No. 1 in the Series “What Is a Healthy Church?” from the book by the same name by Mark Dever. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, August 20, 2008.
What Are You Looking For?
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No Yoke? Well Then, The Yoke Is on You!
An exposition of Jeremiah 28:1-14. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, August 17, 2008.
Intro:
How do you handle confrontation? Do you enjoy it? How many of you like for someone to tell you, in front of other people, you’re dead wrong about something? Do any of you enjoy that? If you say you do…you probably lie about other stuff too. No one likes to be put on the spot in front of others – in particularly preachers don’t like it! Now let’s add to the drama of this situation. You’ve just preached a message at the church and another preacher stands up in front of the congregation and says that you are all wet. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And then precedes to preach a message that is the exact opposite of what you just preached. How would you handle that? I have to admit I don’t think I would react by saying, “Thanks brother. That was so kind of you to point out my mistake.” I wouldn’t say, “Gee, what else have I been wrong about?” Jeremiah was God’s faithful messenger delivering and increasingly difficult truth. Day after day; week after week; month after month and year after year – judgment, judgment and judgment. He was getting tired of it and the nation of Judah was growing weary of hearing this broken record. A prophet by the name of Hananiah was tired of hearing it so he took matters into his own hands and confronted Jeremiah in the temple and preceded to bring an entirely different message “from the Lord.” Our text this evening is found in the 28th chapter of Jeremiah. What is clear in the text is that this was not merely a difference of interpretation or a different way of looking at things – it was a different message and it got personal. One spoke for God the other spoke from his own, fertile imagination. How should you, as God’s spokesman, respond to lying prophecies and personal attacks?
Thesis:
Responding biblically to open hostility and confrontation demands humility, honesty, self-control and truth-inspired boldness. Let’s look at how these four characteristics are displayed in our text.
Outline:
- A biblical response demands genuine humility. (28:1-6) This follows on the heels of Jeremiah’s “yoke sermon.” Hananiah is prophesying lies – how does Jeremiah respond? …and the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. This is not sarcasm as some have suggested. This is a sincere statement/prayer. I hope you are right. I’d be happy if what I’ve said is not true. Jeremiah’s concern was the well being of the nation – not his reputation.
- A biblical response requires honesty. (28:7-9) He doesn’t roll over and play dead. Rather he says, in the presence of those gathered, time will tell if you are a liar. If it comes to pass – you are a true prophet…if not…you are a liar.
- A biblical response demands self-control. (28:10-11) Now things get personal. He takes the yoke off Jeremiah and breaks it. “This is what God is doing with that yoke.” He walked away! It takes spiritual wisdom/discernment to know when to confront and when to walk.
- A biblical response demands truth-inspired boldness. (28:12-14) It was one thing for Hananiah to break Jeremiah’s yoke – another to take on God. God takes it personally when we put words in His mouth. Note – “Thus says the Lord…” God is commanding Jeremiah to deliver this message. And look at verse 17 – Hananiah was dead within 2 months! We live in a fallen world. We find ourselves at odds with the world around us. There will be those times when we are confronted by lying prophets. We are to respond with humility, honesty, self-control and truth-inspired boldness.
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Perseverance: The Fruit of Worship
An exposition of Revelation 5:1-14. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 17, 2008.
Introduction:
The persecution increases daily. Arrest, confiscation of property, torture and executions are commonplace. The strain is unbearable. Daily you are called upon to deny your faith and declare Caesar Lord. What do you do? How do you respond? There is a genuine clash of culture and religion but it is not merely in the realm of ideas. Your faith has cost you dearly. Your family disowned you. Your friends shunned you. Your job is gone. Now your life is being threatened. Then you are told you can have it back, all of it, if you’ll just bow and confess, “Caesar is Lord.” What do you do?
Such was the conflict then and now. The forces of light and darkness have always been
at odds. Truth and error have forever been in conflict. The Kingdom of God and the
kingdom of Satan are at war. And you are a foot soldier in that conflict. What will you
do? How will you stand? What will be your inspiration? Our text this morning is found
in the 5th chapter of Revelation.
Thesis:
Perseverance is the fruit of a Christ-centered vision and impassioned worship.
Outline:
- Hopelessness brings bitter disappointment and despair. (5:1-4) Are you burdened by hopelessness? Do the cares of this life overwhelm you to the point you’ve giving up or are on the verge of giving in? John’s weeping is sincere. It is certainly understandable. It is worth weeping over. But it is premature!
- Disappointment and despair vanish at the glorious revelation of the Lamb of God. (5:5-10. In the face of conflict, heartache and despair you need a clear, unimpeded vision of the person and work of Christ. You need to see Him for who He is and understand what He has done. Once you catch a glimpse of that or better yet once this truth takes hold of you – disappointment and despair vanish.
- Perseverance and hope find their voice in Christ-centered, heaven rattling worship. (5:11-14) When life is at its worst. When turmoil reigns – those with the clearest vision and the most accurate knowledge lose themselves in glorious, profound, explosive worship! This is not fanaticism this is the natural response to the vision of God.
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Doing Battle on Our Knees
An exposition of Ephesians 6:18-20. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, August 13, 2008.
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Courage in the Storm
An exposition of Revelation 4:1-11. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 10, 2008.
How do you take the infinite and make it understandable to the church? That is the task of John in today’s passage. The church was experiencing extreme persecution, and John was exiled far away on the island of Patmos.The Lord has something to say to the church in the midst of the storm, and it is this: God is bigger than anything in the universe that might be troubling you presently, and nothing is able to snatch you out of his loving hands.
- Confidence is born out of a vision of God’s unequaled power, glory, and majesty (verses 2-6). Jesus is telling John that the sovereign judge of the universe is still in control, and all who are persecuting the church will give an account, and the church will be vindicated. This message is for believers today too. We are not alone. God is with us and for us; who will never leave us or forsake us, and nothing in this world can harm us.
- Courage is established through an awareness of God’s sovereign power. There is a door opened to heaven (verse 1), and it will never be shut. This means that we can see it, we have access to God sitting there, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Such confidence and courage inspires profound worship and joyful submission. Even when everything is falling apart, God is still in control. He is worthy of all praise and worship.
This is what we need: to know that God is in charge and we are not. The question is: Are you in the midst of a storm? If so, come to Jesus. Come to Jesus now.
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Spiritual Warfare
An exposition of Ephesians 6:10-17. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, August 6, 2008.
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Maybe Jeremiah Wasn’t So Crazy After All
An exposition of Jeremiah 27:1-22. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, August 3, 2008.
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A Word to an Apathetic Church
An exposition of Revelation 3:14-22. This message by pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 3, 2008.
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So, You Didn’t Like the Sermon?
An exposition of Jeremiah 26:1-24. This Message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, July 27, 2008.
Introduction
It seems that every few years there is one that captures the nation’s imagination. Headlines read, “Trial of the Century.” In the 1920’s it was the Scopes Monkey Trial. William Jennings Bryant and Clarence Darrow squared off in an epic debate over creation and evolution. In the 30’s it was the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. In the 1970’s everyone was glued to the television set as the Watergate Hearings played out before a watching public. And who can forget the media circus known as the O.J. Simpson trial? All high profile cases in which the nation gets “caught up.” Everyone knows about it and everyone has an opinion. All demand justice but there is some disagreement over what constitutes justice. But there is one high profile case that especially grabs my attention. One that causes me to sit up and take notice. It is about a congregation that took its preacher to court…and demanded the death penalty! Our text this evening is found in Jeremiah chapter 26.
As we come to chapter 26 we find another account of his “temple sermon.” It is the same message as he delivered back in chapter 7. Now whether this is the same sermon and the emphasis this time is on the reaction to the sermon rather than the message itself or whether this was the same message delivered on another occasion we are not certain. I’m sure, like all good preachers, he repeated sermons as often as possible! I had a seminary professor who said, “If it was worth preaching the first time, it’s worth preaching again.”
What we do know is that the crowd didn’t care for the sermon. They rushed him in order to kill him but the authorities intervened. A trial follows. As we walk through chapter 26 we see…
Thesis
Jeremiah’s experience with an enraged congregation reminds us of some valuable truths.
- Faithfulness to the Word of God my put you in great danger (26:1-11).
Jeremiah was learning what I’ve been saying for years, “Preaching can be hazardous to your health!” If you are going to be faithful to the Gospel, faithful to live and speak the Gospel, it will cost you. It may very well place you in great danger. How will you respond? What will you do? - When falsely accused and threatened the godly concern themselves with God’s glory and the integrity of His name and not their personal well-being (26:12-19).
He basically pled not guilty by reason of obedience! What I find really interesting is that he did not defend himself. In fact he took the opportunity to repeat his message! 26:12-13 - Ultimately, our fate rests in the hands of our Sovereign God (26:20-24).
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A Praiseworthy Church
An exposition of Revelation 3:7-13. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, July 27, 2008.
Introduction and Outline
A couple of years ago I attended a retreat at Tulakogee. The pastor leading the retreat was from a large church in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Early in the retreat he used the parable of the wedding feast – the one where the invited guests made excuses for why they couldn’t come? The king said, “Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in?” The speaker then said, “Our job is to make sure all the seats are filled at the table.” Now that is a fairly safe thing to say – no one is going to argue with that saying, “No – we don’t want to reach anyone with the Gospel.” Every believer would agree that we are to preach the Gospel and win people to faith in Christ. The problem was where the attention went from there. The rest of the time was spent talking about leadership and casting a vision and management structure etc. I believe there is a place for all of that. But an entire movement has arisen within the church – the “church growth movement.” The movement asks a lot of the right questions – “What makes a church grow?” “What keeps a church from growing?” “How do you get a church off the plateau?” Those are legitimate issues and questions worth answering. The problem comes with the method or approach in answering the questions. My concern is that perhaps in focusing on questionnaires, market analysis and finding out what the customer wants we’ve lost sight of the Lord of the church.
We’ve forgotten that the ultimate aim of the church is to be pleasing to the Lord. There is nothing wrong with meeting people at the point of their need and bringing them the Gospel. There is nothing wrong with understanding the world in which we live and couching the Gospel in terms that can be understood and applied. My concern is our focus. What is our reference point? What is our aim? Is our focus evangelism? Missions? Worship? Community involvement? We are to do these things – but our focus is Christ! We are the bride of Christ and our focus is to be our husband – Christ himself. What matters is whether we are pleasing to him. If we are – these other things will be what they ought to be. The issue isn’t size – it is heart. It is not strength it is character. Consider the words of the Lord of the church to the church at Philadelphia.
I’m convinced if we want to know something about church growth this is a good place to begin. Because here we find our Lord’s strategy for church growth.
Thesis
The risen Lord promises a glorious future to the church that is faithful and true to Christ.
Sermon Outline
Three things stand out in this text.
- The church that is faithful and true to Christ is assured an open door (3:7-8). Based on the description in verse 7 – he has the power to back this statement up. What does this open door mean?
a. An open door in to the presence of God. You have unhindered access to me.
b. An open door of opportunity – the door of ministry is wide open. - The church that is faithful and true to Christ is promised perseverance and deliverance (3:9-10).
- The church that is faithful and true to Christ is guaranteed a glorious reward (3:11-13).
Conclusion
I’m all for church growth – I want to see us reach as many as we can. I would like nothing more than to be overflowing. But what is our aim? Is it growth or the glory of God? Is growth the goal or the byproduct?
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