Living Rock Church

By Living Rock Church

A Pentecostal and Reformed Balance!... more

2

11 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Living Rock Church:

How many episodes does Living Rock Church have?

The podcast currently has 423 episodes available.

Living Rock Church episodes:

July 05, 2020 Job 6 – What Are Friends For?
This is Job’s first response since we heard from him in Job 3. He admits that he has been ‘rash’ with his words, even though he did wait 7 days and 7 nights before speaking. But he now feels that he has to give a response to the counsel of Eliphaz from Job 4-5.
Job reminded his “friends” that he wasn’t made of stone, that he was flesh and bone, and that he didn’t have the strength within himself to endure and hope for a good outcome, such as what Eliphaz had said was possible for the one who truly believed God (See Job 5:24-27). But he also said that he feels let down by his friends, and that, “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend” (See Job 6:14-23), and that his friends and brothers should be a source of refreshing to him. We were reminded of Prov.18:24 which says, ‘A man who has friends MUST himself be friendly‘, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother‘, and the question is asked, “What kind of a friend would you be? Are you one that is like a well of water or a river of life?” (See John 4:10, 13-14; 7:37-39), or are you like ‘clouds without water’, such as those mentioned in Jude v.12?
When it comes to proving that we are righteous, we shouldn’t need to be looking to others for their opinion, like Job seems to be doing in vv.24-30. We can have great confidence by looking to Rom.8:33-34; 8:1, to see that once we have been ‘Justified‘, there is nobody and nothing that can reverse or overturn God’s verdict. And even if and when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). Therefore we can thank God that though the enemy will accuse and slander us (See Rev.12:10), “If God be FOR US, who can be AGAINST US? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS…NOTHING SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom.8:31-39).
The post Job 6 – What Are Friends For? appeared first on Living Rock Church.
...more
31min
June 28, 2020 Job 4 & 5 – Eliphaz Has A Jab At Job!
Today we began actually with the last verse of the third chapter, in which Job said, “I cannot relax! And I cannot settle! And I cannot rest! And agitation keeps coming back!” (Job 3:25 translated by Francis I Anderson in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Job). As you may readily see, this translation is somewhat different from what you may read in the KJV, which is rather odd, or the NKJV. So we are left with Job in a state of agitation and weary. It is at this point that Eliphaz, who may have been the eldest, since he spoke up first from Job’s three friends. Job wasn’t asking Eliphaz particularly for his counsel, but Eliphaz was going to give it anyway! Eliphaz describes to us something about Job that we would not have known otherwise, and that was that Job had been one that those in need, the weak and the feeble had gone to for help, and he had helped. But then Eliphaz seems to be saying, “But Job, the shoe is now on the other foot! I wonder will you take a dose of your own medicine and see how you like it (vv.4-5). Then Eliphaz “sucker punches” Job with a challenge to his ‘reverence’ and ‘integrity’ (v.6). We may wonder at the theology of Eliphaz, maybe expecting it to be off! But in fact it would be hard to find any fault with it (cf. Gal.6:7; Hos. 10:13), even though much of it could be based on what he has seen, or observed, or wether it is based on a “supernatural manifestation” that he has had (See vv.7-11, 12-16). We are not told whether the “spirit” that appeared to him and spoke to him was of the LORD or was demonic, and so we need to be discerning (See 1 Jn.4:1-3; 1... Read More
...more
27min
June 21, 2020 Job 3 – “Paint Me Boils And All”
It had been 7 days and 7 nights of silence as Job sat in the ashes with his three best friends (Job 2:13). Finally Job broke the silence! What would he say? Would he finally crack and curse God and die (See Job 2:9)? Did he curse God, his enemies, the weather, the disease, or his wife? No! Did he curse himself? No! He just lets off steam and curses the day of his birth, moaning that it would have been better that he had never even been born. The next best thing, Jobs thinks, would have been to have died at birth. And in the rest of the chapter (vv.11ff) Job asked a lot of “Why?” questions. We aren’t told that he was asking God, or his three friends. Perhaps he was just thinking out loud. The text of this chapter does give us some insight into the way the ancients thought about life after death – that there was a certain freedom from the things of this world. It isn’t until we come to the New Testament that we are informed that there is a place of comfort and another place or torment (See Lk. 16:19-31; Jn.11; Acts 17:30-31; Rev. 20:11-15). What was it that Job so greatly feared? We are told that Job said, ‘For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me’ (v.25). Over the years I read books and heard sermons that left us with the impression that Job’s problems were caused by himself because he had “let his hedge down”, that he “opened the door to the devil through fear”, that “he had stopped operating in faith and was operating in fear”! Where in the text does it ever say any of that? Such Bible teachers have... Read More
...more
28min
June 14, 2020 Job 2 – What Will A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul?
In the last chapter, Satan thought that if Job lost all his possessions and those dear to him, that he would surely curse the LORD right to His face! And yet instead of that, Job worshipped the LORD. Now it is Round 2 or Chapter 2, and Satan says that a man would do anything to save his own skin and bones, or his own life (See Mk.8:34-38). So he is permitted to strike Job, which he does with painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. We seem to hear ‘the hiss of the serpent’ speaking through Job’s wife, as she says, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Job points out to his wife that she speaks like one of the foolish women speaks, because she couldn’t see that they should accept both GOOD from God AND ADVERSITY!I know that there are many in ‘the faith camp’ who would be screaming at this point saying, “No! Evil and trouble don’t come from God, that only comes from the devil!”Perhaps they have never read what the inspired, God-breathed Word says next: ‘IN ALL THIS JOB DID NOT SIN WITH HIS LIPS‘ (Job 2:10). Finally we read of Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who had heard of all the adversity that had come upon Job, and they came to just sit and mourn and comfort Job. Our takeaway from this is that there are times when we should just sit and say nothing to those in pain and suffering. They don’t need your opinion or advice but just that you would be there. And lastly, I wonder how many of us, facing even a tiny amount of what Job went through would have thrown in the towel and started cursing God or blaming this... Read More
...more
28min
June 07, 2020 Job 1 Part 2 – Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?
Everything was going well for Job until all of a sudden he is hit with one bad report after another. The only reason why we know what was going on is because we get to see behind the scenes in vv.6-12, but Job didn’t have that insight. Any one of those events that took place in vv.13-19 would be enough to knock the life out of anyone. These were ‘apparently’ natural occurrences in the life of a person living in the Ancient Near East. There was always the danger of being attacked or robbed by bandits, of natural disasters etc. Job would not have assumed that Satan was behind any of this. We have the benefits of reading the story of Job (whereas Job didn’t) and we have Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where in Eph.6:12 we are told that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. That unseen spiritual realm is not only the place of the devil and spiritual hosts of evil but the place where God and angels dwell. It is also the place in which believers dwell (See Eph.2:1-6), even though we are still living here on this earth. When Job heard all these bad reports he responded in grief and mourning, and then he fell down and worshipped (v.20)! So no, he did not curse God to His face, but rather acknowledged that nothing happens except that which is permitted by the LORD. In the end of the chapter we read that Job went on to say, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (v.21). I know that there are... Read More
...more
28min
May 31, 2020 Job 1 Part 1 – All Things Working Together For The Good!
What do we do when things go from being great, blessed, and peaceful, to where the bottom falls out of our world? Was it not for such wonderful texts as Rom.8:28, which states, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose‘, we might be completely in the dark! The alternatives are ‘bad luck’, ‘karma’, or in the words of Richard Dawkins, ‘The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect IF THERE IS, at bottom, no evil, no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference!’ – Not the most encouraging words to hear when tragedy strikes! The Bible however shows that God is fulfilling His Plans and Purposes, and it is about Him and the Power of His Word both in Creation and the upkeep and sustaining of His creation (See Gen.1; Ps.33:9; Heb.1:3; Isaiah 55:10-11; Ps.33:8-11). So when we “consider” the man called Job, found in the Book of Job, and how everything was going great for him (See Job 1:1-5), we would have no clue that some seriously bad stuff is about to happen. But between vv.6-12 we are given, as it were a peek behind the scenes into an unseen realm, and something that Job would never get to know about. We see “The Satan” or adversary coming to a meeting which was between God and ‘the sons of God’ (which some believe was between God and the angels, possibly in heaven, but we are never told who the sons of God are or the location of this meeting). Satan had been roaming around the earth (See Job 1:7; 1 Pet.5:8; Matt.12:43-45). The strangest thing is that the LORD draws Satan’s attention to His servant Job. We might say, “Now why did He have to go and do that?” Does that reveal that we have more fear of Satan... Read More
...more
30min
May 24, 2020 The Model Prayer (AKA “The Lord’s Prayer”) – Part 6.
This is the 6th and last part of ‘The Model Prayer’ series, and today we looked at the last line as found in Matt.6:10 (NKJV), where it reads, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Amen. When we think of the kingdom we should think about who the King is who reigns as the ONLY Sovereign in the Universe, and look at Scriptures that speak of God’s Free Will. Unfortunately there are world-renowned Bible teachers who have stated that “the teaching of the Sovereignty of God is the worst doctrine in church today.” And this is most likely due to them presenting a straw-man argument based on the idea that such a Biblical doctrine as understood by some is that “everything is God’s will” and so therefore we sing, “Que sera sera, whatever will be will be.” But is that the Biblical Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God? What actually ends up happening is that those who oppose the Sovereignty of God exalt the “free will of man” as that which cannot be touched and that even God would never violate a man’s “free will”! Clearly those who oppose this doctrine have never read the story of Jonah found in the Bible, where quite clearly God can be very persuasive. Nor do they understand that man is bound in sin until he is regenerated (Born Again). Let me recommend two great books on this subject: ‘The Bondage of the Will’ by Martin Luther, and ‘The Freedom of the Will’ by Jonathan Edwards. For evidence of God’s Freedom to do as He pleases, see Ps.115:3 and Ps.33:8-11. This is in opposition to the “supposed” mighty “free-will” of unregenerate men, who show their anger at God’s Sovereign control of all things (Ps.2). God ALONE has total and complete authority as ‘The ONLY Potentate, the King of kings and Lord or... Read More
...more
30min
May 17, 2020 The Model Prayer(AKA “The Lord’s Prayer”) – Part 5.
In this sermon we covered Matt.6:13 and Lk.11:4 which says, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (NKJV). However this is a discrepancy with the translations, with some omitting the last line, “…but deliver us from the evil one”, and some which have “…and deliver us from evil”, such as the KJV. This is because that last line is absent from several of the most important early witnesses, representing the text of Matthew in use in various parts of the church from the 2nd Century, which convinces most scholars that it was not in the original text (though in use very easy and over a wide area), and it is absent from all texts of Luke. In our desire to be led by the Holy Spirit, we can be sure that God would never lead us into temptation (See Jas.1:13-15). And if we are tempted, we should not think that there must be something seriously wrong with us, since even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh, was tempted in all points, just like us (See Heb.4:15). This by the way creates a theological problem, since as we saw in Jas.1:13-15, God is not tempted with evil, and yet Jesus, the God-Man was. And Matt.4:1ff go so far as to say that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ‘to be tempted by the devil’! This discrepancy also can be solved by noting that the word ‘peirazo‘ translated in Matt.4:1, 3 in Matthew’s Gospel, always signifies ‘testing‘. In its 36 New Testament occurrences, it is only ‘tempting to do wrong‘ in 1 Cor.7:5 and Jas.1:13-14. For some other New Testament examples where the word means ‘test‘, see Jn.6:6 and 2 Cor.13:5. We are to be led by the Spirit (See Rom.8:14), and in the midst of temptations, tests, and trials (See Jas.1:3; 1 Pet.4:12), we can ask God for wisdom (Jas.1:5-8) so that we can... Read More
...more
34min
May 10, 2020 The Model Prayer (AKA “The Lord’s Prayer”) – Part 4.
Today we covered line 4 of The Model Prayer wherein we ask for forgiveness from God our Father, but also are expected to forgive those who have sinned against us. But can we be sure that we are being genuine in our repentance if in fact the heart of man is so evil and deceitful (See Jer.17:9-10)? David knew this and even prayed that the LORD would create within him a clean heart (See Ps.51). And did you know that even after we have been Born Again, sin still keeps popping up. Let us not think that Christians do not sin (See 1 Jn.1:8), and that as Jesus taught, “From the heart proceed…” all these evil things…and its not just the unregenerate. We have been forgiven much, but also need to learn to forgive those who have sinned against us, such as Jesus taught in Matt. 18:21-35.
...more
36min
May 03, 2020 The Model Prayer (AKA “The Lord’s Prayer”) – Part 3.
In this third part of this series we take time to look at praying for our “daily bread”! Does this mean that the Lord has promised to provide only our bread, much like He provided for the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years with manna from heaven? Well the fact that He also provided quail, and the Psalmist referred to this provision as ‘the bread of heaven ‘ (Ps. 105:40), would suggest that ‘bread’ is just another way of saying ‘food’. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, when responding to the devil’s temptation to turn stones into bread, quoted from Deut.8:3 (See Matt.4:1-4). We may wonder Jesus why would refer to this passage (Deut.8:1-5). There may be at least three reasons: He knew He was being tested to see what was in His heart and whether or not He would obey the LORD’s commands. That man only lives at God’s command, as do all living things (See Heb.1:3; Acts 17:26-28; and Ps.104:24-30). Man is “staying alive” because of God’s Word! That Jesus was saying that we need spiritual food to sustain the inner man. I believe all these are true, but I am focusing mostly on the last reason. Jesus had food that His own disciples did not know about (John 4:32), and He wasn’t referring to a secret stash of food hidden in His backpack. He referred to the food of doing His Father’s will (vv.34ff). Later on in John’s Gospel, Jesus referred to Himself as ‘The Bread of Life’ that had come down from heaven, given by The Father (John 6:26-27, 32-33, 35, 41-42, 48, 50-51, 58), and yet also said that His Words were Spirit and they are Life (John 6:63). We who have been BORN AGAIN / REGENERATED start off our New Life in Christ ‘desiring the pure milk of the... Read More
...more
38min

FAQs about Living Rock Church:

How many episodes does Living Rock Church have?

The podcast currently has 423 episodes available.