Tag Archives: sermons

Saulish Worship Pt. 3

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Sunset Prayer

Over the last few days we have been holding a discussion on holiness here at Lillie-Put. If you have missed any part of that discussion you can find it

HERE

OR HERE

Now let’s continue with today’s discussion.

We brought up the idea yesterday that there will be a group of people who are ejected from Heaven on judgment day because they are not known by God and because they broke God’s laws and refused to do His will…

Some of you are probably saying, “Pastor J that smacks of legalism. It sounds like you are saying that we are saved by our works and if we don’t do works we can’t get into Heaven.”

I am not saying that at all. In fact the people who Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7 have lots of good works. In fact it is those very works they fall back on when Jesus tells them to depart. Look at it,

Matthew 7:21-23New Living Translation (NLT)

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

The Bible is very clear, your good works in or out of church will not save you. It is the grace of God which comes into your lives through faith which saves you.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. …But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!… God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Eph. 2:1,4,5,8,9

Salvation, eternal life, forgiveness come to us only because of grace. That said, I am convinced that many people even in the church will miss salvation, eternal life, and forgiveness by inches because they have bought into a faulty definition of grace.

You see we have come to define grace as forgiveness of sins, and it is that. When we ask for God’s grace we get forgiven of all the wrong we have ever done. The Bible tells us that God actually overlooks our transgressions, but Grace doesn’t just forgive us. It’s more than just  super soap to wash away super sins. Grace is a power that once we receive it begins to change us. It actually turns us from one thing into another.

Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 5:17

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

I went to see a worship team in Manchester NH the other night called Rend Collective. In his opening remarks the lead guitarist of the band said, “If our Christianity doesn’t change us. If it doesn’t make us better. If it doesn’t make us love the world like Jesus did then maybe we didn’t really get Christianity the first time around.”

What do you think is there any such thing as Christianity without change?

Saulish Worship Pt. 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Sunset Prayer

Yesterday we began a new discussion series on the topic of holiness. If you missed this beginning you can find it

HERE

Scriptures like the passage from Matthew we shared yesterday are called “hard words”.

In I Timothy 2: 7 Paul the Apostle says,

And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth.

As preachers of the gospel, pastors are called to deal with the entirety of Scripture. We are told to preach the “sweet words” of faith and the “hard words” of truth. We are to encourage men and women with the mercy of God and at the same time warn our generation that while God is merciful, He is also the judge of all the Earth sworn to bring justice. We are called to preach the healing words and the words of Scripture that assault our senses. We are to remind men and women that the same God who will say, “Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord” to some, will say “Depart from me I never knew you.” To others.

Our generation is one which by nature and according to prophecy wants its ears tickled.

“Bring me a good word preacher man.” is on the lips of so many.

Our generation is the generation of unlimited do overs and no consequences.

I have actually had it said to me “You’re a pastor. You are supposed to love and support me in whatever I do like God does. You are not supposed to try to change me.”

To which I reply, “I cannot change you but God MUST CHANGE YOU if ever you are to see Heaven.”

I have struggled with this message because the words  from Matthew 7 are hard words. Words of judgment. Words that remind us not everyone will be entering Heaven. Harder still because these verses indicate that not even everyone who calls themselves a Christian will enter into Heaven.

The people in our story from Matthew Chapter 7 are not Buddhists; They are not Muslim; They are not Hindu. They call Jesus Lord. These people would call themselves Christians. They believe in Jesus. More than that these people are not just pew warmers. They are active in their churches. They are active in ministry AND they are active in supernatural ministry…And yet they do not make it to Heaven. Why?

Well Jesus gives us two reasons in these verses.

First reason…Jesus says, “I never knew you.” Ma 7:23:

It is possible to believe in Jesus as God; It is possible To believe in the historical Jesus; It is even possible to believe in His resurrection and not have a relationship with Jesus.

It is possible to work for the church; It is even possible to perform miracles in the name of Jesus and still not have a relationship with Jesus.

Paul, the Apostle said it was possible to do all the works of ministry and still miss Heaven. He said it this way in speaking of himself.

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 Cor. 9:27

And that leads us to the second reason these people are rejected

Jesus says they are rejected because… they broke God’s laws and because they did not do the will of the Father in Heaven. Ma7: 21,23, 26

Do you think there is a difference between breaking God’s laws and not doing the will of the Father in Heaven?

Saulish Worship Pt. 1

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

I had the wonderful opportunity to preach once again at Cornerstone Church in Winchendon MA yesterday. We are walking through a study on the need for holiness and the title of my sermon was Saulish Worship.

Carried on the backs of angels

Carried on the backs of angels

Here is the opening to that sermon:

Today we continue our study along with John Bevere through the Book Good Or God. My thoughts spring (loosely) from chapters 4 and 5 of that book and we will be dealing with a passage of Scripture in the book of Matthew chapter 7: 21-27

True Disciples

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Building on a Solid Foundation

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”.’

As we begin what about these verses stands out to you?

The Law In the Grace Pt. 7

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Restoring Connection

Restoring Connection

Today we conclude our discussion on the authority of the Bible. If you have missed any part of the discussion it can be found in segments in the links below

PT. 1

PT. 2

PT. 3

PT. 4

PT. 5

PT. 6

It all comes down to this; The way we view the Word of God, the Bible, is going to affect our understanding of good and of God. If the way we view the Bible is incorrect then our understanding of God and good will be incorrect. The church today is teetering on the brink of a lot of wrong choices simply because she has forsaken a high view of Scripture.

Some, in the church, choose to believe that not everything in the Bible is God’s Word. They believe they can pick and choose what they like from the Bible and discard the rest. They end up with a sweet sounding watered down faith that has no power.

Others have chosen to believe that they can mix the Bible with other religions and come out with a better religion than any the Earth has ever seen. That is the religion of antichrist and it is the lamplit path to Hell.

Still others have accepted the Bible as the Word of God but they believe that only parts of it are for today because they believe God’s grace has delivered us from the rules of the Bible so we don’t have to obey them. Those people are making shipwreck of their faith and are making a mockery of grace before the eyes of unbelievers.

 Finally, there are many in the church who believe every word written in the Bible but they don’t actually know those words because they have let the Devil busy them right out of Bible study. Their lives in the days to come will be ineffective, not because their belief was wrong but simply because they didn’t make it important in their day-to-day life.

Today the church is in need of great repentance not FROM something but TO something. If you are not already there God is asking you to repent TOWARD a high view of Scripture again.

Maybe one of the attitudes we discussed over the last several days has grabbed hold of you, slipped in unawares. Maybe as you have read my words you have realized you need to get rid of that attitude. In order to get rid of an attitude you have to replace it with something better. If you need to take a higher view of Scripture this morning. If you need to make Scripture, the Bible, more important in your day-to-day living would you pray with me now?

PRAYER: 

Lord I am coming to you today. And I am rededicating myself to you and I am rededicating my attention to your Word, the Bible. From now on Lord I give this Word place in my life as the only infallible authoritative word for my faith and doctrine. If you say it in your Bible God I believe it and that settles it from now on. Amen.

The Law In the Grace Pt. 6

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

 Sunset Prayer

Over the last several days we have been discussing the topic of biblical authority and four mindsets that undermine it. Not only do these mindsets call into question the authenticity or power of the Bible, they weaken the connection between men and God.

If you missed any of these discussions they can be found at the links bellows:

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Pt. 3

Pt.4

Pt. 5
Today we will discuss the fourth mindset that hinders a biblical lifestyle.

the final attitude that weakens the authority of the Bible and which keeps Christians from knowing what is really good and what is really God is the one that is most prevalent in the church today.

It is the mindset that says,

  • I believe everything in the Bible is true. I believe that God only reveals himself through the Bible but I don’t know what He has revealed about himself because I never read it.

Folks, we can say we believe everything written in the Bible is true, but if we don’t have one sweet clue what the Bible actually says about our practical lives then the Devil still wins,

David said in Psalm 119 :9-11

How can a young person stay pure?

By obeying your word.

10I have tried hard to find you—

don’t let me wander from your commands.

11I have hidden your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

The Prophet Hosea wrote these words,

“6my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also reject you as my priests;

because you have ignored the law of your God,

I also will ignore your children.” Hosea 4:6

 

The truth is we can believe all the right things and if we fail to study them, meditate on them and most of all apply them in practical ways in our lives the Devil still wins.

How often do you find yourself busied right out of Bible study?

The Law In the Grace Pt. 4

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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Over the last several days we have been discussing the authority of the Bible in the realm of defining absolute truth.

If you missed our previous three discussions you can find them

HERE

HERE

AND HERE

In our previous discussions I asserted that there are four mindsets concerning the Bible that keep people from coming into a deep relationship with God and an understanding of what is truly good.

Today we are dealing with the second mindset.

The second attitude or mindset  I see threatening the authority of the Word of God in our lives is one that says

  • The Bible is not the only Word of God. God has chosen to reveal Himself in other religions.

This is the Spirit of the New Age and frankly the Bible calls this mindset “the spirit of antichrist.”

John the Beloved warns us,

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3

The Bible tells us that in the time of the Tribulation, that great judgment of the Earth by God, the antichrist shall rise to power. He shall have a servant. This is what is said about that servant in the Book of Revelation

“11Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. 14And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. 15He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.” Rev. 13:11-15

In that time men and women will willingly worship the antichrist because they will have come to a place where they believe that God is not just the god of the Bible but He is in all things and all manifestations that dare call themselves god; so worshipping the antichrist will not seem like such a stretch after all they will say, “truth can be found in all religions not just Christianity.”

As Christians we must come to understand that God does not reveal himself through other religions. Satan may inject bits of truth into false religion to make it look appealing, even right, but that is a snare laid to catch unwary souls.

Paul wrote these words to warn people off of this attitude when he wrote to the Galatians,

6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.c You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Gal. 1:6-9

People who hold onto these wrong views of the Word of God will tell you that we are free to do anything we want with the Bible. If we want we can cut whole portions out of it because we don’t like them or because they are “old-fashioned”, OR if we like another religion’s Scriptures we are welcome to put them right alongside the Bible and follow the pieces of both that we like.

I am here to tell you that there is a law in the grace of God. The law in the grace of God requires that grace be applied to our lives according to biblical patterns and according to the covenants of God. If we violate the covenants of the Bible, if we take away or add to them, then the Covenants will not work. Grace will not work.

God’s grace does not cover everyone as some would have us believe. God’s grace only covers those who attach themselves to God through the covenants, the binding agreements which are found in the Bible.

We understand this in the business world.  If you need work done on your house you hire a contractor. The contractor of your choice comes to your home and has you sign a contract. Once you have signed the contract you expect that contractor will show up and do the work. No one in their right mind would think that because they signed a contract with Tim Slocum that Bob Smith is going to show up and do the work. That would be ridiculous. Conversely no one would go out and think they should hire seven contractors for one job because they liked Tim’s personality but Dan’s work and Sam’s billing method would they? No! You choose one contractor and work with that one.

Why do we think it should be different with spiritual matters?

But that is exactly what  people are doing.

They say, “I like this part of Christianity and that part of Islam and that part of Buddhism so I will mash them all together and get something wonderful.”

 That is the spiritual equivalent of hiring seven contractors to fix the paneling in your 10x 16 living room. It doesn’t work because there is a law in the grace and the grace of Jesus only works if you sign on with Him alone as the spiritual contractor of your life.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

The Law In the Grace Pt. 3

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Restoring Connection

Restoring Connection

Yesterday I was privileged to share the message at Cornerstone Church in Winchendon MA. I shared a sermon entitled, “The Law In the Grace”.

The first two parts of that sermon have been shared here on LIllie-Put. You can find them by going

HERE

and

HERE

I f you have been reading you know that we have introduced the notion that there are four mindsets concerning the Bible which can stifle the believer’s devotion to God.

The first mindset is one that our lead pastor alluded to last Sunday and I want to touch on it again.

It is the mindset that says,

  • The Bible contains some of the words of God and it also contains a lot of things that were only from men. So we cannot trust all of it only parts of it.

Brothers and sisters if I thought that was true I would stop being a Christian today. Christianity is based on the concept that the Bible is the Word of God and if we cannot trust its revelation of God then we cannot trust that we can know God at all. The power of Christianity is found in a little book in the New Testament called Colossians.

 In it Paul, the Apostle writes to the Colossian people and says,

25God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Col. 1:25-27

If the Bible isn’t reliable from front to back, then it is not reliable at all. Chiefly because it claims that it is reliable from front to back. So if what I come to is that I don’t think the Bible is reliable in its entirety, then I have to accept that the Bible has lied about itself and so is as all liars are unreliable

If the Bible isn’t reliable at all then we cannot trust at all that the secrets of God are revealed by it and therefore we cannot use it as a reliable source for coming to God.

As Pastor Risto taught last week as soon as we say the Bible is not the only word of God or only some of the Bible is the Word of God then all of it becomes suspect. Frankly, the whole story of Jesus becomes suspect because the Bible is the primary source for our information about Jesus. If it’s possible that the Bible is not true then it is also possible that what we know about Jesus is untrue. That means it’s possible that Jesus might not be able to save us from our sins. If that’s true then our faith is in vain.

Christianity requires a high level of faith in the Word of God and can I just say, I have placed a high level of faith in the word of God for 35 years and every time… EVERY TIME I have put my faith in the Word of God it has paid off. Every time I have used the Word of God as the basis for my life I have been blessed. Even when things seemed to go sideways in life as long as I continued to practice the Word of God I was blessed in the end. On the other hand in those times when I neglected the Word of God and didn’t follow it as my guide things always fell apart no matter how many good things came my way.  The Word of God does not fail!

The Law In the Grace Pt. 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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I am preaching a message this morning entitled, “The Law In the Grace”. This is excerpt number two from that sermon if you missed the opening of our discussion. You can catch it

HERE

Now on to today’s discussion:

The New Covenant (which we spoke about yesterday) is our hope folks. It is why we gather on Sunday mornings to worship God. This binding agreement with God says that anyone who comes to Jesus and accepts Him as Lord of their lives, anyone who will believe in Christ’s power to forgive and in the power of Christ’s resurrection from the dead will be saved unto eternal life. That is good news and it is good news we find only in the Bible, God’s book of covenants.

We have been studying from John Bevere’s book, Good or God,  over the last several weeks and in that time we have established several facts.

  • There are things in the world that seem good and even may have aspects of good in them but they are not of God.
  • Many things may seem good or right in our eyes as humans but because they are not of God they actually lead to death.
  • Because of “the Fall” mankind’s perception of reality is skewed and so we cannot rely on our heart or emotions to tell us what is really good or of God. Because of sin in our lives we can even sometime end up calling good evil and evil good.
  • God has given us His Word, His book of covenants or binding agreements to show us what is really good and really God and what is not. That Word is the Bible and the Bible is the only Scripture. Both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man. The Bible is the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

That is a review of the foundation that Pastor Risto has already laid. I would like to add to that foundation this morning by continuing to speak about the authority of the Word of God. This is important stuff because the Word of God is our foundational revelation of God. Let me explain that another way. God, the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit is the foundation of our faith. But the only way we know about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is through the Bible. Only the Bible reveals to us who God really is. Without it we have no understanding of God we can trust. You may ask, “Pastor Jay what about experience, what about the gifts of prophecy, what about dreams and visions, what about other religions?”

Every one of those things is second to the Bible. The Bible is the litmus test for every other truth. If our experience teaches us something that is contrary to the Word of God then our understanding of that experience must change. If a dream or a prophecy or a word of wisdom contradicts Scripture it is in error and I do not care who delivers the dream, vision or word. It must be thrown out. If another religion contradicts the Bible, then it is error plain and simple and is not speaking the truth.

The Word of God is the only infallible, authoritative Word of faith and doctrine and the only source of knowing good and evil that will never fail us. There is an old song we used to sing in youth group and it went something like this.

“If Jesus said it I believe it. It’s His Word He cannot lie. If it’s written in the Bible I’ll believe it till I die. Until the mountains be removed and be cast into the sea if Jesus said it I’ll believe it that’s good enough for me.”

 

In these days when that song had largely been forgotten. I see four attitudes arising concerning the Bible that are eroding the Bible’s influence and which are destroying people’s trust in the Bible and are destroying people’s grip on what is truly good and what is truly God….

Tune in again tomorrow for more of “The Law In the Grace.”

The Law In the Grace Pt. 1

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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I will be preaching a message at Cornerstone Church tomorrow entitled, “The Law In the Grace”. Our subject matter is the importance of the Bible in judging what is right, good and of God.

Over the next few days I will be publishing the sermon in bits and pieces. Here for your perusal is our launching point.

Our Scripture study this morning begins by introducing us to the fact that God is a God who operates in the world  by covenants.

 How many of you know that God is a God who makes binding agreements with people? Whether you know it or not God has offered to make a binding agreement with you today. He is just waiting for you to sign on the dotted line, so to speak.

God talks about His newest covenant, or binding agreement, with mankind in the Book of Hebrews, There He says,

“Here is the main point: ….

now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,     when I will make a new covenant     with the people of Israel and Judah. 9 This covenant will not be like the one     I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand     and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant,     so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. 10 But this is the new covenant I will make     with the people of Israel on that day,[c] says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds,     and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God,     and they will be my people. 11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,     nor will they need to teach their relatives,[d]     saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest,     will know me already. 12 And I will forgive their wickedness,     and I will never again remember their sins.”[e]

13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

…by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. “Hebrews 8:1-9:15 (excerpted)

What is the importance of this covenant to you?

The Whole Counsel Of God

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Prove. 9:10

“Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for, through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.” Prov. 16:6

“For God so loved the world he gave His only son that whoever believes in him should ot perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God- not of works so that no man can boast.

” Eph. 2:8

A young preacher recently preached a real old-fashioned barn-burner of a sermon at our church. You know one of those messages that called the people not just to confess their sins and ask Jesus for forgiveness but a message about how it was necessary to let God change you… to repent.

I had someone approach me afterwards a little upset that we felt the need to address people in their sins and tell them that they had to get the problems “fixed”. I was reminded that the Christian life is all about grace and God’s love and that we ought to focus on pointing people to Jesus rather than pointing out people’s sins.

A few weeks before this I sat with a couple who lamented that preaching about sin had left our pulpits and that Christianity had become a “feel good faith” rather than one that produced actual healing.

WHO’S RIGHT?

Ah and there you find the conundrum that confronts pastor’s everyday.

The battle of whom to listen to about what should be preached from the pulpit is an impossible one to win if you are considering what people want to hear. Pastor’s aren’t called to preach what people want to hear. They are called to preach what people need to hear. ..The whole counsel of God as it is revealed in Scripture.

This is not a popularity contest we are competing in. It is a battle for souls and communities of souls at that. We can no more preach just the love of God than we can preach just the judgment of God. Every congregation is comprised of people who need the tenderest touch of God’s mercy and of people who need the hardest kick in the pants the   Holy Spirit can deliver.

The fear of God needs to be preached and it needs to be lived. The mercy of God needs to be preached and it needs to be received.

If your preacher is not preaching both the fear of the Lord and the mercy of the Lord then you are getting short-changed. Conversely if you are not living in both the fear of the Lord and the mercy of the Lord you are short-changing your church and the Lord.

Folks this is not about our preferences or what we like. It is about truth and balance and serving a God who died for us!