“ Righteousness does deliver ” Dr. Morecraft explains that one of the ways that righteousness delivers is by practical obedience to God's law for the sake of Jesus. When you seek to bring your life, inside and out, into more consistent conformity to what God demands of you, not because you're trying to merit salvation, but because you love Jesus, that is a fortress for you. That protects you from temptations, troubles, stumbling blocks in the road that would knock you down if you weren't trying to live for Christ. That is, when you're trying to live a righteous life and obey God's law, there are certain persons you are going to avoid. There are certain places you are going to avoid. There are certain activities you are going to avoid. There are certain thoughts you are not going to dwell on. There are certain forms of behavior that you are not going to involve yourself in. And so by doing that, practical obedience delivers you from all those stumbling blocks, troubles, and temptations in life that cause people who live unwise lives to fall down every day. Righteousness does deliver.
“ Your words reveal your heart ” As Dr. Morecraft explains, the words that you speak reveal what's in your heart. A man speaks out of that which fills his heart. The nature of your conversation, what you talk about, its tone, its tenor, its content, reveals what's really filling your heart. And if your heart is filled with evil, it's going to show itself in the way you talk. And if your heart is filled with righteousness, it's going to show itself in what you say. The mouth of the righteous person flows with wisdom because his heart, his mind and his life are being held captive by the word of God. What he says is backed by divine authority. And in his efforts to use his mouth to bring people into submission to the living God, to His word and authority, you see wisdom flow forth and you see other peoples' lives change.
“ Vexed by an evil culture ” Among the points made in this message, Dr. Morecraft explains that God knows how to rescue His friends. If the culture in which you live refuses to repent and continues in its perverted way, don't worry and lose sleep about it (what's going to happen to me and my family?), as the culture hurdles towards God's judgment. God knows how to rescue the righteous out of a wicked America. Being a righteous minority in a majority evil culture tests the minority. That's one of the ways God uses the majority of unbelievers to test the believer: what does it do to your soul? Do you pray that your family will be protected? Does it torment you that the culture in which we live is in such rebellion against God? A righteous man in a grossly perverted, wicked culture will feel his soul to be vexed.
“ Stand up and stand out ” Dr. Morecraft explains that during times of spiritual declension, when false teachers have the upper hand and are influencing the majority of people, the fewer the true Christians, the more important and the more accountable are individual Christians. If you are a small minority of faithful Christians that believe the true prophets in a culture where most people believe the heresies of the false prophets, you are going to stand out. If you are a true Christian in this culture, people are going to talk about you behind your back, they're going to make fun of you, they will try to marginalize you, they will say you are bigoted. For the church's sake, for the truth's sake, and for your children's sake, stand up and stand out. To whom much is given, much is required, so you must stand firm. And you get the strength to stand firm from Christ.
“ Humble before the Lord ” Among the points made in this message, Dr. Morecraft explains that those who humble themselves under the mighty hand of God will be exalted by Him. They won't be exalted to positions of political or financial power, but to positions of spiritual and moral power and honor. That's what Christians are supposed to desire in this life, not in order to boast, but because it pleases God.
“ The purpose of prayer ” Dr. Morecraft explains that prayer, in God's plan, is His predestined means to accomplish His predestined ends. That is, there are some things that God predestined before the world began that He would not do for people unless they asked Him to do it. God's not dependent upon our prayers, but we sure are. Some things God won't do for you unless you ask Him. "You have not, because you ask not" (James 4:2).
“ Righteousness exalts a nation ” As Dr. Morecraft explains, America can only be great if it is righteous. There's no such thing as liberty and justice for all unless God is the king of your nation and you recognize His sovereignty. That kind of righteousness makes a nation great. A nation must be good before it can be great. As long as it lives in rebellion against God, thinking that man's will is the source of right and wrong, America will be a disgrace. It's a disgrace today. What makes a nation great is when Americans love the law of God and want men in office that will obey that law.
“ Their deeds follow them ” Among the points made in this message, Dr. Morecraft explains a difficult section of Revelation 14:13. That verse states that "the dead who die in the Lord" are blessed, and adds, "for their deeds follow them." When you go to the new heavens and the new earth, you get to rest. But that verse says your "deeds," that is, the things you did for the Lord in this life, are going to contribute to the new heavens and the new earth. So that millions of years from now in the new heavens and the new earth, your works will still follow you, and you'll still be rejoicing in the effects of those things God enabled you to do and called you to do in this life.
“ God will send a fire ” In one part of this message, Dr. Morecraft explains that this present universe and planet are being reserved to be burned with fire on the day of judgment. God will send a fire to burn out of this universe all ungodly men. But God is not going to annihilate the earth. The word "destroy" in the Bible can mean to completely change something from the bad thing it was to the good thing it's going to be.
“ A dead man can't make decisions ” As Dr. Morecraft explains, God, by the exertion of His sovereign will, causes people to be born again. Sovereignly, by an act of His free will, without seeking your permission, God caused you to come forth a new man or a new woman. That's the first good thing God did for you. Salvation isn't something you get after you believe, because a dead man cannot believe. The new birth is what God gives you before He gives you anything else. God empowered the gospel to be the great tool that would bring you out of your spiritual grave to newness of life. The preaching of the cross is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.
“ Trials hurt ” Dr. Morecraft explains that everybody will experience trials. The longer you live in life, the more trials you experience, and the more severe those trials are, and the more they hurt. However, you can experience joy in trials because the reason for trials is that God is working in your life. He wants to show you your utter dependence upon Him and His utter sufficiency for you. Trials are the tokens and expressions of God's love for His children.
“ Walk by faith, not by sight ” In this tremendously powerful and encouraging sermon, Dr. Morecraft explains that David avoided succumbing to the temptation of escapism because he walked by faith, not by sight. To walk by faith and not by sight means that instead of determining your response to a situation in which you find yourself, even though it appears to be contradictory to everything you know about God and everything God has promised, you determine your course of action by faith in the Word of God and not by what you see. You don't allow your experience or your observation to determine how you're going to respond to a dangerous situation in this world. You don't walk by sight, you walk by faith in the Word of God.
“ Seeing life differently ” Dr. Morecraft explains that because our standard as Christians is the Word of God, we see life clearly, the way God sees it, though on a creaturely level. We understand things about life in the way God understands life except on a creaturely level. The unbeliever, on the other hand, is all distorted in his views of right and wrong, good and bad. Our standards are different. He has a view of justice entirely different from ours.
“ God determines how life turns out ” Dr. Morecraft explains that God looks upon the good man with favor, and God condemns the man who devises evil. God, and God alone, determines how life turns out for both the good man and the bad man. There's no such thing as luck, there's no such thing as fate or chance. God determines how life will turn out for people. He shows gracious, undeserved, unmerited favor to some whom He makes good. And He justly condemns others because they are evil, and the wages of sin is death.
“ Understanding life correctly ” As Dr. Morecraft explains, understanding life correctly, that is, in terms of God's written Word, is essential to living life correctly, under God's favor and direction. After all, Proverbs 23:7 says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. That is, you live like you live because you think like you think. To look at life from any other perspective than that of the Word of God, is to be stupid.
“ Bad leaders are God's judgment ” In this timeless message, Dr. Morecraft explains that America is on the threshold of the severe judgment of God as a nation. For well over 150 years, America has been moving deeper and deeper into hardened rebellion against God. And nothing makes that fact clearer than elections where most Americans vote for the lesser of two evils. The lesser of two evils is still evil. As Isaiah 3 makes clear, bad leadership is one of God's judgments on a nation.
“ A tree of life ” As Dr. Morecraft explains, the righteous man's righteous life is a tree of life to other people. It's not the source of other people's lives, but it is a means, it is an instrument, by which God encourages and enhances, improves and builds up the lives of other people who come in contact with this man. That's how powerful this man or woman can be in the culture in which he lives. If he's trusting in the Lord God Almighty, in Christ, for his life and salvation, and manifesting that trust by living a righteous, godly life of practical obedience day in and day out, he is going to enhance and improve the lives of other people around him. By living a righteous life you will be a tree of life to other people; to encourage, to improve, to enhance the lives of people around you.
1/9/2023 3:38 PM
