The Impartial Judgement of God (Rm 2.9-11)

Our message today was devoted to one central theme, the impartial judgement of God. Our Lord is no respecter of persons. There is no hoping in any privilege of one’s circumstances, even if it include such privileges as being one of the chosen people of God.

The Slough of Despond

We are beginning our study through John Bunyan’s classic. Our first session covered Bunyan’s Apology for this book and Christian’s meeting with Evangelist and falling into the Slough of Despond on his way to the Wicket Gate.

Mine Eyes have seen the Glory (Lev 9) – Communion

Our communion message this afternoon comes from Leviticus 9, the chapter where Aaron takes on his duties after the ordination of chapter 8. After all the sacrifices were offered, the glory of the Lord appears, consuming the sacrifices on the altar. Though the Lord does not visibly appear at every worship service in the OT and in none in the church age (since the tongues of fire), still we should look for a real communion with our God every time we worship.

A bit of a challenging Sunday for us this week… Our attendance was down, several out sick, some out… who knows why? And a miserably difficult day of preparation the day before as the sermon just wouldn’t come together in my mind. I think the final effort succeeded in getting across the message I wanted, but the energy level was lower than I wanted it to be.

Nevertheless, the word of God is rich and powerful and lifts our spirits if we are devoted to it. I hope these might offer a blessing to you in some way.

Judged by Deeds (Rm 2.6-10)

Our second message from this passage focuses not on man’s destiny, but the issues man faces at the judgement bar of God: his deeds. Any man who assesses himself honestly will admit that he cannot meet God’s standard, no matter how hard he tries. The message of grace, as we learn elsewhere, is that One Man met the standard and willingly exchanged places with us so that in him we could pass muster in God’s judgement and share in His eternal life.

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Our sermon summaries for today:

Destinies of Men (Rm 2.6-10)

Our message today looks at the chiastic structure of Rm 2.7-10, which reveals the two destinies of men: eternal life or wrath and indignation, but puts the focus on the destiny of those who do evil: wrath, indignation, tribulation and anguish. The moral man must become aware of this, God’s special revelation to him. The moral man (the man who condemns others) agrees with God that sin must be judged, but is seemingly unaware that the judgement of God’s wrath is abiding on him… and awaits him.

The Activity of Demons

In which we consider the ways in which demons operate in their opposition to God and as the emissaries of Satan.

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A good day, with a visiting pastor from Holland. We also had some visits from some young people our kids have worked with at McDonalds. Today is the last Sunday for our boys to be home before they head off to school. We had a testimony service in the afternoon followed by fellowship as a farewell to our youngest son, heading off for the first time.

Here are the links for the latest sermons in our ministry at Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

The Moral Man’s Treasure (Rm 2.2-5)

Paul continues to dismantle the justifications of the moral man by noting his agreement that God’s judgement is according to righteousness, but then asking, if that is so, how the moral man presumes to escape God’s judgement. Or, if that is not enough, does the moral man despise God’s goodness and forbearance, presuming it means he has already escaped judgement? God’s goodness and forbearance is intended to lead man to repentance – any rejection of God’s blessing only serves to further build up the moral man’s treasure … the wrath of God to be revealed in the day of wrath, the day of the revelation of God’s righteous judgement.

The call of this message is to those who think of themselves as ‘good guys’. The call is a call to repentance and faith in the only One who will enable escape from the wrath of God.

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Paul Gets Personal (Rm 2.1)

We move into the second chapter of Romans, a chapter where Paul will ‘kick it up a notch’. Moving from ‘they’ to ‘you’, Paul first of all brings the full weight of Holy Spirit conviction against the pride of the Amen corner, those who listen to Paul’s indictment of mankind in Rm 1 with approval. Do you judge those sinners worthy of God’s condemnation? You have just approved God’s condemnation of yourself since you do the same things.

The Reality of Demons (2)

In which we consider further the Bible’s teaching concerning the origin of the demonic host and the confinement of some demons.

Son of David, Have Mercy (Lk 18.35-43)

In our series looking at prayers to Jesus, prayers of Jesus, or mentions of prayer connected with Jesus, we come now to the prayer of the blind Bartimaeus, calling on the Son of David for mercy. The Lord says that his faith saved him. We connect this with C. H. Spurgeon’s testimony of salvation from his autobiography – a conversion that came when a blind soul finally saw Christ for who he is.

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Attendance was up a bit today. Last week a family visited for the first time and returned today. It is always a blessing to see new folks, but it does take time for them to fully assimilate into the congregation. In addition we had a second visit (after some months) from a single man. He spoke to me after the service and says he is going to try to make it every week. He is a new believer and growing in the faith. Praise the Lord!

Our Sunday sermon summaries. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.

Opposition to ALL Ungodliness (Rm 1.32)

Our concluding message to Romans 1 sums the argument so far concerning the ungodliness of mankind with two final thoughts: First, man’s rebellion is not only against the knowledge of God from general revelation and the knowledge of right and wrong from the nature of things, but man’s rebellion is also against the innate knowledge of the righteous decree of God that sin is worthy of death. Second, man’s rebellion includes the attitude that applauds the sins of others, whether they are participated in or not.

The Reality of Demons

In which we discuss the implicit assumption of the reality of demons in the Scriptures. We also note the Scriptural focus is not on demonology, rather the truth of what we know on this doctrine is incidental to the message of Scripture. We should maintain the same perspective on demons that the Bible does.

Just as the Lord Commanded (2) (Lev 8.1f)

In our last communion service, we looked at the parallels in the ordination of Aaron with the ministry of our high priest, Jesus Christ. But there is more to this chapter than Aaron, there is the ministry of Moses. Moses is a parallel or precursor to our Lord as well, in his role as The Prophet who prefigures Christ. The first Prophet really opened the door for the nation of Israel to have access to God, the second Prophet opened the door for all men to have redemption from sin and eternal life with God.