Posted on

You Will Catch Men

What’s the difference between a chicken and a pig?  Well, in terms of what they each provide for breakfast, the chicken in involved while the pig is committed!  Our pews may be full of involved Christians, some who have attended for years, but, like Simon, God confronts us to be committed to Him.

I. Luke 4:14-37.  After Jesus’ baptism and time of temptation, He began His ministry and was gaining quite a reputation for Himself around Galilee.  After Andrew introduced his brother to Jesus, the Savior said that Simon would be called Peter or ‘Rock’ (John 1:42).  But, that would not become his name that day as Simon just stayed involved with Jesus through the healing of his mother-in-law and the use of his boat for Jesus to teach from while Simon washed his nets after working hard all night (but catching nothing) from his own strength (Luke 4:38 – 5:3).  Like so many of us, he was content to have his ears tickled by this great man’s teaching without recognizing that it was the Creator in his craft.

II. Luke 5:4-11.  Jesus then confronts Simon by asking him to put his nets out into deep water.  Exhausted by his own limitations, Simon does not recognize what is possible for him through Jesus but does what Jesus asks.  It is in verse 8 that this simple but involved fisherman crosses over into being committed.  Never so tall as when he’s on his knees, never so much the solid ‘rock’ as when he is weakest, Simon recognizes his sinfulness in the presence of God in the flesh and is called ‘Peter’ here first.  Verse 11 demonstrates that committment as he and his partners “left everything and followed” Jesus.

III. Romans 4:1-5.  Even though Jesus could have pointed to His power as reason enough for Peter to follow Him, He instead pointed out what Peter could do through Him.  The fisherman could become a fisher of men.  If we were Peters instead of Simons, what could we do for Jesus as Jesus can do all things through us (John 14:12-14)?  To do that, we must be committed to God (Mark 8:34-35).

Are you a chicken or a pig?  Are you involved or committed?  Are you trying to serve God by your own strength or are you serving Him through His?  Are you still Simon or have you become Peter?

 

Posted on

Made You Alive with Christ

In David LaChapelle’s painting, “Last Supper,” Jesus is surrounded by the sinners of today, yet Romans 5:6-8 tells us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Thus in the cross we see God’s love shown through His benevolence.

I.  Colossians 2:13-14.  We were dead in our sin, but God made us alive with Christ.  Through His work on the cross, we can see His benevolence through His forgiveness and justice.  While it is easy to see love in not counting our sins against us, it is harder to see love in Jesus dying to pay for our sin.

II. Hebrews 4:14-16.  Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we don’t deserve.  Because of God’s benevolence in the form of His Son on the cross, we don’t have to be eternally punished for our sin and will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus instead (Romans 3:21-26).

III. Ephesians 2:1-5.  We who have received God’s benevolence must, in turn, show benevolence to others.  This is illustrated well in Jesus’ parable of Matthew 18:21-35 in the story of the debtor, forgiven of his debt, who wouldn’t forgive another of the debt owed to him.

God’s love, as shown through Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, brings us to another table, one laid out for the wedding supper of the Lamb.  We are spiritual beggars, knowing we are not worthy of a scrap from the King of King’s table, yet we find ourselves in robes washed clean and seated at the table, feasting for all eternity.

Posted on

God Sees Our Hearts

Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

God sees our hearts.  I have heard that phrase uttered to discount deliberate deviation from God’s Word.  But most often it is used as an excuse to not try to do His will.

Some people cannot walk into a house without straightening a picture they see crooked on the wall.  The homeowner doesn’t shrug and say it was the thought that counted or mutter that he had a level but was too lazy to use it.  God sees in what ways our lives are crooked and doesn’t accept our fumbled excuses.  Rather, He tells us to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Matthew 5:48.

But there’s grace, we cry out!  Sure there is, but we cannot be like the Roman Christians who thought they could keep on sinning so that grace might increase (Romans 6:1).  His grace, freely given and possible through the death of God’s Son on the cross, cannot be our excuse to sin.

True worshipers, Jesus tells us, worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  This means that our Christianity cannot just become a checklist and be pleasing to God.  Neither, though, can it be just whatever feels good and right.  Emotion and experience, in our assemblies or our personal lives, do more to please ourselves than they do God.

In my toolbox I have a plumb line that my dad gave me when I left home.  In a world of transits and laser levels, we’ve forgotten how our grandfathers used to build things square.  God had the prophet Amos tell His people of the Old Testament before the Assyrians swept through that He was going to set a plumb line among them and spare them no longer.  They had the Law to tell them how to live to please Him.  “God sees our hearts” was not good enough.

And so we have the plumb line of the Word of God that judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  We may deceive ourselves with our motives and excuses, but nothing is hidden from God.  To Him, our heart is laid bare.  He knows if we are true worshipers, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.

We must correct our lives in accordance with the plumb line of His Word because it is true, what we say—God sees our hearts.

[This article will also appear in the next issue of Christ For Today, David Tarbet editor.]

Posted on

Bible.02: Living & Active

“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” Hebrews 4:12.  In a popular movie, The Monster Book of Monsters would try to take a bite from a person if not strapped shut.  This is not what is meant when the Word of God is described as ‘living and active,’ but rather it’s the difference between a doll and a baby.  A mother lets a toddler drag the doll by the foot down the stairs, but is adamant that she treat her newborn brother with great care when gently laying him in her arms.  So is the Bible unique and amazing, having only the appearance of a book with its cover and dead pages.  Its inspiration of God is its breath of life.  More than just an instruction manual for the human existence, God’s word is something we can treasure, study, and live out in our hearts and minds.  As a living seed, once planted there, it grows within us and overflows into the life we live out as Christians.  And, not only good for life, it is also accurate about life in every way, and through God’s Spirit guides us into all truth as it is itself ‘truth.’  Do you live out God’s Word?

The Bible is an amazing book.

I. Luke 8:11-15.  Like a seed, the Bible is living and active, but we must be good soil for it to grow within us.  Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-14).  We are baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-27), but He also dwells in our hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:16-17).

II. 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  The Bible is inspired by God.  Not of human origin to fail (Acts 5:38-39), it has withstood the test of time because men were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write it (2 Peter 1:20-21).

III. John 17:17.  As it is truth, we would expect the Bible to be accurate.  Though it is not primarily a history or science textbook, unlike myths, it is accurate in details pertaining to history or science.  No “once upon a time in a land long ago” type of language in it, real people and places are described in the Bible (Luke 2:1-4).  Long before any scientists could have such knowledge, the Bible describes the earth being round (Isaiah 40:22), the paths of the sea (Psalm 8:8), and dinosaurs (Job 40:15-24)!

Even if the Bible could somehow be discounted, it still leaves us with the greatest moral and ethical code the world has ever known (John 15:12-14).  It truly is an amazing book.

Posted on

Bible.01: Ten Reasons Why the Bible is True

Convincing people that God’s Word is truth must come before they will believe anything you may show them and change their lives because of it.  This is part one of a twelve part series found only on sermonlines.com and heard throughout 2018 at plattsburghchurch.com.

Ten Reasons Why the Bible is True

1 The Bible itself says it is inspired of God and authoritative

a. We shouldn’t claim for the Bible what it doesn’t claim for itself (John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

b. Prophecy fulfilled centuries after it was written prove this: compare Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 to the events of the cross or Zechariah 11:12-13 to Matthew 27:3-10.

2 There’s a unity of thought and purpose over 1600 years of writing it (1500 B.C. to 100 A.D.).

a. There are no seeming contradictions that are not easily accounted for.

b. The theme is a loving God’s plan to bring sinful man back into a relationship with Him.

3 There’s a unity of thought and purpose though written by about 40 writers from many different backgrounds: kings, shepherds, fishermen, rich, poor, Jews and non-Jews.

a. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

b. The writers were from different countries and political situations: Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Israel.

4 Careful copying through the centuries has given us the exact Bible as when it was first written.

a. See the methods of the Masoretes and monks who believed their salvation was at stake!

b. Found in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls, written about 100 B.C. to 100 A.D., prove the preservation of all the Old Testament books (except Esther).

5 Outside sources describe Bible events, places, and people.

a. In 93 A.D., the Jewish historian, Josephus, described Jesus rising from the dead, et. al.

b. Stories of the Genesis flood are preserved in cultures around the world.

c. The Chinese language depicts pre-Babel events in their ‘picture language.’

d. Outside sources are mentioned in Scripture (Joshua 10:12-14, Luke 1:1-4).

6 Archaeology continues to prove Bible events, places, and people(s) over and over.

a. Hazor was indeed burned by the Israelites when they came into the land (Joshua 11:12-13).

b. The temple was destroyed, rebuilt, enlarged, and destroyed again as the Bible states.

7 Man is more confident of the Bible’s accuracy than other ancient works.

a. Over 5,300 ancient Greek copies of the New Testament exist that are within two centuries of the originals.  It is better preserved and authenticated than Caesar, Plato, or Aristotle’s writings.

b. There were more witnesses to the Bible’s events, places, and people than to Shakespeare writing Shakespeare’s works.

8 The Bible was the newspaper of the day with witnesses who were for, neutral, and against Christianity attesting to the validity of the Bible’s events, places, and people.

a. Not even Christianity’s enemies of the 1st Century could explain away Jesus’ miracles or the empty tomb.  If they could have, they would have!

b. Jesus appeared at least ten recorded times over a period of 40 days after He was resurrected.  The largest group was 500 (1 Corinthians 15:5-6) to people who were not expecting to see Him alive.  Mass hallucinations do not happen in this manner.

9 Nature and science prove the Bible over and over.

a. Things tend toward chaos, not the complexity we see either through a microscope, telescope, or with our eyes (Romans 1:18-20).

b. The Bible speaks of the earth being round (Isaiah 40:22), the paths of the sea (Psalm 8:8), and dinosaurs (Job 40-41).

10 Changed lives prove the Bible is true.

a. Compare the apostles in Luke 22:54-62 to Acts 4:18-20.  Most died attesting to the gospel.

b. The changed lives of Christians today from how they were before they obeyed Christ attest to the Bible being true.

 

Posted on

Fulfilled in Your Hearing

“Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” Luke 4:20-21.  For centuries, God’s chosen people had been expecting a Savior, God Himself.  In one of those passages, Isaiah had written over 700 years before that the Messiah would fulfill certain requirements: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  After returning to Galilee after His baptism and temptation in the power of the Spirit, news spread about Him and He taught in the area’s synagogues.  It was in His hometown of Nazareth, however, where everyone knew Him as ‘Joseph’s son,’ that He chose to declare Himself, through the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, to be the Christ and God Himself!  No wonder those who remembered Jesus lugging tools for His earthly father were furious and wanted to drive Him off a cliff.  Who do you understand Jesus to be?

As all were praising Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, He went back to His hometown.

I.  Luke 4:14-22.  A hometown boy was gaining noteriety, and so the synagogue in Nazareth must have been packed when Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah and read a prophecy of the coming Messiah that they had all heard numerous times before.  Then, he did the unthinkable; He assigned those words uttered seven centuries before to Himself and let them sink in to the local crowd.

II.  Luke 4:23-30.  It was blasphemy if not true, the fulfillment of all that the Jews had been waiting for if it was.  But, rather than letting the neighbors from His childhood wrestle with this, Jesus confronted them with the truth–that accepting Him as the prophesied Christ meant that God would open the gospel to all people.  This was something the crowd gathered to hear the old stories wasn’t ready for.

III.  Luke 8:5-15.  How about us?  Many of us gather in Jesus’ hometown every Sunday morning out of habit or because we’re hoping to be entertained.  We can’t wait to hear what He’s been up to lately and some of the old stories that are comfortable.  But, He confronts us there on a personal level, challenging our understanding of who He is.  Will we accept that or try to drive Him over a cliff?

Sometimes it is those who have known Him the longest who need re-assess our view of Jesus.  If He truly is the Christ, how does that change us?

 

Posted on

The Need to Intercede

A 65 year-old grandmother, who cares for two disabled siblings and houses several adult grandchildren on the bank of the Saranac River, just lost everything in recent ice jams and subsequent flooding.  Although it has been years since she and some members of her family have come to church, I have been connecting her with various agencies with which I have contact and of course with her church family that wants to know how to help.

We all have a need for intercession and in turn need to intercede for others.  I have come across both givers and takers in my twenty years of ministry, and it is certainly the givers who have the hardest time accepting help.

I.  Exodus 32:7-14.  When God wanted to destroy the Israelites He had just saved out of Egypt because they had fallen into idolatry, Moses interceded for them, even offering to take God’s punishment upon himself.  Concerned for God’s Name, Moses even turned down God’s offer to make him into a great nation in place of Israel.  Being an intercessor can often take self-denial and sacrifice.

II.  Hebrews 7:23-25.  No one would know that more than Jesus, who as our High Priest, laid down His own life to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father with His own blood.  Like He did for the Israelites, God did not wait for us to repent first, but rather, before we realized our need, while we were still enemies to Him, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

III.  1 Timothy 2:1-3.  Because of the intercession that we have received, we in turn intercede for others, regardless of how they have conducted themselves towards us or the church in the past.  This is how God loved us, and so we in turn love others (1 John 3:16-18).  This pleases God who wants all men to be saved, and who knows that your intercession might lead them to a knowledge of the truth?

Will helping this giving grandmother lead her back to God?  Only God knows.  But, already she has acknowledged that the church has always been there for her–even when she was not attending.

Posted on

Cardinal Sins

No, not those ones!

When a church member was at my house last Saturday, he remarked upon the birds gathered at the feeder in my backyard and asked if we had ever had a cardinal.  Male cardinals are a vibrant crimson that stands out against the snow and are very territorial.  If there’s anything to the old wives tale that a cardinal is a visitor from beyond the grave, then we were terrorized by a red demon all last winter.

Believing his reflection was another male cardinal, he would repeatedly attack our windows all around our house, banging and flapping against the glass for hours on end, every day, all season long.  As I told this story, my brain, as it often does, went to the spiritual application:

We are indeed our own worst enemies!

I.  James 1:13-15.  No, the devil does not make you do it!  Satan certainly exploits each person’s weaknesses, but the evil desires we act on come from within us–and we choose to sin.  We wanted the cardinal to stop hitting our windows, and God wants us to stop sinning.

II.  Psalm 51:10-12.  Sin robs us of purity, steadfastness, God’s presence, and joy.  The cardinal could not have been that happy striking the windows over and over, and yet he never stopped.  God, who wants us to have life to the full (John 10:10) must think that of us when we fall repeatedly into the same sins.

III.  Romans 8:37-39.  Nothing outside of ourselves can separate us from God’s love.  That is for certain.  But, we can choose to turn away from that love (Hebrews 10:26-31).  While the male did his daily routine, never learning and never quite knocking himself out, the female cardinal would often watch from the branch of a nearby tree.  I couldn’t help but wonder what she must think of him.

They did not return with the snow, and although we do not miss the insistent thumps, I wonder if he has given up his cardinal sins or is just repeating them against someone else’s windows.

How about us?

 

 

 

Posted on

You Are My Son

“… And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’  Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry …” Luke 3:22-23.  After many convincing proofs from His birth and childhood about who Jesus was, Luke, writing from his investigations and eyewitness accounts, ties in John’s role as a forerunner to the Messiah’s ministry and then gives the biggest endorsement of all: the Father’s seal of approval.  Without that, Jesus would have just appeared as a carpenter from Galilee who, either through deception or lunacy, was going around Judea declaring Himself to be the Christ.  But, He, at thirty years of age, was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and publically declare who He was and what He was about.  This was not done in secret.  The crowds that John was ministering to are well attested to earlier in the chapter.  There were many who Luke must have spoken to who were there when Jesus stepped down into the water, who saw heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descend like a dove, and who heard the Father’s voice declare Jesus to be His Son.  Perhaps that was why they began to follow Him.  Do you follow God’s Son?

Intro: John prepares the way for Jesus, Luke 3:4-9

I Jesus was baptized … to Receive the Holy Spirit

  • Luke 3:21-22a
  • We do too, Acts 2:38-39; Ephesians 1:13-14

II Jesus was baptized … to Please His Father

  • Luke 3:22b; Matthew 3:13-15
  • We do too, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:16-17

III Jesus was baptized … to Begin His Ministry

  • Luke 3:23
  • We do too, Luke 14:25-34
Posted on

New Editor

J. Randal Matheny indeed has a long reach to stretch from Brazil to snowy northern New York State along the Canadian border to twist my arm to sit in the editorial chair for sermonlines.com.  Knowing the challenges of small church ministry as I am now in my twentieth year with the Plattsburgh Church of Christ, I hope to make sermonlines a true preachers-helping-preachers site, where we create an encouraging and biblical repository for the exchanging of ideas to build the Kingdom.  Like those free lending libraries that are popping up everywhere, leave an idea or take an idea to promote the gospel locally and around the world.

God bless, Douglas Kashorek