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"And take...the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17)
In this issue:
It's Hard Not To
Rejoice
(Larry Ray Hafley)
Sermon Outlines:
Noteworthy News:
"I Had An Abortion" T-shirts
It's Hard Not To Rejoice
Larry Ray Hafley It is difficult, but we must not do it. “Rejoice not when thine enemy
falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth” (Prov. 24:17).
If it is not hard for you to squelch a squeal of fiendish glee when your
tormentor tumbles, let me congratulate you and ask you to go on to another
article. I want to talk to the rest of us folks.
What does our rejoicing in the fall of another say
about us? It says:
1. That we may be
envious or jealous of another. Thus, because of our sinful rivalry, we
rejoice when one stumbles. This the Bible condemns (Phil. 2:1-4).
2. That we are carnally
minded and walk as men and not as God would have us to do (1 Cor. 3:1-3).
3. That our eyes are not
upon God, that we are not “looking unto Jesus,” but unto our own petty,
selfish interests (Rom. 12:9-21).
4. That vengeance, not
peace and friendship, is the motive of our hearts. If so, we seek that
which does not belong to us — “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the
Lord.”
5. That we are
rejoicing over the fall of one for whom Christ died, and for one in whose
death God takes no pleasure (Ezek. 33:11).
6. That our standards
for success and failure are brought down to the level of the fallen.
Surely, our goals and glee are higher than that (Phil. 2:16, 17; 1 Pet.
1:6-8)!
7. That we are looking
at things through the perishing perspective of the outer man and not
through eternal spectacles of the inner man (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
8. That we ought to be
glad Jesus does not have the same attitude toward us — “Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
If I say I will not rejoice
when my enemy stumbles, but neither will I help him up, I may as well sneer
when I praise God.
Lord, how small we are in heart before thee Help us
to grow in thy grace and goodness!
(Truth Magazine, July 15, 2004, 435)
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Jesus is Proof There is a God
Scripture Reading: John 12:42-50
1. Why do you believe in God? (1 Pet. 3:15)
2. How do you convince someone that God is real, that the Bible is His
word, & that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God?
3. The answer lies in the evidence that supports the conclusion. One line
of evidence is Jesus.
I. FAITH THAT GOD
EXISTS IS BASED ON EVIDENCE – Heb. 11:6, 1.
A. The Material
World, Heb. 11:3; Rom. 1:20; Isa. 40:25-26 (Psa. 19:1).
B. The Evidence of Jesus – Jno. 17:1-4.
II. JESUS IS
EVIDENCE GOD IS REAL, Jno. 14:9-11.
A. To Believe in
Jesus One Must Believe in God – Jno. 12:44-45 (1:1-2, 18; Col. 1:15).
B. There is Evidence that Jesus is the Son of God – Matt. 16:13-17 (Jno.
5:37; 8:18; 7:51).
C. The Evidence that Jesus is the Son of God (Jno. 5:18; 10:30-36).
1. Works of Jesus (Jno. 5:17; 3:2; 5:36; 10:37; 20:30-31); Jno.
11:47-48, 49-50 (Matt. 12:22-24).
2. Words of Jesus (Jno. 10:37-38; 8:13-14; cf. 7:46, 18).
(Matt. 7:28-29)
3. Sinless life of Jesus – Jno. 8:46, 58.
D. If Jesus is the Son of God, then there is a God – Jno. 8:19; 14:6-11
(Matt. 27:54); Lk. 12:54-57.
III. WHY DO PEOPLE REJECT THE EVIDENCE THAT
JESUS IS SON OF GOD? (Jno. 12:37)
A. It Does Not Agree with Human Wisdom – 1 Cor.
1:21-25 (Psa. 10:4; Rom. 1:22, 28).
B. It Means there is an Objective Standard of Truth & Morality (Jno.
18:37) – Jno. 14:6; 12:46.
C. Some are Unwillingness to Do What He Says – Jno. 7:16-17 (Matt. 12:30)
D. It is Not What Some Have Always Believed – Jno.
1:45-46
E. It Means Loved Ones Who Do Not Believe in Jesus are Lost in Sin
– Jno. 3:16-18.
F. Because of Others – Jno. 12:42-43.
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Bible Question Box (Aug 2004)
Scripture Reading: Romans 13:1-10
#1 – The 10 commandments say, “thou shalt not kill!” But we read of many
Israelites, including King David / Solomon, killing “in the name of the
Lord.” Why?
1. Sacredness of human life (Gen. 4:11-14; 9:5-6; Num.
35:33-34).
2. Law of Moses was a moral law (ruling the individual) & a civil law
(ruling the nation).
a. Personal killing/vengeance was forbidden – Exo. 20:13.
b. The government (state) was given power to apply justice (punish crime)
– Exo. 21:12-17, 23.
c. Law of Moses regulated the “avenger of blood” (Num. 35:9-34).
3. God used Israel (as well as other nations) to execute His punishment
upon evildoers.
a. Judgment upon the Amalekites – Exo. 17:8, 14-16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1
Sam. 15:1-3.
b. David against enemies – 2 Sam. 5:17-25.
4. NT also establishes such a distinction – Rom. 12:17-13:10.
#2
– Regarding 1 Timothy 5:11-14: Could you please clarify what these verses
mean?
1. Context:
Enrollment of true widows for continuing care by the local church (1 Tim.
5:3-16).
2. 1 Tim. 5:11: “Refuse” to enroll for ongoing care by the church. (Not:
“refuse them to remarry”.)
3. Two basic reasons to refuse (avoid sin & fulfill responsibilities) –
5:11-13.
4. Younger widows should fulfill the domain & province God ordained for
women: The home & motherhood – 5:14-15.
5. Don’t be a cause of reproach against the truth; had already happened to
some, 5:15.
6. Do not burden the church by enrolling widows who are not truly widows –
5:16.
Top
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the
light of Scripture)
"I Had An
Abortion" T-shirts
Joe R. Price
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)
began offering a $15 T-shirt this week that reads, “I had an abortion” for
women to “assert a powerful message in support of women’s rights.” Gloria
Feldt, president of PPFA had this to say in a statement dated July 28,
2004: “The shirt is not a cavalier statement, but a way to challenge the
silence and shame around an experience many women have shared, however
difficult that decision may have been.”
We will not quibble over the difficulty
of the decision to have an abortion. But, we do challenge its morality.
Human life is sacred and the willful taking of it is murder (Exo. 20:13).
If PPFA can encourage “powerful messages” that
are not “cavalier”, we can too. So, I propose the following T-shirts
messages designed to be a “powerful message in support of” the unborn
child’s right to life:
·
“I killed my child”…“I let a doctor kill my child”…“Women YES – Babies NO”
·
“I wanted sex – not that baby” (95% of abortions are for the purpose of
birth control, www.abortiontv.com)
·
“Chances are, I’m a fornicator, too” (67% of abortions are from women
who have never been married, Nikki Katz, “Abortion Statistics”,
http://womensissues.about.com/ cs/abortionstats/a/aaabortionstats.htm)
Oh, I can hear the criticism now:
·
“You are so unloving and insensitive!” (Would that be unloving and
insensitive like the mother who chooses to kill her unborn child? – Rom.
1:31) God said, “hate evil, love good” (Amos 5:15).
·
“You are just being too harsh!” (Like the harshness of the surgeon’s
tools as the life of a living, growing child is exterminated in its mother’s
womb?) God said, “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a
trumpet; tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their
sins” (Isa. 58:1).
· “Your inflammatory tone will accomplish
nothing!” (Unlike, the inflammatory, “I had an abortion”?) The flames
of hell are hot. Better now to inflame emotions that may save a life (and a
soul through repentance) than to be silent as millions enter eternal life
with blood on their hands (including ours, Rev. 21:8; Acts 20:26; Ezek.
3:17-19).
This is election year in America, and the candidates are positioning themselves for votes. Take for example, John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate:
“John Kerry
says life begins at conception -- even if it isn’t yet human at that stage.
‘My personal belief about what happens in the fertilization process is a
human being is first formed and created, and that’s when life begins,’ Kerry
told ABC News’ Peter Jennings. ‘But that’s not a person yet.’” (“Kerry’s
Abortion Views Confusing”, Steve Jordahl,
iVoteValues.org)
Does Mr. Kerry approve of the “powerful
message in support of women’s rights” this T-shirt supposedly makes?
Jordahl continues to write,
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life
Committee, said Kerry’s words – while confusing – are intentional.
“This is a thought-out strategy to try to pull the wool over the eyes of
voters,” he said, “attempting to make it appear that he’s sensitive to
concerns about the unborn.”
Chris Slattery of Expectant Mother Care said 20 years of consistent
pro-abortion votes in Congress should settle any doubts about where Kerry
really stands.
“He takes the Christian community for idiots if he thinks we’re going to buy
into any notion that he is pro-life,” Slattery said. “John Kerry is a master
fraud. I don’t believe for a minute that he will take any initiatives that
will favor the pro-life side – just the opposite.”
Several times in the interview with Jennings, Kerry used the Roe v. Wade
decision as an excuse to separate his personal and public stances on
abortion. The abortion lobby has given him a 100 percent voting record over
the last several years. (Ibid.)
On abortion, John Kerry wants it both ways: he wants a personal view
and a political position. While saying he believes life begins at
conception he cannot bring himself to say it is human life. (What kind of
life is it, then? And, when does it become human?) Planned Parenthood
wants to “challenge the silence and shame around” abortions, so it sells
T-shirts that shamelessly announce the sin of the mother. PPFA wants women
who aborted their babies to speak out and assert their “power” and “rights”
– all for $15.
If you have had an abortion, we urge you to acknowledge your sin
against your child and repent. God will forgive you. (Please remember, God
forgave those who killed His Son when they believed the gospel, repented and
were baptized, Acts 2:36-41.) In His forgiveness you will find the freedom
from your sin, pain and guilt that was not aborted along with your child.
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