Monday 11 February 2013

30 Years Ago....

Pastor John MacArthur gave this sermon in 1981. I am revisiting some of his older sermons that he has up on his website. It is astonishing to me that things have been this bad for this long here. The things Pastor MacArthur speaks about seem like they could have happened today...this was OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO (!!!) and yet God is long-suffering. Pastor MacArthur tells here that when "God gives people up" he gives them the fruit of their wrong desires, their burning lusts and hatefulness being the wrath of God upon themselves, and concludes as I do, that we are seeing God's wrath being poured out on the ungodly. ...and yet:

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

You can listen to the sermon entitled Abandoned by God Part 1 here.

Edited to add:

This is the second part to the above: Abandoned by God Part 2

This goes into more detail about exactly why, Biblically speaking, the sin of homosexual behavior is so contrary to God's way. It gets a bit more graphic than part one does, and might make you uncomfortable to hear this, however, I think it is important to hear it, to really pay attention to how sick sin really is and nothing to snicker at. We see so many television shows today that include a gay character, often making that character central to the show. Children today are being fully indoctrinated into believing that there is "nothing wrong" with what God has declared an abomination. We need to know this, fully, and not encourage others in what is shameful and against God.

Excerpt (Pastor MacArthurs prayer at end):

 "Father, tonight we have again been exposed to a terrifying strong word. We do not necessarily like these things. We don't want to hear these things. We don't even want to wallow in these things. We don't even want to think about them. But there they are. And man must know how deep the pit before he understands how great the salvation. He must understand how total the guilt before he can understand how wondrous the forgiveness. He must understand how inevitable the death before he can rejoice in the gift of eternal life."

Please pray when you listen to these that the Lord will strengthen your resolve and desire to speak the truth, in love, to the lost.

Saturday 9 February 2013

The Mystery of the Gospel

John MacArthur explains the tension between the sovereignty of God, and the sharing of the Gospel...why witness?

Wednesday 6 February 2013

"Saved From What?"

I listened to a sermon by Pastor Steven J. Lawson tonight that brought the message home to me deeper than I have ever before felt it. I have been sensing the need to share the truth of the gospel to family and friends but have been at a complete loss of how to go about it. I've been praying for God to give me more of a heart for the lost, and this sermon delivered. I have never been more grateful for my salvation, and have never been more humbled. Toward the end of the sermon Pastor Lawson hopes for his listeners (which includes me!) that we NEVER again use the word "saved" or "salvation" flippantly ever again. It is an awesome price God paid with the life of His Son for a terrible and terrifying destiny for those who don't believe.

Please take the time to listen, pray, and share this with your loved ones:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=97121754280

Monday 4 February 2013

Soul Sleep

I just finished listening to this very good sermon about what Jesus says about death, heaven, and hell. It's only about an hour long. Many will sit through two or three hours for a movie which will add up to that much time wasted on nothing. This sermon might change your life. Pastor Lawson mentions the argument for "soul sleep" and the view that this is "just symbolic". He gives the truth that whenever something is symbolic in the Bible, the truth is much more (vivid, real, terrifying, or stupendous) than what it is symbolized by, so the fire of hell and it's torments much more than can be described or symbolized. Listen to this excellent sermon here:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=11113205271

We are saved by grace, but it is still good to be reminded what we are saved from. ;-)