on a light to the nations and prayer

The busy season is upon us! I suppose this is not a good time to be trying to set up my new web venture, but we want to be ready to use it not only as a resource for our sermons but as an evangelistic tool by the time January rolls around. Much is yet to be done, but we are stepping forward bit by bit.

I am going to adapt our sermon summaries in this space a bit since I am now providing both audio and outline on the web site. I will do less summarizing and try to sum up the appeal the main idea of the message had to me as I prepared and delivered it.

Here are the latest instalments:

Galilee of the Gentiles (Mt 4.12-17) Audio Notes

Have you ever considered the difference between Judea and Galilee? Galilee is part of the old northern kingdom of Israel, and as far back as the judges was only tenuously held by the Israelites. Galilee always had a Gentile influence. During the time of Christ, Galilee held a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. Why did Jesus spend the bulk of his ministry there?

Isaiah spoke of a light that would come to lighten the Gentiles. Think about what it meant for the Gentiles of Galilee who saw the light of Christ right in their presence? And think now of the light of Christ in our Gentile world? And think about the many many nations immigrating to our shores - Christ is a brilliant light for them as well.

All of this light is wrapped up in the name 'Galilee of the Gentiles'. What grace God brought down to man!

Ask (Lk 11.5-10) Audio Notes

Do you ever get discouraged in prayer? Do you faint along the way? Do you know that the Lord doesn't want you to feel that way?

The parable of the friend at midnight is a picturesque promise (and kind of a backhanded one at that) that the Lord answers prayer. You can count on it. And you can always count on the Lord's answer being good, better than you could ask or think.

But it does seem that the answers start with the asking. The Lord wants you to ask. Do you feel your prayers lack? Then ask. Do you feel the Lord is far away? Then ask. Just ask and keep on asking.

A good deal of our spiritual life is simply missed because we do not pray.

~~~

BTW, for our afternoon service, the message on prayer, we had a couple from Singapore show up for a visit. We are kind of excited about that, after I just finished preaching about the Lord being a light to the Gentiles, and the nations moving to Canada. May the Lord shed his light into the hearts of many nations from right here in Victoria!

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on our Christmas series, communion, and our website

Yes, boys and girls, that last bit is true. We now have a website for Grace Baptist Church of Victoria. You can find it at gbcvic.org.

My delay in posting our sermon summaries is mostly due to the usual headaches in starting something about which I know next to nothing, i.e., setting up a website. Thankfully, tools are available and I had done some work on a proposed site some years ago. So what you see is our quick temporary site. We have plans for more later, including an experiment at using it as an evangelistic tool. This blog may also migrate over there also, but time will tell on that.

Now  for Sunday's sermons. We began our annual Christmas series this last Sunday. Our theme this month is the missionary theme, Christ and the Nations.

The Nations Divided (Gen 10-11) Audio Notes

What is a nation? The UN has 192 members, FIFA has 205 members. The World Christian Database says there are over 13,000 people groups in the world. These groups comprise 'nations' by some definitions. How did they all begin? For what purpose did they all begin?

The idea inherent in the notion of nations, nationalism, and nationality is division. This is the theme of Gen 10. You see God repeatedly noting 'their nations' and emphasizing 'division' in this chapter. The immediate cause of the division is revealed in Gen 11: Babel. But the story of the cursing of Canaan in Gen 9 is also linked - a prophecy of imminent division. The ultimate cause is the sin of mankind.

Cause, however, is not purpose. Why division? What purpose does it serve? Is it merely judgement? The division of Babel is a curse, but it is intended to drive men to God. See Ac 17.26-27 and Ac 15.16-17.

What should the nations do with all the frustrations of language, culture, race, ambition, etc.?

• Turn to God.

What should they do in Sudan over the school teacher who ‘insulted the prophet’ over the teddy bear she allowed her students to name ‘Mohammed’? What should the teacher do?

• Turn to God.

What should Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and, yes, even Israel do with the frustrations they have with one another?

• Turn to God.

What should you do with the misunderstandings, frustrations, divisions, conflicts you have with your family members and church brethren?

• Turn to God.

God is the answer to the divisions of this world. And when we turn the page from the division of the nations, we see these words: "These are the generations of Shem..." God also formed the nations to form a nation from whom would come the One Man who would bring to an end all the divisions of the world.

Sup With Me (Lev 3) Audio Notes

Leviticus 3 discusses an offering called the 'peace offering'. It was a voluntary offering made with fire as a sweet savour to the Lord. It would be offered in the case of a vow, or as a matter of confession, or as a matter of freewill thanksgiving. The offerer may also have to offer a guilt offering or sin offering in order to purify himself before participating in a peace offering. The 'fat portion' of the offering belonged to God and was burned on the altar. A portion of that which remained belonged to the priest, but the rest belonged to the offerer and was consumed on the spot in a meal of fellowship with God.

The NT parallel is our communion feast. If we have been purified by the blood of Christ, and if our manner and walk is pure, we may freely eat. We eat the offering of Christ himself, in communion with himself. We drink the blood of the new covenant, being made one spiritual blood in the family of God.

For the believer whose heart is not right with God at this table, the Lord offers Rev 3.20:

NAU Revelation 3:20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

~~~

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on Rm 1.7 and Lk 11.1-4

I see I have posted nothing since our last sermon summaries. It has been a busy week with a few of my men as they helped me repair my deck. I thought it would be a two day job. I should know by now to multiply my time estimates by at least 2 and a half. At least the job is pretty much done, just a few finishing touches left this week if the weather cooperates. Now for this week's sermons:

To all that be in Rome (Rm 1.7)

I told our people today that my aim was to make the message of Romans personal, as if the letter was written personally to them. After all, as Paul addresses the letter, it is to a local church, made up of real believers - and only believers. These believers are seen in the three terms describing the church in Rome in 1.6-7: called of Jesus Christ [belonging to Christ]; beloved of God [just as Christ is God's beloved, so we, in Christ, are beloved], called saints [named as holy ones, by virtue of the new birth].

The people addressed by 'to all that be in Rome' have these three characteristics, clearly and distinctly they are Christians. This is a Baptist idea. The local church should attempt to maintain an exclusively regenerate membership by careful examination of applicants and purging of false professors who may accidentally be admitted.

But the infinite blessing of the passage is that which is offered the local church of Rome by God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace & peace. For grace, I like this line I found in Donald Grey Barnhouse: "Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace." [Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, Vol.1, p. 72.] Peace is the Hebrew part of Paul's formulaic greeting - it is a regular formula, but full of meaning. The Hebrew concept is shalom, wholeness, well-being in the whole person. This is the blessing offered to the local church at Rome, and I believe, to every local church through time since then. This is what makes the letter to Romans personal. I closed with this application:

1. Does God have any less care for you or for this local church than he does for the ‘Grace Baptist Church of Rome’ in ad 57?

I have prayed with some of you when you made things right with God. At that moment, I believe God our Father stooped down from heaven and spoke grace to you and our Lord Jesus Christ gave you peace.

I have sat by your bedsides in the hospital, offering prayers for your physical well-being. At that moment, I believe God our Father stooped down from heaven and spoke grace to you and our Lord Jesus Christ gave you peace.

I have walked to graves with some of you, and will probably do so again… At those moments, I believe God our Father stooped down from heaven and spoke grace to you and our Lord Jesus Christ gave you peace.

2. Our union as a local church is created in the love of God and the grace and peace offered personally to you in Jesus Christ.

Our conclusion invited anyone who is outside the beloved to repent of their sins and enter the household of God.

When Ye Pray (Lk 11.1-4)

We continue our series on prayer, begun last week. The Lord's answer to the disciple's prayer, "Lord, teach us to pray" is first of all to give us the prayer we call "The Lord's Prayer". This is similar to the record given us in Matthew 6, but the differences in the passages make it clear that the same teaching was given on two separate occasions. The fact that the Lord taught the same thing twice indicates that it was a regular feature of his teaching and highlights the importance placed on it by the Holy Spirit. Understanding and practicing the concepts in this prayer is vital to our spiritual lives.

There are essentially five petitions in this model prayer as given in Luke:

1. The prayer for hallowing God's name: if you long for a day when this is true in the world, pray for it! If you long for a day when this is completely true in your life, pray for it!
2. The prayer for the kingdom: do you agree with the preaching of John the Baptist, Jesus, the 12, and the seventy? Is the Lord your king? Pray for your submission to his rule and for his kingdom to come in the earth.
3. The prayer for daily bread: the Lord provides all we have, though in our culture we may be much less aware of it than the 1st century. There is only enough food on the Island to last us a few weeks - if we were suddenly cut off from the mainland by some catastrophe, we would be very aware of our utter dependence. Prayer for our bread and other physical needs is legitimized by this petition taught us by the Lord.
4. The prayer for forgiveness: our spiritual neediness is a daily concern - read 1 Jn 1.6-2.1 if you think you have no need of regular forgiveness of sin and restoration to fellowship with God. If you forgive others (Eph 4.32) you display evidence that God is your Father and can have assurance that this petition will be heard.
5. The prayer for deliverance out of temptation: what Christian does not need to pray for this? It is essentially a prayer for one's own faithfulness. May God keep us in all our trials.

There is much more that could be said about the Lord's prayer and these petitions. May God bless our study and meditation on these Scriptures.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on Romans and prayer

We continue with our Romans series today and begin a new series on prayer.

By Whom and Among Whom (Rm 1.5-6)

Last week we completed Paul's summary of the gospel. This week we move from doctrine to impact in human lives. The gospel is more than just intellectual theorizing; the gospel is the life-changing transformation from death to life. Paul speaks first of the gospel impact on his own life, and the lives of the apostles. God's work is first and primarily through God-called Men. Men called by grace and sent by God carry the Message of 'obedience of faith', the obedience which is faith. The result is an impact on the Multitudes, those who are among the nations called by the gospel to bring glory to Christ.

The gospel of God … the gospel from God … the whole mission of Christ, extended through the apostles and God-called men of every generation is all about this: ‘among whom are ye’.

Teach Us to Pray (Lk 11.1)

When it comes to prayer, what sincere Christian is satisfied? An unnamed disciple asked the Lord, 'teach us to pray', after observing the Lord at prayer. The true disciple longs for vital communion with God in prayer. As we begin to consider the topic, we observe first of all our Lord Jesus Christ, our exemplar in prayer. Luke's gospel records many situations in which the Lord is found praying - at his baptism, choosing the disciples, in private times alone, in public, in intercession, and on the cross. Our Lord's dependence on the Father and his communion with the Father is our great example in prayer. We observe also our longing for prayer in the prayer of the disciple. Have you ever thought about this request made of the Lord? It is a prayer itself, one in keeping with the Father's will, and one that is immediately answered (read Lk 11.1-13). The first lesson the disciple learns is learned unconsciously and spontaneously: he asks something of the Lord in the Father's will, "teach us to pray". Last, we observe our predecessor in prayer, John the Baptist. The Lord is our example, fully man, fully dependent on the Father, but John is our predecessor, only man, and as fully dependent on the Father. J. Vernon McGee observed that this passage is the last mention of John the Baptist in the Gospels, and it marks John as a man of prayer. Prayer ought to mark our lives as well.

We closed this message with an illustration out of E. M. Bounds book, The Necessity of Prayer and a hymn by William Cowper out of the Olney Hymnal:

“A dear friend of mine who was quite a lover of the chase, told me the following story: ‘Rising early one morning,’ he said, ‘I heard the baying of a score of deerhounds in pursuit of their quarry. Looking away to a broad, open field in front of me, I saw a young fawn making its way across, and giving signs, moreover, that its race was well-nigh run. Reaching the rails of the enclosure, it leaped over and crouched within ten feet from where I stood. A moment later two of the hounds came over, when the fawn ran in my direction and pushed its head between my legs. I lifted the little thing to my breast, and, swinging round and round, fought off the dogs. I felt, just then, that all the dogs in the West could not, and should not capture that fawn after its weakness had appealed to my strength.’ So is it, when human helplessness appeals to Almighty God. Well do I remember when the hounds of sin were after my soul, until, at last, I ran into the arms of Almighty God.” — A. C. DIXON.^[1]

Exhortation to Prayer by William Cowper

What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy–seat?
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there.

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel’s side;
But when through weariness they failed,
That moment Amalek prevailed.

Have you no words? ah, think again,
Words flow apace when you complain;
And fill your fellow–creature’s ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To heav’n in supplication sent;
Your cheerful song would oft’ner be,
Hear what the LORD has done for me. ^[2]

~~~

Today was a blessed day in our services with 50 in attendance. We have been a bit up and down for the last couple of months with various people away, but today almost everyone who regularly attends was there. We also had a visit from a couple who are friends of another couple in the church. Today was an encouraging day. The Lord has done great things for us this year and we look forward to whatever is in store in the coming year.

---

[1] Quoted in E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer, Ch. 1, from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bounds/necessity.i.ii.html (Accessed 11.17.07).

[2] William Cowper “Exhortation to prayer.” Olney Hymnal, Hymn 60.

on 11.11.07

In Canada, Nov 11 is Remembrance Day. We all wear poppies in our lapels to honour our war dead. It is a particularly moving experience these days, especially as our nation is now at war in Afghanistan. Though our casualties are very light compared to the World Wars, the loss of young men to their families and our nation is still tragic.

Our messages this Sunday brought us once again to the book of Romans. I took both morning and afternoon services to advance a bit in our study.

The morning message was from Rm 1.3, The Gospel of the King. The proposition for the message was: "The coming of Jesus Christ to earth brings forward the royal man who fulfills every longing of creation ruined by sin." Mankind, fallen, broken, and insecure looks for the leadership of strong men, heroes, in order to provide peace and security. Every human king fails, but in Christ we have the one King who will not fail. Our passage tells us how the eternal Son became of the seed of David, as far as his human nature is concerned, in order to provide himself for us as the ideal champion all men are really looking for.

In the afternoon, we looked at Rm 1.4, The Gospel of the Resurrection. Proposition: "The resurrection marks out this one man as the only man able to provide dead men their one and only escape from the grave." In v. 4, we see that our Lord is not merely our royal Hero-Messiah, not merely the Hero-King of the seed of David, but he is, as to his divine nature, 'Son of God in power', and that power is especially the power to cause certain men to live forever. Our Lord is declared to be such by the resurrection out of the dead, the first among many brethren. He leads the way and he provides the life.

~~~

What a mighty God we serve. Our focus in these beginning weeks of Romans has been 'the gospel of God.' Words cannot extol our Lord enough as we consider these powerful themes.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on Sunday 11.4.07

Morning Service

The messages I heard in Greenville last Sunday motivated the theme for our first service today. In our study of Romans, we had come to "concerning his Son ... Jesus Christ our Lord." The services last Sunday struck me with a particular thought about the Son, so I decided to pause where we were and dwell on the subject a bit more.

In Overwhelmed by the Son I was emphasizing this idea:

There is a real person who is Jesus and who is God and who is NOW, THIS MOMENT , living in heaven, ministering before God for his saints and who is worthy of all your attention and worship.

Often in our worship services, I find myself concentrating on conducting the service, less on contemplating on the subject of the service, which is the worship of the Son. Last week I was able to sit and absorb the messages from the music and the preaching strictly as a worshipper. I suppose this contributed to the difference for me.

Many people seem to go through the motions in their worship, barely aware of the center, the focal point of our Christianity. They act as if they believe Jesus is far away, someone from 2000 years ago who we follow as a matter of course -- they seem to miss a sense of the reality of our Lord Jesus Christ, living, interceding, ministering for us NOW. If we could capture a sense of the reality of the living person of our Lord, our worship, not to mention our lives, might be totally different.

Afternoon Service

In the afternoon, we looked at Leviticus 2 in Remember Your Lord. Lev 2 has to do with the grain offering in its various forms. It is a 'memorial' offering in that only a portion of the offering is burned as a 'memorial', reminding the worshipper that the offering is but a token of our 'whole life obligation' to God. We give tithes and offerings, but all our possessions belong to him. We give our time in worship each week, but all our time belongs to him.

The type of offering portrayed by the grain offering is a tribute - a gift of an inferior to a superior, often with a sense of fear. The offering acknowledges the indebtedness of the inferior to the superior, a picture of our whole life obligation to God.

Some things are excluded (yeast and honey) as unacceptable to God in this offering - these excluded items are likely excluded on the grounds of corruption they represent as agents of fermentation. The life presented to God is not acceptable with the presence of corruption. Salt is always included, a sign of an eternal covenant, an everlasting relationship between God and the believer.

This offering is a "therefore" offering. It always accompanies the burnt offering, which symbolizes our substitute fully and wholly bearing the wrath of God on our behalf. The 'therefore' aspect is captured by Rm 12.1-2, "I beseech you therefore..." The 'therefore' is the doctrine of salvation that precedes, so therefore present your bodies as a living grain offering, a living sacrifice... Heb 13.15-16 capture the same sense, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice [grain offering] of praise to God continually".

The point of the grain offering? To call the worshipper to a 'whole life dedication' to God.

~~~

We had 42 in attendance today, including two ladies who were visiting. As they came in they seemed somewhat reluctant to give their names and they rushed out without speaking to anyone. Sometimes I wonder what is going through people's minds, but some are unwilling to reveal themselves. I don't get a sense that these two will be back, but you never know.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on traveling sermon summaries

In Victoria, we had bro. Bob Fricks, from the staff of Galilee Baptist Church in Kent, WA, filling our pulpit. One of my deacon's reports "the preaching was a blessing for all. We had 38 attend and 3 more came after coffee. As usual there was more food than people and way to much desert..."

In Greenville, we heard a message from Dr. Bruce McAllister, a long time friend of mine. He gave an excellent message on Acts 20.24 and Paul's commitment to the ministry. The challenge of the message was for young people to make the same commitment. The service was a great blessing, but I missed singing the "Amens" after the hymns. Things aren't as formal here as they used to be. They still say the creed, though, and I still remember it without looking.

This evening we went to Cornerstone Baptist Church, pastored by Dr. Gary Reimers, another seminary friend. He preached a fine message on Psalm 32 on the subject of guilt and how to handle it. He gave an excellent exposition of the passage, bringing the poetry to life, real practical life in pointing the Christian to the source of real joy, which is a life lived openly before God, with nothing between my soul and the Saviour.

The day was a great blessing to me, bringing to mind the reality of the person of Jesus Christ. I wonder how many professing Christians really believe that there IS a living person who IS God and who IS personally interested in every detail of their life. When we are born again, we are born again by repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Ac 20.21). But faith means that we bow our knees and our hearts to a real person, living NOW. Faith isn't just believing in a Jesus who was, but a Jesus who is.

I hope your day in Christ was equally profitable.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on sunday oct 21

I will have light posting over the next week and a half - not that I am posting heavily these days. I am visiting with my ailing mother-in-law (and my wife who has been helping care for her these last three or four weeks). It is a great blessing to see my dear mother-in-law, though she is obviously uncomfortable and in failing health. And it is joy unspeakable to witness the grace of God in my wife as she lovingly cares for her mother. What a privilege to be married to such a woman!

I wanted to be sure to update you on last Sunday's services in our church. We had a blessed day, including a couple visiting from a Baptist church in Capetown, South Africa.

Our first message continued the Romans series, Concerning His Son. The message focused on the person of the gospel. Romans 1.1-7 is one sentence in Greek, offering Paul's salutation to the Romans. He establishes his credentials in verse one, closing with the matter of being a separated ('marked out') by the gospel of God. He tells us two things about that gospel in the next few verses - it is that which was promised before through the prophets (see here for summary) and it is that good news 'concerning His Son'.

The word 'Son' stands at the beginning of verse 3 in the Greek, followed by two 'who' clauses, and is then renamed by the phrase 'Jesus Christ our Lord' at the end of v. 4. The KJV puts the word 'son' and the phrase 'Jesus Christ our Lord' together at the beginning of verse 3, while modern versions tend to put the words in the same order as the original Greek. Either way means the same thing, perhaps the modern versions have a slight advantage in preserving the original word order. To my mind, the impact of renaming the Son is heightened by holding to the original word order.

There is rich doctrinal content in the two 'who' clauses in vv. 3 and 4, but there is an eternity of value in the four words which name our Lord, so I took this message to spend some time thinking on each word. William Newell said: "The gospel is all about Christ. Apart from Him, there is no news from heaven but that of coming woe!" [Newell, p. 16] Here is our proposition: "The names of the Son express the essence of eternal life, communicated to man by faith." First, as the Son of the Father, we see our Lord as a glorious person, the Eternal Son of an Almighty and Eternal Father, one in essence with Him, distinct in personality, sent by the Father on a rescue mission to a dying world. Second we see our Lord as the man Jesus - a jarring thought in contrast to the glory of his eternal being, a man with human limitations, dependent on the Father, the man whose name means 'Yah is Salvation'. The two clauses of v. 3 and 4 speak to the transition between the eternity of the Son to the limitations of Jesus the man - made of the seed of David, declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection. These two events reveal the stupendous character of this man, Son of God, son of Man, our Saviour. Third, he is the promised Christ. The Messiah, the anointed one, the one set aside to the place of The Prophet, The Priest, The King, the one promised from Gen 3.15 on to be the answer to the sin problem of mankind. And last we see our Lord as our Lord! Lord means master, owner, one who has the right to dispose of his property as he will. But the term includes what I called 'the precious pronoun': our. He is our Lord. We hold him to be our Master by faith in his name, in his work on the cross in our behalf. I pointed out Phil 2.5-11. Someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord, but for most, it will be too late. And here is my simple conclusion:

Our Lord ...
Is he your Lord?

~~~

Our afternoon message concludes our series on the metaphors of the Church. I repeated this metaphor with a new sermon and additional content on the idea It's a building. I wanted to focus on the need for organization and administration that the building metaphor implies. A literal building is an organized structure if it is intended to last at all. I described the simple homes of Palestine during Bible times, most of which did not survive all these years, even as ruins, since they were made of mud bricks. Even simple structures like these required organization and working building systems to provide shelter for people at all. A local church, as a building requires organization as well. Some of that is mandated in the Scriptures: Pastors/Elders and Deacons. Some is exemplified: the committee for the care of 'widows indeed' in 1 Tim 4. All of this involves structure and organization. I used Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle as an example of a large church with multiple different kinds of ministries during Spurgeon's day. Over 66 different ministries were in existence at the time of Spurgeon's 25th anniversary as a pastor. In addition, the Tabernacle had 40 mission churches under its sponsorship and many Sunday schools and Ragged Schools as well. All of this effort requires organization and administration. This is an aspect of church life that I believe is a failing in our minsitry, or at least a weakness. This is primarily because I personally HATE administration. But it is something that we must get better at in order to improve our gospel impact in our community.

~~~

In our Sunday School hour we are going through the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. This is a worthy document and has provoked much valuable discussion in our assembly.

~~~

Well, all of that catches me up. I hope to find time to post a few things later. Traveling just doesn't seem conducive to much blogging!

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on our second message in Romans

As I study the book of Romans, I am confronted with a dilemma: too much information, too little time. My usual response to this dilemma is to move very slowly through verse by verse exposition. I am a little worried about this in Romans since, of all the books in the New Testament, this may be the one written up the most.

This Sunday we came to the first phrase (after last Sunday in the first word). The phrase is 'a slave of Jesus Christ'. The concept is so vital to understanding Paul's ministry that it begs us to pause and truly consider the implications of its meaing. Our message was entitled Mastered by Christ. I explored a bit of the background of slavery, both in Jewish thinking and in Greek/Roman society of the day. To apply the term to one's self is quite striking when you consider that the Rabbi's would excommunicate a man from the synagogue for calling another man a slave. But the important part of the phrase is not the condition of the one who uttered it, but the name of the master to whom he is attached. Our proposition developed this thought: The gospel begins in a life when the self-serving rebel submits his soul to the mastery of Jesus Christ. The bottom line for us is this - who masters you?

In our afternoon service I continued with my series on church philosophy, It's a Flock. The subtitle went this way: it needs shepherding (not merely leadership). My point was not to denigrate leadership. Of course the church needs leadership, but a particular kind of leadership, the shepherding kind. As I prepared for this message, I did a little internet search on 'sheep behaviour'. You will find many interesting sites with this search, I didn't realize how much was known of sheep psychology. One thing that surprised me was this: You must lead sheep, you can't drive them. The ministry of the shepherd to the sheep is one primarily of care: feeding, leading, medicating, guarding, and guiding. There are some aspects of shepherding that cause sheep discomfort (see wikipedia on 'mulesing') but primarily the leadership of the shepherd is tender watchcare over the needs of the sheep. Sometimes the sheep need prodding, but mostly they need feeding. We find the same parallel in the scriptural metaphors provided by our Lord in Jn 10 and by David in Ps 23, as well as throughout the Scriptures. While pastors have authority to some extent over their flocks, they must realize that the biblical pattern for the exercise of their authority is the tender watchcare of the shepherd, not the autocratic demanding stance of the CEO or a military general.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on the final NT Sermon Summaries - April 2007

Catching up with my sermon summaries, here are the last in the series, the sermons preached during the month of April:

04/01/07
The Final Public Ministry - Jn 12

We are going to see in this passage encounters between the Lord and four different groups of people. For the most part, the people who observed the Lord in this chapter got it wrong, all but a very few. The same is true today – most get it wrong when it comes to Jesus Christ. They don’t understand him and receive nothing from him. You need to be sure that you are getting the right perspective on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am going away - Jn 13.1-14.14

The Lord’s going away is necessary for the disciple’s going ahead.

I Send another Comforter - Jn 14.15-16.33

The provision of God for the inadequacy of believing men is the constant indwelling of the infinite Spirit.

04/04/07
The High Priestly Prayer - Jn 17

The prayer we have in Jn 17 is the most extended prayer of the Lord in the Bible. It is a remarkable window into heaven, giving us a glimpse of the communication between Father and Son. But the prayer in Jn 17 is not purely the interpersonal communication within the Godhead – especially during the Lord’s earthly ministry, but to some extent ever afterward, I think, the Lord Jesus communicates with the Father from a human perspective. This prayer is the prayer of a man [a perfect man, a God-man, but still a man] to God. It is therefore very instructive for us.

04/08/07 [Easter Sunday]
Behold the Lamb of God (2) - Jn 18-19

In the first Behold the Lamb, we looked at Christ through the eyes of sympathetic witnesses. In this Behold the Lamb, we will look at Christ through the eyes of mostly unsympathetic men. They see merely a man. We will see much more than a man. The abused man who hung on the cross of Calvary is the precious Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world.

He is not here! - Jn 20-21

John 20 is the resurrection chapter. The whole emphasis is believing the message John is giving. John 21 offers more proof, but it is more about what we do next – believe, yes, but now serve.

The New Commandment Applied - 1 Jn 1-3

The light that should dominate the Christian life comes from one source, but we think of it in several different locations. First is the light that comes from God. God is light. The second source in our minds is the word of God, which of course comes from God also. The word is light. In particular the light in which we are exhorted to walk in 1 Jn is the new commandment: love one another.

04/11/07
Certainty in the Confession of Christ - 1 Jn 4-5

Another major theme in 1 John is knowledge. From knowledge comes certainty. If we have the knowledge of the truth and we walk in the truth and live the truth, we will develop spiritual certainties about certain things. Genuine Christian experience produces spiritual certainty and stability.

04/15/07
Watch yourselves, watch your church - 2 Jn, 3 Jn

I have given our message this title: Watch yourselves, watch your church The ‘watch yourselves’ part comes from 2 Jn. The ‘watch your church’ part from 3 Jn. I am going to set our theme from 2 Jn, making much of the theme of truth, then point to three ways this theme is applied to three individuals in 3 Jn. Christian love is practiced in the sphere of discerning truth – it is bounded by truth and practiced in truth among lovers of the truth.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ - Rev 1

The book of Revelation is the Lord’s last love letter to his church, intended to instruct present saints for life in this age and future saints for enduring the trials to come.

The Lord in the Midst of the Candlesticks - Rev 2-3

It is better to think of these seven churches as typical of the kinds of churches that exist at any time. Some are well thought of by the Lord, some are poorly thought of, others are in the middle somewhere. When we look at these chapters we should be asking the question, 'What does the Lord think of me? What does the Lord think of my church?' The Lord’s overview of the church should stir us to conviction, correction, and continuation [in the work of the Lord].

04/18/07
The Scene in Heaven - Rev 4-5

The prospect of heaven calls forth the complete surrender of the person in abject devotion and worship to the One who alone is worthy.

04/22/07
The Scroll Unsealed - Rev 6-8

Our subject matter for today is mostly judgement. So how can we make this relevant to us? I think we need to look into these chapters and see what the chapters say about God and also look to see what the chapters say about man. What do these chapters reveal concerning the relationship between God and man and how should we live now as a result? Failing human beings must yield to the will and way of the sovereign God.

Three Woes - Rev 9-11

Judgement intensifies as the tribulation progresses. The last three trumpets are called the three 'woes'. Woe to the world and to the enemies of God means glory and blessing for the saints.

The Great Antagonists of Israel - Rev 12-13

Chapters 12 and 13 are primarily explanatory – they explain what the conflict of the Tribulation is all about. In these parenthetical chapters, we are going to see the three great antagonists of Israel during the Great Tribulation, fully revealed in their persons and in their fury against God and God’s people. The antagonists of Israel are the antagonists of man, intent on drawing men’s worship away from God and to Satan.

04/25/07
Anticipation of the End - Rev 14-15

In this section, the Lord himself is giving a preview of the final days of the tribulation, an anticipatory vision anticipating the anticipatory vision that pictures the final consummation of all things. It ought to stir us up to be in prayer for the lost, to be witnesses to the lost, to point them to God as their great Sovereign, and to Christ as their great Saviour. The judgement of sinners and victory of saints is assured by God’s repetitive revelation: does the love of Christ constrain you to tell men?

04/29/07
The Great Harvest - Rev 16-19

The picture we are given in the earth of the harvest is that of a vine ready to harvest – a vine where the grapes are in prime condition, ready and bursting for the harvest (Rev 14.18). God’s final answer to sin is judgement. It is much better for man to judge himself, turn to Christ, and thus be received into glory before judgement to come.

The Time of the End - Rev 20

Human history does not simply conclude with a great ‘NO!’ by God against sin and sinners. Besides saying NO, by bringing the kingdoms of men to an end, God will also say YES by bringing a perfect kingdom to men. The purpose of God’s YES is to demonstrate to the utmost the righteousness and justice of God’s final NO to sin.

The New Jerusalem - Rev 21-22

In our passage today we will find six new things. Each of them represents something that is new in quality, fresh, vital, alive, not necessarily brand new, but renewed. The New Creation restores all that was lost in the fall — at great cost.

In my messages from Revelation, I repeated this quotation from my notes in a Bible class taught by the late Jesse Boyd at BJU. The quotation captures exactly the right approach to the book of Revelation (and the entire Bible).

The Golden Rule of Interpretation:
"When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise." DAVID L. COOPER [New Testament Prophecy classroom notes taken by Don Johnson of a lecture by Jesse Boyd, circa 1977.]

This series had tremendous impact on my life, and the life of our church. I am working on getting the audio onto a DVD along with the sermon and Bible Study notes. I can make this available to anyone for the cost of mailing (anticipated readiness in the fall). Write me at dcsj AT telus DOT net if you are interested.

I would encourage anyone who has not done so to make a project of reading the Bible in chronological order. It will open up the Scriptures to you in ways you never saw before.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on catching up eight sermon summaries -- two weeks worth

I didn't realize how many messages I have not yet added to my summaries. I have been swamped with work as I am busy with duplex renovations two days a week. This last week we turned a corner on the 'ripping and tearing' stage and are now putting things back together. Most of the new sub-floor is into the kitchen/dining room, we only have one more sheet of plywood to install there, then do the entryway and the bathroom upstairs. We also hope to start painting this coming week and then putting in kitchen cabinets... so the end is in sight.

On Wednesday, Jan 24, we covered Rm 6-8, in a message called "The Essentials of Sanctification". The point I was making with the message was that victory over sin should be the normal experience of the Christian life, with victory being obtained by turning our mind over to Christ (reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God), remaining constant in the battle with the flesh, and finally relying on the Spirit for the power needed to overcome.

The following Sunday, Jan 28, saw us in Rm 8 for "The Guarantee of Glory", a message that focused on the end of sanctification, that which motivates us to keep on in the struggle, that is, the great glory that will be revealed in us. These passages contain some of the most tremendous assurances of victory in the New Testament as Paul assures us that the glory is worth all suffering on this earth, that the Spirit within is active, working 'the glory' out in our lives now, and that as we trust in God, nothing can separate us from His love. The reason the believer persists in the struggle for sanctification is the exceeding richness of the reward — a reward that is guaranteed.

Our second message that day was "The Question of Israel", a message covering Rm 9-11, some of the more complicated passages in Romans. A key to understanding these chapters is to understand the objection to the gospel that Paul is answering. The objection is stated this way: How can you trust the promises of God now if God's promises to Israel have been set aside? Paul answers by showing that God's promises to Israel have not been set aside, but that men don't understand what God was doing with Israel in the first place. The first point (ch 9), is that God's promises are not frustrated by Israel's unbelief, they are fulfilled in the chosen remnant who believed. The second point is that Israel's problems are not God's faithlessness, God has provided the means, sent the preachers (the prophets) and given the opportunities - Israel's problem is its own unbelief (ch 10). Last, God's word to Israel is not empty, it remains in force (ch 11) as proven by the remnant in this age, and by the future national turning that will yet occur when the Lord returns. The Proposition: God’s dealing with Israel, past, present, and future, assures us of the wisdom in trusting the promises of God.

Our afternoon message was on Rm 12-13, "The Consequences of Salvation". These chapters are the great 'so what' of salvation. The Proposition: The doctrine of salvation demands the practice of love for God by love for man. In a way we have an inclusio in these chapters, Rm 12.1-2 speak of the need to love God with whole heart mind and strength, i.e., the living sacrifice, and Rm 13.8-14 bring us back to that same idea. In between, we see that the way this is done is by loving our fellow man, first to believers in the church by exercising the gifts and in outdoing one another in showing love for our brethren. Then we are called to do good to men in general, even our enemies, heaping coals of fire on their heads by so doing (something that we can't do maliciously!). And last, we are called to show the love of God by submission to legitimate governmental authority and paying our taxes. In the end we are obliged to owe man nothing but love for one another.

Last Wednesday, we finished up Romans with a message covering Rm 14-16, but mostly concentrating on Rm 14.1-15.7, the obligation we have to brethren who differ with us on non-moral scruples. The title was "Our Relations to One Another" with this Proposition: Christian love demands the sacrifice of high-mindedness for the sake of our brethren. What I mean is that we can't be high-minded about our 'strong consciences' or about our 'strong scruples' - both brothers have to receive each other in love, not despising or judging each other. The strong conscience brother has the additional responsibility of deciding to be considerate of the scruples of the weak conscience brother and an obligation to avoid putting a stumbling block in front of him. Again, the principles of love are our guide and the example of Christ who sacrificed all for us must be our model.

Today, we returned to Acts with "Paul's Farewell Tour" mostly from Ac 20, a bit from 21. I took a bit of a different tack with this message and preached on a subject I don't think I have ever heard a message on -- preparing for the preacher's permanent departure from a ministry. The Proposition: Christian churches should constantly be preparing themselves for the succession of the next generation. I showed how Paul spent time with several churches on the way, talking long into the night in Troas (interrupted by a quick death and resurrection), lingering with believers in each place that he visited on the way to Jerusalem. Then we turned to the words of preparation seen in Paul's message to the Ephesian elders in Ac 20: Paul recounts his satisfaction with his ministry among them, preaching the whole counsel of God, satisfaction with his sincere earnest manner of ministry, satisfaction that he had not withheld anything needful. All of these are preparatory, even in the midst of a vibrant ministry. In this message, Paul knows he is likely not to see them again, so he warns them of certain danger to come, wolves from without, perverse truth twisters from within. Much failure in succession is a failure to adequately prepare people to be discerners of false teaching during the years of ministry. And last, Paul returns to a lesson of practical Christianity where he teaches them concerning industry and generosity - a message he would give as if he were still going to be there next week, but a message that prepares for departure nonetheless. God's people need to keep their own departure in mind, anticipating that there will be a generation to follow and make their own contributions to the future success of the truth by assimilating truth now and passing it on to those who follow.

In the second service, we covered basically Ac 21-23 with a look at the "Antagonism of Judaism". We picked up the thread of anxiety that we see as Paul is told by various prophets along the way to Jerusalem that trouble and imprisonment is coming. Then we see the active antagonism of the Jews as Paul is arrested, beaten, threatened, charges and counter-charges slung around and so on. In the end, the Jews plotted to kill Paul, but he is not overwhelmed by these threats and their antagonism. What is remarkable is that what Paul wants to do when threatened is preach to them! Just as he wanted to do with the mob in Ephesus, Paul turned to the mob in Jerusalem and preached to them ... his desire was to see them come to Christ. I compared again some of Paul's thoughts from Rm 11 and 9 and his desire to see them come to Christ. The whole point of this message was that this is God's will for us when we deal with Jews today who are antagonistic to Christ. We should not react in kind, be frustrated, but we should seek their souls. Are they enraged with you? What an opportunity! Evangelize!

In the last service, we had a similar theme, but this time with respect to the Gentiles. From Ac 24 (and a bit of 25) we looked at "In the Eye of Imperial Rome". Proposition: The servant of Christ must learn meekness in the hope that the most wicked rascals he meets might be born again. The wicked rascals in question for this message were the Roman governors, primarily Felix and his wife Drusilla. I gave historical background for both Felix and Festus, but concentrated on the two years of witnessing Paul was able to have with Felix. Felix, though under conviction, resisted grace (hah!!) in the interest of a bribe. Paul refused to give a bribe, not wanting to get out of jail with this excellent opportunity to witness regularly to this pair, Felix, a former slave turned brutal governor and Drusilla, great-grandaughter of Herod the Great, daughter of the man who executed James the brother of John. What a great prize of grace they would have been, but they would not repent. The attitude Paul has to those who are trying him is to turn it into a witnessing opportunity. Do we do that with people who attack us? We need the evangelistic heart of the apostle Paul instead of the self-protective self-centered hearts we so commonly carry around with us.

Well, that brings you up to date. We have eleven weeks to go in our through the NT series. It has been a great blessing so far, and a good bit of work, but we are hopeful that it will be a great resource for new disicples for years to come.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on a return to the 'thru the nt' series (sermon summary 1.3.06)

We are jumping back into our New Testament series after the Christmas hiatus. We still have two of our college kids at home, so we had a bit bigger crowd for Wednesday PM. I wish we could motivate more people to make Wednesday a regular habit. I suspect that is a lament of many pastors.

We resume our survey with 1 Cor 12-14, entitled 'Regulating Spiritual Gifts'. The proposition was this: "The Lord intends for our hearts to be governed by the Spirit so that we exercise spiritual gifts with definite spiritual control." The three chapter divisions in this section cover three ways in which the use of spiritual gifts are regulated. First, gifts are regulated by an understanding of the true nature of spiritual gifts. They come from one source, God, under divine supervision, are given individually, not sought, and each has a unique function in the body in order to benefit the whole body. Second, gifts are regulated by an elevation of the superior value of spiritual fruit. That is, spiritual fruit (especially love) is essential if gifts are to mean anything, the supreme quality of love is described, and the enduring permanence of love is seen in that it outlasts all gifts (especially the temporary tongues) and even other aspects of earthly spiritual fruit such as hope and faith. Thus, spiritual fruit should be our concern much more than spiritual gifts. Last, gifts are regulated by the discipline of the proper exercise of spiritual gifts. That involves putting tongues in their proper place, realizing that tongues are primarily a sign to unbelievers (and especially a sign that those hearing them are being cut off from God's revelation), and finally regulating their use by strict rules that eliminate all of so-called tongues speaking today. The Spirit-led believer today needs these truths to be in our minds lest we be led astray by false teaching so prevalent around us.

Sunday we will finish 1 Corinthians and move on to 2 Corinthians with a brief stop in Acts 19 in between.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on Christmas eve preaching (Sermon Summaries 12.24.06)

Our messages this Sunday were intended to be a trio of my two boys and myself, however Number One Son and his fiancee and their ride to the airport in Greenville all managed to oversleep and miss their plane Saturday AM. So they flew standby, and I rode the ferry across the pond in hopes to catch them late Saturday evening and then make it home in time for our services. Alas, it was not to be! They were stuck in Dallas Fort Worth overnight and I had to cobble together sermon #3 when I got back.

Nevertheless, we had a great day in the service of the Lord.

My 18 year old Rory preached the morning message on the Christmas Story, Luke 2.1-20. He is a gifted speaker and one semester of BJU freshman speech has served to polish his abilities even more. We were very grateful for his efforts. The title of his message was "Let Us Now Go and See" with this proposition: "Our pastor was saying last week, that the only two responses to the work of God are doubt or faith. I hope you can see from this passage that true faith is the only right response to the extraordinary work of God." Rory focused on the responses to the Christmas story. The crowd 'wondered', which he called 'Curious Unbelief'. He compared that to the response of the world today. If they pay any attention to the Christmas story, it is with a sentimental interest in the 'wrapping', but no real interest in the contents. It is put away each year for next year, to be put on display again. Mary 'pondered', that is, she had 'Meditative Faith'. She weighed out what she saw and experienced and let its truth and its implications fill her heart and soul over the years she followed her Messiah-Son. The shepherds 'glorified', that is, they had 'Expressive Faith', a response to the message of Christmas that displayed the work of God to all who would listen. Both the meditation of Mary and the glorification of the shepherds are the appropriate faith responses that men need to have towards the great gift of God's son.

In the second service, I preached on Lk 2.21-24, 'According to the Law'. In this message I connected the Messiah with the OT Law. In this connection, Proposition: The Lord provided for the infant Christ’s perfect compliance with the Law in order that He could perfectly keep the Law for you and me. First, we discussed the purpose of the Law. There are many of these, but the points I wanted to emphasize were these: the law reveals the holiness of God, exposes the sinfulness of man, establishes the rigorous standard required for fellowship with God, and supervises spiritual development of Israel to prepare the Israelite to receive Christ [the schoolmaster purpose]. From this we considered the law-keeping parents of Christ who kept the law of circumision, cleansing of the mother after childbirth, and presentation of the firstborn. These laws connect the participant with the Abrahamic covenant, the uncleanness of the human condition, and the demand of God for the life of the firstborn (seen in Isaac, the tenth plague, the tribe of Levi, and now the Son of God). The keeping of these laws were vital for Christ's place as a Jewish man, under the Law of God, free from sin and free from any accusation of the Law. In order to accomplish this, two pigeons were sacrificed, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering. The law demands death, and Christ the infant fully identifies with the Law's demands, though he is sinless.

My point in rehearsing this detail is that the Lord submitted himself to the Law from the beginning (as my commentaries say). How did he do that? By choosing this devout couple to be the home of the developing Son of God. As a baby, he was subject to the whims and direction of human parents - others may have been less observant, but this couple fulfilled every requirement of the Law, as God intended. Jesus was the sinless and blameless Son of God from the beginning by God's sovereign choice of this couple whom God knew would keep the Law perfectly. God provided for the sinlessness of the infant in the faithfulness of the parents. God did that for you and me, so that we could have a righteous sacrifice, without blemish or spot, to exchange his righteousness for our sinfulness in the cross of Calvary.

The last message this Sunday was "Waiting for the consolation of Israel", where I discussed the testimony of the old prophet Simeon and the perhaps even older prophetess Anna. These two represent devout people who are only satisfied with the light that lightens the Gentiles. I found this comment in Norval Geldenhuys' commentary on Luke concerning Simeon's Psalm of praise: "Simeon’s brief hymn of praise, owing to its restrained ecstasy and intense clarity, is as beautiful as any of the psalms of praise in the Old Testament. The thought underlying its wording is of a slave who is instructed by his master to keep watch through the long, dark night on a high place to wait for the rising of a special star and then to announce it." [p.119.] Anna, likewise, is a devoted slave of the Lord. Both are stirred to praise and worship of this Messiah that the Lord allowed them to witness before their passing. These two devoted people connect the Messiah with the people of the OT. Their lives go back to the Maccabean/Hasmonean heyday, before the coming of the Romans and later of Herod. They were from the families of the faithful remanant that returned from Babylon, and had seen the last period of independence for the nation Israel. But they look for something better than political deliverance. They look for the Light of the Gentiles, and having seen it, are spiritually satisfied. Our own devotion should follow their model, we are but slaves of the Sun of Righteousness (Mic 4.2).

Following this message, I made a beeline for the ferry, hustled over to Vancouver International Airport where my wandering waifs made it by bus from Seattle just minutes after my arrival, and we beat it back in time for the 6pm ferry home where we joined [finally!] the rest of the family. We're buying them alarm clocks for Christmas!

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on only getting in two out of three (sermon summaries 11.26.06)

We don't do snow here. We don't do it at all. We hates snow...

And we got lots of it.

As we awoke Sunday morning, we had our lawns and roads filled with the white stuff and more coming down. We managed to gather a few of our folks together (23 all told) and held our morning services and lunch. One of our fellows went out during lunch and reported that the roads were getting worse and worse. (Did I mention we don't do snow??) So we cancelled our afternoon service and sent everyone home. The kids built a snow fort, a requirement of childhood for them, and we stayed inside where it was warm.

We did have a blessed time in the two services we held together. The word of God is precious to the saints. In the first service, I preached 2 Thessalonians. The title was "Standing in spite of Great Apprehensions", and the subject was spiritual stability, especially for a local church. As we considered this letter, we found three challenges to stability: Experiential - persecution (mostly discussed in ch 1), Doctrinal - confusion (over whether they had missed the Rapture, ch 2), and Incremental - contagion (produced by disorderly, especially indolent, brethren). Each of these challenges could rock the stability of a local church, so Paul writes to stabilize them, encourage them, and teach them the way through these challenges. He encourages them with at least six exhortations in the epistle, including this one near the end: "Be not weary in well doing" (3.13). Spiritual stability in a congregation comes from thorough doctrinal understanding, biblical practical policies and actions, and clinging to the blessed hope of the coming Lord Jesus.

Our second service looked at the close of the second missionary journey and the beginning of the third missionary journey. The apostle landed briefly in Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem, promising to return if the Lord willed. Apparently the Lord did will, since Paul returned a few months later to a very fruitful ministry. The sermon covered Ac 18.18-19.20, and was titled "Great Opportunity in Ephesus". The key to success, and the point of the sermon, was Paul's submission to God's will - Ephesus was the capital of the province of Asia, the place the Holy
Spirit prevented him from entering in Ac 16. Paul in his ministry was ever guided by the Spirit. He took James 4.13-17 to heart (I am sure he was well aware of its contents). The key for any success in the ministry is operating in and under the will of God.

Well, with that, we had lunch, then cancelled the afternoon. Did I mention that we don't do snow?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on defining the church (sermon summaries 11.19.06)

The first message this Sunday had the pivotal chapter, Acts 15, as our text. The title I chose was 'How Should Christians Live?' The 15th chapter of Acts is the chapter that settled the Galatian question forever and really sealed the character of the Christian church for all time. The question the Judaizers were placing before the church was one of definition: What is the church? The answer was that the church is not a superior form of Judaism, nor is it simply another meaningless Gentile religion. It is an organism centered around faith in the living Son of God, separate from the world - the world that is Judaism and paganism at the same time.

The Old Testament religion of the Jews had long departed from God's intent, first by centuries of dabbling with paganism pre-exile, second by a few centuries of idolizing the forms of religion itself through the rise of Pharisaism post-exile. Was there ever a pure Judaism? Only in the hearts of some individuals, sometimes more numerous than at other times, but really only on an individual, not a collective basis.

In Ac 15, we see the Galatian dispute arise in Antioch of Syria, after Paul has written the book of Galatians. He has no small disputation with the Judaizers, and the church in Antioch calls for a meeting of the apostles to settle the issue (the last meeting of the apostles as a group). In Jerusalem, once the dispute is engaged, Peter rises to testify in favor of Paul and Barnabas and the 'anti-Law' position. Peter does this, employing very similar language to that with which Paul rebuked him earlier (compare Gal 2.14-18 with Ac 15.10). Peter also points out that Jews will be saved by faith, just like the Gentiles (Ac 15.11), a not so subtle slap to the Judaizers, putting the Jews in second place to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas then testify, followed by James the brother of the Lord, whose proposal carries the day. Four requirements are placed on the Gentile church: no food offered to idols, no fornication, no blood, no things strangled. The blood and things strangled are rooted in the Noahic Covenant (Gen 9.1-6) and pre-date the law. The point of the decision is this: The church is going to be an organization where the only entrance stipulation is faith in Christ AND it is going to be an organization that demands separation from the world (all four issues were pagan practices). Today, the church needs to come to grips with this. It is not Galatianism to insist on separation from the world. It is paganism to insist otherwise. Today's church is a pagan church and needs radical reformation.

Our second message dealt with the Third Missionary Journey, Ac 16-18, focusing on Ac 18.9-10, the Lord's encouraging vision to Paul while in Corinth. The title was 'Abased and Abounding'. I began by surveying the frustration of Paul's ministry as he entered Europe for the first time. In Philippi, he is beaten and imprisoned. In Thessalonica, he is driven out of town by a Jewish mob. In Berea, he is better received, but the Thessalonian Jews arrive to stir up trouble again, and he has to hotfoot it for Athens. In Athens, he is mostly mocked and ignored, with only a handful of converts to show for his efforts. When he arrives in Corinth, there is some success, but again rising opposition by the Jews. Paul knew what it was to be abased, he probably thought that he was about to be chased out of Corinth as well. But the Lord comes to assure him, giving him three commands: Fear not, keep on speaking, don't be silent. The Lord also gives him three assurances: I am with you, you will not be harmed, I have much people in this city. This encouragement enables Paul to press on in Corinth where he stays an additional 18 months. During this time the Jews try to haul him to court before Seneca's brother, the noble Gallio, who refuses to hear the case. The leader of the synagogue, Sosthenes, is instead beaten by the Greeks. Interestingly, a Sosthenes is named as an assistant of Paul in 1 Corinthians. It is possible that the Lord changed the heart of Sosthenes (otherwise why specifically mention his name?) At any rate, the Lord granted Paul a fruitful and succesful ministry in Corinth - much abounding. For our own ministry, we need the knowledge of the Lord's presence - he guaranteed it in the Great Commission, this promise is for us all. The Lord may not keep us from trial, but he will be with us to keep us through trial if it comes to that. The knowledge of the Lord's presence is the key to abounding.

Our last message covered the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, 'The Testimony of Growing Believers'. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians after being rejoined by Silas and Timothy in Corinth. He longed to be with them, but was prevented, perhaps by the bond Jason posted in Ac 17. In any case, he writes them a warm and affectionate letter designed to help them grow in the faith, something he desired to do by his presence, but could only do by way of letter in his absence. The first three chapters are sort of a 'love letter' between Paul and the church where he thanks God for their encouraging testimony of evident salvation (1.2-5, 9-10), for the remembered testimony of receptive hearts (2.13-16), and last prays for the desired testimony of ongoing faithfulness (3.8-13). The Thessalonian news was an encouragement for the apostle. The growth of Christians in a local church are encouragement for the pastor, and for any other Christians that observe them. We ought to grow for the Lord's sake, but the fact is your growth is a great benefit to those who minister to you.

We had a good day in the Lord with a few visitors who are former members. These folks made some poor choices in the past, and seem to be stuck in those choices at the moment, but we are glad for the opportunity to minister to them once again.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on the Spirit walk (sermon summary)

Tonight we were on Gal 5-6. I called the message "The Spirit Walk". In Galatians, there are three great points Paul makes: I am an apostle, so you better listen (applies to all of us); Justification is by Faith alone, the first doctrine of the church; and now sanctification is by faith also.

This concept is perhaps one of the hardest for us to get about Christian living. Humans think that the only way to produce righteousness is to restrain evil. In this evil world, we do need to restrain evil, no doubt about it. But we won't produce holiness, righteousness, or sanctified saints that way. Paul says 'For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.' [gal 5.5 esv] This is justification and ultimate sanctification all wrapped up into one. What is the hope of righteousness that we are waiting for? The righteousness that comes when our blessed hope comes, when we will sin no more. We wait for that righteousness by faith, believing it will come. Then Paul says: 'For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.' [gal 5.6 esv] In the meantime, between justification and the righteousness to come, we live by faith (not the OT Law) and we are sanctified by faith which works by love: Love for God, Love for man.

This Spirit walk is successful when we walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (5.16). If we walk in the flesh, the result is not righteousness but the works of the flesh. If we walk in the Spirit, the result is the fruit of the Spirit, love joy peace, etc. because we are not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. We do this by loving God and loving others, the 'more excellent way', and the Great Commandment that is over the Law (which was fulfilled in Christ anyway). We don't need the works of the Law for sanctification, we need faith which works by love.

I didn't have time tonight to actually cover ch. 6 which gives us two applicatons of walking the Spirit walk, but the whole concept was quite a blessing to us as we considered it.

The key is this: We must work our faith by love - we can't just somehow mystically 'believe' and BAM we are sanctified. We have to work our faith by love for God and love for others.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on links to recent sermon notes

Here are the last four messages, including today's Thanksgiving Message, not yet preached as of posting!

Are you ready? The Kingdom Comes
Lessons on Ambition
Hosanna! Save Now!
The Wedding Banquet

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on sermon summaries: Thanksgiving Sunday, 10.8.06

Today we just had our morning services. We will have the afternoon service tomorrow afternoon after our traditional Thanksgiving Dinner at church. The kids will play the traditional soccer game after the service (minus our soccer star, now playing in a Bryan Bears uniform at a locale down south - still winless, but not giving up).

This morning we had a total of 47 in the services, with several visitors. One of our families brought two young teenagers with them, friends of their son. It was the second Sunday for one of them. These boys have no clue about the Bible or church. It is likely the first time they are hearing the gospel - an awesome moment for good or ill.

Another visitor was a co-worker of my son. He has a church background, don't know the whole story, but he has an interest stemming from the testimony of our kids and his background. Hard to know what he thinks but we hope for more contacts later.

Tomorrow may bring other visitors. May the Lord work in their hearts as they hear the gospel tomorrow afternoon!

***

The first sermon today was entitled: Lessons on Ambition. In our chronological reading of the NT, we came to these records sort of back to back: the blessing of the children, the rich young ruler, the parable of the 11th hour labourers, and the ambition of James and John. Each of these pericopes deal with the same subject: ambition. My proposition was this: The key to serving God in His kingdom is subduing our will to His will, making His ambitions our ambitions. First, from the rich young ruler, subduing the ambition for wealth. Second, from the parable of the labourers, subduing the ambition for rights. Last, from the incident with James and John, subuing the ambition for place. The Lord came to give his life a ransom for many. He is the supreme example of subduing ambition to the will of the Father, for the sake of others. I applied all of this to the local church level - God has given me as the pastor a place in the local church. In fact, he calls me a 'gift' to the church. So how should I live? Lording it over the people and demanding their obedience? No, I am called to serve them. (Literally to be a slave for them [a slave to God, but for them.) How are the people to behave? Are they to be worrying about how their needs aren't being met and how folks aren't treating me right? No, they are called to serve others in the church. Serve 'one another', again, literally as a slave to God. If you are thinking about how others aren't doing enough for you, you have missed the point that the Lord was constantly trying to teach the disciples (at least three major episodes in the training of the twelve, by my count).

The second sermon was on the Triumphal Entry, with the title Hosanna! Save Now! The proposition was: Salvation belongs to those who make Jesus king of their hearts and king of their lives. First, I spent some time talking about the meaning of the cry of the crowd (I called it 'the crowning cry') as the Lord entered Jerusalem. There are at least four basic things they were saying, but the most prominent is 'Hosanna', a demand to the King to Save Now! It comes from Ps 118.25. Then we worked through these passages leading up to the triumphal entry (along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem): the healing of Blind Bartimaeus who cried to the Son of David for healing, then the conversion of Zaccheus [this is the crowning cry anticipated in saving activity]; while with Zaccheus, the Lord told the parable of the pounds for the purpose of dampening messianic expectations - the earthly kingdom would not come immediately [this is the crowning moment postponed in parabolic teaching]; then we come to the moment of entry to Jerusalem, and the reason the crowd and the disciples can't bring themselves to get the Lord's message - they long for relief from Rome, they long for the prominence the Messiah will give them - so this seems to be the time and Jesus seems to be the man, and they cry for redemption. The Pharisees call on Jesus to rebuke the crowd, but the Lord says that if he did, the stones would cry out. I take this to mean that the crowning cry is the will of the Lord, and so it proceeds. The crowning cry is what every man needs to make now: Save Now! Hosanna! Save Now!

Another great day in the Lord.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

P. S. I'll post links to sermon notes later, probably sometime tomorrow.

on our Wednesday 10.4.06 message

I am a little late writing this summary. With Thanksgiving next Monday, an all day meeting later in the week, and a work day the following Saturday, I am feeling just a little cramped on study time. I am going like mad to keep the head above water on this project. The study and the fruit in our spiritual life at church have been worth it, but there is a lot of work.

Wednesday we had a little distraction outside our building during the service. Three young fellows decided to visit on the steps outside the exit door by the piano. One of our men checked on them. They were quite insolent and appeared to be drunk -- and they appeared to be about twelve years old. This is not typical of our neighbourhood, but all the homes around have tremendous needs. Well over 90% don't attend church at all, let alone profess salvation (or even have a clue about what that means). Our great burden is to somehow get the attention of a few and see them come to Christ.

Our message covered Luke 17.20-18.14. There are several events and parables strung together in a row here along a theme, and there are parallels in the other Gospels. We mostly stayed in Luke for the message. The subject was preparedness for the Second Coming. Just before our passage, the Lord healed ten lepers at once, with a Samaritan demonstrating faith. The Pharisees, with no faith, ask for a sign of the coming of the kingdom. The Lord cahllenges their lack of faith, but then calls the disciples to be prepared: they must be prepared for deceivers saying the kingdom is already come; they must be prepared to receive Christ, for the kingdom will come suddenly (a la the Flood, or the destruction of Sodom); they must be prepared to persist in prayer (as in the widow before the unjust judge); and they must be prepared with a humble spirit (as the publican in contrast to the Pharisee).

The last two points in the message were the point where the disturbance happened outside. It was quite a distraction to me for two reasons: the noise and worry of 'what's going on?' and as I look back on my outline, those were the two weakest points of the message! I think that I summed it up better than I preached it, but even in summing it up, I realize I may have been stretching the theme a bit on the last two parables.

This is probably a reflection of trying to cover too much too fast, and being too detail oriented. I have a compulsion to 'fit everything in'. Sometimes you just have to leave stuff out.

This Sunday and Monday should be better. We are expecting guests in the AM service tomorrow (10 am Pacific Time), so pray for softened hearts. We are also expecting unsaved guests on Monday for our Thanksgiving dinner and service. Pray for that service also, about 1:15 pm Pacific Time.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on the sermons of 10.01.06

I am burdened by our lower attendance of late. We had 35 today. We are working towards outreach, but we live in a very hardened city. We primarily focus on reaching the lost, not folks who are Christians already, even though our philosophy is so different from the philosophy of most (virtually all) of the other churches in town. Next week on Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving. We will be having our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Several unsaved guests will be present and we will be having a service after the dinner. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in hearts! Today we did have one unsaved teen in the services who came as a guest of one of our families. Pray for him, that he might receive the gospel preached today.

Our messages were all in Luke today. We are in that extended seciont of Luke that is unique to him, from about the end of chapter 9 all the way to chapter 18 or 19 or so. It covers a good deal of what is known of the Lord's ministry in the last months leading up to the crucifixion.

The first message covered five 'vignettes' which I entitled "Correction of Misapprehensions". The theme was getting disciples to think God's way. First, James and John want to call down fire on a Samaritan village. I called that understanding the spirit of discipleship. Then three would-be disciples receive the Lord's searching question forcing them to examine the heart of their motivation for discipleship. I called that understanding the cost of discipleship. Then we saw the 70 sent out, coming back rejoicing that the devils were subject to them. The Lord corrects their thinking, so I called that understanding the joy of discipleship. The next vignette was Martha and Mary, where Martha complains about Mary's idleness. I called that understanding the good part of discipleship. And last, we covered the Lord's instructions on prayer in Lk 11. I called that understanding the prayer of discipleship - we go to God because he is good, not because he is someone we must cajole into giving us blessings.

The second message was "Denouncing the Pharisees" from Lk 11.37-12.12. The proposition: False religion presents particular threats to true faith. The Pharisees are denounced for their hypocrisy, the scribes for their apostasy. The Lord warns his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees, for Pharisaism is a deadening influence for true religion. The Lord prepares his disciples for the attacks of those (like the scribes) who say the work of the Spirit springs from the devil and will therefore persecute the true believers. God cares more for the believer than for anything else in this world and will protect any saint under attack like this. We need not be forearmed, we must trust in God alone to preserve us against attack.

The last message was on the three lost things of Luke 15, entitled "Joy in Heaven". We spoke to the proposition: The joy of heaven ought to involve God's people in the mission of redeeming those who are lost. I began by comparing lost things: the sheep and the coin were lost inadvertantly, we have no moral indignation about their lostness. They are lost because, in the first place, a sheep is a sheep and has a weak, next to useless, brain, and in the second place because a coin is a coin and has no brain at all. It just happens to be lost. The son on the other hand, lost himself. He spent everything he had and ended up in the pigpen. People like this earn our moral indignation. We tend to think of them, they deserve what they get for what they did to themselves. We are partly right, but the fact is that all men do such things because it is our nature to do them. We are sinners. Lostness is part of our nature.

Next, I compared the finding of the lost things. In the case of the sheep and the coin, they were found after a diligent search. God has to take the initiative 'to seek and save those that are lost'. In the case of the son, the son found himself, so to speak. He realized his condition, saw that even servants had it better than he does, got up and out of the pigpen and headed home. Though God takes the initiative in salvation, man must see himself for a sinner, see Christ as the solution, get up and come home in repentance and faith. Salvation cannot happen without both sides of the equation operating. Those who wish to dismiss one side of salvation or the other do not teach the whole counsel of God.

The next thing to compare was the joy over the found things. In the case of the sheep and the coin, the shepherd and the woman told their friends and rejoiced with them. The father told his servants (not the older son) and rejoiced with them. Those who rejoice with the finder are those who are predisposed to the finder's point of view.

Finally we compared the mind of heaven over the salvation of sinners. The parables of sheep and coin are essentially one, teaching exactly the same lesson concerning the mind of heaven. God states that there is joy in heaven over ONE sinner that repents. I take this quite literally. The figure is the parable, the statement of fact is the heavenly viewpoint. God's angels rejoice when a sinner turns to God. I believe that every believer has had his name sung in heaven. I made this application: has your name been on the lips of angels? Then I considered the response to the finding of the son: it is not the heavenly, but the earthly view. The older son comes in from the field (earth-centered focus), he is offended because 1) He has slaved 2) He has kept the law (father's commandments) and the father has not given him so much as a baby goat (much less a fatted calf) to celebrate with HIS friends (not with the fathers servants). He 'does well to be angry'. The father reminds him that the son was dead and is alive, was lost and is found. This is the view of heaven. The earthly view is: If I keep my nose clean, God MUST bless ME. The heavenly view is: there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents.

We need to adopt the heavenly view of sinners: they are not our friends just to satisfy our desire for friends. They are lost whom the Saviour desires to save. We are no friend if we will not do all we can to turn the lost to Christ, and find joy in their repentance and salvation.

Well, all in all, it was a great day in the Lord. Salvation is a great joy and those who share in the one bread and the one cup are truly blessed. May there be more to share it with before the Lord returns!

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Note: you can see the notes for the messages by clicking the links in the sermon titles.