Sermons on Authority
1 Kings 13, 20
The Man of God From Judah: Nothing Trumps a Word from God. Introduction: Every Sunday I announce at the bottom of the outline what the sermon and the text will be for the following Sunday. Last Lord’s Day I noted that today I would be preaching on “The Man of God from Judah” from 1 Kings 13, and the epitaph I listed for this unnamed prophet was this: “He listened to a prophet of the Lord instead of to the Lord.” Well, I’m still…
Romans 13:1-7
Conscientious Christianity Introduction: Before making the move from the marketplace ministry into seminary and the pastoral ministry, my good friend Brad Harper had me speak to the elders. When I met with them, one of the elders asked me what has turned out to be a life-changing question. He asked, “Paul, if the elders would recommend that you not leave the marketplace and pursue theological education, what would you do?” Now I had spent about three years praying, evaluating, and planning to make that…
1 Peter 2:13-25
The Godly Reaction to Unfairness: Submission Introduction: Today and next Sunday we are going to be dealing with topics in 1 Peter 2 & 3 that I think are increasingly difficult for Americans to look at objectively. All of them have to do with authority– the authority of government over its citizens, the authority of management over labor, and the authority of husbands over their wives. Fortunately, that third one won’t come up for another week and the Lord may return by then. Seriously, these are tough issues, and there are…
Matthew 7:21-29
Once Saved, Always Saved? Introduction: Our Scripture text for today is Matthew 7:21-27, which constitutes the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount. Will you pay close attention to the words of Jesus, which are also the Word of God for us? “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not…
Matt 21:1-27
This Was the Week That Was Introduction: A satirical television comedy program hosted by David Frost aired on BBC TV in 1962 and 1963. It was called That Was the Week that Was, or TW3. Ever since then the phrase “the week that was” has been used to refer to any week that is highly unusual. Sportscasters use it to refer to a week that has unusual upsets in the NFL, which means almost every week. Bob Schieffer used it as the headline of a news column…
Luke 4:14-44
A Prophet Without Honor Have you ever thought that if only Jesus were alive today, and you had the opportunity to hear him preach and to see his awesome miracles, your faith would be much stronger? I suppose it’s natural to think like that, but it’s probably not true. Faith, you see, is not generated by sight. Rather it consists of the simple recognition that God keeps his Word and is totally reliable. There is very clear evidence in Scripture that most great people…
Luke 19:45 – 20:40
What Do You Do When the Questions Are All Answered? Introduction: Last Sunday our text from Luke 19 concerned the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, which took place on Sunday of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. Today we are going to examine the events of Monday and Tuesday of that week, days on which a number of major conflicts erupted between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. Four of these controversies are grouped together by Luke…
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Money–Godly and Ungodly Ways of Getting It We are launching a new sermon series this morning, entitled “Finding Financial Freedom.” Please note that I didn’t say, “Finding Financial Security.” Biblically the phrase “financial security” is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. By the way, I collect oxymorons, and I have literally hundreds of them in my file. Maybe you’d like to hear a few, or maybe not, but here are some of my favorites anyway: Amtrak schedule California expressway Civil War Country music (please no…
2 Corinthians 13:1-14
Spiritual Authority Is for Building Up, Not Tearing Down Please turn this morning to the last chapter of the book of 2 Corinthians as we wrap up our six-month study of this powerful letter from the hand of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth. Please stand with me as I read God’s Word: This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I already gave you a…
Galatians 1:11-2:10
Don’t Mess with the Messenger! Our last sermon was entitled, “Don’t Mess with the Message!” It was a hard-nosed, intolerant sermon based upon a hard-nosed, intolerant passage of Scripture. In essence the thrust was that anyone who adds to or subtracts from the Gospel message is playing with fire; in fact, he’s playing with hell-fire. Today I want to speak to you on a related topic, “Don’t Mess with the Messenger!” This, too, is going to be a hard-nosed, intolerant sermon based on another hard-nosed…