This Sunday I had the sobering responsibility of filling the pulpit at our church in the midst of the unfolding coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Our church is small enough that we decided to meet, but we cancelled SS and nursery. I preached on the OT priesthood in relation to Christ, taking my title from Hebrews 9:11 “high priest of the good things that have come.” I spent most of the sermon setting the stage for the first ever public worship service of the LORD described in Leviticus 9. Eventually I ended up in Hebrews 9 and we reveled in the superiority of Jesus Christ as our high priest.
I trust this sermon will be bless my readers. If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (50 minutes), please do look over my notes.
This past Sunday I was privileged to fill in for our pastor at The Heights Church, St. Paul. The rapid cultural change and uncertain social/political climate formed the backdrop for my sermon.
The text is Hebrews 13:1-16, with special focus on verses 12-14, and the parallel passage of chapter 11:10-16.
I’m sharing the sermon here, and you can find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (60 minutes), please do look over my notes. May God bless this sermon to all who hear it, for His glory and by His grace.
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to fill the pulpit at our church. This was the first Sunday after the US Supreme Court made gay marriage legal nationwide. That isn’t the theme of my message but does come across in the introduction. Now, more than ever, Christians are being challenged to persevere and to keep believing. It is easier than ever to give in and to shirk from affirming Scripture as our highest authority. Hebrews was addressed to believers in a similar boat – they were faced with pressure to conform and some were slinking back from total commitment.
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (48 minutes), please do look over my notes. May God bless this sermon to all who hear it, for His glory and by His grace.
A fun Monday morning post. Recently I read R.C. Sproul, Sr.’s little booklet, What is Baptism? (Crucial Questions Series). The booklet is a helpful look at baptism, for people from a variety of perspectives. I found his defense of infant baptism helpful in understanding the other position, but not over the top or vitriolic. It also was not the central point of his book.
Anyway, the reason for this post is an intriguing reference Sproul made to his favorite verse – Genesis 15:17. He went on to give an answer as well to the age-old question, what book would you want with you if you were marooned on an island?
I often tell people that if I were marooned on an island and had only one book, the book I would want with me, of course, would be the Bible. If I could have only one book of the Bible, I would want to have the book of Hebrews because of the way in which it so richly summarizes all the teachings of the Old Testament and relates them to the finished work of Christ in the New Testament. But if I could have only one verse of the Bible, I would want Genesis 15:17.
[Kindle locations 151-153]
Genesis 15 is the story of Abraham’s covenant. God has promised great blessings to Abraham and his children, but Abraham wants a guarantee. He is told to cut sacrificial animals in half and wait. Then we see “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch” pass through the pieces. This is a theophany, this is the Shekinah glory of God passing through the pieces — making the covenant unilateral. “Abraham saw a divine manifestation passing between the animal pieces and immediately understood the significance. God was enabling Abraham to know for sure that His promises would come to pass… only God passed through the pieces because He alone was making promises. He was instituting His covenant with Abraham [Kindle locations 165-166, 172].” As Hebrews says in 6:13-14, God could swear by none greater (in making his promise to Abraham), so “he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you’.”
What a great thought to treasure today. God’s gospel promises to us are unilateral. God has sworn by himself, as there is none greater. He gave his own Son for our salvation. If he did that, how can he not also with him give us everything that we need — indeed all that pertains to life and godliness (Rom. 8:32 with 2 Pet. 1:3-4).
What would you want on a desert island? Gen. 15:17 would be good. Hebrews would be better. I agree with R.C. Sproul, Sr. on this one!
Here are some notes from a lesson I shared with some teens and young adults at my church this Sunday.
I. The Cycle of Temptation (Prov. 24:16)
Weak Flesh + Wicked World + Satan’s Work = Continual Temptation
We try to resist ~ we fail and fall into sin ~ we get up & resolve to do better ~ but we fail again….
This can lead us to lose heart, to give up and give ourselves to sin, or to be discouraged and even lose our faith
II. Resources for Temptation
Memorizing and learning God’s Word — Ps. 119:9,11
Watchfulness and Prayer — Matt. 26:41
Faith — 1 John 5:4, 1 Pet. 5:9
Godly Friends — Heb. 3:12-14
God does provide a “way of escape” — 1 Cor. 10:13
God uses temptation to work good in our lives — James 1:2-17
III. The Proper Perspective for Facing Temptation (Heb. 12:1-17)
1. The Christian Life is like a Long, Grueling Marathon — vs. 1
Not a quick sprint, the battle with sin is long and hard
Sin trips us up, and some non-sinful things can slow us down
We need endurance, to be in it for the long haul
It can be done, others have finished before us they testify to God’s grace, and they watch us finish our race
2. Our Focus needs to be on Christ, our Captain — vs. 2-3
Focusing on our failures and problems doesn’t solve anything, look away from ourselves to what Christ has done
Christ initiated our faith and will bring it to completion
When we fall, we must cling to the Gospel not self-effort
Jesus resisted sin “for the joy that was set before Him” we can also live now in light of Heaven’s joys (Phil. 3:13-14, 2 Pet. 3:11-14, Heb. 11:10, 13-16, 26)
Live in light of what is supremely true — that is faith
3. Battling sin is a struggle — like a boxing match — vs. 4
We haven’t even lost any blood in our match (others have)
There isn’t a magic “lose interest in sin” pill
Everyone struggles not just you (1 Cor. 10:13)
But with time, you can mortify sins and the battle gets easier (Rom. 8:13)
“Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” — John Owen
4. Fighting sin is part of God’s discipline of his children — vs. 5-11
The trials of the Hebrew Christians primarily are in view when the author speaks of God’s “discipline”
But discipline is training or teaching as much as punishment
Vs. 4 “struggle against sin” , vs. 10 “share his holiness” , vs. 14 “strive for… holiness” as well as the weakness in vs. 12-13 argue for the battle against sin as being part of this “discipline”
So, this means the fight against sin (which isn’t easy), is part of what God ordains for us to make us holy
The struggle isn’t fun now, but it results in fruit (vs. 11)
And if you don’t experience this struggle, you just might not be a true son of God because every son experiences the struggles against sin
Be encouraged if you are struggling — that’s actually a good sign. Non-believers don’t struggle with sin
Take heart that God is behind our trials and temptations, and He wants them to mature us (James 1:2-4, 12-17)
5. Having this perspective on temptation, take heart! — vs. 12-13
We are tempted to give up and the race makes us weary — but take heart
Is. 35:3-4 is quoted: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come… He will come and save you.'”
6. Fighting sin is a team-sport — vs. 14-15
It’s like Tour-de-France, many members working toward the one goal of the victory — we look out for each other
Some can fall short, and miss out on God’s sustaining grace.
So we need to encourage each other (Heb. 3:12-14, 10:22-25)
7. The fight against sin does have real casualties — vs. 15-17
Holiness is required to see God — vs. 14 (and Matt. 5:8)
Some do fall away “bitter roots” (Deut. 29:18) & Esau — he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew (we are as foolish!)
Ultimately, the grace of God keeps us. Trust Him when you fail and sin. But take heart God’s not done with you!
This Sunday I had the sobering responsibility of filling the pulpit at our church in the midst of the unfolding coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Our church is small enough that we decided to meet, but we cancelled SS and nursery. I preached on the OT priesthood in relation to Christ, taking my title from Hebrews 9:11 “high priest of the good things that have come.” I spent most of the sermon setting the stage for the first ever public worship service of the LORD described in Leviticus 9. Eventually I ended up in Hebrews 9 and we reveled in the superiority of Jesus Christ as our high priest.
This past Sunday I was privileged to fill in for our pastor at The Heights Church, St. Paul. The rapid cultural change and uncertain social/political climate formed the backdrop for my sermon.
A fun Monday morning post. Recently I read R.C. Sproul, Sr.’s little booklet,