The Righteous Judgment of God (Part 2)

SERMON:             GM15-062

SERIES:              Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained &           Applied

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM (June 28, 2015)

SECTION:          The Perversion of Righteousness (Romans 1:18-3:20)

SUBTITLE:        The Righteous Judgment of God (Part 2)

SCRIPTURE:     Romans 2:6-11

SUBJECT:          The basis of God’s judgment

SUMMARY:       The basis of God’s judgment is works of men in this life

SCHEME:           To motivate each member of NKBC to pursue the things of God in                                  this life rather than the things of this world

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Our theme is:  God’s will judge you according to your works

 Proposition:        The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of persons.

Interrogatory Sentence:  Why is God just in His judgment of the Jews?

Transitional Sentence: This passage supplies three reasons why God is just in His judgment of the Jews:

·        The Jews are guilty of practicing sin in their daily lives (2:1-5)

·        God judges according to the works of men in this life (2:6-11)

·         The law does not exonerate the Jews from judgment (2:12-16)

The Solitariness of God

Meditate on this for awhile and tell me what your response is:

"In the beginning God..." There was no heaven, where His glory is now particularly manifested. There was no earth to engage His attention. There were no angels to hymn His praises; no universe to be upheld by the word of His power. There was nothing, no one, but God; and that not for a day, a year, or an age, but 'from everlasting.' During a past eternity. God was alone: self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied; in need of nothing. Had a universe, had angels, had human beings been necessary to Him in any way, they also had been called into existence from all eternity. The creating of them when He did, added nothing to God essentially. He changes not (Mal. 3:6), therefore His essential glory can be neither augmented nor diminished."

taken from The Attributes of God, by A. W. Pink, p. 9

Another Lesson From a High-Profile Pastor

In this day and age of technology it is no secret that another high-profile pastor has had to resign from the pulpit. News travels faster than wild fire today it seems. Sadly this resignation is due to sexual uncleanness, namely adultery.

I do not desire to "pile-on" to the misery, sinfulness, and heart-ache that this man, his family, the church, and Christendom will suffer and experience. I don't even want to talk about the man's failure.

I certainly want to take heed to the apostle Paul's admonition when he said, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12,NKJV). I realize that except for the grace of God there go I. At this very moment I do not know what sin desires to deceive me and to devour me. I must trust God for His grace to put to death sin in my mortal body in order to live my life pleasing to the Lord and worthy of His great salvation.

My reason for this post is that I am once again reminded that the "proof of the pudding is in the eating." I am amazed that how soon the so called evangelical world wants to jump on the band wagon of new and up-coming men who seem to be polished pulpiteers and charismatic authors or dynamic leaders. 

It seems that once you have had some level of "success" the publishers are beating down your doors for book deals. Soon these men who are not very old or have been around very long are sought after as experts, advisers, or pioneers whose methodology needs to be copied.

Just recently some one recommended to me a book by a high profile pastor turned author. I certainly don't want to put my head in the sand and avoid anything that could be beneficial to me, but I want to wait and see how these guys turn out. Do you know what I mean?

Make no mistake, I am not judging this man and his failure  or his motives, his heart, or his commitment. I have seen some glaring signs of danger in the reports that I have already read, but I am not going to focus on them. I just want Christendom, particularly evangelical Christendom to learn some valuable lessons about the promotion and even "worship" of high profile pastors.

Like most pastors I have a list of my "heroes" of the faith. These are men whom I love, respect, admire, and even try to emulate. Maybe to my detriment my list of heroes does not contain young men in the ministry or men who have not been in the ministry for long periods of time. I want to see how they turn out, how they end up. 

So along with others, I grieve for this "black-eye" on the church of Jesus Christ and for the hurt that will be experienced by all who are involved or affected. I am indignant at sin and its awful, horrid, deceptive, and destructive work in the lives of God's children. I am concerned for myself that I do not give into temptation and sin in some fashion that would grieve the Holy Spirit of God and hurt others. And I certainly want to continue with my "wait and see how they run their course" attitude toward high-profile celebrity type pastors.

Romans 2:1-16 (Part 1)

Disclaimer:  I spent a great deal of time fixing the formatting problems this page (editing page) and had it all lined up properly. I then hit the publish button thinking the format was OK. This morning while checking the post I discovered it is all "messed up" again. I am sorry. I hope it will not keep you from reading.

A Study and Exposition of Romans 2:1-16

(Part 1) * 2:1-5

A.        Introduction

Those who condemn sin in other people, but commit the same or worse sins are inexcusable.

He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new government. He assumed the earnestness of a man weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious stories to the press, especially to the church papers. He showed his tattered Bible and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from it as scores of pious people welcomed him as a man sent from God. Yes, Adolf Hitler was a master of outward religiosity-- with no inward reality!

We're all like the moon, we have a dark side we don't want anyone to see. (Mark Twain)

42nd Wedding Anniversary!

Gospel-driven Disciples is "closed" today in order for the proprietor to celebrate his 42nd wedding anniversary!

On June 18th, 1973, Monday evening at 7:00 PM at the Tar Landing Missionary Baptist Church of Jacksonville, NC I was privileged to marry the former Irene H. Torres of San Jose, CA.

Funny how time and people change don't you think? She wants a large hanging plant and I want the 3rd season of Longmire on DVD. Far cry from candy, jewelry, romantic dinners, and such.

The Creative Blogger's Award

Today I was honored as the recipient of an award. It is the very prestigious Creative Blogger’s Award. This honor was bestowed upon me by my good friend Yvonne of Nashville Cat’sPoetry. Yvonne lives across the pond in England. Thank you very much Yvonne – I am both honored and grateful. I am truly grateful that you find some benefit to your regular reading and commenting on my blog. 

The rules are as follows; I must share five (5) facts about myself, thank the person who nominated me, and then nominate between 10 and 20 fellow bloggers. Since it takes quite a bit of time to comply you can be sure I am going to nominate 10 and only 10.

Five Facts

1.      I love Vancouver, Washington

2.      I have four (4) gorgeous, vivacious, and electrifying daughters

3.      I want a short haired, declawed, box trained kitten

4.      I love the true church of Jesus Christ

5.      I added a Fiddler Crab (Mr. Bohannon) to my small aquatic family. 

The Nominees Are…

1.      KC Bob of Kansas City Bob

2.      Larri of Seems Inspired

3.      Dianne Bucknell of Theology for Girls

4.      Scott Weldon of By Grace Alone

5.      Brian Todd of The Brian Todd Blog

6.      Ian Holland of Life on and off an Acreage

7.      Brian Hedges of Light and Heat

8.      Erin at Do Not Be Surprised

9.      Mike Andrews of Pastor’s Corner

10.    Mike Lee of Christian Cognition 

Fellow nominees you now must: acknowledge your nomination, thank the person who nominated you, list five (5) facts about yourself, and nominate 10-20 fellow bloggers.

A Bird's Eye-view of Chapter Two

SERMON:             GM15-060

SERIES:              Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained &           Applied

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM (June 14, 2015)

SECTION:          The Perversion of Righteousness (Romans 1:18-3:20)

SUBTITLE:        A Bird’s Eye-view

SCRIPTURE:     Romans 2, Selected Scriptures

SUBJECT:          The analysis of chapter two

SUMMARY:       The objective of chapter two is to establish the same charge against the Sinful Hebrews that had been brought against the Sinful Heathen

SCHEME:           That each member of NKBC understands the intent of this chapter in           order to demonstrate that the Jews are as equally under the wrath of God as the Gentiles.

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Our theme is:  Jews are condemned as sinners

 Proposition:  God wants you to know the Jews are also under the wrath of God

Interrogatory Sentence:  How does this chapter deal with the condition of the Jews?

Transitional Sentence: Our text demonstrates that the Jews are as equally under the condemnation of God as the Gentiles 

Don't Tell Anybody That I'm White

Don't Tell Anybody That I'm White

Gregg Metcalf * June 12, 2015

I'm gonna pretend to be black
I promise to have your back
let me be a spokesman for you
I'll take up your fight
together we'll make it right
leave it to me, I know what to do

it don't have to make sense
there's always a pretense
to get just what you want
with the right buzz words
not matter how absurd
I'll fight for all the Lamonts

But wait...

Don't tell anybody that I am white
it could hurt our chances in your fight
you can't be afraid to play the race card
call Jesse Jackson and make some signs
get a bunch of people and form some lines
when its black against white nothin's to hard

So, get on the phone and get out the text
I'll make it up as I go, I'll figure out what's next
we'll yell and scream and stop every car
if we can't swim then nobody can drive
no matter if these causes don't survive
with the right words we can go far

Oh Oh...

Don't tell anybody that I am white
it could hurt our chances in your fight
you can't be afraid to play the race card
call Jesse Jackson and make some signs
get a bunch of people and form some lines
when its black against white nothin's to hard

Distinguishing Between Things That Differ

It would be very difficult to say how far a man may go in religion, and yet die in his sins; how much he may look like an heir of heaven, and yet be a child of wrath. Many unconverted men have a belief which is similar to faith, and yet it is not true faith. Certain persons exhibit pious affections which have the warmth of spiritual love, but are quite destitute of gracious life.

--Charles H. Spurgeon

According to Promise, p. 5

The Revelation of God's Wrath (Part 4)

SERMON:             GM15-059

SERIES:              Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained &           Applied

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM June 7, 2015)

SECTION:          The Perversion of Righteousness (Romans 1:1-18-3:20)

SUBTITLE:        The Revelation of God’s Wrath (Part 4)

SCRIPTURE:     Romans1:28-32

SUBJECT:          The wrath (anger) of God

SUMMARY:       God wants you to know he is angry with mankind

SCHEME:           That each member of NKBC knows the truth of God so well that you are always prompted to worship and serve the living and true God rather than to worship and serve idols.

_____________________________________________________________

Our theme is:  The wrath (anger) of God

 Proposition:  God wants you to know he is angry with mankind

Interrogatory Sentence:  Why is God so angry at mankind?

Transitional Sentence: Our text reveals three reasons why God is so angry at mankind.

·        …because mankind has suppressed the truth of God

·        …because mankind has subverted the truth of God

·        …because mankind has spurned the truth of God

Faith is Always Obedient!

"True faith is never seen as passive - 

it is always obedient." 

- John MacArthur

Hated By the World

That is why the world hates you!

(Arthur Pink)

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you!" John 15:18-19

 "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you!" 1 John 3:13

          The world will not hate mere professors.

                   The man . . .

                             who is conformed to this world,

                             who takes part in its politics,

                             who shares its pleasures,      

                             who acts according to its principle

                             even though he claims the name of Christ,

                             —will not be ostracized or persecuted.

                    The woman . . .

                             who is conformed to this world,

                             who follows its fashions,

                             who enjoys its society,

                             who desires its amusements,

                             --will not be shunned by it.

The world loves its own. But those who walk in separation from the world (and they are few in number), those who follow a rejected Christ, will know something of what it means to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).

 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

The Spring is on the Inside!

The tragedy is that many of us are living desperate Christian life. Sunday comes and we get some strength, and then we lose some on Monday; a good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything left. On Wednesday it has all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some friends we meet. Now that is the old order of things, that is not the new. He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from somewhere outside. The well, the spring, goes on springing up from within into everlasting life

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Elephants and Lambs

“In the divine Scriptures, there are shallows and there are deeps; shallows where the lamb may wade, and deeps where the elephant may swim.”

― John Owen

God's Never Ending Grace

“Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing.” 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

– from Morning and Evening