Preach The Word

As we consider the sovereignty of God, I want us to first look at a few verses from the Old Testament that deal with this subject. Deuteronomy 4:39 -- “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.” Deuteronomy 10:14 -- “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth a...

God has become so casual (so human, so buddy-buddy) in the thinking of many today, that they do not understand the whole perspective of His utter holiness. The Scripture says our God is a consuming fire, and He has a holy indignation against sin. It is possible to flippantly rush into His presence, with lives unattended to by repentance and confession of sin so that we are vulnerable to His holy r...

Hopefully I am not presenting this message for anyone who is present in the services today. At the same time, however, I am sharing it for everyone that is here today. You say, “That’s confusing, Preacher.” I hope no one here needs this message because you are lost, but we all need this message because we are saved -- 1) To be reminded of what awaited us before we accepted Christ as Savior; 2) To...

There is a difference between reasons and excuses. A reason is a statement offered in explanation or justification; a sufficient ground of explanation or of logical defense. An excuse is an attempt to remove blame; attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify; an explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense. George Washington said, “It...

We don’t usually associate laughter with God’s Word, but it is there. There are several references to laughter in the Bible. There is good cheer and laughter of all kinds. In Nehemiah 8:10 the Scripture records that Nehemiah encouraged those who were helping rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, “. . . neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” And Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is “A t...

None of us knows what the future holds. We may speculate (and many do). We may hope (and most of us probably do). I would dare to say if some of us could have looked ahead to this past year: 1) We would have avoided some things; 2) We would have done some things differently. It is a part of our human nature to want to know what the future holds for us. Millions are spent each year on “psychics,” s...

The birth of Jesus into this world is the most significant birth that has ever taken place. There have been many great men, by the world’s standards, born, but none of these can even begin to compare to Jesus. There have been leaders - some great and some not so great - and teachers born, but none of them can even begin to compare to Jesus. Why? What makes the coming of Jesus into the world so sig...

Many people come to this time of year and expect to worship a baby in a manger, the baby Jesus. However, if that baby had not grown into manhood and completed the work the Father gave Him to do, we would all be in our sin today. Those who wear the title “Christian” (whether self-imposed or assigned by the world about them) observe, celebrate, honor, commemorate, remember Jesus and celebrate His bi...

Some other verses on faithfulness: I Corinthians 1:9 : “God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” I Corinthians 4:2 : “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” Luke 16:10-11 : “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore...

As we prepare to observe the birth and first coming of Jesus into this world, we need to pause and remember that He is coming back. I believe that thought was daily on the minds of those early believers, and it should be on ours. In Matthew 24:44 Jesus said, “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” In the books of Matthew and Luke He gave examples of those who lived without giv...

How many present would say, “I want to live a more Christ-like life on a daily basis?” So, I will ask: What is your spiritual potential? Do you know? With reference to Christian service, I believe each of us has a different potential. It will vary according to: 1) The abilities God has given each of us; 2) What we do with those abilities; and 3) The opportunities that come to us to use them. Howev...

I fully intended to post this message yesterday (11/24), but I got side-tracked and failed to do so. Since this is the "Thanksgiving season" I will share it today. Psalm 100 concludes a series of Psalms that began with Psalm 91 and look ahead to the coronation of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Its true setting is the millennial Kingdom of Christ. When the world will be filled with righteousness....

It is impossible to live the Christian life without faith. We come into this life by faith – Ephesians 2:8-9 . And we are to live this life by faith – II Corinthians 5:7 . We cannot please God without faith. But not only do we need to possess faith, we need a faith that possesses us. We are not talking about a “blind faith.” And we are not talking about the power of positive thinking. Yes, as...

We know that the Bible is the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God. That means that every book, every chapter, every word in the Bible is significant. I believe even the “Amen” at the end of the book of Revelation is significant and inspired of God. After seeing and recording all that was to come upon this earth before, during, and after the Tribulation, John said, “Amen. So be it.” And, the...

There are many accounts in the Bible of people’s lives that serve as an example and an encouragement to our hearts, and the book of Ruth is no exception. Many look at this book and see nothing more than a love story. It may be love story of sorts, but that is the most shallow interpretation of this book. The bigger picture is that of a lost sinner who, through divine providence, is brought into a...

God's most important characteristic is His holiness. It is also His most exalted attribute. Many today want to focus only on the love of God, but His love comes out of His holiness. And (as I have said many times before) you DO NOT violate God’s holiness and “get away” with it. God’s character is one of absolute purity, perfection, and integrity. The Old Testament writers and prophets held strong...

We live in a time when things are changing almost on a daily basis. There are changes in technology. Just in my lifetime we have gone from rotary dial , to touch tone, to cell phones. We have advanced from record players, to 4-track, to 8-track, to cassettes, to CD's, to digital. We have increased from a few thousand on the internet, to millions, even billions, and internet traffic continues to in...

This IS NOT so much a message on the condition of the church at Laodicea as it is a message on a danger to and the condition of many of the Lord’s churches today! We have a problem in the Lord’s churches today, and it is this: We believe, but we do it without zeal or enthusiasm for the things of God. It is as if we are yawning in the face of the Lord God Almighty Himself. In many ways it says to G...

What is the most valuable thing in your life? It can be a material possession, a person, an activity, etc. What one thing in your life, if you had to do without it, would affect your life the most? God's Word teaches us that anything that comes between us and God is an idol Anything we love more, fear more, serve more, or worship more than God is an idol god. On that basis, most (American) believe...

Have you ever wondered, "Can God really use me?" If you have, I encourage you to look at Timothy. Some say he was around 30 years old at this time. Paul (after at least 2 years at Ephesus) had left him there as pastor of this young church. Timothy encountered several problems at Ephesus: False doctrine and legalists (Judaizers); Issues about the public worship; The need for qualified leaders; Some...

The next great event on God’s timeline for this world is the resurrection and rapture, or catching up of the saved. This message deals with that event. In Titus 2:13 Paul calls it our “blessed hope.” So, the thought of the rapture should not frighten us, but it should give us great comfort ( I Thessalonians 4:18 ). The Lord's coming has been the hope of believers since the first century. In Acts 1...

There are many different attitudes among believers in our world today. Just three of them are: #1 Sincerity – First of all, many are, indeed, sincere. They: 1) Are genuinely contrite before God, 2) Are mortified at sin -- in general and sin in their own lives, 3) Take seriously the commands of Christ, 4) Want nothing more than to do the will of God, 5) Their lives revolve around emulating Jesus, 6...

The Bible is full of many wonderful and powerful prayers. Some estimate there are over 650 different prayers recorded in the Word of God. Obviously, time will not permit us even to make reference to all of them. We have recorded for us the prayers of the Apostle Paul, of David, of Nehemiah, and many more. Probably the greatest prayers are those of Jesus when He prayed, “Not my will, but thine be d...

“One reason we don’t have a revival is because a lot of people don’t want revival.” Dr. Vance Havner As you can tell from the title of the message, this morning we are going to talk about revival -- not revival services, but personal and church revival. Many consider a “good” revival to be one in which a “dynamic” pastor from another church comes and preaches “hard” messages. (But we can have revi...

We all have decisions to make in our lives. The greatest decision that one can make is to accept Jesus Christ as Savior. And the next great decision is to commit our lives to serving Him. Too many today want Jesus as Savior but not as Lord of their lives. Salvation and the Lordship of Jesus are not a “cafeteria line” where we can pick and choose what we want. Salvation and the Lordship of Jesus go...