Colossians 3:1-15
As Christians, we must never tire of saying “No!” A decisive “No!” with firm conviction has delivered many a Christian pilgrim from the peril of danger and saved his soul from many a calamity. We must first and foremost say “No!” to sin!!! To deny the flesh its fill is never an easy thing. It has strong desires and burning passions that demand to be satisfied. It cries out in the daytime and the night seasons; “I’m hungry”! But the Christian who has walked for any length of time with the Lord knows that to yield to its demands is to play with fire. We MUST give due diligence here and watch over our souls. Is sin creeping in? Have we slackened? Have we loosened the reigns? It’s one thing to start out of the blocks, but it takes a different kind of athlete to stay the course and finish the race. God is calling us to finish well!!
Matthew 7:1-5
It’s been well said, that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones (and how true this proverb is). There’s something about the fallen state of humanity whereby man finds it so easy (almost effortless) to point out the faults in others, and yet; finds it so hard to see those same faults in himself. No sooner than he points the finger, there are three fingers pointing back at him! How swift we are to dish out criticism, yet how slow we are to eat from that same plate! How skilled we are at murmuring and complaining about the hairline cracks we see in others when if the truth be told, we’ve crumbling joints in our own foundation but are too blind to see it because we’re always got our eyes on others people.
This sermon is a call and an exhortation for mercy in our judgment of one another in light of the judgment seat of Christ.
Proverbs 3:5-6
There are some proverbs that remain in our thinking more than others; some that seem to leave a greater lasting impression in our hearts than others. None perhaps have left their indelible mark upon the hearts of God’s people than Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.
In this sermon, we bring these verses to the forefront and endeavour to behold the treasures of this precious jewel. This world is full of care and trouble, but the child of God has been called to place their trust wholeheartedly in the Lord! Will we not see what God will do, if we but look to Him?
Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 11)
When one thinks of wisdom, what thoughts come to mind? What images fill the head? The response of the Christian to such questions will inevitably differ from those outside the faith. The most up-to-date entry in the Cambridge online dictionary defines wisdom as: “The ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments”. The Biblical definition of wisdom whilst not contradicting this, begins from an entirely different premise from where the world begins. The world begins from a worldview that excludes the God of Holy Scripture; whereas the Biblical definition of wisdom begins and ends with God (Prov. 9:10).
There are five books in the Bible that have been rightly identified as belonging to the Wisdom Literature. These include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. In this first teaching part of two, we begin exploring this wisdom and endeavour to offer practical helps to enable one to better interpret the Book of Proverbs in order to understand the great wealth of wisdom that is contained in this precious book.
Download teaching notes (pdf)
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/8_Interpreting_the_Books_of_Wisdom_Pt1.pdf
Matthew 13:1-9
J.C Ryle said of this parable; “The four kinds of hearts it describes are to be found in every assembly which hears the word. These circumstances should make us always read the parable with a deep sense of its importance. We should say to ourselves as we read it: “This concerns me. My heart is to be seen this parable. I, too, am here”. Well said, Brother Ryle!!
The child of God ever runs the dangerous possibility of becoming overfamiliar with those texts which he hears the most. The Parable of the Sower is perhaps at the forefront of this list. May we listen to this sermon with ears and eyes afresh and in so doing, may God grant us to see the soil condition of our hearts.