Missed last Sunday’s message? No problem, listen online!
“When we come to consider the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we tend to think that Christ died so that I can live — and that is certainly part of it. But we also need to understand that the power of the cross is that Christ died so that I, if I am in Christ, am crucified with Christ and have died with him—died to myself and to sin.”
“…(T)he Bible is our first and last word on who God is. It is his very revelation of himself in writing. And it is the supreme source of our understanding of God and man, sin and salvation, Jesus and his Gospel. The reformers call this the doctrine of sola scriptura, or scripture alone. This means the final or highest authority on all matters is found in scripture, rest in God’s word alone, and that this authority is not to be shared by things like traditions or councils, popes or church leaders, science or reason,…or just how we feel. Which is to say, the Holy Bible stands above them all.”
“This is not a story about God’s people winning the battle. This is about the one who will go out before us and fight our battles. This is about the Lord of hosts, the God of armies who, through his anointed king, defeated the enemy of His people, prefiguring Christ Jesus, who doesn’t just help us to win the battles of life, but first he goes out before us, alone, to win the war. Only then does he call us to follow him in his victory. Like the Israelites, we are blessed to be a part of the clean-up action. Driving out the last remnant of our enemies — sin, death, and Satan — all who have already been wholly defeated by Christ…”
“Saul foolishly sought God’s favor with sacrifices gained through disobedience; an act that belittles God and treats him as not-holy. Such presumption reframes Saul’s partial obedience as total rebellion. We are not immune to such folly. Sin always wants to hide itself from discovery, and so we, like Saul, are prone to relabelling our failures to obey as partial obedience and then calling them a success. This happens when we fail to share the gospel and call it wisdom, because we might lose influence. We disobey God by cheating on our taxes, and then say that it is so that we can give more and be more generous…There are many such examples where we are prone to sanitizing our sin and calling it a win. We disobey and call it love. We disobey and call it wisdom. Like Saul, we trust our own motives, trust our own wisdom. We disobey and then take a victory lap announcing our success in obedience….”
“We are going to face lots of hard circumstances in our lives. But in those moments, I ask you church: what do we turn to? What do we turn to for comfort in those times of trouble? Do you bury yourself in your work? Do you buy yourself a new toy?…All of these things are temporal, they can’t actually heal our brokenness, they can’t save us from our problems…the best they can do is distract us for a moment. But the Spirit of God does the opposite. God shows us more of reality…”
“In my last sermon we saw God’s sovereignty in creation and in human interaction, God created what he wanted to create, he made what he wanted to make. Then he actively directs kings and countries, individuals and their relationships and interactions to his own ends. And now today, we see that God is sovereign in salvation as well…Paul handles these things conclusively. Saying all stand condemned, but God chooses to save some for his name’s sake. And even if it doesn’t sound fair, it certainly is just. If we had more time we’d read the next few verses, reminding us that the potter can do as he wishes to the clay. God is God, and he can do as he chooses…”
Tune in this morning as Matt Vanderleek from City Chapel in Red Deer preaches from Nehemiah 4:
“Faith that stands firm is faith that stays busy—watching, praying, and working because God fights for His people…Watch and work - faith is never idle. Faith is not a posture of passivity, it is one of perseverance….Arm and aim - faith prepares us for a fight. We have an enemy who is actively at work against us….Trust and triumph - faith works because GOD triumphs”
“Because of Saul’s unfaithfulness, God will give his kingdom to another; ‘a man after his own heart’ to whom He will grant an eternal covenant and promise an eternal kingdom. God’s response to human failure, time and again, is to establish and renew covenant with his people on the basis of God’s own faithfulness. This is the awesome mercy of God.”….Why was Saul rejected while David was accepted? The author emphasizes their similarities, not their differences. The story of David is not that God has finally found a better human who would be a better king. It is a story of God’s grace.”
“I, like Saul, am my own worst enemy. I give myself the benefit of the doubt when it comes to my own thoughts and intentions. We naturally trust in our own plans, sometimes even to the extent that we fail to seek God’s timeless instruction in his word, and fail to seek the timely leading of his Holy Spirit. Like Saul, we add to God’s word what we think are pious behaviors. We can add to the list of observances, and teach others to do the same. Or we prohibit ourselves activities and pleasures which God has not restricted. Such activities make us feel spiritual, but are the seeds of man-made religion and the fruit of pride…
But like Saul, there is a greater King above me. Christ our perfect King has already won the victory on our behalf, and teaches us to walk in it through obedience. His favor is already ours, expressed in his victory over sin and death on our behalf. He has rescued us from ourselves; slavery to our own sin and the oppression of our own man-made religions. Christ has established our victory and set before us a path of continual triumph and joy (no matter what circumstance and suffering come our way). And our Great King makes no foolish oaths to my detriment; no well-intended but stupid rules. All of his commands are good, leading to my greatest pleasure and abundant life.”
