Wednesday, March 28, 2018

And Many Shall Follow Their Pernicious Ways - Part 2 - The Angels That Sinned


Temple Baptist Church - 3-28-2018
2 Peter 2:4


Introduction:  

A.  Last week, we looked at the “many” who choose to follow these false teachers.  The god of this world, Satan, has been deceiving from the very beginning.  He led a rebellion against God in heaven before he beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He has blinded the minds of angels and men over the millenniums and continues to do so in our day.

B.  Our text gives three specific examples of deception in those who follow error: the angels, those in Noah’s day, and those in Lot’s day.  When prophesying about the end-time and its conditions, our Lord also spoke of these three examples. 

C.  These lead us to 3 reasons that people reject the God, the Bible, and sound doctrine.

1.  Because people do not like Authority.  If He is God, and He is, then He is to be loved and followed.  Thus, the mention of Angels.  People do not like a Final Authority found in the Bible. 

2.  Because people do not like Godliness that genders Loneliness.  If they follow God, they may have to follow God alone.  Thus, Noah’s Day.

3.  Because people do not like Distinction.  If it is God’s Word, it is to be believed—not debated.  True Christianity demands Separation and Distinction.  Thus, Lot’s Day.  Lot called the Sodomites brethren.

D.  Speaking in context of a judgment that lingered not, the Holy Ghost takes us back now to the beginning and shows God’s dealings with sin. 

1.  This is an interesting verse of Scripture.  Speaking of the judgment of false teachers, the Holy Ghost gave reference to the fall of angels in the dateless past.  When Satan sinned in his rebellion against God, he influenced a vast number of angels to go with him in his rebellion. 

2.  These fallen angels or devils are found throughout the Bible and are found to cause the people of earth great grief.  Many in the days of Christ were filled with devils that afflicted the people that they inhabited.  One had such a multitude of devils that they went into 2000 swine.  The Apostle Paul was buffeted with a messenger of Satan in 2 Corinthians 12:7. 

3.  The angels found in 2 Peter 2:4 are again mentioned in Jude 6.  These angels “kept not their first estate but left their own habitation.”  The words first estate refers to their origin and purpose.  The angels are beings created for the worship of God in heaven and for the ice of doing His will.  The words their habitation refers to the place of their dwelling, which was heaven. 

E.  Our text ties angels with false teachers.  The first false teacher was a serpent in the Garden of Eden.  “Thou shalt not surely die!”

F.  There are several things that I want to look at:

1.  There Is A Warning Involved

a.  The Warning Of The Destructiveness Of Sin

1)  There Is The Warning Of Wickedness – angels that sin?  Whereas man is born into the world with a sin nature (they come forth out of the womb telling lies while still in a state of innocence), angels were created in perfection in a perfectly holy environment. 

2)   There Is The Warning Of Justice – God spared them not.  To whom much is given, much is required!  Their perfection and environment along with beholding the face of almighty God brought about much accountability.

3)  There Is The Warning Of Containment – God still controls!  Though angels are free-moral agents, they can neither be forgiven nor redeemed.  What they have written, they have written.  Angels have a will to be exercised.

Isaiah 14:13-14  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I willsit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  (14)  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I willbe like the most High.

4)  There Is The Warning Of Judgment – they are reserved.  They cannot escape the damnation of hell because hell was created specifically for them.

Ezekiel 28:18  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.  (An interesting statement concerning the first sin and mention of its impending judgment.  Was the flame of hell a result of Satan’s sin?)

Matthew 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

            b.  The Warning Of The Deceivableness Of Sin

1)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Position - Psalms 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Psalms 68:17  The chariots of God are twenty thousand, eventhousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

2)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Possessions - Psalms 68:17  The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.  (You would think that they were satisfied living in heaven with God.  Never having a need that was not fully met.)

3)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Power - Psalms 103:20  Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

4)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Purpose - Psalms 148:2  Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

5)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Place - Ezekiel 28:13-14  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

a)  They Were Around The Right Crowd – (A perfect peer pressure)

b)  They Were Around The Right Circumstances – (A perfect place)

c)  They Purposefully Chose To Sin

            c.  The Warning Of The Destruction Of Sin

1)  Lucifer (Light Bearer or Shining One) became Satan(Adversary or one who withstands)

2)  The Son of the Morning (Son Of The Early Light) became Apollyon (Destroyer)

3)  Their Blessing became Mischief.

4)  Their Wisdom became Cunning.

5)  Their Strength became Viciousness.

2.  There Is A Wrath Incurred

a.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Respect – “spared not the angels that sinned”

Romans 2:1-11  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  For there is no respect of persons with God.

b.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Relief - “cast them down to hell”

Luke 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Mark 9:43-48  And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

c.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Reprieve – “reserved unto judgment”

Revelation 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Eternal Life

Temple Baptist Church - 3-25-2018
Romans 6:23


Introduction:

A.  In our verse, I find it important to re-establish the fact that the child of God is forever saved!  This is a message that needs to be clearly understood! 

B.  Verse 23 contrasts the work of the Law in Condemnation and the work of Grace in Salvation.  The verse can be applied in two ways.

1.  Practically, we are still under the laws of God – the wage of sin is still death!  I dealt with that last week.  We are to obey every ordinance of both God and man for the Lord’s sake and not to obey brings judgement.  Sin still kills.

2.  Positionally, we are not under the Penalty of the Law, as we are saved eternally by the grace of God.

C.  Our present relationship to the laws of God specifically and our relationship to the Law in general are both still valid.

1.  First, let me be clear that we that are saved are not without law.  The individual laws of both moral and civil law of the Old Testament are still valid laws to be followed today.  Our system of judicial and civil law in America are founded upon these commandments of the Old Testament.

2.  Secondly, the Old Testament Law had another function.  It was and is our “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.”  Schoolmaster – a “boy leader” that brought children to school for the purpose of educating them.

Galatians 3:22-26  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.  (23)  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.  (24)  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  (25)  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.  (26)  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

D.  Religion, which is manmade, viciously attacks this precious doctrine of Eternal Life.  The doctrine of eternal life has been attacked by both man and devil about as much as the doctrine of the scriptures!  Just look at John 10:27-31.

E.  You would think that “eternal life” is something that every sinner would love to have but this is not the case.  Man believes that he is essentially good, and that God should accept his “offering.”  This thinking is as old as time:

F.  I thank God for “Eternal Life!”  I am the least of all saints and the worst of all sinners!  I am so glad this morning that salvation is of the Lord and I will go to Heaven on day by the amazing grace of God!!

G.  The words everlasting and eternal are used many times in the Bible:  Everlasting Life” 11 times, “Eternal Life” 26 times.  A man once said that “One who does not believe in ‘eternal security’ is doomed to live in ‘eternal insecurity.’"

1. The Meaning Of The Word Eternal – it means forever and forever and forever…

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

2.  Eternal Life Is An Unconditional Covenant Of God – this means that it does not depend upon us but upon His promises!

John  10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

3.  Eternal Life States The Sufficiency Of Christ’ Death – His sacrifice is sufficient to not only save but to save eternally.

Hebrews 10:10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

4.  Eternal Life Depends Upon The Ability Of God To Keep That Which Belongs To Him – Eternal Life is the responsibility of God, not man!

Philippians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

5.  Eternal Life Is A Product Of The Integrity Of God’s Word – if God said it, you can “take it to the bank!”

1 John 2:25  And this is the promise that he hath promised useveneternal life.

7.  Eternal Life Is The Fidelity Of God’s Love For Us – He has loved us with an everlasting love!

John 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

8.  Eternal Life Has The Seal Of The Indwelling Holy Spirit – we that are saved have the Spirit Of God living in us until the day He takes us home!

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Conclusion:  Not wonder the Devil hates the doctrine of Eternal Life!  He may try to rob you of your peace and profitableness, but he CANNOT rob you of your salvation!  Glory to God!  We are saved!  We are secure!  We are safe!  FOREVER!  Eternal life is the only kind that God gives and not to have it is not to be saved!

It Is The Charity That Binds

Temple Baptist Church - 3-25-2018 - Homecoming Service
1 Corinthians 13:1-13


Introduction:

A.  31 years ago, God did a wonderful thing for us here at Temple Baptist Church. 

1.  God brought a young family to the little town of Laurens, SC.  A relatively young man with no pastoral experience but a vast experience in service and church problems.  A background that tempered his ministry to a hurting people.

2.  This past Thursday, March 22nd, marked that eventful day.  With just a handful of people that attended Temple Baptist Church that Sunday, God started something extraordinary.  That little church had struggled over the years and was ripe for the beginning of a new era. 

3.  What we enjoy here this morning is a result of what happened that day and over the past 31 years.  Many have come and gone over the years but there has always been a strong nucleus of people that remained.  It has been both our joy and our life to be your pastor’s family!

B.  I have changed topics several times this week as we approach Resurrection Sunday next weekend.  Saturday morning, God settled my heart on this topic: “The Love That Binds.”

C.  As we read this great chapter, we find the word “charity.”  I want to look at it for a few minutes before we go back and enjoy the fellowship and much anticipated meal of Homecoming Day.

D.  The meaning of Charity.  Many of the new perversions called “bibles” have changed the word to “love.”  This is a cardinal mistake!  The word “love” is an “umbrella” that covers many kinds of love.  Charity is a peculiar love.  It is the love of the brotherhood. 

1 Thessalonians 4:9  But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

1.  Many churches are measured by their highly educated, articulate preachers. Make a beautiful, articulate speech, impress the people but—without charity—your message is just another hollow sound.

2.  Many churches are measured by their social standing.  Have all the doctors, lawyers, etc. that you want and be “nothing.”  A local church is not a social club.

3.  Many churches are measured by their beautiful buildings.  When I was stationed in Germany, I saw the beautiful architecture of 500 plus year old churches that are now just that, beautiful architecture.  A local church is not an ornate building but a “called out assembly of saints” to worship.

4.  Many churches are measured by the size of their membership.  The Bible is clear on the direction of the “many” and the “few.”  Most of the time, the many are headed in the wrong direction because they are popular with this world.  A local church is measured in quality, not quantity.

E.  You can have all of these things and become a “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” and be “nothing” in the sight of God. 

John 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

1 John 4:7-12  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  (8)  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.  (9)  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  (10)  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  (11)  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.  (12)  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1.  Charity must be a universal love of the brethren.  Verses 1-3.  It loves all and loves all equally.

a.  Charity has nothing to do with social status.

b.  Charity has nothing to do with financial clout.

c.  Charity has nothing to do with ethnicity.

d.  Charity has nothing to do with gender.

e.  Charity has nothing to do with faithfulness.

e.  Charity is equal from the pulpit to the pew.  From the pew to the pulpit.  From the back pew to the front pew. 

2.  Charity is a binding love of the brethren.  Verses 4-7.  It is what holds the local church together.

a.  Charity is longsuffering.

b.  Charity is kind.

c.  Charity is unselfish.

d.  Charity behaves itself.

e.  Charity is overlooking.

f.  Charity hates evil but not the sinner.

g.  Charity loves in truth.

3.  Charity is an unfailing love of the brethren.  Verses 8-13.  Times change but biblical charity endures.

a.  Paul names three remaining gifts: faith, hope and charity.

b.  Our faith and our hope are anchored in the greatest of the three, Charity.

4.  We do not know what the future holds for either our church or our membership. 

a.  We have endured the enemy of death.

b.  We have endured the enemy of sinfulness.

c.  We have endured the enemy of division.

d.  But through it all, because of our love for each other, we have and will continue to endure!

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

And Many Shall Follow Their Pernicious Ways - Part 2 - The Angels That Sinned

Temple Baptist Church - 3-21-2018
2 Peter 2:4

Introduction:  

A.  Last week, we looked at the “many” who choose to follow these false teachers.  The god of this world, Satan, has been deceiving from the very beginning.  He led a rebellion against God in heaven before he beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He has blinded the minds of angels and men over the millenniums and continues to do so in our day.

B.  Our text gives three specific examples of deception in those who follow error: the angels, those in Noah’s day, and those in Lot’s day.  When prophesying about the end-time and its conditions, our Lord also spoke of these three examples.  They lead us to 3 reasons that people reject the God, the Bible, and sound doctrine.

1.  Because people do not like Authority.  If He is God, and He is, then He is to be loved and followed.  Thus, the mention of Angels.  People do not like a Final Authority found in the Bible. 

2.  Because people do not like Godliness that genders Loneliness.  If they follow God, they may have to follow God alone.  Thus, Noah’s Day.

3.  Because people do not like Distinction.  If it is God’s Word, it is to be believed—not debated.  True Christianity demands Separation and Distinction.  Thus, Lot’s Day.  Lot called the Sodomites brethren.

C.  Speaking in context of a judgment that lingered not, the Holy Ghost takes us back now to the beginning and shows God’s dealings with sin. 

1.  This is both an interesting verse of Scripture and a controversial one.  Speaking of the judgment of false teachers, the Holy Ghost gave reference to the fall of angels in the dateless past.  These angels committed a particular sin.  When Satan sinned, he took a vast number of angels with him in his rebellion. 

2.  These fallen angels or devils are found throughout the Bible and are found to cause the people of earth great grief.  Many in the days of Christ were filled with devils that afflicted the people that they inhabited.  One had such a multitude of devils that they went into 2000 swine.  The Apostle Paul was buffeted with a messenger of Satan in 2 Corinthians 12:7. 

3.  The angels found in 2 Peter 2:4 are again mentioned in Jude 6.  These angels “kept not their first estate but left their own habitation.”  The words first estate refers to their origin and purpose.  The angels are beings created for the worship of God in heaven and for the ice of doing His will.  The words their habitation refers to the place of their dwelling, which was heaven. 

4.  As to precisely what their sin was is not given though there is much unbiblical speculation of fallen angels cohabiting with women in Genesis 6.  This erroneous assumption has absolutely no basis in Scripture.  The sons of God in Genesis 6 referred to the godly line of Seth intermarrying with the ungodly line of Cain.  We do not know for sure what the sin of these angels was, but there are several things that can be learned from this verse. 

D.  There are several things that I want to look at:

1.  There Is A Warning Involved

            a.  The Warning Of The Destructiveness Of Sin

               1)  There Is The Wonder Of Wickedness – angels sin.

2   There Is The Wonder Of Justice – God spared them not.

3)  There Is The Wonder Of Containment – He cast them down to hell.

4)  There Is The Wonder Of Judgment – they are reserved.

            b.  The Warning Of The Deceivableness Of Sin

1)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Position - Psalms 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Psalms 68:17  The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

2)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Possessions - Psalms 68:17  The chariots of God are twenty thousand, eventhousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.  (You would think that they were satisfied.)

3)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Power - Psalms 103:20  Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

4)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Purpose - Psalms 148:2  Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

5)  They Sinned In Spite Of Their Place - Ezekiel 28:13-14  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

a)  They Were Around The Right Crowd – (A perfect peer pressure)

b)  They Were Around The Right Circumstances – (A perfect place)

c)  They Purposefully Chose To Sin

            c.  The Warning Of The Destruction Of Sin

1)  Lucifer (Light Bearer or Shining One) became Satan (Adversary or one who withstands)

2)  The Son of the Morning (Son Of The Early Light) became Apollyon (Destroyer)

3)  Their Blessing became Mischief.

4)  Their Wisdom became Cunning.

5)  Their Strength became Viciousness.

2.  There Is A Wrath Incurred

a.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Respect – “spared not the angels that sinned”

Romans 2:1-11  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  For there is no respect of persons with God.

b.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Relief - “cast them down to hell”

Luke 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Mark 9:43-48  And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

c.  The Judgment Of God Is Without Reprieve – “reserved unto judgment”

Revelation 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.