Death on SermonAudio

Guillaume Bourdin | 23 August 2026 www.redemptionchurch.org.nz

(AI Generated Summary) The sermon explores the necessity of the new birth by defining the heart as the center of mind, desire, and choice. It argues that human decisions are driven primarily by what one loves rather than mere knowledge. Using Solomon and Jeroboam as examples, it illustrates how misplaced love leads to spiritual death and disobedience. The message emphasizes that regeneration involves receiving a new heart with a new capacity to love God supremely. Ultimately, choosing life requires prioritizing love for God above all else through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God slew an animal to make skins of clothing for Adam and Eve, thus establishing the fact that if a man wants to be right with God, have his sins forgiven, blood would be needed to be shed. And with the expulsion of the couple from the Garden, God established that from now now, a relationship with God would be 'by faith'. 'The Just shall live by his faith. Beginning with Hebrews 11:4, the preacher illustrates what it means to live by faith, by noting some of the heroes of faith. From Abel, we learn what it means to worship by faith. Abel offered his animal blood sacrifice by faith. And because he offered a better sacrifice, he obtained righteousness. And because he obtained a good report card, he speaks to us today of what it means to worship by faith. After Abel came Enoch. Enoch teaches us what it means to Walk by Faith. Enoch experienced the same close intimate relationship with God that Adam and Eve forfeited. He too was a righteous man who lived with fellowship with God. Walking with God implies reconciliation with God, the moral fitness to do so, surrender to God's authority, and continuing faith. Enoch walked with God for 300 years. He also stood for God, preaching to his generation about impending judgment. And after 300 years, Enoch walked into heaven, God taking him home without Enoch experiencing death. He was translated without dying. He was the first, but not the last. For the promise for believers alive at the return of Jesus, that they too will be taken to heaven without experiencing physical death! From Enoch we learn what it means to walk by faith, not by sight.

What is the real evidence that crisis at work through his church and servants? Real evidence is not self promotion or human credentials, but lives upon which Christ has written by his Holy Spirit

The sermon establishes marriage as a divine institution designed by God, rooted in the creation of male and female in Genesis and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew. It contrasts biblical definitions with worldly perspectives, emphasizing that marriage is a permanent union intended to last until death, not a conditional contract based on feelings. The speaker highlights the radical shift in priorities required when leaving parents to cleave to one's spouse, making the husband-wife relationship the primary human bond while keeping God supreme. Furthermore, the sermon explains that earthly marriage serves as an allegory for the relationship between Christ and the Church, calling husbands to sacrificial love and wives to respectful submission. Ultimately, the message urges believers to uphold this sacred design, recognizing it as a profound mystery that reflects spiritual truths.

Verse by verse exposition through the book of Hebrews. (Sermon also includes the reading and exhortation from the Lord's Table liturgy) Heb 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Is 64:5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. Rom 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The sermon proclaims Jehovah as the sole creator and savior, contrasting His sovereign power with the futility of human-made idols. It emphasizes that God has revealed Himself openly rather than in secret, inviting all nations to look to Him for salvation. The message connects Isaiah's prophecy to the New Testament revelation that Jesus Christ is the agent of creation and redemption. Through Christ's sinless life and sacrificial death, believers receive forgiveness and are made righteous before God. The preacher urges listeners to abandon false hopes and place their faith exclusively in Jesus as the only path to eternal life.

Dr. Chris Stevens, New Testament Professor at RTS-Jackson, preached this morning's sermon today while Rev. Dahl was out of town. To answer the question, "How does God save us?" Dr. Stevens uses three headings: 1. We are children of wrath 2. But God 3. Grace is for life