Blessed are they that mourn, Matthew 5:4

We began our study of the Sermon on the Mount last week, and in that message we talked about the importance of the context of the message and how it is relevant for today in that it is the message of the Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus was preaching at the beginning of His ministry. I believe this message was the basis for much of the preaching that He did as He traveled through Judea and Galilee.  Chapter 4 tells us that Jesus traveled through those regions preaching “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  I explained last

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The Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 5:1-3

Today we are beginning a series of studies in the Sermon on the Mount. I expect this series to last all summer, and possibly into the fall, if the Lord wills. And I hope that many of you will be able to be here for the entire series. If not, then I encourage you to follow along by reading the messages on our website. Because I believe that this message Jesus preached is unparalleled in the scriptures. After all, it was delivered by no less than God in the flesh. God, having left the kingdom of heaven to take the

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The King is coming, 2 Peter 3

I had fully intended to stop our exposition of 2 Peter at chapter 2, and begin a new series this week, which I anticipate will take us through the summer, on the Sermon on the Mount. However, after some thought, I believed that this last chapter of Peter’s message really would serve in some ways to act as an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.  Because at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, when the Sermon on the Mount was initially preached, it was in the context of Jesus’s preaching that the Kingdom of God had come.  And so the

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The pattern of false prophets, 2 Peter 2: 10-22

This is a relatively somber and difficult passage that we have before us today. Peter devoted an entire chapter to the subject of false prophets. If it was an appropriate warning for his day, how much more is it relevant to us today when the church at large has practically abandoned the truth in favor of political correctness?  I believe  the key to understanding this entire passage is found in the phrase at the beginning of vs 10: “those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.”  Everything in this passage is predicated on

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The nature of false prophets, 2 Peter 2:1-9

One of the most popular artists of all time, and one that is particularly favored today, was a man by the name of Vincent Van Gogh. In 1885, at a time when society was embracing science’s view of evolution and long held beliefs in the Bible were under attack, Van Gogh painted a picture which he called Sill Life with Bible. In the painting, against a dark background there is a large, open Bible on a table with a candle beside it which has burned out. In front of the Bible is a small book, painted in yellow, of which

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Sanctification in the Word, 2 Peter 1:12-21

Peter is writing to the church at large near the end of his life, in order to shore up the foundations of the church, to strengthen the walls of the church, against the assault of the enemy of the church.  And the enemy always assaults the church in the area of the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God.  The Word of God is always under attack.  It has been since the beginning of the church, and it is even more so today.   Back in Peter’s day, the assault of false doctrine took the form of Gnosticism.  Gnosticism

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The qualities of the divine nature, 2 Peter 1:5-11

On the opposite end of the spectrum in view of Christianity is that since salvation is all by grace, that is the unmerited favor of God, since you are saved by no exertion of your own, you are kept saved, kept perfect, if you will, through no exertion either, and therefore there is no condemnation, no duty, no sin, no need to ever repent, no confession, and no need for remorse when you sin, because in effect you cannot sin.  You’re on a glory ride to heaven, so sit back and enjoy the ride. But what neither of those views

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The gifts of salvation, 2 Peter 1:1-4

On a day when millions of people across the country are celebrating Easter with special services and ceremonies both pagan and religious, it is with a sense of concern that I propose to present this message to you today.  On the one hand, I feel a pressure to conform to the common theme of celebrating Easter, as many other pastors of churches are doing.  And yet on the other hand, I feel a need to make a distinction in what I believe is the core of the gospel; mainly, as Jesus said, “They that worship God must worship Him in

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Sanctified in Humility, 1 Peter 5:6-14

As we come to the close of 1 Peter, he has said in his letter again and again that submission and suffering are used by God as the means to sanctification. Sanctification is simply spiritual maturity.  God uses trials to work in you and conform you into the image of Jesus Christ.  Now added to that “formula” if you will, Peter elaborates by saying that submission and suffering produce humility, which is God’s will for you.  God wants you to be humble, because Jesus was humble and in humbling Himself, He was able to fulfill God’s purposes. The opposite of

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Sanctification of the Shepherd, 1 Peter 5: 1-5

If you were reading consecutively through 1 Peter, it almost seems as if chapter 4 would have been the logical place to end the letter.  The theme of 1 Peter has been sanctification, and at the end of chapter 4 we see basically a summary of the teaching that sanctification comes through suffering because of the reaction of the world to holy Christian living.  And in that context, Peter says that God will be the judge of such matters and we should entrust our souls to a faithful Creator.  But he also says that judgment will begin with the house

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