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Strange Contentment Phil. 4:6-7, Col. 3:15 October 14, 2007 INTRODUCTION: Rightly understood, contentment is impossible to understand. A preacher who sets himself to explain it is therefore heading into treacherous waters. He needs to take care to explain only those aspects of it that are laid out in…

INTRODUCTION: In this series, we are considering the temptations presented to us by desire, envy, competition, and ambition. Last week we looked at desire—the quarry from which many sins are hewn—and is a word which, thankfully for the writers of rock ballads, rhymes with fire. We now turn to the thing…

FORGIVENESS OF SIN Matt. 1:19-21, Heb. 10:16-18 December 9, 2007 INTRODUCTION: The Lord Jesus was born into a sinful world. His advent was not designed as an inspirational moment to crown all the others, but rather He was sent as a Savior. He came to bring forgiveness, and consequently if there is anything…

INTRODUCTION: Confession of sin is a basic activity that all Christians need to understand and practice. It is the most fundamental form of spiritual housekeeping. THE TEXT: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just…

INTRODUCTION: Forgiveness of sin is forgiveness of sin, not redefinition of sin (Rom. 13:8-10). “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven” contains a glorious truth. But, misapplied as it frequently is, it also represents a travesty of biblical living. THE TEXT: /“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,…

INTRODUCTION: So we have considered desire, envy, and competition, and we now come to ambition. To address the subject rightly, we have to recall what we learned thus far. There is a certain kind of desire that every human being has to deal with, and this is a desire that tends to veer toward envy. If…

INTRODUCTION: Sleep is an important part of our lives, even though we can recall very little of it. We spend about a third of our lives asleep, which amounts to twenty-five years for a seventy-five-year-old man. And if the chief end of our lives is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, as the Shorter…

INTRODUCTION: We are continuing to consider the problems posed by desire, envy, competition, and ambition. We have now come to competition, something dear to the heart of most Americans. But because of this we must guard our step. You have heard many times that we must repent of our virtues, and this…

INTRODUCTION: One of our central duties—as Christians seeking to live obediently in this fallen world—is to learn the true nature of the temptations before us. The oldest trap in the world for us is to “objectify” sin in a simplistic way, placing certain items on a list of prohibitions, as though it…

INTRODUCTION: What Christian does not want to live in the will of God? What an admirable aspiration, and what a difficult thing to figure out. Many Christians have needlessly tied themselves up in knots over this issue. THE TEXTS: /“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city,…

INTRODUCTION: This message on Inescapable Fear could just as easily been entitled as Freedom from Fear. And, without any contradiction, it could also be entitled The Christian Grace of Fear. But all this will take some unpacking. THE TEXT: /“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill…

INTRODUCTION: For a number of years, we have been emphasizing community, life together, fellowship, communion, what the New Testament calls koinonia. The response to this emphasis has been significant—showing that there is a real spiritual hunger for this kind of thing. But there is a hitch—other people…

INTRODUCTION: For various reasons, evangelism is a difficult subject for many Reformed Christians. Some die-hard Calvinists may have glanced at the title of this message—friendship evangelism—and asked, “What’s evangelism?” Or, if they are really die-hard Calvinists, perhaps they asked, “What’s friendship?”…

INTRODUCTION: We often entertain a false idea of the nature of the difference between the Christian faith and idolatrous faiths, or worldviews, or opinions. The difference between life and death is a qualitative difference, and not a difference that can be reduced to a set of mere definitions. A living…

INTRODUCTION: For many Christians, the practical issues surrounding money are a real headache. There are questions about acquiring it, about managing it, and about giving it away. But we are not left without instruction—we are to tithe, give, manage, provide, and enjoy. THE TEXT: /“Lay not up for yourselves…

Philippians 2: 1-18 Matt 5:13 reads as follows: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. At a meeting some young people were discussing this text,…

Philippians 2: 1-18 Matt 5:13 reads as follows: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. At a meeting some young people were discussing this text,…

INTRODUCTION: The gospel changes lives. Not only does it do this, but it has this impact on every aspect of our lives, which includes our sexual identity, our sexual lives. This fixes a number of problems, but if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit it also creates some new problems, some new…