cannot speak, but there is no sin which the blood of Christ cannot wash away.
With His Blood:
- Oppression violence, exploitation, wrong
- Safety impunity, invulnerable
- Welfare well-being, favor, advantage
- Peace rest, harmony, freedom
- Happiness satisfaction, enjoyment, fun
Oswald Chambers
When Jesus Christ shed His blood on the Cross if was not the blood of a martyr, or the blood of one man for another, it was the life of God poured out to redeem the world.
SERMON_____________________
Were it not for gold and women, there would be no damnation.
Without His Blood:
- Spiritual unrest
- Accusing conscience
- Physical diseases
- Personal misfortune
- Destruction of life
- Eternal death
Oswald Chambers
Jesus Christ never says that a man is damned because he is a sinner; the condemnation is when a man sees what Jesus Christ came to do and will not let Him do it. That is the critical moment, the judgment, in a man’s life.
SERMON_____________________
Man is a god in ruins.
Hands of men:
- Reproached
- Despised
- Laughed at
- Railed
- Falsely accused
- Derided
- Questioned
- Grumbled at
- Hunted by
- Hated
- Betrayed
- Played with
- Mocked
- Crucified
Book of Common Prayer
By Thine agony and bloody sweat; by Thy cross and passion; by Thy precious death and burial; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, good Lord, deliver us.
SERMON_____________________
27:28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
That the potter should die for His clay is a stupendous miracle.
He is stripped:
- By mocking Christians
- By condemning doctrine
- By beliefs not obeyed
- By false professions of faith
- By resolves not fulfilled
W.E. Orchard
They gave him a manger for a cradle, a carpenter’s bench for a pulpit, thorns for a crown, and a cross for a throne. He took them and made them the very glory of his career.
SERMON_____________________
27:29 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Great souls suffer in silence.
His suffering:
- Marred defaced, disfigured, flawed
- Lacerated bruised, punctured, torn
- Scarred disfigured, defaced, flawed
- Pierced punctured, lanced, stabbed
- Nailed joined, fastened, attached
- Torn wounded, cut, grazed
- Exposed face death, risk, cornered
Martin Luther
Our suffering is not worthy the name of suffering. When I consider my crosses, tribulations, and temptations. I shame myself almost to death, thinking what they are in comparison of the sufferings of my blessed Savior Christ Jesus.
SERMON_____________________
27:30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
Only the willingness to suffer can conquer suffering.
14 things done to Him:
- Spat in His face
- Buffeted His cheeks
- Bound His hands
- Scourged His back
- Stripped His body
- Lacerated His head
- Plucked off His hair
- Took away His garments
- Mocked His person
- Condemned Him unjustly
- Liberated His Mission
- Taunted His works
- Spiked His feet
- Speared His side
Of all the things that ever existed, sin is the most shameful. It deserves to be spit on. It deserves to be crucified. And because our Lord had taken on himself our sin, he must be put to shame. If you want to see what God thinks of sin, see his only Son spat on by the soldiers when he was made sin for us. In God’s sight sin is a shameful, horrible, loathsome, abominable thing, and when Jesus takes it he must be forsaken and given up to scorn.
SERMON_____________________
27:43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”
Faith makes all things possible Love makes all things easy.
His Faith:
- Grounded in the Scriptures
- Guarded by prayer
- Graced by love
- Guided by the Spirit
- Growth of faith
- Goal of faith
- Glory of faith
Thomas Brooks
We trust as we love, and where we love. If we love Christ much, surely we shall trust Him much.
SERMON_____________________
27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The fear of death is worse than death.
Forsaken:
- A forsaken God
- A forsaken Savior
- A forsaken Law
- A forsaken Man
- A forsaken Heart
- A forsaken Servant
- A forsaken Sinfulness
C.H. Spurgeon
Jesus was deserted by God. And if he, who was only imputable a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? Oh, sinner, if God, how much less will He spare you?
SERMON_____________________
27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.
Salvation is the work of God for man; it is not the work of man for God.
Holy of Holies opened:
- Put away old ordinances
- Revealed new hidden abolished
- Ceremony of atonement abolished
- Gates of paradise opened
- Access to God permitted
C.H. Spurgeon
What a Magna Charta is this! The old covenant says, “Keep the law and live.” The new covenant is, “You shall live, and I will lead you to keep my law, for I will write it on your heart.”
SERMON_____________________
27:55 And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him.
The duty of the church is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable.
From a distance:
- A demon-possessed man
- The women at the cross
- Peter
- The lepers
- The publican
- The gentile sinners
- Old Testament saints
Anonymous
Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns.
SERMON_____________________
28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
When death stung Jesus Christ, it stung itself to death.
Mary went:
- Very early
- Very bold
- Faithfully
- Earnestly
- Weeping
- Savior only!
Herbert Booth Smith
The biggest fact about Joseph’s tomb was that it wasn’t a tomb at all; it was a room for a transient. Jesus just stopped there a night or two on his way back to glory.
SERMON_____________________
28:6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said, Come and see the place where he lay.
The mightiest works of God are the fruit of silence.
Let us meditate:
- His great humility
- His spotless character
- His many sufferings
- His mighty power
- His glorious victory
Blaise Pascal
What reason have atheists for saying that we cannot rise again? Which is the more difficult, to be born again, or to rise again? That what has never been should be, or that what has been, should be again? Is it more difficult to come into being than to return to it?
SERMON_____________________
John R. Stott
Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of the resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.
Christ Rose:
- Sin’s climax
- Love’s giving
- Work accomplished
Editorial
The resurrection cannot be tamed or tethered by any utilitarian test. It is a vast watershed in history, or it is nothing. It cannot be tested for truth; it is the test of lesser truths. No light can be thrown on it; its own light blinds the investigator. It does not compel belief; it resists it. But once accepted as fact, it tells more about the universe, about history, and about man’s state and fate than all the mountains of other facts in the human accumulation.
SERMON_____________________
The mightiest works of God are the fruit of silence.
Our meditation:
- Security: immunity, protection, safe
- Power: enlightenment, sanctity
- Love: truth, mercy, wisdom
- Sympathy: understanding, empathy
- Affinity: passionate, inseparable
- Joy: celebration, happiness
- Hope: faith, confidence, trust
Andrew Bonar
Rule #1: Not to speak to any person before speaking to Jesus Christ.
Rule #2: Not to do anything with his hands until he had been on his knees.
Rule #3: Not to read the papers until he had read his Bible.
SERMON_____________________
Billy Graham
Christians should never fail to sense the operation of an angelic glory. It forever eclipses the world of demonic powers, as the sun does a candle’s light.
Angel’s Message:
- Fear not: love
- I know: appreciation
- He is not here: reminder
- He is risen: joy
Oswald Chambers
Angels can come and go through rocks and doors, can appear and disappear in a way we cannot understand. Their consciousness is above ours, different from it. When anyone tries to explain to you how an angel sees and knows things, say to yourself, ‘private speculation.’
SERMON_____________________
Peter Marshall
The resurrection never becomes a fact of experience until the risen Lord lives in the heart of the believer.
His Resurrection:
- Proclamation
- Power
- Presence
Editorial
The resurrection cannot be tamed or tethered by any utilitarian test. It is a vast watershed in history, or it is nothing. It cannot be tested for truth; it is the test of lesser truths. No light can be thrown on it; its own light blinds the investigator. It does not compel belief; it resists it. But once accepted as fact, it tells more about the universe, about history, and about man’s state and fate than all the mountains of other facts in the human accumulation.
Notes:
28:9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.
Martin Luther
Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf of springtime.
They were:
- All alive with hopeful energy
- All aglow with excitement
- All full of ardent love
- All amazed at His glory
- All afraid that it would end
Sir Thomas Browne
I believe that our estranged and divided ashes shall unite again; that our separated dust, after so many pilgrimages and transformations into the parts of the minerals, plants, animals, elements, shall, at the voice of God, return to their primitive shapes, and join again to make up their primary and predestinate forms.
SERMON_____________________
True obedience is true liberty.
They went to Him:
- Obedience: rewarded
- Testimony: sealed
- Faith: blessed
- Diligence: encouraged
- Service: recognized
- Fellowship: illustrated
- Spirit: guided
Phillips Brooks
Obedience must be the struggle and desire of our life. Obedience, not hard and forced, but ready, loving and spontaneous: the doing of duty, not merely that the duty may be done, but that the soul in doing it may become capable of receiving and uttering God.
SERMON_____________________
28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,”
Our Lord never taught dogma, He declared.
Authority:
- Authority to heal
- Authority over demons
- Authority to preach
- Authority to become His
Oswald Chambers
Our Lord never taught dogma, He declared. There is no argument or discussion in what He says; it is not a question of the insight of a marvelous man, but a question of speaking with authority.
SERMON_____________________
28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
God Almighty regenerates men’s souls; We make disciples.
Discipleship:
- Self-denial
- Cross bearing
- Renunciation
- Leaving all
- Steadfastness
- Fruitfulness
Oswald Chambers
The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God’s foreordained decrees. Mysterious? Logically contradictory and absurd? Yes, but a glorious truth to a saint.
SERMON_____________________
Augustine
God is more anxious to bestow his blessings on us than we are to receive them.
Blessings:
- Spiritual knowledge
- Spiritual light
- Guidance by His Name
- Heavenly honor
- A Divine example
Dr. Jonas Miller
The reason we don’t have more blessings from God is because we are not thankful enough for the blessings we have.
SERMON_____________________
We teach what we know; We reproduce what we are.
10 Tests of Discipleship:
- World persecution
- Fearless preaching
- Fearless consecration
- Bold confession of Christ
- Family persecution
- Putting God first
- Fearless faith
- Bearing cross daily
- Following Christ
- Denying self
Anonymous
We may be doing Jesus an injustice in stressing the fact that He so frequently said “Go!” His first word to His disciples was not “Go” but “Come.”
SERMON_____________________
Commands:
- Go and teach all nations
- Go and preach the Gospel
- Go to the lost sheep
- Go into the vineyard
- Go into the highways
- Go into the streets and lanes
- Go home to your friends
- Go and do likewise
SERMON_____________________
Charles Colson
It is not what we do that matters, but what is sovereign God chooses to do through us. God doesn’t want our success; he wants us. He doesn’t demand our achievements; he demands our obedience. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of paradox, where through the ugly defeat of a cross a holy God is utterly glorified. Victory comes through defeat; healing through brokenness; finding self through losing self.
28:20 “And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.”
Christ is clothed with human nature.
In Your:
- Affections: tenderness, love, liking
- Hopes: optimism, expectations
- Trust: confidence, reliance, belief
- Joy: happiness, contentment
Joan Arnold
God is the sunshine that warms us, the rain that melts the frost and waters the young plants. The presence of God is a climate of strong and bracing love, always there.
SERMON_____________________
Nothing can happen through you, Which is not happening to you?
Go for:
- Adjustment: refinement, fine-tuning
- Activity: work, business, career
- Alertness: close attention, vigilance
- Attention: watch, observe, note, heed
- Fruitfulness: benefit, return, advantage
- Separation: disconnection, breakup
- Testimony: certification, validation, oath
William Barclay
It is when men see that we are prepared to suffer something for the faith which we say we hold that they will begin to believe that we really do hold it. If a thing costs us nothing, men will value it at nothing.
SERMON_____________________