Carnality on SermonAudio

Verse by verse exposition through the book of Hebrews. (Sermon also includes the reading and exhortation from the Lord's Table liturgy) Heb 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

In this sermon, Pastor Linehan considers the difference between carnal and godly fear, along with several references to fear in the Scriptures.

In this message from John 6:24-29, Pastor Rockhill opens the preliminaries of the Bread of Life discourse, pressing the crowd's question of why they sought Jesus after the feeding of the five thousand. He shows that the multitudes followed Christ not out of saving faith but out of fascination with His signs, and worse, out of a carnal craving to be fed without labor. Their hearts had reduced the Savior to a provider of perishable bread. The central burden is the difference between temporary fulfillment and eternal blessing. Pastor Rockhill warns that signs are given to point beyond themselves to the truth they signify, drawing a careful parallel to the sacraments, which are signs and seals of grace rather than the salvation they represent. To fix upon the sign while missing Christ is spiritually and eternally dangerous. The heart of the passage is Christ's call to labor not for food that perishes but for food that endures to everlasting life, a gift freely given by the Son of Man whom the Father has sealed. When the crowd seizes on works, Pastor Rockhill answers with the gospel: eternal life is received, not earned, and even faith itself is the gift of God, lest any man boast. The application is searching and tender. Pastor Rockhill urges hearers not to harden their hearts or view Christ through the eyes of this material world, but to humble themselves, repent, and believe, feasting by faith on the everlasting food that Christ alone supplies.

This message is a sermon encouraging believers to yield to God's daily guidance rather than remaining stubborn or prideful in their faith. The speaker contrasts three animals mentioned in the Bible—the horse, the mule, and the donkey—with three types of people. He likens the proud, independent "natural man" to a horse that requires a bit and bridle, and the stubborn, self-protecting "carnal Christian" to a mule that refuses to work hard or take risks. Drawing on principles of parenting and passages like Psalm 32 and 1 Corinthians, the speaker urges the congregation to humbly accept God's instruction, avoid division, and simply be like the donkey, willingly following the Lord's gentle leading.

The sermon explores the distinction between human wisdom and the hidden wisdom of God revealed through the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that true faith rests in divine power rather than eloquent speech. It addresses the spiritual stagnation of the Corinthian church, urging believers to move beyond carnal behaviors like envy and division toward mature growth in Christ. The text highlights the necessity of the Holy Spirit for understanding spiritual truths, noting that the natural man cannot comprehend them without regeneration. Furthermore, it challenges Christians to build their lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, ensuring their works are of enduring value like gold and silver rather than perishable wood and stubble. The message concludes with an exhortation to honor the indwelling Spirit and remain vigilant for the return of the Lord.

The Canons of Dort The Fifth Head of Doctrine – The Perseverance of the Saints ARTICLE 12 – This doctrine of perseverance (that the saints may never be lost) does not work pride in man, but works humility, reverence, piety, patience, prayer, endurance in suffering, confession of the truth, and rejoicing. This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride, or of rendering them carnally secure, that on the contrary it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent prayers, constancy in suffering and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God; so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints. Not the source of pride. The source of humility. Canons of Dort: Certainty of perseverance does not make us careless. It makes us humble. Childlike reverence. Fervent prayer. Gratitude and good works —for the glory of the God who holds us. Not fire insurance.

Genesis 12:1-9