“ Summary, Part 3 (final) ” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: 1. It confronts us with the mystery of God incarnate [52:30]: the mystery of godliness. Jesus Christ is our Emmanuel (“God with us”). 2. It renders sinners inexcusable, since it is displayed to all men in creation [53:10]. Evolution is a lie in the face of the God-given conscience. 3. It guarantees the enactment of His decree to save [54:40]. Without election, there is no hope for salvation. 4. It evokes our adoration, blessing, and praise to God alone [56:03]. We could never have conceived His plan of salvation. 5. It teaches us to wait patiently for Him to work [57:05]. Adopt His decree instead of humanity’s own limited sense of time. The elect are still being saved.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” III. SUMMARY OF THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF GOD’S RELATION TO TIME. A. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF GOD’S ETERNITY AND EVERPRESENCE [34:49]. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: 1. It admonishes us to fear God’s wrath. Our grumbling is a subconscious challenge to God’s wisdom. 2. It teaches us to face the brevity of life [34:49]. Do we live as though tomorrow is guaranteed? 3. It calls us to pray for seasons of gladness, for the perpetuation of our work, for deliverance from premature death, and for His blessing on our children [40:10]. God’s eternal essence encourages us to take the most important issues to Him. 4. It shows us how great He is and how little we know [44:45]. We are to repent of our sin of assuming God’s place. 5. It encourages us to seek security in God [47:06]. We were made to be dependent upon Him. What are we depending on instead? God is our rock; nothing else is. 6. It certifies the reliability of His word [49:10]. Do we stand on His word, or do we look for certainty somewhere else? He is our Rock. As we often sing, “all other ground is sinking sand.” 7. It assures us that He is always accessible to humble and contrite men [50:46]. Are we proud and independent, or broken and dependent? Pride is the foundation of idolatry.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” Continuing from last week at II. SURVEY OF THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO GOD'S RULE OVER TIME; A. THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO GOD'S ETERNITY AND EVERPRESENCE: 5. ISAIAH 57:15 [starting at 5:43 of the audio]. In the first place, because God is eternal, His promises are reliable. This would not be so if God had some constraints upon His holiness. If He weren’t eternal, He couldn’t be trusted to finish what He started. Open Theism denies this. 6. JOHN 8:58 [14:44]. Jesus’ testimony to His eternal existence. The Bible calls us to faith in its matters where we don’t fully understand. 7. ROMANS 1:20 [20:29]. The evidence of our eyes AND the testimony of our consciences affirm that the creation has a creator. 8. ROMANS 16:25-27 [22:51]. God saves sinners and builds His church as He ordained in eternity, and no force of human history can stop it. 9. 1 TIMOTHY 1:17 [26:59]. Our election should move us to such praise. 10. 2 PETER 3:8-9 [29:29]. We are not on God’s time wave. Our impatience misinterprets God’s longsuffering and covenant promises, and it will not manipulate Him.
“ Summary, Part 5 (final) ” 3. PSALM 93:1-2 [40:52]. Because God is eternal, we may enjoy security and stability. His eternal, unchanging power created and preserves the universe. Even just recent secular thinking is filled with cataclysmic dread: global warming, meteor strikes, etc., and even some Christians fall for it. History is secure because of God’s eternal decree. We have the habit of finding security in things more enduring than ourselves, such as statism, nationalism, or environmentalism. But the blessed elect find it in the eternal God. 4. PSALM 102:24-28 [45:55]. This passage offers three practical applications: a. OUR HOPE IS NOT IN WORLDLY SECURITY (v. 24). We all face the possibility of premature death, and the best care and safest environments don’t change that. b. OUR HOPE IS NOT IN THE CREATION (vv. 25-27). Even the heavens won’t last forever. Severe affliction makes us feel our insecurity acutely. There is no other rational place to fix our hope than God, who endures unchangingly forever. c. GOD’S CHILDREN WILL CONTINUE (v. 28). Because He is enduring, His covenant promises will endure as well. Church history confirms this.
“ Summary, Part 4 ” In vv. 16.17, it teaches us TO PRAY THAT GOD BLESS OUR CHILDREN AND PERPETUATE OUR WORK [32:25]. When we die, everything we left behind will be out of our hands: our families, our property, our business. No matter what we may request in a living will, we can’t guarantee that it will be carried out. 2. JOB 36:26, 38:1-4 [36:05]. God’s eternity displays how great He really is. If we have a difficult time comprehending the wisdom of the elderly from all their life experience, how much less can we fathom the wisdom of the omniscient, eternal God? When God pressed this reality on Job, all Job could do was see his own state and repent. We’ve no right to question the afflictions God chooses to send us: He does it from a point of sovereign holiness that we will never fathom. Evolutionists live in a moment of time, but claim an intellectual right to override the creator God who was there before the beginning.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” c. GOD'S ETERNAL BEING TEACHES US INVALUABLE LESSONS (vv. 11-17) [24:10]. i. In v. 11, it teaches us TO FEAR HIS ETERNAL WRATH [24:17]. Moses didn’t have an idea of a winking God in Heaven. At any moment, an unbeliever can die and be damned forever. In fear, we ought to be moved to pray for their salvation. ii. In v. 12, it teaches us TO PRAY FOR THE WISDOM TO GRASP THE BREVITY OF OUR LIFE [26:46]. Growing age and deceased acquaintances should not be the only reminders of our own mortality. Wisdom teaches us that our short lives are in God’s hands at every moment, and always at His mercy. Are we trying to add years to our lives, or are we sooner unto Heaven? What if we die with unfinished plans? The wise don’t waste their time. iii. In vv. 13-15, it teaches us TO PRAY THAT GOD WOULD BALANCE OUR AFFLICTION WITH BLESSING [29:41]. When we realize the brevity of our lives, we’re far less prone to take His blessings for granted. We appreciate the tranquility of a God-centered life (some can’t even handle this, and go out and look for trouble). Constant contention is never worth it.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” C. GOD IS SPECIALLY PRESENT IN TIME [11:00]. We can think of this as His covenant presence. He is specially present in Heaven in an unchanging way, but in a changing way here on earth. He was specially present in Eden, then Beth-El, then Sinai, then in the Tabernacle, then in the Temple, then in Jesus Christ, and now wherever true Christians gather in the name of Christ, such as in church. The Lord’s Day is a stated day of His special presence. II. SURVEY OF THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO GOD'S RULE OVER TIME [15:50] A. THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO GOD'S ETERNITY AND EVERPRESENCE [16:20] 1. PSALM 90:1-17 [16:48]. This text specially sets forth God’s eternity. a. GOD'S ETERNAL BEING GIVES HIS PEOPLE SECURITY AND STABILITY (vv. 1,2) [17:35]. God’s people have a security that unbelievers don’t. No matter what happens on earth, Christians understand that the Lord is still on His throne. For us, He is always a sure place of return. b. GOD'S ETERNAL BEING EXPOSES OUR BREVITY AND FRAILTY (vv. 3-10) [20:23]. Where God is eternal, our lives are but a vapor. His eternity puts our lives in a proper perspective.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] In talking about God’s essence, we struggle with the word â€beginning’ since everything has one. But God does not. I. THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF GOD'S TEMPORAL SUPREMACY OR HIS RULE OVER TIME [starting at 4:45 of the audio]. Ps 90:1-2 teaches a number of things about this: A. GOD IS ETERNAL. He is not limited by time [7:05]. God always was and always will be. Some things do have a beginning but no end, such as every human soul and the humanity of the second person of the trinity. B. GOD IS EVERPRESENT. He is present at every moment of time [9:00]. Where â€omnipresence’ describes God’s presence everywhere in space, â€everpresence’ describes His presence everywhere in time. God has an unlimited life span. Time doesn’t control God; God controls time.
“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” 2. BY WISE COUNSEL FROM GODLY CHRISTIANS. Experienced Christians are guided by the word and guide with their own experiences. 3. BY CLEAR, PROVIDENTIAL DIRECTION. He guides the meek in judgment and shows them His covenant. The Christian may plan his way, but the Lord will guide his steps. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS [50:00]: 1. This command is encouraging as well as reproving. God guides those who trust Him every step of the way. We stagger when our trust sputters. 2. The prohibition does not forbid us from using our own understanding, but instead from trusting it. Christians who claim to be led by the spirit without consulting the word are often misled. The spirit is the spirit of truth. 3. Those who obey are not promised immunity from trials, but are promised God’s safekeeping. In fact, obedience often leads to trials in this fallen world. What are you having a hard time trusting God with in your life right now, and what makes you think you can handle it better than He can?
“ Summary, Part 3 ” b. BECAUSE WE FOOLISHLY TRUST THE INCLINATIONS OF OUR HEARTS [37:13]. So often, the world tells us to trust our hearts, but where has that gotten us? Many carry deep scars heeding that advice. Trust in the Lord brings deliverance. Look back to Henry’s outline regarding this passage. c. BECAUSE WE TRUST OTHERS RATHER THAN GOD [39:29]. Christians fall into grievous error and sin trusting false teachers rather than trusting the Lord. When we follow men, we will turn away from the Lord. The Bereans didn’t trust Paul until they first measured his words with the Lord’s word. 2. WHAT MAY WE EXPECT WHEN WE VIOLATE THIS PROHIBITION? [41:56] a. ALL MANNER OF TRIAL AND TROUBLE. The way of the transgressor is hard. b. THE LORD’S CURSE. It is a life of impotency and judgment. c. ETERNITY IN HELL. The path is straight and victorious for the believer, but dark and calamitous for the unbeliever. C. THE PRECIOUS PROMISE [45:35]. The one we trust is the one who makes our paths straight. Straight is translated as agreeable, pleasing, right, safe, secure, peaceful, and happy. How does He do this? 1. BY HIS SPIRIT THROUGH HIS WORD: not just His spirit. The word of God is the only way we know that the spirit is leading us.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” 2. THE EXTENT OF THIS COMMAND [19:40]. a. WITH ALL YOUR HEART: with all our thinking, meditating, feeling, and reasoning. i. Trust Him implicitly. He is our first trust; it should be the default of every Christian. ii. Trust Him entirely: He has never failed us when we trusted Him. iii. Trust Him exclusively: let no other trust intrude. iv. Trust Him enduringly: always and without interruption. God does not promise to guide half-hearted trust. b. IN ALL YOUR WAYS [24:15]: in all our planning, actions, experiences, trials, triumphs, successes, failures, in small and big decisions, use of resources, preferences, influences, and circumstances. B. THE PERTINENT PROHIBITION [32:10]. Our default is to lean on our own understanding, and so this exhortation needs this negative counterpart. Where has this folly led us? Understanding is a gift from God given to us to help us understand Him. We’re not commanded to not use understanding, but rather to not lean on our own vain understanding disconnected from God. 1. WHY IS THIS PROHIBITION GIVEN? [35:27] a. WE TEND TO BE PROUD AND REBELLIOUS. This is a native tendency. Our first parents defied God for wisdom, and what did it get them?
“ Summary, Part 1 ” Matthew Henry outlines the source text as follows: constance in duty keeps us happy (vv. 1-4), dependence on God keeps us safe (vv. 5-6), and fear of God keeps us healthful (vv. 7-8). In this message, we will focus on the second point. In those verses, we see a comprehensive command, a pertinent prohibition, and a precious promise. A. THE COMPREHENSIVE COMMAND [starting at 4:12 of the audio]. 1. THE ESSENCE OF THIS COMMAND [4:35]. It is expressed in three synonymous words. a. TRUST, which here means reliance. Its other Old Testament translations connote boldness, confidence, security, reliance, carelessness (as in “without a care”), and complacency. The Christian life is essentially one of faith. Without faith, we cannot please God. b. ACKNOWLEDGE [9:20], which connotes an intimate knowledge, such as a man’s knowledge of his wife. It is not an abstract head-knowledge of God, but a spiritual, experimental knowledge of Him in all our ways. c. LEANING [12:00]. Though we are not to lean on our own understanding, we are to lean upon Him. It is also translated as â€rest’. The idea is to prop ourselves on Him to carry our weight: to trust Him and rely on Him. It is our only safe, lit passage. Our own wisdom and feelings lead us astray.
“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS [30:33]: 1. Heaven is a real place where Christ now is. It is not a figment of man’s imagination. 2. We are called to reverent worship. How we prepare ourselves for the highest dignitary should not compare to how we prepare ourselves for God’s presence. Church shouldn’t entertain men; it should entertain God. 3. The godly are comforted in their trials and afflictions. The Lord will never leave or forsake us in our troubles. 4. It emboldens God’s servants in danger and difficulty. The Christian response to trial is far different than the worldly one. We have a God who works all to our good, but how does the unbeliever respond to his trials? 5. It urges Christians to keep their bodies free from sexual impurity. Holiness isn’t just an attitude of mind, but a way of observable life. 6. It requires churches to separate from the wicked. The standard of holiness has not changed from Paul’s day. It is discouraging how many churches today seek to win the lost by adopting their attitudes. Do they not have the same Bible to which Paul contributed? 7. We are called to glory in the deity and sufficiency of Jesus Christ, the very one who is in our presence. 8. It moves us to desire to be with Christ in heaven. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” 2. THAT NO TRUE CHRISTIAN SHOULD JOIN OR REMAIN IN A CHURCH FELLOWSHIP WITH A SOCIETY OF WICKED MEN [20:25]. True Christians should sever their ties with apostate churches. God does not expect an elect to suffer the darkness of an impure body, but to leave and find a pure one. 3. THAT EACH TRUE CHURCH SHOULD SEPARATE FROM THE UNGODLY AND THEIR WICKED WAYS [21:13]. It should not receive the unsaved into membership, and should discipline members who fall astray of any basic tenet of the faith. This requires vigilance, diligence, and courage, but most of all the exaltation of God and not popularity. Pastors who practice this kind of zealousness tend to never lose their church no matter how much resistance they endure, even from their own flock. Jesus did not cleanse the Temple with diplomacy, but with holy anger at what had been done to His Father’s house. How would Jesus respond to the typical church in America today? E. COLOSSIANS 2:9 [27:30]. This text states the complete sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” B. 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17 [8:21]: Christ’s special presence in His church. The church house becomes holy as God’s people gather there. We should never forget that we are on holy ground when we participate in church life. Sadly, we are more tolerant of the desecration of the church than God is. We are the temple of God, but what kind of temple are we? Are we white hot or lukewarm? C. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 [12:02]: the Christian as a temple. We are not His by creation, but by new creation. God cannot be glorified by a Christian who gives his body to sin. D. 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-7:1 [14:37]. The righteous should not join in Christian fellowship with the wicked, who threaten and violate the identity of the church. They are invited to attend so that they may be convicted, saved, and then joined to the church. This principle calls our attention to three things: 1. THAT NO TRUE CHURCH SHOULD FELLOWSHIP WITH SOCIETIES OF WICKED MEN [18:01]. This includes those who deny the deity of Christ or who promote ungodly behavior such as homosexuality. Parachurch organizations are often a source of this. Congregations that don’t avoid this are prone to welcoming wickedness into the fellowship and bringing judgment on their churches.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] In this message, we continue from last week to examine the biblical witness to God’s special presence: what does the Bible say about it? III. SURVEY OF THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO GOD’S SPECIAL PRESENCE. This survey is hardly exhaustive, but we will examine five key texts. A. GENESIS 28:17 [starting at 3:52 of the audio]. God’s emphatic presence was with Jacob at Bethel, and feared Jacob. Our demeanor in God’s house should not be flippant, carnal, or casual, but sincere and reverent. How much do we need to hear this message today! A true church is a place of God’s special presence, and casualness there—in dress and attitude— is a curse in today’s church.
“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS [49:05]. 1. The grace of God that brings salvation brings a radical change in a person’s life. This refutes the belief that a forgiven person can go on living in wickedness. 2. Any hope of Christ’s return that does not motivate a life of practical godliness is a false and deluding hope. Do we look for translation from our sins as much as we look for translation from this life? 3. Christians are not their own; they belong to the Lord. He saved us to serve Him. Salvation doesn’t just deliver us from Hell, but fits us for Heaven. 4. Christ came to save sinners, sinners of every kind.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” C. THE SACRIFICIAL FOUNDATION FOR GOD’S SAVING GRACE (verse 14, “who gave Himself for us”) [40:03]. All these blessing point to the one who gave Himself so we may give ourselves to Him. This statement entails that His sacrifice was intentional: He wasn’t murdered against His will; it was special, done for a special people: the elect; and it was fruitful, producing a special effect in those people, primarily their salvation. D. THE OBSERVABLE EFFECTS OF GOD’S SAVING GRACE [43:40]. Negatively: that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and to be zealous for good deeds. A fruitful Christian is one who learns to engage in good works. Positively: that He might produce purified, consecrated Christians for Himself. It is imperative for the Christian to openly own these blessings and not apologize for them. Christ died not only to make us forgiven, but to make us good.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” B. THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GOD’S SAVING GRACE (verse 12) [21:07]. It delivers us from the power of sin to the power of God’s discipline and instruction. 1. IT TRANSFORMS A CHRISTIAN’S CHARACTER AND CONDUCT [22:30]. Negatively, it transforms self-indulgence into self-denial. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness: we once suppressed the truth, rejected the faith, and indulged the flesh. It also teaches us to say no to worldly desires. The world is hostile to God; its driving principles glorify the flesh and not God. But Christians are merely in the world, not of it. Positively, it transforms Christians’ relations to others and to God. It reorients our lives toward pleasing God. In ourselves, we turn from self-indulgence to self-control. Toward others, we conform to God’s moral law: where we were once hateful, opportunistic, and self-interested, we turn toward fidelity and charity. Toward God, we turn from vanity toward reverence and holiness. 2. IT TRANSFORMS A CHRISTIAN’S PRESENT HOPE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS [33:54]. Where we once feared Christ’s return, we now look forward to it eagerly. It is now a blessed hope and a holy homecoming. This holy longing begets holy living.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] It is remarkable that God’s grace is greater than our sin. In this message, we examine the power influence and obvious effects of God’s saving grace by way of Titus 2:11-14. A. THE GLORIOUS APPEARANCE OF GOD’S SAVING GRACE (verse 11) [starting at 6:30 of the audio]. This not God’s common grace, which He bestows upon all men, but the effectual grace of salvation, which delivers men from their sin. 1. Its glorious scope [8:11]. It reaches every race, nation, age, and both genders, thus leaving no category beyond its reach. We should regard no sinner’s case as hopeless. 2. Its glorious display [13:00]. It delivers us from guilt and penalty, sin’s power and domination, cleanses us from moral defilement, delivers us from the enslaving power of the world and the power of the devil, liberates us from the fear of death, spiritually resurrects us, and teaches us how to conduct our lives after salvation.
10/20/14 2:29 AM
