Sunday's Sermon Notes from November 29, 2009

Here are the sermon notes from Sunday's sermon "The Anti-Christ" from Daniel 7-8. Click here. This is the last of the messages from Daniel until after the first of the year.

Was Jesus Nice?

(By John MacArthur)

Today’s post comes from John’s new book, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore.

The Great Shepherd Himself was never far from open controversy with the most conspicuously religious inhabitants in all of Israel. Almost every chapter of the Gospels makes some reference to His running battle with the chief hypocrites of His day, and He made no effort whatsoever to be winsome in His encounters with them. He did not invite them to dialogue or engage in a friendly exchange of ideas.

Jesus’ public ministry was barely underway when He invaded what they thought was their turf—the temple grounds in Jerusalem—and went on a righteous rampage against their mercenary control of Israel’s worship. He did the same things again during the final week before His crucifixion, immediately after His triumphal entry into the city. One of His last major public discourses was the solemn pronunciation of seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. These were formal curses against them. That sermon was the farthest thing from a friendly dialogue. But it is a perfect summary of Jesus’ dealings with the Pharisees. It is blistering denunciation—a candid diatribe about the seriousness of their error. There is no conversation, no collegiality, no dialogue, and no cooperation. Only confrontation, condemnation, and (as Matthew 23 records) curses against them.

Jesus’ compassion is certainly evident in two facts that bracket this declamation. First, Luke says that as He drew near the city and observed its full panorama for this final time, He paused and wept over it (Luke 19:41-44). And second, Matthew records a similar lament at the end of the seven woes (23:37). So we can be absolutely certain that as Jesus delivered this diatribe, His heart was full of compassion.

Yet that compassion is directed at the victims of the false teaching, not the false teachers themselves. There is no hint of sympathy, no proposal of clemency, no trace of kindness, no effort on Jesus’ part to be “nice” toward the Pharisees. Indeed, with these words Jesus formally and resoundingly pronounced their doom and then held them up publicly as a warning to others.

This is the polar opposite of any invitation to dialogue. He doesn’t say, “They’re basically good guys. They have pious intentions. They have some valid spiritual insights. Let’s have a conversation with them.” Instead, He says, “Keep your distance. Be on guard against their lifestyle and their influence. Follow them, and you are headed for the same condemnation they are.”

This approach would surely have earned Jesus a resounding outpouring of loud disapproval from today’s guardians of evangelical protocol. In fact, His approach to the Pharisees utterly debunks the cardinal points of conventional wisdom among modern and post-modern evangelicals—the neoevangelical fondness for eternal collegiality, and the Emerging infatuation with engaging all points of view in endless conversation. By today’s standards, Jesus’ words about the Pharisees and His treatment of them are breathtakingly severe.

We Preach Christ

I think every serious student of the Bible has wrestled with God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. I found the following quote by Iain Murray and loved it.

“There is no inconsistency between believing that God has a special sovereign love before the foundation of the world that is efficacious and brings in all the Body of Christ and that there is too love for all men, and that no man knows to which of those loves he has been brought until he is converted. In other words, it is the love of God in Christ that is proclaimed. And theoretical problems about how is this consistent with that, and so on, are not really our concern. And ultimately, we don’t even know the answer to that. So, Robert Candlish (1806-1873), another Free Church divine, says, ‘We don’t preach a limited atonement or a universal atonement. We preach a saving Christ. And when people come to Christ, then they find they have been redeemed and his blood has been shed for them.’”

The Manhattan Declaration

In case you have not heard of this, you should. The Manhattan Declaration is a 4,700 word document written in the fall "issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not - under any circumstance - abandon their Christian consciences." The press release is here. The declaration was drafted by Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson and signed by more than 150 Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christian leaders. Several Southern Baptists were among the original signatories, including George, Colson, Danny Akin, David Dockery, Jimmy Draper, Jonathan Falwell, Jack Graham, Richard Land, Jim Law, Ben Mitchell, Al Mohler, Russ Moore, David Platt, Bob Reccord, Robert Sloan, James Emery White, and Hayes Wicker.

The most notable who didn't sign is John MacArthur. As I read his reason and others, it seems the biggest issue for them was uniting with those who do not believe, as we, about the gospel. I understand that totally, but it didn't seem this document is about the gospel, but social issues.

This is the essence of the document:

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm — a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.

A haunting question is this: How do atheists observe Thanksgiving? I can easily understand that an atheist or agnostic would think of fellow human beings and feel led to express thankfulness and gratitude to all those who, both directly and indirectly, have contributed to their lives. But what about the blessings that cannot be ascribed to human agency? Those are both more numerous and more significant, ranging from the universe we experience to the gift of life itself.

Can one really be thankful without being thankful to someone? It makes no sense to express thankfulness to a purely naturalistic system. The late Stephen Jay Gould, an atheist and one of the foremost paleontologists and evolutionists of his day, described human life as “but a tiny, late-arising twig on life’s enormously arborescent bush.” Gould was a clear-headed evolutionist who took the theory of evolution to its ultimate conclusion — human life is merely an accident, though a very happy accident for us. Within that worldview, how does thankfulness work?

The Apostle Paul points to a central insight about thankfulness when he instructs the Christians in Rome about the reality and consequences of unbelief. After making clear that God has revealed himself to all humanity through the created order, Paul asserts that we are all without excuse when it comes to our responsibility to know and worship the Creator.

He wrote:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . [Romans 1:20-22].

This remarkable passage has at its center an indictment of thanklessness. They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Paul wants us to understand that the refusal to honor God and give thanks is a raw form of the primal sin. Theologians have long debated the foundational sin — and answers have ranged from lust to pride. Nevertheless, it would seem that being unthankful, refusing to recognize God as the source of all good things, is very close to the essence of the primal sin. What explains the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden? A lack of proper thankfulness was at the core of their sin. God gave them unspeakable riches and abundance, but forbade them the fruit of one tree. A proper thankfulness would have led our first parents to avoid that fruit at all costs, and to obey the Lord’s command. Taken further, this first sin was also a lack of thankfulness in that the decision to eat the forbidden fruit indicated a lack of thankfulness that took the form of an assertion that we creatures — not the Creator — know what is best for us and intend the best for us.

They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Clearly, honoring God as God leads us naturally into thankfulness. To honor Him as God is to honor His limitless love, His benevolence and care, His provision and uncountable gifts. To fail in thankfulness is to fail to honor God — and this is the biblical description of fallen and sinful humanity. We are a thankless lot.

Sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God know a thankfulness that exceeds any merely human thankfulness. How do we express thankfulness for the provision the Father has made for us in Christ, the riches that are made ours in Him, and the unspeakable gift of the surpassing grace of God? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” [2 Corinthians 9:15].

So, observe a wonderful Thanksgiving — but realize that a proper Christian Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act that requires an active mind as well as a thankful heart. We need to think deeply, widely, carefully, and faithfully about the countless reasons for our thankfulness to God.

It is humbling to see that Paul so explicitly links a lack of thankfulness to sin, foolishness, and idolatry. A lack of proper thankfulness to God is a clear sign of a basic godlessness. Millions of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving with little consciousness of this truth. Their impulse to express gratitude is a sign of their spiritual need that can be met only in Christ.

So have a very Happy Thanksgiving — and remember that giving thanks is one of the most explicitly theological acts any human can contemplate. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting [1 Chronicles 16:34]. Give thanks.

Blog from Dr. Al Mohler, President, Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY

Sermon Notes, Nov. 22

Here are the sermon notes from Sunday, Nov. 22 "Changed by the Ancient of Days" from Daniel 7. Click here

Ancient of Days

Tomorrow we study Daniel 7 and will come across that name of God "Ancient of Days." In prepartion, listen to the song "Ancient of Days."

Proverb of the Day

The church and ties to a political parties

In line of recent comments I have made about Baptists and the Republican party, this morning Danny Akin, President of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes (click here to read the entire blog) about the future of the Ethics and Religious Life Commission by then talking about the church's role with politics. Here are his exact words.

Finally, we must not tie ourselves to any one political party, because to do so would distort and domesticate the gospel: “Inappropriate is the only adequate term,” writes Paige Patterson, “to describe purely partisan politics or the use of the pulpit to endorse personalities running for political office.” Likewise, I (Danny Akin) have argued: “Our hope is not in Republicans or Democrats, Congress or Capitol Hill. Our hope, the world’s hope, is in Calvary’s hill and a crucified and risen Savior….” The gospel cannot be domesticated to fit the agenda of any one worldly political party."

Amen and amen!!

Don't Go to Church. Be the Church??????

Here are the closing comments from a blog writing by Jeff Purswell. You may read all of the blog with an exegesis from Hebrews 12. Read the full blog here. This is a blog written to combat the thought; "Don't go to church. Be the church." Here are his closing thoughts:

So back to your home church this upcoming Sunday. When you enter and the music begins, what are you more aware of? Is it the song set? the musicians? the mix? Does the worship band wow you? Does the routine bore you?

Or do you perceive something beyond all this?

Your church is one authentic manifestation of the entire people of God that right now is worshiping before the throne of God. That is the reality of new covenant worship. And when we begin to wrap our minds around that, there springs to mind a thousand reasons to rejoice, to praise, and to sing; and to renounce flippancy, self-display, selfishness, superficiality, sloppiness, and thoughtlessness.

Before the God who is a consuming fire, we don’t shuffle in casually. We don’t demand our artistic preferences. We don’t merely gather with our friends. We don’t merely sing together. As the people of God, we enter into the very presence of God. Encountering God in this way is the very nature of the church. By definition, to be the church is to gather in God’s presence and to worship God together. And when we begin singing, we join the glorious worship that takes place unceasingly before the throne of God.

This is true regardless of how we feel, who leads worship, what songs we sing, or how we think worship went. There is something incredible happening on Sunday morning!

Be the church and go to church. Something eternal is going on in there. Don’t miss it.

Vandy basketball

To prove I was at the first Vandy basketball game, but don't consider me a Vandy fan yet.

Video from the Alabama Baptist State Convention

This is a first - a video from The Alabama Baptist showing some highlights from this morning's opening session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention meeting in Huntsville. Dr. Jerry Rankin was our featured speaker. Click here to see.

Spurgon on the Cross

All the deacons in our church are studying once a month apart from our regular Deacon's meetings reserved for just active deacons. We started discussing "The Gospel." Yesterday we talked about the cross. Below is a quote from Charles Spurgeon and it rings loudly what Jesus did and our response. Read slowly - let it wipe across your spirit.

"He stripped off first one robe of honor and then another until, naked, He was fastened to the cross. There He emptied His inmost self, pouring out His lifeblood, giving Himself for all of us. Finally, they laid Him in a borrowed grave. How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then, can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross and count the scarlet drops by which you have been cleansed. See the thorny crown and His scourged shoulders still gushing with the crimson flow of blood. See His hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and His whole self mocked and scorned. See the bitterness, the pangs, and the throes of inward grief show themselves in His outward frame. Hear the chilling shriek, ‘My God, How We Must Come..-3 -my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46). If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. As Jesus stooped for you, bow in humility at His feet. A realization of Christ’s amazing love has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson. Then let us rise and carry it into practice.” Charles Spurgeon

Sermon Notes from Nov. 15

Here are my sermon notes from the message this morning "Confidence in a Crisis" from Daniel 6. Click here

How God Views the Nations - including America

As I have been preparing for Daniel 6 tomorrow, I have studied (but could not include in the sermon) the teaching out of Daniel 6 about how God views the nations. Prior to Daniel 6, the Babylonians had ruled taking Daniel as a teenager into captivity and him leaving in a foreign land under at least four different kings before the collapse of the kingdom under Belshazzar.

In fact, it was said that the mighty kingdom fell that one night (as recorded in Daniel 5:30) and "not a spear was thrown." You can read my message about that here. God is able to take down the greatest nations in one night.

And now in Daniel 6, Darius (possibly his title) is ruling.

This reminds us that nations are born, and die. They come on the landscape of history, but then pass away. God says (Isaiah 50:15) "Behold, the nations are like a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance...." Nations are like one drop that spills out of a bucket. They are like dust on a balance.

John MacArthur says, "The only word I can think of to describe the nations is inconsequential."

Inconsequential when compared to the greater plans of God. Nations come and go...God remains. People and rulers rise and fall....but the people of God remain. As Joyce G. Baldwin says in her commentary on Daniel in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary set, "The episodes chosen demonstrate that the world's great empires, and the kings who represent them, are all subject to the God of the exiles from Judah...."

God is in control and no nation or ruler has power than has not been granted them by Him (Romans 13:1).

Acts 17:26 (NIV) "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

I love America, but we need to be humbled by the thought that God does not need America, America needs God. Again to quote John MacArthur, "Nations come and go and God's work goes on, for no nation is really significant when set against the backdrop of eternity and God's plan."

Shouting?

Here is a post today from Justin Childers. See it here or read below.

Have you ever thought about the fact that shouting is commanded in Scripture?

Psalm 66:1: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth…”

Shouting is a very undignified thing to do. Important people don’t shout. Prideful people let others do the shouting.

What or who do you shout for? A sports team? In anger? To get someone’s attention?

Shout in joy for God.

The Children Are the Key

In the most recent newsletter from Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham noted this statement: "It is in the mind and hearts of our children that the battle will be fought."

He asked, who wrote it? Christians? After all, God's Word clearly instructs us to train up our children (Prov. 22:6; Malachi 2:15; Isaiah 48:19; Eph. 6:4).

But it was not a Christian, but a secular humanist who toured the Creation Museum in August with hundreds of atheists. This secularist wrote on his blog:

"For me, the most frightening part was the children's section. It was at this moment that I learned the deepest lesson of my visit to the Museum: It is in the minds and hearts of our children that the battle will be fought."

It is for this reason our church is deeply involved in educating our children and youth in areas beyond the norm. We are currently doing "The Truth Project" adding teaching about atheism, creationism, etc.

This past year our Vacation Bible School used curriculum from Answers in Genesis and it was a wonderful success. I recently saw that Answers is producing Sunday School curriculum, too.

I had the privilege of having this ministry in a previous church where God laid a very strong foundation in belief and defense of creationism. Ken Ham has been used throughout the Southern Baptist Convention at Pastor's Conferences (including the Alabama Baptist Pastor's Conference, national conference), Bellevue Baptist Church when Dr. Rogers was pastor there and most recently (October 4, 2009) at First Baptist Church, Atlanta where Dr. Charles Stanley is pastor.

The Supreme Climb

This is Oswald Chambers' devotion today from My Utmost for His Highest:

He said, "Take now your son...." Genesis 22:2

God’s command is, "Take now," not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.

"So Abraham rose early in the morning . . . and went to the place of which God had told him" ( Genesis 22:3 ). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not "confer with flesh and blood" ( Galatians 1:16 ). Beware when you want to "confer with flesh and blood" or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, "I will only go to there, but no farther." God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.

A Prayer

For some time now pastor Scotty Smith has been posting prayers at his blog. This one, in particular, caught my attention as a prayer that could come from the heart of any believer.

*****

Heavenly Father, how I long for the Day when I will no longer be tempt-able, deceive-able, or even capable of worshipping any other "god" but you. I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one cares like you. No one understands like you. No one redeems like you. No one loves like you. No one restores like you. There is no God but you.

In Jesus, you have already given me a new heart and have placed your Spirit in me. In Jesus, you have already turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-27). In Jesus, you have already given me a heart to know and love you (Jeremiah 24:7). In Jesus you have already written your law upon my heart (Jeremiah 31:33). In Jesus, you have already given me a perfectly forgiven heart.

YET, it is not a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart's daily worship continues, and will continue until the Day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus, the warning to keep myself from idols has never had more meaning, Father. Help me discern which "idols of the heart" (Ezekiel 14:4) I am most susceptible to trusting in, rather than you. When I don't think you are "enough," where do I take the worship you deserve--where do I go for life, deliverance and salvation?

Sometimes the collaboration and conspiracy of the duplicity within me... the world around me... and the devil, invisible to me, is overwhelming... I need the gospel every minute of every hour.

I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of your "beloved children." You cannot love me more than you already do, and you will never love me less, for you love all of your children just as much as you love your beloved Son, Jesus. Surely the gospel, this gospel, will win the day, my heart and the entire cosmos. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus' name.

Sense of need causes us to pray

From Kevin DeYoung’s post this morning titled, Prayerlessness is Unbelief:

If you know you are needy and believe that God helps the needy, you will pray. Conversely, if we seldom pray, the problem goes much deeper than a lack of organization and follow through. The heart that never talks to God is the heart that trusts in itself and not in the power of God. Prayerlessness is unbelief.

Prayerfulness, on the other hand, is an evidence of humility and faith, which is why God loves it when we pray.

Planned Parenthood Director Quits

Planned Parenthood Director Quits

A Planned Parenthood^® director has resigned from a Bryan, Texas, clinic after witnessing an ultrasound-guided abortion. Abby Johnson, 29, said she had a "change of heart" and knew it was time to leave after she watched a fetus "crumple" as it was vacuumed out of a patient's uterus in September. "When I was working at Planned Parenthood, I was extremely pro-choice," said Johnson. But, after seeing the internal working of the procedure for the first time on an ultrasound monitor, "I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart ... a spiritual conversion."

Speaking of her bosses, Johnson said, "Every meeting that we had, [it] was, 'We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money — we've got to keep these abortions coming.' It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers." She also noted that her bosses told her to change her "priorities" and focus on abortions, which made money for the office at a time when the recession left them hurting.

Planned Parenthood petitioned the district court to issue a temporary restraining order against Johnson and against the Coalition for Life, a pro-life group with which Johnson is now affiliated. "We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff. However, in this instance, it is absolutely necessary," said Rochelle Tafolla, a PP spokeswoman. Johnson said she had no intention of releasing any sensitive information about her former patients at the clinic.

Without a doctor in residence, Johnson's clinic offered abortions only two days a month, but the doctor could perform 30 to 40 procedures on each day he was there. An estimated $350 for each abortion could net the branch up to more than $10,000 a month. Johnson said, "Ideally, my goal as the facility's director is that your abortion numbers don't increase because you're providing so much family planning and so much education that there is not a demand for abortion services. But that was not their goal."

A hearing is set for Nov. 10 to determine whether a judge will order an injunction against Johnson and the Coalition for Life. [FoxNews.com]

The modern day church

Here are some quotes from things I've read this morning that causes us all concern about the present day church:

"But instead of living this way, we've created a whole brand of churches that do not depend on the Spirit, a whole culture of Christians who are not disciples, a new group of "followers" who do not follow. If all God asked for were faceless numbers to fill the churches, then we would be doing alright. Most of us would feel pretty confident. But simply having a good speaker, a service that is short and engaging, a good venue, and whatever else we add to the mix does not make for a "good" or "successful" church. God intended for His bride, those who claim His name, to be much more than this." Francis Chan, Forgotten God

The following quotes are from Nancy Leigh DeMoss' teaching this morning on the church at Sardis in Revelation 3 (see the entire teaching here):

But I have to say, as I survey fifty years of the landscape there, that I’ve seen a lot of religious activity and many people who were living decent lives, not living in major sin. But for the most part, I found the majority of so-called Christians in the West show few, if any, signs of true spiritual life. Now, there’s some notable exceptions, but for the most part, there’s little spiritual hunger, little heart, little discipline, little zeal, little passion for Christ, little love for Christ, and little willingness to sacrifice for His kingdom.

You are nominal Christians; Christians in name only. And we’ve said that our churches today, I believe, are filled with nominal Christians. I’m not just talking about our liberal, mainline churches that long ago ceased to preach the gospel. I’m talking about our Bible-preaching churches. I really, really believe there is a huge percentage, only God knows what that number is, of people who profess something they do not possess.

Don’t you often feel vastly outnumbered? If you’re trying to live for the Lord, if you’re trying to please Him, if you have a heart for holiness, if you lift up the standards of God’s Word, don’t you sometimes start to feel like, “We are the only ones who think this way? Like, am I crazy? All the other Christians . . . Why do they allow their kids to do these things? Why do they not protect their children and their minds and their hearts from these kinds of things?” Then you get thrown at you so quickly, “Oh, you’re just being legalistic.”

Well, there is such a thing as legalism. That’s another topic for another time. We’re talking about those who say, “I want to be holy.” That has become very out-of-date in the church today. It’s so, so sad.

New web site up

The church's new and updated web site is now up. Check it out here.

Spurgeon on Scripture vs. my views

“My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God.” - Charles Spurgeon