I'll Be Honest

Is it possible that Jesus could come back at any moment? Or are there certain events that must take place first before He comes? And if so, have those events already happened, or do we yet still await them?

0:00 - What does imminent mean?
0:45 - Does the Bible anywhere say Jesus is coming soon? Revelation 3.11
3:38 - Tim reads the question that was sent in.
5:40 - What two signs does Scripture indicate that must happen before Christ can come? 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
11:59 - The Coming of the Lord and the Parousia is the same.
13:58 - Does the Bible tell us anywhere else what it will be like when Christ returns?
15:33 - Dispensationalism is new and has no historical roots.
16:44 - Christ's second coming will be like the days of Noah.
19:56 - What does this great falling away and rebellion look like?
23:25 - Who is the "man of lawlessness"? Who is the antichrist?
36:45 - Many professing believers have a wrong mindset of thinking, "He cannot come today because ______ has not been fulfilled!"
41:32 - How do you hasten the day of the Lord's coming? 2 Peter 3.12.

We must not give a ready-made Christian position. If we do, what will happen to the young Christian when he encounters something not ‘on the list’? If the guidance we give becomes dictation, it is no longer guidance, and that does despite to the Holy Spirit and to the man’s own personality. Is it right to advise a young Christian against a thing though he does not see it? If he acts on your dictum, it will be because you have spoken and not because of his understanding.

The New Testament appeal for holiness and sanctification is always an appeal to the reason of the believing man: an appeal to work out the doctrine in terms of practical life. We must ask: Is it right for us to take the position of conscience to another? That procedure produces smug, self-satisfied Christians. It makes them think they have arrived, and therefore, they stop thinking. It is a negative view of holiness. The thing that matters is not the figure we cut before people: but our ‘pressing unto Him’. The more people live the dictated life (as also in Roman and Anglo-Catholicism), the poorer the spiritual life. When a man has to fight and think these things out for himself, it makes him a strong man in Christ.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – The Fight of Faith 1939-1981 – Iain H. Murray (p. 173)

Christ gives us four examples that reveal our constant tendency to be watching out for ourselves and our self-interest. We are often in the defensive attitude and looking for insults and injuries that are done against us. Often the slightest disturbance can affect us. Yet Jesus calls us not to retaliate but to go the second mile and give to the one who begs from you. As we live out Matthew 5:38-42, we will find that our lives have a testimony that provides us with an evangelistic open door into people's lives.

Series: Sermon on the Mount #20

0:00 - Logo Intros
0:12 - Do not dance around and not let the text hit you.
7:20 - Reading the text Matthew 5.38-42
9:40 - What about turning the other cheek?
12:13 - Do not resist someone who does evil to you?
15:04 - What is the common thread between these four examples that Jesus gives?
20:08 - It is only the true Christian can only live out these verses.
24:05 - Example 1 - Do not retaliate.
31:54 - Illustration - Missionary Hudson Taylor not retaliating to someone who pushed him in the mud.
38:23 - Example 2 - Do not sue one another.
48:12 - Example 3 - Go the second mile.
52:32 - Example 4 - Give to the one who begs from you.
56:08 - Jesus describes conduct that has an evangelistic thrust and gives you a testimony with those you are living these realities out before.
1:02:30 - Closing prayer - Lord cleanse us from our idols.

How should a believer handle subjective feelings in the Christian life? What role, if any, do feelings and affections matter in our salvation and affirming the validity of our Christianity? Tonight we will consider what the Bible says about this topic of our feelings and emotions.

0:00 - Introduction
5:06 - Is Bill Bright's illustration entirely right?
8:43 - Colossians 3.10
9:56 - Where are you at in your feelings?
11:52 - What is wrong with the illustration?
20:43 - Psalm 42.5
33:18 - The concern of lacking these types of feelings in our lives.
39:50 - Temptation is not sin.
45:51 - Matthew 14
54:31 - Quote from Conrad Murrell
55:40 - Poem on Feelings
56:13 - Many struggle because they put too much focus on their feelings.
1:00:45 - This is a problem and we have to fight.
1:05:43 - Don't justify godless emotions.
1:06:46 - Is a women's cycle a valid reason?
1:07:38 - Walk by the Spirit and do not gratify sin.
1:09:44 - Do you trust your feelings over God's Word?
1:12:42 - Open Question and Answer Time

Are you part of a church that puts a major priority on prayer as the Scriptures do? If so, what is your level of commitment to the corporate prayer meeting?

Consider these twenty Scriptures about corporate prayer in the New Testament Church:

Mark 11:17, Luke 11:1, Luke 9:28-29, Matthew 26:36-41, Acts 1:14, Acts 1:24, Acts 2:42, Acts 3:1, Acts 4:24-31, Acts 6:4-6, Acts 8:14-15, Acts 12:5,12, Acts 13:2-3, Acts 14:23, Acts 16:13,16, Acts 16:25, Acts 20:36, Acts 21:5, 1Timothy 2:8, and James 5:14-16.

Consider these fifteen possible reasons folks don’t attend the church prayer meeting:
1. Scriptural ignorance.
2. Meeting time / place / format.
3. Bad habits.
4. Too busy.
5. Too lazy.
6. Difficulty with children.
7. Family leadership failure.
8. Undervalue spiritual fellowship.
9. Undervalue the benefit for your own soul.
10. Fear of man (pride).
11. Unmoved by the needs.
12. Unbelief about the power of prayer.
13. Lukewarmness toward God.
14. Satanic opposition.
15. Rejection of church leadership.

Jesus Christ forbids us from swearing and taking oaths in the well-known Sermon on the Mount. But the Bible also seems to permit and allow swearing in other places, both in the Old and New Testament. God, Himself is even listed as one of the Persons who swears. How can we reconcile this area of tension and come to a proper understanding of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount?

0:00 - Logo intro's
0:13 - Start of sermon, considering the verse, Matthew 5.33ff.
4:52 - When we hear "swear" we tend to think of profanity; but in Jesus' day foul language was not attaching to swearing.
6:10 - Numbers 30.2 is the only verse to use all three terms, swear, oath, and vow in the same verse.
13:12 - A list of verses dealing with vows.
16:08 - If swearing oaths are evil then why are there so many examples of this in Scripture?
33:05 - What is the real issue here in regards to taking oaths?
40:37 - Jesus wants honest people who are devoted to truth.
44:35 - In Psalm 119 David swore an oath to keep God's commandments.
50:05 - Closing prayer.

The Pharisees had a skewed view of marriage and divorce. They taught that you could divorce your wife for any reason as long as you give her a certificate of divorce. Jesus exposes their skewed teaching and declares the truth about marriage and divorce. In this sermon, Pastor Tim shows that marriage is a unity of a man and woman that God has brought together, and no man should separate. It is a serious and solemn commitment to one another for life.

Do you trust the Lord even when you have no feelings? We need to remember that God often withdraws His sensible presence from us to test and purify our faith. Will you still follow the Lord even when you don't "feel" Him with you? In this excerpt, Paul Washer considers a truth from Isaiah 50.

Jesus compares this war on lust with someone cutting off their own limb or gouging out their own eye. We must deal drastically with sin; this is the good fight of faith. But how are we able to defeat such a Goliath? Well, just like David defeated Goliath, we conquer lust by relying on the Lord as our help. We put to death lust by the Spirit of God!

Outline:
0:00 - Reading text Matthew 5.27-30.
1:31 - Opening prayer.
1:52 - Jesus overrides what has been said.
13:17 - The tenth commandment caused Saul issues.
15:09 - Jesus is speaking metaphorically when he says to radically remove these members.
17:48 - Is this the kind of Christianity that you have signed up for?
21:23 - Why is it that people go to Christ to be saved and don't get saved?
31:37 - People get very angry when you tell them their sexual sin is leading them to hell.
34:55 - John Piper describing the male eye.
37:16 - We need help; may we be the poor in spirit who rely on God's power.
41:18 - How do I tap into the Holy Spirit's power?
45:20 - An example of counsel a pastor gave to a man struggling with lust.
48:10 - More and more ladies are having lust problems.
48:45 - The basic math of the matter.
53:50 - What if someone asked you if you are falling into this? What would you be able to say?
57:11 - Think about David killing Goliath; may it be so with us verse our Goliath's.
1:01:40 - Closing prayer.

Preachers will often study and preach on the very issues that they are wrestling through in their own souls. They wrestle with God's Word to find clarity and Biblical truth to help them on these matters. Needs such as what are some ways that we can grow in grace in the Christian life? What are the pillars that we need to have firmly rooted in our souls to make progress in our heavenly pilgrimage?