Not Through Law [Romans]

Rm 4.13-16

Paul continues his proof of justification by faith by showing how law completely empties faith of any meaning and promise of any usefulness. Even more than that, if the inheritance of the world (the fullness of the promise to Abraham) can be attained by law, no one can attain it because the law only works wrath against such as us. Thank God salvation is by faith, that it might be all of grace and a sure guarantee for any one who believes in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Testimony of God’s Mercy
    Rory Johnson

1 Tim 1.12-17

Our pastor’s son, Rory, is home for a few weeks after spending the summer as an intern at a church in Kansas. He is preaching the afternoon messages the Sundays he is home.

In this message, Rory looks at the testimony of the apostle Paul who experienced God’s mercy to be put in the ministry and in fact to be saved at all. The conclusion of the matter is all glory to God for his saving mercy and grace. His testimony is our example.

Heir of the World [Romans]

Rm 4.13

We pause today for a look at one phrase, ‘heir of the world’. The phrase defines the content of the promise made to Abraham and his seed. But what exactly is this inheritance of the world? No explicit promise like this was ever given to Abraham. We trace through the Scriptures the development of the Abrahamic covenant in order to discover the nature of our inheritance and the motive of our current life in this world, where we eschew the world for reasons of a better world we will inherit by and by.

The Fall of Man (2) [Basic Theology]

In this session we discuss the process of man’s fall from his original state into sin and death.We consider the craftiness of the serpent, the deception of Eve, and the rebellion of Adam.

The Commandments Expanded [Communion, Leviticus]

Lev 19

Our chapter has four notable features including the theme verse of Leviticus, “Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.” The other features are a repetition or allusion to each of the ten commandments, the revelation of the second great commandment and the constant repetition of the phrase “I am the Lord (your God).” All of this emphasizes a deeper understanding of God’s law and nature and the demands it places on us in all of life for absolute holiness in imitation of our God.

We are conscious, still, of our inadequacy in this chapter. We need more. We can’t meet the standard. Thus, such a chapter about the holiness of God applied to life calls forth a memory of the holy condescension of our holy God in becoming a man, keeping the law even unto death on our behalf.

Yesterday, it fell my lot to be driving teens back from camp in Alberta. I started out from my parents’ home at 3:15 am our time and arrived at my house at 9:15 pm. That’s 18 hours of almost continuous travel, just a few stops along the way. (And no speeding tickets, as one of my folks at church was quick to check.)

This seems to be part of the work in a small ministry – sometimes you put yourself into very demanding seasons of work for the sake of being a help to your people, especially when it comes to encouraging your teens.

And I offer the note as a bit of background for my ebbing energy level as the day progressed… Now for the summaries:

What Means This Sign? [Romans]

Rm 4.11-12

Our verses today are quite complicated – a sentence explaining the significance of Abraham’s circumcision and its blessing and example for those of us who follow him today.

The Fall of Man (1) [Basic Theology]

We begin a new topic of Bible Study today by introducing various views of the fall of man and by considering the state of man before the fall.

Add to your Faith [Growth]

2 Pt 1.5

A look at the idea of adding or supplying additional spiritual qualities in your life to that which brings spiritual life into existence, saving faith.

Faith before Ritual [Romans]

Rm 4.9-10

Paul’s exposition of Gen 15.6 turns from justification by faith without works to justification by faith without circumcision. This argument is particularly devastating to the ritual-dependent nature of Judaism (and of Judaizers, see Galatians). The argument devastates the ritual-dependent misunderstanding of the Gospel by churches and Christians that practice infant baptism or even such things as ‘delayed infant baptism’ or the confidence placed in ‘go-forward invitations’. Salvation is by faith without works, especially religious works of ritual.

Facets of Man (4) [Basic Theology]

Today we finish this chapter of Ryrie’s Basic Theology. The lesson today is on the Mind and the Flesh, two aspects of our inner nature. As we bring the lesson to a conclusion, we get a mini-sermon on the new life in the Spirit vs. the old life of the flesh. A victorious inner life comes by a life walking ‘in the Spirit’. By this life we overcome the flesh.

Beloved Beware [Christian Growth]

2 Pt 3.17-18

Beloved, beware lest you be led away … Beloved beware for yourself. As we consider our Christian growth, we have to be aware and beware that the truth can be ‘put on the rack, and twisted’. Since this is true, we need to be aware and beware of movements in the church that would drag us away from truth and make us spiritually unstable. Instead, may we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. If that is our focus, we will be stable and unmoved by the winds of change that always threaten the Christian church.

~~~

I have to relate a little story from the end of our services today. We have two little fellows in the church about 6 years old. As they left the last service, one of them said to the other, “Man, we sat through the whole thing!” The other sagely replied, “Yep, we’re growing up.”

We all got quite a laugh out of that one.

Why would they think it is such an accomplishment to sit through ‘the whole thing’ when I am preaching? We wonders…

How ‘No Works’ Works for You [Romans]

Rom 3.21-4.8

Our message is a summary of the section of Romans we have most recently covered in great detail. The one great theme of this passage is justification by faith alone, no works added. The purpose of this message is to tie all this teaching together with a particular emphasis on what faith without works means. All belief systems justify self on some basis – all but true Christianity do so on the basis of faith in works. Christianity is based on faith without works, or, perhaps better, faith in the works of Someone Else.

The Facets of Man (3) [Basic Theology]

We continue our discussion of the nature of man with a look today at the ‘heart’ and the ‘conscience’. What we are after is getting a grasp of how the Bible describes the inner man.

Beloved Be Diligent [Christian Growth]

2 Pt 3.14

“Beloved be diligent … of your Christian walk” – that is the theme of our message today. As we have been considering the ‘beloved be’s of 2 Peter 3’ we have seen the call to be mindful of the word so that we will not be ignorant of God, with the result that we will be diligent in our Christian walk, energetically pursuing holiness and godliness because the day of the Lord is approaching.

The Blessed Man [Romans]

Rm 4.6-8

The theme of our passage is blessedness. Justification by faith puts a man in the most blessed of conditions. David is called as a witness to the fact that righteousness is imputed to a man without works. The passage quoted, Ps 32.1-2, proclaims the blessing of a man to whom God does not impute sin. This is the opposite side of imputed righteousness, not imputed sin. Here is the great blessing of the saved man: the without-law righteousness from God imputed to him on the basis of faith AND the guilt and penalty of his sins imputed to Christ, ‘nailed to the cross’ with him, setting the believer free forever from death and hell.

The Facets of Man (2) [Basic Theology]

We continue to discuss the makeup of human nature, especially the spiritual aspect, by now considering in turn various terms that describe ‘facets’ of our nature. Today we consider the terms ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ and attempt to distinguish between them while noting there is an over-lap and something of an integration of terms here.

After the doings of the lands… [Communion, Leviticus]

Lev 18

We begin the Holiness Code section of Leviticus with a look at laws focused on preserving morality in and out of marriage. The bulk of the chapter consists of prohibitions against various forms of incest, but it also includes prohibitions of child sacrifice and perverse immorality. The redemptive message of these prohibitions is found in 1 Cor 6.9-11: ‘and such were some of you.’ No sin, no matter how distasteful and perverse, can bar the door to the washing, the sanctifying, or the justifying available by the death of Christ and the ministration of the Spirit.

Justifying the Ungodly [Romans]

Rm 4.5

A tremendous phrase is found in this text: ‘him who justifies the ungodly’. Justification by faith alone is the subject of Romans 4, but this phrase highlights the miracle of God’s grace in a magnificent way. It gives all the glory for justification to the one who justifies, because of who is justified (the ungodly!), because of how they are justified, and because of who is doing the justification. And the marvelous thing is that the one being justified cannot work because the work has been done. He just must believe in him who justifies the ungodly.

The Facets of Man (1) [Basic Theology]

In this lesson we discuss the spiritual nature of man. We discuss the basic difference between dichotomy and trichotomy and come out solidly in favour of the former. Man is both material and spiritual, but there is no real division in the spiritual realm between soul and spirit (or any other designations of the inner man).

Beloved Be Not Ignorant [Growth]

2 Pt 3.8-9

The word of God reveals the God of the word. He is unlike any god of men’s imagination. He is eternal. He is the creator. He is sovereign and supreme. He is the last judge. He is the one you must answer to. As such, your spiritual growth must begin in the word and must be toward the God of the word.

To Him that Worketh Not [Romans]

Rm 4.4-5

Proposition: Justification by faith is a ‘works-free’ zone.

We are still answering the question, “What then shall we say that Abraham has found?” (Rm 4.1). In our text today, we are expanding on the clinching Scripture (Gen 15.6) by examining two contrasts: the one who is working and the one who is not working. The one who is working is an illustration from life that explains why Abraham (and no one else) can be justified by works. The one who is not working explains what it means to not work and how that justifies.

Men Making a Difference [Christian Growth]

Philemon 1-25

This lesson was prepared for a separate men’s session at Family Camp last week. Since many of our people were unable to attend, we reprised it in our Bible Study session.

In the lesson, we look at the spiritual qualities of Philemon and consider how those qualities make him one whom the apostle is willing to make an amazing counter-cultural request. These qualities made Philemon a Christian of influence in his local church and are publicly demonstrated by the occasion of Onesimus’ conversion.

The Greatest Family of All Time [Christian Home]

This message also comes from our week at camp. Our theme at camp was “Families Making a Difference”. In this message we look at what I call ‘The Greatest Family of All Time,’ that is, the family of our Lord Jesus Christ. I propose that if we want our families to make a difference in this world, we need to emulate the mindset of the men from his physical family whose influence continues to this day.

What about Abraham? [Romans]

Rm 4.1-3

The great doctrine of Roman’s is justification by faith. Today, we see Abraham’s testimony proving Paul’s proposition: the just shall live by faith alone. Abraham is the key example because of his position in the Scriptures and in the minds of the Jews. We see his testimony, and it settles the question. There is only one means by which a man may be justified, through faith, not of works.

Evangelizing Children (4) [Christian Home]

For our Bible Study session, we begin a discussion on the subject of Evangelizing Children. We are basing it on an article published by Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, CA. We have certain distinct differences with this ministry, but nevertheless find the materials they produce and the preaching ministry of their pastor, John MacArthur to be very beneficial.

The third session of our study looks at the last three foundational keys for evangelizing children.

Beloved Be Mindful [Growth]

2 Pt 3.1-2

Beloved be mindful! Be mindful of the Word! That is the first foundation of Christian growth we see in 2 Pt 3. Peter is very anxious that his readers wake up to this truth and own it for themselves. His ongoing ministry to us is the Word of God he and the other apostles left behind.

~~~

A good day in the Lord’s house. Some young families, younger couples looking us over. They don’t want to get burned, good for them! They are looking for a faithful Bible preaching church and are interested in what we are doing. Our hope is that young people like this will embrace the vision of what we are trying to build here so that we can expand our efforts by someday sponsoring a sister church in a neighbouring town. But one step at a time! This step looks encouraging so far.