Sound Teaching

We have recorded in the gospels various prayers of Jesus, offered up to His Father in heaven. For example, in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 we have what is called by many today, “The Lord’s Prayer.” It was in response to the request of one of His disciples who said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). The designation of “The Lord’s Prayer” is inappropriately given to this prayer. It was a model prayer designed to teach the disciples. There are other prayers much more personal to our Lord.

One example of this is the prayer that Jesus offered up in John 17. He first prayed for Himself (17:1-5), then His intimate apostles (17:6-19), then the rest who believe in Him which would include you and me (17:20-26). According to John, this prayer was offered on the same night of His most intimate prayer, recorded in Matthew 26, Mark 15 and Luke 22. It is this prayer in the garden of Gethsemane that we want to examine now. Continue reading “The Garden Prayer” →

Jesus here, in his capacity of High Priest of the new covenant, is compared to the priests under the old. They ministered daily, offering sacrifices that were not capable to truly taking away sin. In contrast Jesus offered up His sacrifice once. He offered up Himself as our perfect and effective sacrifice, accomplishing what the blood of bulls and goats could not.
After the sin problem was solved through His shed blood, He sat at the right hand of the Father, where He continues to reign in His kingdom. He is both Priest and King (after the order of Melchizedek).

The text indicates that this reign will continue until all his enemies are defeated. Elsewhere we are told that the last enemy is death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:26). After that, “then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (28).

That sacrifice truly takes away the sins of those who come to Him in faith. We are told that we are made complete (or perfect) in our cleansing. This is it. We have been given the forever sacrifice that sanctifies us!

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Our verse does a good job disclosing what is not evident from Jesus being born over 2,000 years ago. What had come before, all the prophecies and inspired writings compiled leading to that point, were a preamble to Jesus. As Paul so eloquently put it, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:23-25). Continue reading “He Speaks Through His Son” →

His name is Jesus. His earthly family consisted of a carpenter named Joseph, and his young wife Mary. We don’t know much about Jesus’ youth. We know at an important age for a Jewish boy, 12, He visited Jerusalem for Passover.

We know nothing more about Jesus’ earthly life until He became an itinerant preacher at about age 30. Within three years His teaching and claims incensed the Jewish leaders, who prevailed upon the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to crucify Him on a cross between two other criminals.

In His life Jesus never traveled more than 150 miles from the place of His birth. He never owned His own home, never had wealth, and traveled in His ministry with 12 ordinary men, who were recognized as uneducated Galileans. He was buried in a tomb purchased by a friend.

What none of these modest facts about Jesus’ physical life tell us, is the significance of His birth and death, shown by His resurrection from the dead and His exaltation to God’s right hand.

Jesus was not just a man. He is God’s only begotten Son, sent from His Father to earth to redeem mankind. The scripture says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus was not only a man, He is our Lord and our Savior!

An explanation of Paul’s letter to Titus, with a special emphasis on the motivation of the Christian to obey God, expressed in Titus 2:11-14. 

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There are many misconceptions about the nature of Jesus Christ. These can be held by those who are antagonistic to the idea of God and His Son. They also are often held by those who would identify themselves as followers of Jesus.
We can know Jesus only by what is revealed in the Bible. We have Old Testament prophecies, the gospels, and what is revealed to us in the remainder of the New Testament. It gives us a complete picture of Him, one that often conflicts with the claims made by those ignorant of these words. Let’s examine some of the contrasting views of Jesus. What is legitimate, and what is not! As John wrote, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10).

It is wrong to think Jesus will let everyone into heaven!

Jesus truly loves all mankind. It His desire that all men be saved, and He died to accomplish our redemption. But that gift Jesus has given has conditions! “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Continue reading “The World Does Not Know Jesus!” →

In contrasting the sacrifice of Jesus with that of the blood sacrifices offered under the old covenant, the Hebrew writer quotes from Psalm 40:6-8, establishing it as a Messianic prophecy.

As seen in the preceding verses, God did not intend or desire for the animal sacrifices under the previous covenant to continue. They were insufficient to deal permanently with sin. Each year the offerings were continued.

God’s purpose was to send His only begotten Son into the world, Jesus, to offer up Himself as that efficacious sacrifice for sin. Jesus did God’s will. He proclaimed from the beginning of His life (Luke 2:49) until the end of His life (Matthew 26:39) that His purpose on earth was to do the will of His Father in heaven. In so doing, His sacrifice accomplished the change in the covenants, as the new will was ratified by His shed blood.

It is also that blood that finally cleanses us, separating us in holiness to God. Because sin’s debt has been paid, Jesus’ sacrifice was “once for all.”

An interesting point in Israel’s history came as the people began to clamor for a king. Samuel was the judge over Israel at that time, and understandably was disappointed at the Israelites who seemed to be rejecting his rule over them.

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us…’”(1 Samuel 8:4-6). In response to their request, Samuel prayed to the Lord, who told him, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). Continue reading “Samuel’s Character” →

I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. I believe every part of the Bible comes ultimately from God, not man. I know there were multiple human authors, but ultimately these authors penned the words given them from God Himself.

It is important to note that this is the Bible’s claim for itself. We have Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The verse starts, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The word inspiration is a bit different than how we use it in modern times. The etymology of the Greek word shows this, theopnuestos: theo – God; pneustos – breathed. Every indication both in scripture, and in the reception of scripture in early times show this to be the case. Remember Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:16 in talking about Paul’s writings: “which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

Peter’s earlier words, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

I don’t expect all to agree. However, it is not possible for a man to legitimately claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and at the same deny the plenary (complete) and verbal (every jot and tittle) nature of Biblical inspiration.

A misunderstanding, or disregard of God’s intent for local congregations to be autonomous has led to significant historical error and unauthorized practices among those who claim to follow Jesus Christ. 

Audio
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YouTube Video of Sermon

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When we speak generally of the cross, as Christians we are referring to the death of Jesus 2,000 years ago. The Romans who meted out the sentence of death to Jesus practiced crucifixion. Crucifixion consisted of the hanging of the person on a wooden crossbeam affixed to a wooden pole. Suspended from the ground, the unfortunate soul would die from a combination of severe blood loss, shock and progressive suffocation. This death would commonly take several days.

It was an ignominious death from torture. It was a public spectacle, designed to deter conquered people, slaves, rebels and criminals. It seems a bit of a paradox for such an action and symbol to have such a precious meaning to any people. However, in the case of Jesus, the Roman crucifixion was God’s sin sacrifice, offered on the behalf of sinful man. It is the most important event in the history of mankind, as God’s plan for redeeming man was fulfilled in the shedding of the Christ’s blood on that cross. Continue reading “The Two Sides of the Cross” →