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"...Shepherd the flock of God which is among
you, serving as overseers..." (1 Peter 5:2)
Elders
Morris Bass, Rick Holt , Joe
Price |
"...let them serve as deacons,
being found blameless..." (1 Tim. 3:10)
Deacons
Aaron Bass, Rich Brooks, Mike Finn
John Hague, Dan Head |
"And take...the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17)
In this issue:
Tassels and Truth
Sermon Outlines:
Noteworthy News:
Speed Kills
Tassels and Truth
Joe R. Price
It is written in
the Old Testament,
37 “Again the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 38 Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them
to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their
generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And
you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the
commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the
harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that
you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.”
(Num. 15:37-40)
God wanted Israel
to “remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them” and to
“be holy for your God” rather than commit sexual immorality. To help
Israel “remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them” they
were to attach tassels, laced with a blue thread, on the corners of their
garments. Instead of Israel’s heart and eyes following after harlotry,
their hearts and lives were to be focused on God’s will; lives of holiness
given to Him. When they looked at the tassel they were to remember the
commands of God and do them. Thus, God gave Israel the memory technique of
association to help them obey Him from the heart.
As time passed,
Israel began to attach human traditions to the commandments of God and
binding them on men (see Mk. 7:1-13). This was wrong (then and now), and
Jesus rebuked their hypocrisy (Mk. 7:6-9; cf. Col. 2:20-23). Knowing the
hearts of all men, Jesus also exposed their evil motive of
self-righteousness (Lk. 18:9-12). Trusting in themselves that they were
righteous, they overlooked their own need for mercy, while failing to be
merciful toward others (Lk. 18:13-14; Micah 6:8). Doing their good deeds,
prayers and fasting to be seen by men earned them the reward they sought
(Matt. 6:1-18).
An example of doing their works to be
seen by men had to do with enlarging the borders of their garments (Matt.
23:5). The large tassels on their garments got everyone’s attention and
showed all that they fervently remembered the commands of God! Sadly, the
tassels didn’t get their own attention – their hearts were far from God
(Matt. 15:7-9). They were lost in their self-righteous hypocrisy.
God has not commanded us to put tassels
on our garments, but we are commanded to take up the whole armor of God
(Eph. 6:10-17). Christ expects obedience and holy living to come from a
good and honest heart (Lk. 8:15; Matt. 22:37-39; Jno. 14:15; 1 Pet.
1:13-16). We are taught to “be clothed with humility, for God resists the
proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).
Christians are commanded to teach the
gospel to the lost (Matt. 28:19-20; cf. Acts 8:4). Some brethren have
diagrammed the gospel plan of salvation by using the five fingers of the
hand, with a command of Christ corresponding to each finger: Hear, believe,
confess, repent and be baptized. It is an easy and effective way of
teaching God’s answer to the question, “what must I do to be saved?”
A number of years ago a woman said to me
after a sermon that salvation is “just not as simple as five steps.” Her
problem was not with the five finger exercise, but with what it teaches.
She did not wish to be limited to the revealed pattern of how to be saved
from sin, namely, that the sinner must hear the gospel of Christ (Jno.
6:44-45), believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 11:6; Mk. 16:15-16;
Jno. 8:24), confess faith (Rom. 10:9-10); repent of sins (Acts 17:30) and be
baptized (Acts 2:38; 22:16) in order to be saved. She knew good people in
the denominations who just had to be saved – although she provided no
scripture that supported her conclusion.
People continue to reject the gospel
plan of salvation. Some say these five steps do not teach the true plan of
salvation because, at least in part, they end up emphasizing externals at
the expense of internals.
Isn’t that what the scribes and
Pharisees did to God’s commandment to put tassels on the borders of their
garments? They ended up “emphasizing the externals at the expense of the
internals” (Matt. 23:5). But, the solution to their distortion was not to
set aside God’s commandment and no longer attach tassels to their garments.
No, the solution was to humble themselves before God and obey Him from a
willing heart (Deut. 10:12-13).
Likewise, the answer today is not to
reject the plan of salvation for fear that teaching it will lead to the
distortion of emphasizing externals and neglecting internals (Matt. 23:23).
Christ’s plan of salvation involves obedience from the heart: “But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free
from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:17-18). We will not
throw out the baby with the bath water. The gospel plan of salvation is not
only important; it is essential. And, sinners must obey it from the heart in
order to be saved from their sins (Rom. 1:16; 6:17-18; 1 Tim. 2:3-4).
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
The Kingdom of Christ (cont.)
Scripture Reading:
Luke 18:24-30
1. Review: Jesus
is now King, Jno. 18:36-37; Acts 2:36 (17:7); His kingdom exists today.
2. Many who do
not believe the kingdom of Christ was established during NT times, or that
it exists today. “What saith the scripture?” (Gal. 4:30)
Kingdom
Facts:
·
Jesus
preached the gospel of the kingdom, Matt. 4:23 (Lk. 9:11); 13:10-11;
18-19.
·
Jesus
announced the approach of the kingdom, Matt. 4:17; 12:28.
·
Jesus
identified His kingdom as His church, Matt. 6:16-19.
·
Jesus
identified the nature of the kingdom, Jno. 18:36 (Lk. 17:20-21; Dan.
2:44; Lk. 1:33).
·
Jesus
predicted establishment of kingdom, Lk. 12:32; Mk. 9:1 (Lk. 24:49;
Acts 1:6-8; 2:1-4, 47).
·
Apostles
proclaimed present existence of the kingdom, Acts 20:25 (8:12); Col.
1:13; Rev. 1:9.
·
Kingdom
citizens have remission of sins, Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10 (Acts 2:37-38,
41).
·
Salvation
is in the kingdom, Lk. 16:16; Jno. 3:3-5
·
The
Lord’s Supper proves kingdom has come, Lk. 22:18 (Matt. 26:29).
·
We are
receiving a kingdom, Heb. 12:28, 22-23 (cf. apostles, Lk. 22:29-30;
Matt. 19:28).
·
Daily
goal
is to put the kingdom of God first in our lives, Matt. 6:33; Lk.
9:62.
Conclusion
1. Kingdom of
Christ exists today (Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of Christ is the church of
Christ. It is mighty and its glory is secure.
2. Must live in
Christ’s kingdom now to enter the everlasting kingdom (heaven)
later, 2 Pet. 1:10-11.
3. Obey the
gospel call of God & enter His kingdom, Acts 2:37-41, 47; Col. 1:13 (1 Ths.
2:12)
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
The Day Jesus was Born
Scripture Reading:
Luke 2:8-16
1. The Bible
doesn’t give the date of Jesus’ birth:
a. Days of Herod the Great
(37-4 BC) & Caesar Augustus (27 BC-14 AD), Matt. 2:1; Lk. 2:1.
b. Text discourages wintertime, Lk. 2:8; SS 2:11.
2. No Bible
approval for celebration of Christ’s birth; based on human authority.
3. Day of Jesus’ birth unique day in history.
I. AN OBSCURE
DAY
(hardly noticeable).
A. His
Entrance into the World was Humble & Lowly, Lk. 2:4-7, 12, 16 (Matt. 11:29;
2:23).
B. We Must Seek Jesus Like Others Did.
1.
Shepherds, Lk. 2:15-16 (cf. Acts 17:27; Matt. 7:7).
2. Wise men, Matt. 2:1-2, 11 (to worship Him).
C. We
must be Humble like Jesus, 1 Pet. 5:5-7.
II. A MIRACULOUS
DAY
(virgin birth), Lk. 1:31, 34-35, 37-38.
A. Conception,
Matt. 1:18, 20-23 (Isa. 7:14) – God-given sign.
B. Bethlehem Prophesied, Matt. 2:4-6 (Mic. 5:2).
C. God became Flesh, Isa. 9:6-7 (Jno. 1:14; Heb. 2:14); Phil. 2:5-8; Heb.
10:5.
III. A DAY
SALVATION WAS BROUGHT DOWN,
Matt. 1:21.
A. The
Unfolding of God’s Plan to Save Sinners, Gal. 4:4-5; Lk. 2:8-10, 2:28-32.
B. A Day of Worship, Lk. 2:13-14, 20.
C. A Day to Tell Others of Christ, Lk. 2:17-18.
Conclusion
1. The child in
the manger is now King of heaven & earth, Rev. 12:1-5 (Matt. 28:18).
2. His judgments are righteous & we must humbly obey Him, or He will
execute divine wrath against us, 12:5.
3. We overcome through His blood; therefore, we rejoice, 12:10-12.
Top
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the
light of Scripture)
Speed Kills
Joe R. Price
Early Thursday
morning, former NFL star Darrell Russell and his friend Michael Paul
Bastianelli (a former USC teammate of Russell) died in a high-speed car
wreck in Los Angeles, CA. The 6-foot-5, 325 pound Russell was the passenger
“in a car that went out of control about 6 a.m. and hit a curb, tree,
newsstand, fire hydrant, light pole, another tree and an unoccupied transit
bus,” said police. Both men were 29. (“Ex-NFLer Darrell Russell, USC
Teammate Die in Car Wreck,” AP, latimes.com/sports, Dec. 15, 2005)
The lessons to
take from this tragic event include:
Fame does not
prevent death.
Russell was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl in 1998 and 1999, but death is not
a respecter of persons: “All things come alike to all: One event happens
to the righteous and the wicked; to the good, the clean, and the unclean; to
him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the
sinner; he who takes an oath as he who fears an oath” (Eccl. 9:2-3;
2:14).
Physical strength
does not prevent death.
Russell was a big, strong man; but in an instant, life was taken from his
body. Regardless of your physical strength, you will succumb to death.
“For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all
things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come”
(1 Tim. 4:8).
Be prepared to
die.
Is your heart and life right with God? If not, repent and obey God now
(Jas. 4:13-17; 2 Pet. 3:9).
Slow down and
smell the roses.
God gave us life to enjoy, not take for granted. Life is a blessing from
God, so use it wisely by always remembering God (Eccl. 2:24-26; 5:18-20;
12:13-14).
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