Sunday In Retrospect

It's Memorial Day!!!  How I thank God for the sacrifice of our fallen troops who've protected our freedom in this country.

This past Lord's Day we celebrated 141 years as a church.  What an awesome day it was.  We began last Wednesday with a special service with Rev. A. L. Prince and the Bethlehem Baptist Church as our guests.  We had an awesome time!  Sunday morning I shared in God's Word.  I attempted to lift a passage out of Judges 7:1-7, using as the title, 'God's Answer for Moving On.'  This was a continuation of a series I am in entitled, 'God's Got An Answer.'  Totally a change in direction from where I intended to go (i.e. - I planned on using the general outline of topics, 'God's Answer for anxiety, worry, doubt, etc.); with me, however, it always seems God changes my plans!  How appropriate, in dealing with the subject of Gideon in our lesson!

My outline:
The Big Idea/CIT: God's plan, power and provision is often wrapped in human limitations.
I. God wants to show you that everyone who is present is not providentially prepared
II. God seeks to teach you the priority of prayer
III.  God desires to guard His glory
IV. God seeks to reveal the power of His presence

I thank God for the 4 who made decisions yesterday and our candidate for baptism.

In the afternoon, Rev. Kevin VanHook and the St. Peters Baptist Church came to be with us.  We had great fellowship and worship; but the Word was timely and uplifting!  Pastor VanHook shared in the scripture Luke 6, the story of Christ preaching in the synagogue; and the miracle of healing the man with the withered hand.  His points were standing, stepping, stretching.  I enjoyed it!

I am confused about what's going on between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers.  The Pacers have been quite a great contended, almost winning the first game, winning the second, both played in Miami for the semifinals.  Now....if game 3 back in Indiana, they lose BIG!  At this point, I'd love to see Miami's bubble burst.  But I am beginning to think it is highly unlikely.  I think Miami has this one in the bag.  I'm calling Miami vs. Spurs for the Finals, starting June 6th!

I really enjoyed watching Hangover III by myself this past Friday on opening day.  (footnote: I watched Hangover II several months ago and Hangover I a few weeks ago, all for the very first time.  I love them, unfortunately).

About to take my family to the movies after some BBQ.

I hope to blog again soon....  Many Blessings.

Sunday in Retrospect

It's been a good day!  It's been a great Lord's Day!  No doubt, Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  I suppose it's always been.  Growing up as a 'church kid', I am one of the dying breed of generational Baptists who remembers going to church 'all day' on Sunday.  Yet still, it's my favorite day.

I've been in a series the past couple of weeks entitled, 'God's Got An Answer.'  I confess my idea was sparked from the late Dr. Stephen F. Olford's Biblical Answers to Personal Problems.  Last time (prior to Mother's Day) I used a passage out of 2 Corinthians 12:7-11 and titled the message, 'God's Answer for Your Suffering.'

I used as an outline:
I. Accept the Reality of our Suffering
II. Recall the Necessity of our Suffering
III.  Remember the Sublimity of our Suffering
IV. Rejoice in the Victory our Suffering

Today I continued in Genesis 13:1-17, titling the message, 'God's Answer for Letting Go.'

I. Take inventory of what you have, verses 1-7
II. Choose the high road, vs. 8
III. Address the issue, vs. 9
IV. Be clear on the meaning of victory, verses 10-18

It was a busy week with traveling to Lafayette for one of our college graduates, cutting in on my study time.  I wasn't pleased with my preparation when standing today.  Admittedly, I took what I call my 'rough draft' to the pulpit.  When I prepare my sermons, I go through each sentence (speaking aloud, writing and rewriting each sentence) and interjecting stories, illustrations, anecdotes, quotes, etc.  Unfortunately, none of this was done by the time I stood this morning.

However, God is faithful.  I thank God for the six people who came forward today, two who came by Christian Experience.

It is true - God uses us in times and moments we may least expect; and in ways we fail to anticipate.  All in all....I'm thankful!

Now....time to prepare for next week!

The Patented Preacher

By Warren Wiersbe

Taken from Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, The by CRAIG BRIAN LARSON; HADDON ROBINSON. Copyright © 2005 by Christianity Today International.

Why is it that so many preachers do not enjoy preaching? Why do some busy themselves in minor matters when they should be studying and meditating? Why do others creep out of the pulpit after delivering their sermon, overwhelmed with a sense of failure and guilt?

“It doesn’t make sense!” said my pastor friend.

We were lingering over lunch and discussing the Bible conference I was conducting in his church. I’d just commented that the church was having a strong influence on the students and staff of the nearby university.

“What doesn’t make sense?” I asked.

“Where you and I are serving,” he replied.

“You’re going to have to explain.”

“Look, I’m really a country preacher with a minimum of academic training, yet I’m ministering to a university crowd. You write commentaries, and you read more books in a month than I do in a year, yet your congregation is primarily blue-collar and nonprofessional. It doesn’t make sense.”

The subject then changed, but I have pondered his observation many times in the intervening years. I’ve concluded it’s a good thing God didn’t put me on his “Pastor Placement Committee” because I would have really messed things up.

I’d never have sent rustic Amos to the affluent court of the king; I’d have given him a quiet country church somewhere. And I’d never have commissioned Saul of Tarsus, that “Hebrew of the Hebrews,” to be a missionary to the Gentiles; I’d have put him in charge of Jewish evangelism in Jerusalem.

Al l of which brings me to the point of this article: If God has called you to preach, then who you are, what you are, and where you are also must be a part of God’s plan. You do not preach in spite of this, but because of this.

Why is it, then, that so many preachers do not enjoy preaching? Why do some busy themselves in minor matters when they should be studying and meditating? Why do others creep out of the pulpit after delivering their sermon, overwhelmed with a sense of failure and guilt?

The Difference a Witness Makes

Without pausing to take a poll, I think I can suggest an answer: They are preaching in spite of themselves instead of preaching because of themselves. They either leave themselves out of their preaching or fight themselves during their preparation and delivery; this leaves them without energy or enthusiasm for the task. Instead of thanking God for what they do have, they complain about what they don’t have; this leaves them in no condition to herald the Word of God.

One Christianity Today/Gallup Poll showed that ministers believe preaching is the number one priority of their ministries, but it’s also the one thing they feel least capable of doing well. What causes this insecure attitude toward preaching?

For one thing, we’ve forgotten what preaching really is. Phillips Brooks said it best: “Preaching is the communicating of divine truth through human personality. The divine truth never changes; the human personality constantly changes—and this is what makes the message new and unique.”

No two preachers can preach the same message because no two preachers are the same. In fact, no one preacher can preach the same message twice if he is living and growing at all. The human personality is a vital part of the preaching ministry.

Recently I made an intensive study of all the Greek verbs used in the New Testament to describe the communicating of the Word of God. The three most important words are: euangelizomai, “to tell the good news”;kerysso, “to proclaim like a herald”; and martyreo, “to bear witness.” All three are important in our pulpit ministry. We’re telling the good news with the authority of a royal herald, but the message is a part of our lives. Unlike the herald, who only shouted what was given to him, we’re sharing what is personal and real to us. The messenger is a part of the message because the messenger is a witness.

God prepares the person who prepares the message. Martin Luther said that prayer, meditation, and temptation made a preacher. Prayer and meditation will give you a sermon, but only temptation—the daily experience of life—can transform that sermon into a message. It’s the difference between the recipe and the meal.

I had an experience at a denominational conference that brought this truth home to me. During the session at which I was to speak, a very capable ladies’ trio sang. It was an uptempo number, the message of which did not quite fit my theme, but, of course, they had no way of knowing exactly what I would preach about. I was glad my message did not immediately follow their number because I didn’t feel the congregation was prepared.

Just before I spoke, a pastor in a wheelchair rolled to the center of the platform and gave a brief testimony about his ministry. Then he sang, to very simple accompaniment, “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.” The effect was overwhelming. The man was not singing a song; he was ministering a word from God. But he had paid a price to minister. In suffering, he became a part of the message.

The experiences we preachers go through are not accidents; they are appointments. They do not interrupt our studies; they are an essential part of our studies. Our personalities, our physical equipment, and even our handicaps are all part of the kind of ministry God wants us to have. He wants us to be witnesses as well as heralds.

The apostles knew this: “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). This was a part of Paul’s commission: “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:15). Instead of minimizing or condemning what we are, we must use what we are to bear witness to Christ. It is this that makes the message our message and not the echo of another’s.

The Myth of “The Great Sermon”

It’s easy to imitate these days. Not only do we have books of sermons, but we have radio and television ministries and CDs by the thousands. One man models himself after Spurgeon, another after A. W. Tozer; and both congregations suffer.

Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh had an assistant who took the second service for the aging pastor. Whyte was a surgical preacher who ruthlessly dealt with man’s sin and then faithfully proclaimed God’s saving grace. But his assistant was a man of different temperament, who tried to move the gospel message out of the operating room into the banqueting hall.

During one period of his ministry, however, the assistant tried Whyte’s approach, without Whyte’s success. The experiment stopped when Whyte said to him, “Preach your own message.” That counsel is needed today.

Every profession has its occupational hazards, and in the ministry it is the passion to preach “great sermons.” Fant and Pinson, in 20 Centuries of Great Preaching, came to the startling conclusion that “great preaching is relevant preaching.” By “relevant,” they mean preaching that meets the needs of the people in their times, preaching that shows the preacher cares and wants to help.

If this is true, then there are thousands of “great sermons” preached each Lord’s Day, preached by those whose names will never be printed in homiletics books but are written in the loving hearts of their people. Listen again to Phillips Brooks:

The notion of a great sermon, either constantly or occasionally haunting the preacher, is fatal. It hampers…the freedom of utterance. Many a true and helpful word which your people need, and which you ought to say to them, will seem unworthy of the dignity of your great discourse… . Never tolerate any idea of the dignity of a sermon which will keep you from saying anything in it which you ought to say, or which your people ought to hear.

Preaching Christ, Not Myself

Let me add another reason for insecure feelings about our preaching. In our desire to be humble servants of God, we have a tendency to suppress our personalities lest we should preach ourselves and not Christ. It is good to heed Paul’s warning in 2 Corinthians 4:5: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” But we must not misinterpret it and thereby attempt the impossible. Paul’s personality, and even some of his personal experiences, are written into the warp and woof of his letters; yet Jesus Christ is glorified from start to finish.

During the past twenty years, I have been immersed in studying the lives of famous preachers of the past. Most of these ministered during the Victorian Era in Great Britain, a time when the pulpits were filled with superstars. If there’s one thing I learned from these men, it’s this: God has his own ways of training and preparing his servants, but he wants all of them to be themselves. God has put variety into the universe, and he has put variety into the church.

If your personality doesn’t shine through your preaching, you’re only a robot. You could be replaced by a CD player and perhaps nobody would know the difference.

Do not confuse the art and the science of preaching. Homiletics is the science of preaching, and it has basic laws and principles that every preacher ought to study and practice. Once you’ve learned how to obey these principles, then you can adapt them, modify them, and tailor them to your own personality.

In my conference ministry, I often share the platform with gifted speakers whose preaching leaves me saying to myself, What’s the use? I’ll never learn how to preach like that! Then the Lord has to remind me he never called me “to preach like that.” He called me to preach the way I preach!

The science of preaching is one thing; the art of preaching—style, delivery, approach, and all those other almost indefinable ingredients that make up one’s personality—is something else. One preacher uses humor and hits the target; another attempts it and shoots himself.

The essence of what I am saying is this: You must know yourself, accept yourself, be yourself, and develop yourself—your best self—if preaching is to be most effective.

Never imitate another preacher, but learn from him everything you can. Never complain about yourself or your circumstances, but find out why God made things that way and use what he has given you in a positive way. What you think are obstacles may turn out to be opportunities. Stay long enough in one church to discover who you are, what kind of ministry God has given you, and how he plans to train you for ministries yet to come. After all, he is always preparing us for what he already has prepared for us—if we let him.

Accepting What We’re Not

I learned very early in my ministry that I was not an evangelist. Although I’ve seen people come to Christ through my ministry, I’ve always felt I was a failure when it came to evangelism.

One of the few benefits of growing older is a better perspective. Now I’m learning that my teaching and writing ministries have enabled others to lead people to Christ, somy labors have not been in vain. But I’ve had my hours of discouragement and the feeling of failure.

God gives us the spiritual gifts he wants us to have; he put us in the places he wants us to serve; and he gives the blessings he wants us to enjoy.

I am convinced of this, but this conviction is not an excuse for laziness or for barrenness of ministry. Knowing I am God’s man in God’s place of ministry has encouraged me to study harder and do my best work. When the harvests were lean, the assurance that God put me there helped to keep me going. When the battles raged and the storms blew, my secure refuge was “God put me here, and I will stay here until he tells me to go.” How often I’ve remembered V. Raymond Edman’s counsel: “It is always too soon to quit!”

It has been my experience that the young preacher in his first church and the middle-aged preacher (in perhaps his third or fourth church) are the most susceptible to discouragement. This is not difficult to understand.

The young seminarian marches bravely into his first church with high ideals, only to face the steamroller of reality and the furnace of criticism. He waves his banners bravely for a year or so, then takes them down quietly and makes plans to move. The middle-aged minister has seen his ideals attacked many times, but now he realizes that time is short and he might not attain to the top thirty of David’s mighty men.

God help the preacher who abandons his ideals! But, at the same time, God pity the preacher who is so idealistic he fails to be realistic. A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned. There is a difference.

Self-evaluation is a difficult and dangerous thing. Sometimes we’re so close to our ministry we fail to see it. One of my students once asked me, “Why can’t I see any spiritual growth in my life? Everybody else tells me they can see it!” I reminded him that at Pentecost no man could see the flame over his own head, but he could see what was burning over his brother’s head.

A word from the Scottish preacher George Morrison has buoyed me up in many a storm: “Men who do their best always do more though they be haunted by the sense of failure. Be good and true, be patient; be undaunted. Leave your usefulness for God to estimate. He will see to it that you do not live in vain.”

Be realistic as you assess your work. Avoid comparisons. I read enough religious publications and hear enough conversations to know that such comparisons are the chief indoor sport of preachers, but I try not to take them too seriously. “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” (2 Cor. 10:12).

Although we are in conflict against those who preach a false gospel, we are not in competition with any who preach the true gospel. We are only in competition with ourselves. By the grace of God, we ought to be better preachers and pastors today than we were a year ago.

If we are to be better pastors and preachers, we must be better persons; and this means discipline and hard work. The “giants” I’ve lived with these many years were all hard workers. Campbell Morgan was in his study at six o’clock in the morning. His successor, John Henry Jowett, was also up early and into the books. “Enter your study at an appointed hour,” Jowett said in his lectures to the Yale divinity students in 1911–1912, “and let that hour be as early as the earliest of your businessmen goes to his warehouse or his office.” Spurgeon worked hard and had to take winter holidays to regain his strength.

Obviously, we gain nothing by imperiling our health, but we lose much by pampering ourselves, and that is the greater danger.

The Gift Is Sufficient

If God has called you, then he has given you what you need to do the job. You may not have all that others have, or all you wish you had, but you have what God wants you to have. Accept it, be faithful to use it, and in due time God will give you more.

Give yourself time to discover and develop your gifts. Accept nothing as a handicap. Turn it over to God and let him make a useful tool out of it. After all, that’s what he did with Paul’s thorn in the flesh.

Preaching it not what we do; it’s what we are. When God wants to make a preacher, he has to make the person, because the work we do cannot be isolated from the life we live. God prepares the person for the work and the work for the person, and, if we permit him, he brings them together in his providence.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He’d never put us into a ministry where he could not build us and use us.

Sentence Sermonettes

The Almighty gives the best to those who leave the choice to him.

Sin thrills and then it kills.

The heart of religion is the heart.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Sin always carries with it a built-in deception about judgment.

If you are happy, tell your face about it.

Are you on a collision course with God?

Your soul will live forever, somewhere — ​where?

Love gives and forgives.

Good works are the fruit, not the root, of salvation.

God’s will is not always easy, but it is always right.

Not to decide is to decide.

Sin is personal but not private.

Life without Christ is an empty existence.

Every problem is in reality an opportunity.

Prejudice is a lazy person’s substitute for thinking.

Hell is a place of no hope.

People judge each other by rank; God judges all by service.

Happiness is a sweet perfume you cannot pour out on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

No joy is complete unless it is shared.

Not failure, but low aim, is the real crime in life.

A sharp tongue will cut your own throat.

Life is like a bicycle — ​stop pedaling, and you fall.

Worry is a mental tornado.

A problem honestly stated is half solved.

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. — ​Chinese proverb

One may be better than one’s reputation but never better than one’s principles.

It is evil not to do good.

Is your heart on its knees?

Love is the only effective way to deal with a problem.

To poison a person’s mind is a worse sin than to poison a person’s food.

If you kicked the one responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for six months.

Forgiveness: man’s deepest need and highest achievement.

Two things are hard on the heart — ​running up stairs and running down people.

Most friction in life is caused by the tone of the voice.

Unfounded and unnecessary fears are deadly enemies that paralyze the will, poison the affections, and if allowed to continue, may destroy the soul.

If you want to be rich, give; if you want to be poor, grasp.

Cast all your care on God! That anchor holds. — ​Alfred Tennyson

It is natural to be religious; it is supernatural to be Christian.

God’s wisdom is both timely and timeless.

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.

God's Word on The Word

God’s Word on The Word

Matthew 5:17-20

A man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book 'The Wonders of the Word of God.' The victim's face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times with his tongue.  How desperate are you to read and ingest that which is contained in this one book?

It was the saintly Whitehead who said once that, "The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the happiness of believers, the way of salvation and the doom of sinners. Every doctrine in the Bible is holy, every precept is binding, and every decision is immutable. You must read it to believe it, believe it to be saved and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's guide, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, daily, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor and condemn all who trifle with its contents."

And whether you unconventionally use your tongue like the Kansas man in Robert Summer’s book or your own God-given eyes to read it – it’s the book of all books!

It is a book beyond age; for it is the most ancient of all books.  It is a book beyond mere interest; for it is the read by all classes in the world.  It is a book beyond sales; for it the best-seller of any book.  It is a book beyond language and linguistics; although it is largely written by uneducated men, it is superior in literary style and genius.  It is a book beyond conventional unity; for it is a library and collection of sixty-six books, yet one Book.   It is a book beyond preservation; for it is the most hated book of all time, yet it’s still in circulation and it still lives.  And it is a book beyond human limitation; for it is the only book in the world whose Author is still alive. Yes, the Bible itself is the book of all books.

And you don’t have to season it.  Just pour it out and pass it on.  In fact, I would rather be in the Word of God than to be in Heaven – for in Matthew 24:35 it says that, ‘Heaven and earth might pass away; but His Word is going to stand forever.’  And in the text Christ deals with, and presents to His disciples and us the trinity of time and trilogy of time: the reality of retrospection and introspection and prospection.  Here you have the past and the present and the future; and we catch a glimpse of eternity in the words that are couched and tucked away in these four verses.  

1. CHRIST’S BELIEF ABOUT THE LAW

Let me rush to say that, in the opening words of Christ’s great sermonic discourse of the Sermon on the Mount, after discussing the character traits of the Kingdom Citizen through the Beatitudes, and the influence the Citizen of the Kingdom has through being Salt and Light – Jesus reveals clearly and succinctly that He believes the Bible.  Of course, most are aware that the Bible, at the time of the text, consists of the Old Testament books of Genesis to Malachi.  

There are two main truths of Jesus we note regarding His belief about God’s Word:

First, that the Word of God is Inspired.  Again and again, as we examine the words of our Lord in Word, He refers to Himself as the source and the subject of the Scriptures.  Interestingly, in John 5:39, Jesus instructs them to, ‘….search the Scriptures…they testify of me.’  Tragically, the scribes were missing the key to the Scriptures: Christ!  In fact, Jesus says to them in the 46^th verse: ‘Now if you believed Moses, you would have believe me: for he wrote about me.’  In a nutshell, Jesus is the subject of the Bible.  And Jesus Himself believed that the Old Testament Scriptures were inspired—they were the words of God!

Jesus also believed that the Word of God is Eternal.  Jesus says here in the 17^th verse, ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.”  The word for ‘destroy’ is katalusai, taken from kataluo, and it means to loosen down or quickly dissolve.  The word here for ‘destroy’ is given the picture and illustration of a body being dissolved at death.  Jesus says, ‘Don’t think my arrival equates or results in abolition of the Scripture.’  Now the obvious question that we raise is: why would anyone believe that Jesus came to loosen down or quickly dissolve the law or the Scripture?  This is actually an accurate foretelling of things to come in the ministry of Jesus:

• In Matthew 12, He has many controversies on the Sabbath; and the people suggest He was trying to destroy the law.
• In Mark 7, He breaks the tradition and practices of the church elders.  And they again suggest He was trying to destroy the law.
• In Matthew 21, He cleanses and reclaims the temple.  They suggest He’s trying to quickly dissolve the law of God.
• And in Mark 2, He becomes known as a friend of publicans, sinners, pimps and pushers.  And immediately they tend to accuse Christ of an attempt to hijack the prerogatives of God, hold hostage God’s holiness sand destroy the very law that God had commanded and decreed.

You can believe that Jesus Christ our Lord was revolutionary and maverick in many ways; but He did not come to do away with the Old Testament law.  The discrepancy of the law is not a contradiction on God’s part; but upon a quasi-interpretation of law on man’s part.  

We may understand what Jesus is trying to say if we better understand the definition of ‘law’.  Incidentally, law could have meant several things to Jesus’ hearers:

1. The Ten Commandments—as were given by Yahweh to Moses on the smoking summits of Sinai, as recorded in Exodus 20.
2. The first five books of the Old Testament: referred to as the Pentateuch.
3. The Law and Prophets, often referred to as the whole Bible.
4. The Scribal Law—which were all of the many rules, regulations and commentaries on the Ten Commandments.

And by the time Jesus Christ came to earth the original Ten Commandments of our Lord had been defined in a summary of rules and laws called the Mishna.  This was a book that contained over 800 pages of man-made laws and traditions based on their own commentary of the 10 commandments.  Then there was the Talmud, twelve volumes of commentary to explain the 800 pages of the Mishna.  And in all of these volumes and pages, there were myriads of traditions and commentaries on the Fourth Commandment regarding the Sabbath, which had become in Jewish mind as binding and sacred as the 10 commandments themselves.  Unfortunately, all of these traditions were held over the people and enforced as law.  Somehow, we fail to realize the pervasive nature this demonic and legalistic spirit has infiltrated them then and us now.  For even us today can take the purity of the Gospel and somehow contaminate the good news with our own commentary and interpretations.  And as with the Scribes and Pharisees in that day we often feel like we have to help God out.  This is why Jesus clashed with the Scribes and the Pharisees on more than one occasion; and often why the church seems to clash with Christ today in the 21^st century.  How often have we become judgmental and overcritical over a particular brother or sister regarding what WE felt or thought God is trying to say as if somehow God needed you to cosign or extrapolate on what He has said?  And I am convinced that commentaries may have their place but commentaries can be dangerous.  They are dangerous merely by the fact that while they are resourceful, at the end of the day, they aren’t the SOURCE.  The best commentary on what God said is God Himself.  

As a Chaplain in the Hospital I am often involved in some of the legal procedures and wishes of the patient.  Often a wife or a son or a daughter or whomever is the next of kin can serve as the ‘Power of Attorney’, and execute the wishes of the one who cannot make decisions for themselves, if the patient is incompetent, incapacitated, unresponsive or inept.  And somehow the scribes and Pharisees, who have religion but no relationship, didn’t get the memo that the God of the universe is not incompetent; He’s not incapacitated; He’s not laying on some cosmic gurney somewhere and He can’t speak up for Himself.  He is certainly able and competent; and He would declare, ‘I and the Father are One!’    

And that is why Jesus goes on to affirm His belief that the Word of God is eternal.  In verse 18 Jesus says and stresses that Heaven and Earth (which are the most stable elements one could consider) will not pass away until every “jot” and “tittle” are fulfilled.  The “jot” (jodh) is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet; while a ‘tittle’ represents a brush stroke in the Hebraic form of sentence; Jesus points to the eternality and the timelessness of God’s Word.  

II. We then move from Christ’s Belief regarding the Law, to His Behavior and the Law.

Jesus, our Lord, emphasis in this text that He has not come to alter, destroy or remove the law.  He makes it clear that He has come to ‘fulfill’ the law.  Fulfill, in scripture, is a word plerosai and it has the image of a vessel filled to the top.  We believe the vessel to be the inspired Law and Prophets—the Scriptures would be fulfilled when what the Word records ultimately comes to full fruition and comes to pass.  Christ’s behavior, actions and activity fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.  Not only was God’s eternal word His doctrine, but also His duty.  The Word of God was not only His precept; but also His practice and practicum.  In a real sense, John 1:14 expresses Christ’s behavior: ‘…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’  His life exemplified God’s Word from every standpoint.  Let me give you three aspects in which Christ fulfilled the Word:

1. Christ fulfills His Word through Prefigures

I once heard a comparison of the Old and New Testament.  The New is the Old contained while the Old is in the New explained.  The New is in the Old concealed while the Old is in the New revealed.  The gist of those statements, in and of itself, is that Jesus reveals what the Old Testament conceals in types and shadows.  Kind of like Walter Gisbon’s, ‘Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!’  In a real sense, Jesus gives substance to the shadows.

• Jesus is a prefigure in Exodus at the Red Sea.  He’s the manna from heaven, in the water from the rock, in the manna from heaven, in the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night.
• He’s a prefigure in the Old Testament Tabernacle through the showbread and the brazen altar, the ark and the mercy seat…they all point to Jesus.
• He’s a prefigure in the feasts and holy days of the Old Testament, from the Passover lamb to the firstfruits to the Atonement…they all point to Jesus.  

The Old Testament is replete with pictures and types of Jesus which have been fulfilled by His life, death, and resurrection.  

Somebody said:

- In Genesis, He’s the Creator.

- In Exodus, He’s the Redeemer.

- In Leviticus, He’s the Sanctifier.

- In Numbers, He our Guide.

- In Deuteronomy, He’s the teacher.

- In Joshua, He’s the mighty conqueror.

- In Judges, He’s the Battle Ax.

- In Samuel He’s the root of Jesse and the Son of David

- In Chronicles, He’s the High Priest.

- In Nehemiah, He’s our mighty wall.

- In Job, He is the arbitrator who not only understands our struggles, but has the power to do something about it.

- In Psalms, He’s our song.

- In Proverbs, He’s our wisdom.

- In Ecclesiastes, He’s our purpose.

- In the Song of Solomon, He’s our Lover.

- In Isaiah, He’s our mighty counselor.

- In Jeremiah, He’s our balm in Gilead.

- In Lamentations, He’s the ever-faithful One.

- In Ezekiel, He is our wheel in the middle of a wheel.

- In Daniel, He’s the ancient of days.

- In Joel, He’s our refuge.

- In Amos, He’s our husbandman.

- In Obadiah, He’s Lord.

- In Jonah, He’s salvation.

- In Micah, He’s the righteous judge.

- In Habakkuk, He’s the Holy One.

- In Zephaniah, He’s the witness.

- In Haggai, He’s Protector.

- In Zechariah, He’s Lord of Hosts.

1. Christ fulfills His Word through Prophecies

Not only did Jesus fulfill His Word through prefigures, but also through prophecy itself.  In how He was born, the Word points to Him.  In how He was raised, the Word still points to Him.  And even how He died, the Word can’t help but point to Him.  

1. Christ fulfills His Word through Precepts

The average Bible student and every day Christian has meager knowledge or even interest about Jesus’ fulfillment of the prefigures and prophecies of the Old Testament.  But if you are a believer today, you should be supremely interested in our Lord’s fulfillment of the divine precepts, the  Ten Commandments.  

An evangelist was trying to make a point in his service.  He said, “Do we have anyone here who is perfect?”  There was no movement in the church at all.  He continued, “Does anyone here know of anybody else who is perfect?”  A lady in the crowd raised her hand.  The evangelist recognized the sister and asked, “You know someone who’s perfect?”  The lady nodded and answered, “My husband’s first wife!”

The Ten Commandments reveal God’s ultimate standard and ultimate holiness.  It is a description of God’s ultimate ideal for His people.  The problem is that every man, woman, boy or girl who ever lived has yet to keep the law in perfect form, save Jesus Christ.  At birth, we are law-breakers in some way, shape or form; and that’s what makes us sinners at birth by default and guilty by associational connection.

There are sins of commission—where by choice we do something wrong.

There are sins of omission—where by choice we fail to do anything right.

And then there are sins of disposition—those innermost attitudes and feelings of the heart (such as pride, lust, envy, hatred, jealousy and deceit.)

And while WE have fallen short, Jesus never broke a commandment, in act or attitude.  Hebrews 4:15 says that He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  Three times Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him.”  

The efficacy of Jesus’ death on the cross depends on His fulfillment of the precepts, in and of itself.  I reiterate the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  And the reason you can shout today is because all the millions of lambs that died on the sacrificial altar over the centuries prefigured the coming of ONE who “offered himself without spot before a holy God.”  Jesus fulfilled the perfect precepts of God.

And that should be good news.

In Him I have new life: that’s regeneration.

I have a key to the house: that’s adoption.

I can now be called forgiven: that’s justification.

I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to foot the bill for breaking the law: that’s redemption.

I will see my Savior in paradise: that’s glorification.

II. CHRIST’S BURDEN FOR THE LAW

Basically and simply, in the text, Jesus lets us know that now, through His coming, He fills the Old Testament with meaning and accomplishment.  Jesus not only loved the Word of God, believed it and embodied it; but Jesus, then and now, has a burden for the Word of God; and His burden is threefold:

1. He wants us to practice it (Verse 19a)

Notice in the last part of Matthew 19 that “do” comes before “teach.”  In a real and practical sense, Jesus is saying to us that ‘doo-ya-loo-yah’ ought never be dispatched from your ‘hallelujah’.  The Christian disciple should model the law in our daily lives.  James advises us in 1:22 to ‘be ye doers of the word.’  Even now, we have a large percentage of people who actually HEAR this word today and will go out and do something else.  Of course, Jesus recognized how trifling we would be from time to time.  And let’s be honest, the law is too strong, too extensive, and too holy for mortal man to keep, even by the letter.  For that reason, Jesus says that He came to ‘fulfill’ the law.  I love the words of Romans 10:4 that reminds us that ‘Christ (not us) is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.’

In a real sense it is the WILL of God to have the SPIRIT of God use the WORD of God to make the CHILD of God look like the SON of God.

1. He wants us to proclaim it (Verse 19b)

In verse 19 Jesus says, ‘Whoso ever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom.’  First, we practice—then we preach.  I don’t know if you know it or not, but in a general sense, you’re a preacher!  Your life is your pulpit.  Question: How was your sermon last week?  What did you preach about last night?  What text are you planning to preach in the morning?  No me; I’m asking YOU! 

The word is in desperate need to hear the Word of God proclaimed.  Mark it down, loved ones: the Word still WORKS!  However, the Bible is like soap—it must be applied.  

- In a world of sin, how are you preaching forgiveness?

- In this world of financial upheaval, how are you proclaiming God will provide?

- In this society of impurity and lust, how are you preaching holiness?

- In this world of hate, how are you preaching love?

Do you want to become “great” in the kingdom?  Jesus says you have to practice and teach the Word!

1. He wants us to perfect it (Verse 20)

Verse 20 may be the pivotal verse in Matthew 5.  Jesus’ desire for His disciples is that their life-style ‘exceed’ in righteousness the life-styles of the scribes and Pharisees.  The word exceed means to be over and above a certain number or amount.  It portrays a river overflowing its banks.  Jesus wants His disciples to go above and beyond the ‘righteousness” of the accepted standards of that day.  

The customer in the bakery shop asked the little girl who was helping, “Young lady, do you ever eat the cakes?”  The child replied, “Oh, no sir…that would be stealing.  I just lick ‘em.”

The religious leaders of that day were only touching the surface of obedience.  They majored on actions on the outside, but were far removed from God’s heart on the inside.  And I would hate to come to church and carry out the rituals but never worship.  It would be tragic if I can come to church to dot every I and cross every T but never meet Jesus.  Because when I worship Him I’ll walk right.  When I meet Jesus, He’ll make me talk right.  When Jesus comes in my heart, He’ll make me love my enemies and pray for those who mistreat me.  

A woman was married to a most demanding and abusive husband.  This man, a severe perfectionist, placed a heavy burden on his wife through his expectations.  She was given a list of chores and duties each week and was expected to accomplish each item.  Her life was miserable under this taskmaster of a husband.  Years passed and her husband died.  The widow thought she would never marry again, but, in a few years she met a wonderfully kind man.  They were married, and she sincerely enjoyed pleasing her husband.  One day she discovered an old list at the back of a drawer, a list made out by her former husband for a certain week’s duties.  Upon study, she realized that she was still doing this entire list each week for her new husband.  The difference was, however, that she was doing the chores out of love rather than demand.  

And when you get to know Jesus; and He really comes into your heart…you’ll begin to realize that every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.  You’ll start smiling when you should be crying; you’ll find yourself running and nobody is chasing you.  You’ll declare, in the words of the hymnist Rufus McDaniel….

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought

I have light in my soul for which long I had sought,

I have ceased from my wandering and going astray,

And my sins, which were many, are all washed away

I’m possessed of a hope that is steadfast and sure,

And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure,

Sine Jesus came into my heart.

Heart Corruptions

O God,

May thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to thee.

I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me.

I am undeserving, but I look to thy tender mercy.

I am full of infirmities, wants, sin;

thou art full of grace.

I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my wilful sin;

All my powers of body and soul are defiled:

A fountain of pollution is deep within my nature.

There are chambers of foul images within my being;

I have gone from one odious room to another,

walked in a no-man’s-land of dangerous

imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.

I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself;

I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns

and thistles;

I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away;

I live bare and barren as a winter tree,

unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt.

Lord, dost thou have mercy on me?

Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride,

at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before thee.

But thou hast given me another Master and Lord,

thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness,

my life speeds as an arrow from a bow towards complete obedience to thee.

Help me in all my doings to put down sin and to humble pride.

Save me from the love of the world and the pride of life, from everything that is natural to fallen man, and let Christ’s nature be seen in me day by day.

Grant me grace to bear thy will without repining, and delight to be not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.

- Valley of Vision

Let's Talk

Have you ever found yourself facing the struggles of life and saying to yourself, ‘Hey, I just can’t take it anymore!’? Life can run you down until you just don’t have any more strength.  Just as our bodies need to stay physically fit in order to keep up our resistance, it is also true that we will break down spiritually, mentally and emotionally if we don’t communicate with our Creator.  If you want to increase your intake of nourishment for your soul, you need to PRAY!  In a real sense God says, ‘Let’s Talk!’

Prayer unleashes God's power so that He is able to work in our behalf. Prayer opens the channels of God's blessing. Prayer is how God accomplishes the things that He wants to see happen in our lives, and in the lives of others. Prayer opens new doors of opportunity for God to move in.

How do I pray?

In Philippians 4:6 it says, “Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God.” Basically, prayer is simply talking to God just like you would talk to your very best friend.

 

God cares deeply about each and every one of our problems and is just waiting for us to come to Him with those problems. The Bible tells us over and over to constantly bring our problems to our Heavenly Father. Prayer is not to inform God of something which He may not be aware of or to try to convince Him to love us more. He already knows our needs and He has certainly shown his love.  The purpose of prayer is to assist us in building our relationship with God.

 Why should we pray?

Prayer unleashes God's power so that He is able to work on our behalf. Prayer opens the channels of God's blessing. Prayer is how God accomplishes the things that He wants to see happen in our lives. Prayer opens new doors of opportunity for God to move. In fact, you can view prayer like a door. You are on one side of a closed door and on the other side is God. But standing with God is all this incredible and unimaginable power. When you pray, it is you turning that doorknob and swinging that door wide open. It is at that moment when all that power can step through that doorway and work for God's good, and for your good.

Since He respects our freedom of choice and free will, prayer enables Him to step into our lives. Interestingly, God has limited His power and ability in our lives to the importance that we place on prayer. Prayer gives God the permission (though He is sovereign) to do what He has been longing to do all the time. Even when we do not see anything significant occurring, God is still at work solving the problem. When there are apparently no answers, God is still is waiting for the proper time to give us the solution.

 

Look at these scriptures:

Psalm 55:22 -  Throw every burden upon God.

Psalm 68:19 - Blessed be Our God who daily carries the load for us.

Psalm 56:9 - This I well know, that God is for me.

 

There are four basic steps involved in the proper way to pray.

1--Bring the problem to God's attention. But always keep the problem God- centered and not problem-centered.

2--Supplication. The definition of supplication is—a very honest and clear confession that tells God that you need His help.

3--Focus on God and not on the problem. Keep in mind that our prayers are always to be God-centered.

4--Thanksgiving. You are thankful because you know the following about our great, mighty and glorious God.

 

• That you can come to the Father with your problems anytime
• That He is concerned about you
• That He loves you
• That He said that He would help you
• That He will see you through this problem
• That He has the power to solve this problem
• That you trust Him 100%

God is just waiting for you to talk to Him, waiting just for those few brief moments when you acknowledge Him, think about Him, and show Him some love and respect.  Yes, your God is just waiting for you to talk to Him and He desperately wants to talk to you, not in words, but through your mind and your heart. God is going to bypass the vocal cords and the ear; and instead your heart will feel that gentle tugging, that urging, that pulling. Your heart and mind will know exactly what God is trying to tell you.  Take the time this week to talk to Him.