Robbers of God
Malachi 3:7-12 Context: Gods warning to the restored remnant. I: “The Priest robbed him of holy service.” 1:6-13. 1. “Where is my honour?” 2. “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar.” 3. They offered the blind, lame, and sick. 4. “Offer it now unto thy governor.” 5. They had commercialized the house of God. II: The people were robbing God. 1. “Return unto me.” “Wherein shall we return?” 2. “Will a man rob God?” 3. “Where in have we robbed thee?” 4. “In tithes and offerings.” 5. “Bring ye all the tithe unto the storehouse.” Prove me. III: They failed to discern between the righteous and the wicked. 1. “It’s vain to serve God, and...
Rebellion Against Light
Job 24:13, Matthew 5:14-16 God said, let there be light, and there was light, and God saw the light that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. “In Him was life: and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. “The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light; that all men through Him might believe.” John 1:7. “That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. “I am the light of the world: He that follewth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. To rebel against the revealed will of God is to rebel against His light and to walk in darkness. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” I:...
Religion of Public Opinion
John 12:43 Many people want religion but they want it on their own religious terms. I: Some want legial religion. 1. Sense prevails over faith. 2. Some things are legalized that aren’t Christinised. 3. Leagalized Religion is moved by fear. 4. It will rejoice in a low standard. 5. It’s always preparing for death and never for life. II: Some want cheap religion. 1. It wants the best for the lowest price. 2. It wants service without serving. 3. It’s satisfied to just make it through the gates of Heaven. 4. It fails to count the cost of Calvery. III: Some want a religion of public opinion. 1. The opinion of men comes before, thus sayeth the Lord. 2. It’s satisfied to compare itself with others of low standards. 3. It had rather do what is...
Repentance
Acts 20:21, Cor. 2 7:10 Repent – To be patient, comforted, eased, feel sorry for or to regret, to repent one’s choice regret for past action. To turn back or have another mind. J.B. Lawrence “Certainly, repentance is necessary, but repentance is the 1st step in faith. No one can believe on Christ and accept him as Saviour and Lord without turning away from sin.” (Kindlings for Revival Fires, pg. 116). 1. The mind must be moved in the act of repentance, but that’s not all: The confession, “I have sinned,” is made by many. Hardened Pharoah Exodus 9:27, Double-minded Balaam Numbers 22:34, Remorseful Achaean Joshua 7:20, Insincere Saul Samuel 1 15:24, and despairing Judas Matthew 27:4. 2. “There must be a change of...
Pride the Destroyer
Luke 18:9-14 Pride strives to center all activity toward itself. I: Pride is no respector of persons. 1. Satan fell from his exalted place when pride possessed his heart. 2. Pride caused Eve to desire the forbidden fruit more than the Will of God. 3. “Israel was warned not to let pride cause them to forget God when they became prosperous.” Deuteronomy 8:11. 4. Pride caused Haman to build the Gallows he was hung upon. II: Two men went up to pray. 1. One was a Pharasee. a. He was a religious leader. b. He stood and addressed God with pride. c. He was conceited in being better than other men. d. He boasted of the good things he was doing. e. He went home with his burden of sin. 2. The other was a Publican. a. He felt his sin too deep to be proud before...
The Importance of Stewardship to the Individual
Cor. 1 4:2 1. A right appreciation of the word Stewardship. God owns all things, we use them, or possess them temporarily. 2. Accepted Stewardship will: a. Save us from vanity, dishonesty, covetousness. b. It will mean the difference between stagnation and vitalization. c. It will make one feel at partnership with God in his Kingdom work. (Stewardship is applied Christianity). 3. Stewardship measures ones love. a. Love is measured by its sacrifice. b. Stewardship will strengthen ones love. 4. “I seek not yours, but you.” Cor. 2 12:14. The main spring of stewardship is the hole man given in loving service to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Savings from Evangelism Conference
1. Our present world minimizes sin and humanizes Jesus. 2. Our faith is being destroyed by Materialism. 3. We are facing malnutrition of our spiritual life. 4. 27,000,000 High School young people are spiritual illiterates. 5. 80% of our High School young people have no church affiliation. 6. 90,000,000 college students sleep in on Sunday morning. 7. “You can almost pick out the Baptist Church by the cigarettes on the walk outside.” Dr. Lee. 8. “Hell is God’s sewer system.” 9. We are too often a ripple when we could be a tide. 10. We must preach by life as well as lip. No one can preach cream and live skimmed milk. 11. God will use any vessel as long as it’s clean. 12. No Christian ought to have a habit they couldn’t...
Time and Talent
Psalm 90:10-12 I: Jesus told a story of talents. 1. Giving to his own. 2. Each according to ability. 3. Each had to give an account. 4. The difference was in the way they used their time and talents. II: Time must be considered. 1. Time can’t be stored up, bought back, or hurried up, or slowed down. 2. Time moves in 1 direction, toward eternity. 3. Time is the same to all! a. “Ask someone else who has more time!” b. “The difference quite often is how we use or misuse our time.” c. “The noiseless foot of time steals swiftly by, and era we dream of manhood, age is nigh!” 4. To get the most of our time we must seek Gods will. 5. Proper budgeting of ones life will find time for service to God. God will hold us responsible for...
The Cross before the Crown
Timothy 2 2:1-10 “And if a man contend in the games, he isn’t crowned except he contend lawfully.” “If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him.” “If any man will be my Disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” I: Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 1. The Roman soldier endured for Rome. 2. He left home and business. 3. He became acquainted with danger. 4. Lonliness and separation was often his. 5. Timothy called to be a soldier for Jesus. II: “Strive Lawfully!” 1. Like a Greek Athelete. 2. Olympic games, every 4 yrs. 776 B.C. – 394 A.D. 3. Rules of the Olympic games. a. Open to all classes of competition. b. Of pure Greek descent. c. 10 solid months of...
Stewards of the Good News
Corinthians 2 5:14-21, John 3:16, and Peter 1 4:10 Bad news becomes a burden and good news makes one to rejoice. I: The Greatest News of All Times: “Adam where art thou?” 1. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3. 2. “Greater love hath no man…” John 15:13. 3. “Love of Christ passeth knowledge.” Ephesians 3:19. 4. “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth…” Romans 8:38-39. 5. “For God so loved.” II: News that can never make us blush for shame. 1. Paul before Ephesus, Athens, Phillipia, and Rome. 2. It is the greatest of all gifts. 3. It is a gift to those that loved him...
Presumptuous Sins
Numbers 15:29-31, Peter 2 2:10, and Psalm 19:1-14 I: No poor vision made for presumtuous sins. Numbers 15: 1. Every sin was covered except presumptuous sins. 2. Four things make a sin presumptuous: a. Sinning against light and knowledge. b. Deliberate sin. c. Sin designed for sin. d. Sin committed by rash confidence in one’s own strength. II: Sin against light and knowledge. 1. God’s universe utters knowledge. 2. Nature cries out against sin. 3. We refuse to obey the light we have. 4. Sinning against a godly home and friends. III: Sin against God’s warnings. 1. The warning of death. 2. Sickness warns. 3. Danger warns. IV: Premeditated and Designed Sins: 1. Not in hast or moment unguarded, but sinning with thought and design. 2. Deliberately...
Religious but Lost
Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 23:, Romans 3:21-28, and 10:1-3 Men are quick to judge from outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. “I just came to help the meeting.” David I: “Two men went up into the temple to pray.” 1. They may have walked to the temple together, but here in God’s house they separated. 2. The outward appearance of the Pharisee. a. He was of the “Separated ones.” b. He was a member of the strict religious group. c. He regarded himself better than others: “Blessed art thou, Lord, our God, King of the World, that thou hast not made me a stranger, (Gentile) … a servant … a woman.” d. He was honest in his business. e. He was faithful to his wife and children. f. He fasted twice in a...
