First Baptist Church of Phillipsburg Sermons

Matthew 11:1-15

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,    who will prepare your way before you.’

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;    let me never be put to shame;    in your righteousness deliver me!2 Incline your ear to me;    rescue me speedily!Be a rock of refuge for me,    a strong fortress to save me!

3 For you are my rock and my fortress;    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,    for you are my refuge.5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

6 I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,    but I trust in the Lord.7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,    because you have seen my affliction;    you have known the distress of my soul,8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;    you have set my feet in a broad place.

9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;    my eye is wasted from grief;    my soul and my body also.10 For my life is spent with sorrow,    and my years with sighing;my strength fails because of my iniquity,    and my bones waste away.

11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,    especially to my neighbors,and an object of dread to my acquaintances;    those who see me in the street flee from me.12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead;    I have become like a broken vessel.13 For I hear the whispering of many—    terror on every side!—as they scheme together against me,    as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;    I say, “You are my God.”15 My times are in your hand;    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16 Make your face shine on your servant;    save me in your steadfast love!17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame,    for I call upon you;let the wicked be put to shame;    let them go silently to Sheol.18 Let the lying lips be mute,    which speak insolently against the righteous    in pride and contempt.

19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,    which you have stored up for those who fear youand worked for those who take refuge in you,    in the sight of the children of mankind!20 In the cover of your presence you hide them    from the plots of men;you store them in your shelter    from the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord,    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me    when I was in a besieged city.22 I had said in my alarm,    “I am cut off from your sight.”But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy    when I cried to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints!    The Lord preserves the faithful    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the Lord!

Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place    in all generations.2 Before the mountains were brought forth,    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust    and say, “Return, O children of man!”4 For a thousand years in your sight    are but as yesterday when it is past,    or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,    like grass that is renewed in the morning:6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;    in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;    by your wrath we are dismayed.8 You have set our iniquities before you,    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.10 The years of our life are seventy,    or even by reason of strength eighty;yet their span is but toil and trouble;    they are soon gone, and we fly away.11 Who considers the power of your anger,    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days    that we may get a heart of wisdom.13 Return, O Lord! How long?    Have pity on your servants!14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,    and for as many years as we have seen evil.16 Let your work be shown to your servants,    and your glorious power to their children.17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,    and establish the work of our hands upon us;    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord,    how majestic is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory above the heavens.2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,you have established strength because of your foes,    to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,4 what is man that you are mindful of him,    and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings    and crowned him with glory and honor.6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;    you have put all things under his feet,7 all sheep and oxen,    and also the beasts of the field,8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,    a very present help in trouble.2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam,    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,    the holy habitation of the Most High.5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;    God will help her when morning dawns.6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;    he utters his voice, the earth melts.7 The Lord of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,    how he has brought desolations on the earth.9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;    he burns the chariots with fire.10 “Be still, and know that I am God.    I will be exalted among the nations,    I will be exalted in the earth!”11 The Lord of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

Selah

Psalm 80:1-19

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,    you who lead Joseph like a flock.You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,    shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.Awaken your might;    come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;    make your face shine on us,    that we may be saved.

4 How long, Lord God Almighty,    will your anger smolder    against the prayers of your people?5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,    and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, God Almighty;    make your face shine on us,    that we may be saved.

8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;    you drove out the nations and planted it.9 You cleared the ground for it,    and it took root and filled the land.10 The mountains were covered with its shade,    the mighty cedars with its branches.11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,    its shoots as far as the River.

12 Why have you broken down its walls    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?13 Boars from the forest ravage it,    and insects from the fields feed on it.14 Return to us, God Almighty!    Look down from heaven and see!Watch over this vine,15     the root your right hand has planted,    the son you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;    at your rebuke your people perish.17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.18 Then we will not turn away from you;    revive us, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;    make your face shine on us,    that we may be saved.

Amos 9

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:

“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,    and shatter them on the heads of all the people;and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;    not one of them shall flee away;    not one of them shall escape.

2 “If they dig into Sheol,    from there shall my hand take them;if they climb up to heaven,    from there I will bring them down.3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,    from there I will search them out and take them;and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;and I will fix my eyes upon them    for evil and not for good.”

5 The Lord God of hosts,he who touches the earth and it melts,    and all who dwell in it mourn,and all of it rises like the Nile,    and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens    and founds his vault upon the earth;who calls for the waters of the sea    and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—the Lord is his name.

7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,    O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,    and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,    and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,    except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”declares the Lord.

9 “For behold, I will command,    and shake the house of Israel among all the nationsas one shakes with a sieve,    but no pebble shall fall to the earth.10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,    who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

11 “In that day I will raise up    the booth of David that is fallenand repair its breaches,    and raise up its ruins    and rebuild it as in the days of old,12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom    and all the nations who are called by my name,”    declares the Lord who does this.

13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,    “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;the mountains shall drip sweet wine,    and all the hills shall flow with it.14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.15 I will plant them on their land,    and they shall never again be uprooted    out of the land that I have given them,”says the Lord your God.

Amos 7:1-9 and 8:1-14

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!    How can Jacob stand?    He is so small!”3 The Lord relented concerning this:    “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

4 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!    How can Jacob stand?    He is so small!”6 The Lord relented concerning this:    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line    in the midst of my people Israel;    I will never again pass by them;9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,    and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

8 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

“The end has come upon my people Israel;    I will never again pass by them.3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”declares the Lord God.“So many dead bodies!”“They are thrown everywhere!”“Silence!”

4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy    and bring the poor of the land to an end,5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,    that we may sell grain?And the Sabbath,    that we may offer wheat for sale,that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great    and deal deceitfully with false balances,6 that we may buy the poor for silver    and the needy for a pair of sandals    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.8 Shall not the land tremble on this account,    and everyone mourn who dwells in it,and all of it rise like the Nile,    and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,    “I will make the sun go down at noon    and darken the earth in broad daylight.10 I will turn your feasts into mourning    and all your songs into lamentation;I will bring sackcloth on every waist    and baldness on every head;I will make it like the mourning for an only son    and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,    “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,    but of hearing the words of the Lord.12 They shall wander from sea to sea,    and from north to east;they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,    but they shall not find it.

13 “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men    shall faint for thirst.14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,    and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’    they shall fall, and never rise again.”

Amos 6:1-14

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,    and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,the notable men of the first of the nations,    to whom the house of Israel comes!2 Pass over to Calneh, and see,    and from there go to Hamath the great;    then go down to Gath of the Philistines.Are you better than these kingdoms?    Or is their territory greater than your territory,3 O you who put far away the day of disaster    and bring near the seat of violence?

4 “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory    and stretch themselves out on their couches,and eat lambs from the flock    and calves from the midst of the stall,5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp    and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,6 who drink wine in bowls    and anoint themselves with the finest oils,    but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,    and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob    and hate his strongholds,    and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one’s relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, the Lord commands,    and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,    and the little house into bits.12 Do horses run on rocks?    Does one plow there with oxen?But you have turned justice into poison    and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,    who say, “Have we not by our own strength    captured Karnaim for ourselves?”14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,    O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;“and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath    to the Brook of the Arabah.”

Philippians 2:1-11

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.