The Judgement of Secrets (Rm 2.16)

Our message today sums up the case against the moral man – God will judge all men, pagans and moralists, on the day when God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. The whole argument of Rm 2.1-16 comes to completion in this reference to this black day. The darkness of the day makes the gospel stand in sharp relief, like a sparkling diamond laid out against the background of a flat black cloth. Paul says that this whole concept is ‘according to my gospel’. So against the backdrop of the Day of Judgement, against the backdrop of the judgement of secrets, against the backdrop of the flaming eyes of the risen Christ judging the sins of mankind… against all this is laid the gospel of salvation by faith in the finished work of Christ.

Pilgrim’s Progress: Faithful and Talkative

In this session, Christian meets up with Faithful who becomes his companion for a part of the way to the Celestial City. Faithful recounts his experience till the point he meets Christian and although they travelled the same way, their experiences differed. In this we see that though there is one way, one destination, one faith, and one Christ, the means by which the Lord brings about our spiritual growth differs with each one. The temptations and trials Faithful experienced are different, but the grace of God in overcoming them is the same.

As they go, the two pilgrims encounter one Talkative, a man who has much to say about religion, but no corresponding testimony. He is an illustration of many a vain boaster who finds Christianity very interesting, except when it comes to actually living out the Christian faith.

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We had a number of visitors today with a total attendance of 57, so praise the Lord. Now if some of the visitors would come back!!

The Lord blessed in the services today, with good responses from several people.

You may wonder why no third service today. The reason is that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, so we will be having our annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Service. Our good friend, Pastor Rick Coursen of First Baptist Church of Sedro Woolley, Washington, will be our guest speaker tomorrow. We will have the audio up sometime tomorrow afternoon.

A New Perspective or an Old Lie? (Rm 2.13)

In our message today, we look again at Rm 2.13, a passage that is much misinterpreted by the false teachers of the “New Perspective on Paul”. In this message, we briefly summarize these false teachings and point out the subtlety that unstable Christians may miss in the teachings of these or any false teacher. One goal of local church ministry is to stablish the saints so that they might be better equipped to notice when teaching goes subtly awry.

Two Dark Valleys

This week we had a brief review of a couple of points from last week’s lesson and began to look at Christian’s progress through two valleys. The first involves his encounter with Apollyon, where Christian wins the day by virtue of his humility and use of the Word of God. The second is the Valley of the Shadow of Death where Christian must navigate between the ditch of false doctrine and the quag of cloying and defeating temptations.

Strange Fire is Not Good (Lev 10) [Communion]

Our Communion service brings us back to Leviticus where we consider the death of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s eldest sons, on the first day of Aaron’s priesthood. The shocking death of these two priests, for what appears to be a minor deviation, illustrates God’s exacting standard for worship. This standard is not reduced in the New Testament, but heightened – no longer external and ritualistic, the standard is now internal and spiritual, a standard that requires more than we can possibly perform and calls, in the end, for the grace of Our Lord to save us.

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It was good to be back in the pulpit again this Sunday. We enjoyed a good day worshipping the Lord, one visiting couple from Montreal, our first visitors ever from that city, I think.

Unfortunately, I was out sick this weekend, the second time in 25 years of ministry. I led our men’s breakfast Saturday morning then went to my study and proceeded to feel increasingly terrible. By the time the day was out my temperature had soared over 100 degrees and I could barely get two thoughts together in succession (when it I am well, it is a challenge once I get past those first two thoughts!!). In any case, two of our men stepped in for me in our services. We cancelled our afternoon service, but that meant an extended time of fellowship for our people as my wife and daughters didn’t arrive home until almost the usual time on Sunday afternoon.

By the way, after a couple of days of sleeping (and zero interest in eating), I am back to normal and out and about. We had the stump removed at church today and the sewer is almost hooked up. (Video will follow soon, I promise! The removal of the stump was quite a sight, the excavator operator did it in about two hours.)

Anyway, to the summaries:

Witnessing to the Blind (2 Cor 3.16)

For only the second time in 25 years of ministry, Pastor Don was ill and unable to fill the pulpit this Sunday. He thanks God for the willing hearts of the men of our church to stand up in his place and bring God’s Word to God’s people.

Today’s message comes from one of our deacon’s, Harry Lloyd. This message appeals simply to the sinner concerning the veil that lies over the sinner’s heart and prevents him from seeing Christ. It also appeals strongly to the believer to be a faithful witness and prayer warrior to friends and loved ones (and unknown ones) who live still behind the veiled heart. It is a fine message and well worth your time.

Pastor’s note: I am very deeply moved in hearing this message from my brother and friend. I have known him since before the Lord removed the veil from his heart and praise God for His wonderful work! To God be the Glory, great things He hath done. (3 Jn 4)

The House Beautiful [Pilgrim’s Progress]

Another one of our deacon’s, Bill Miner, led our Pilgrim’s Progress study this week due to the pastor’s absence. This session dealt with Christian’s time in the House Beautiful, a picture of the local church. He is guided by four sisters who equip him with the armour of the Spirit to protect him against the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Read the handout for this session as you listen.

Note: we also have a handout with answers for those who might like to use our material as teachers. All of our previous messages have been likewise updated.

Pastor’s note: I want to thank the Lord for brother Bill’s willingness to step in the gap for me today. He is the son of a missionary and a beloved brother in the Lord. We are blessed to have in our little assembly men and women who give evidence of God’s glorious grace. My recent illness was not serious or long lasting, but gave us an opportunity to see and experience the grace of God evidently at work in the hearts of our people through the men who stood in the gap today.

Having the Law is not Enough (Rm 2.13-15)

The impartiality of God’s judgement is under further consideration. The religious man (the Jew) might ask, “Aren’t we students (hearers) of the Law? Doesn’t that count for something?” The answer: No, hearing the Law (being a diligent student) isn’t enough. In fact, the sinners of the Gentiles have the Law in a sense by their understanding and performance of natural law. They have the work of the Law written in their hearts as evidenced by their consciences. So merely having, or hearing, any aspect of the Law is not enough. We still stand under the impartial judgement of God whereby all men, pagan, moralist, or religious man will face the judgement of sins. Our religion (whatever it might be) is not sufficient to make us just before God. We need Some One else for that.

Interpreter’s House

We come now to the point of salvation for Bunyan’s Christian, the entrance at the Wicket Gate. From the gate, Christian proceed’s to Interpreter’s House, a place where the Holy Spirit (or some say a preacher) guides the new believer through various rooms illustrating the things that make for a stable Christian life. Some are guides, like the illustration of the preacher (the ‘man in a thousand’) and others are warnings like the man in the iron cage and the man not prepared for judgement. All are meant to make a Christian stable.

The Head of Our Church (2) (Mt 16.18)

Not being satisfied with our message of the same name last week, our pastor offers another. The Lord Jesus is the authority of every church since the church is his idea and his creation. He it is who stands as examiner, corrector, exhorter, and encourager of His church. If our church will truly have Him as our head, we must submit ourselves to Him, allowing him to examine, rebuke, correct, and challenge every aspect of our lives.

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We had a good day with a few visitors (one of whom found us from our church web-site … yay!!!) and one young couple who just moved to the neighbourhood. Some of our folks were out of town and some sick, so we were glad to see a few extras and hope for their return.

The Moral Man’s Problem is Sin (Rm 2.12)

Our message today continues to look at God’s impartiality in judgement as Paul explains that regardless of racial or religious status, sinners will be judged. No one gets an edge by morality or pedigree. All stand before God who will judge men according to their deeds, delivering sinners over to destruction.

Worldly Wiseman

We continue our look at Pilgrim’s Progress, discussing the advice of Mr. Worldly Wiseman and the consequences of listening to the same. We also consider how to discern modern parallels to Worldly Wiseman in our secular society (much different from Bunyan’s 17th century English society).

The Head of Our Church

In our afternoon service, we begin an intermittent series on the philosophy of our local church and the emphasis we want to promote as we build up a self-supporting church for the Lord’s glory. The first of the series speaks to the notion that the head of our church is Jesus Christ.

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We had a good day in a number of ways. One young couple finally joined the church (they have been faithfully attending for some time). Another visiting family continues regular attendance, so we are grateful for the opportunity that represents. And we had a visitor who may present another opportunity of ministry. All of that was good. I wasn’t happy with the third message and am contemplating tearing it apart and doing it entirely over sometime in the near future. Be that as it may, we thank the Lord for these opportunities to serve him.

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.

[Read more…]

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.

[Read more…]

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!