The Plowman

Standard Podcast [ 38:42 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (232)

Gospel of John #26: An exposition of John 10:1-18. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, June 12, 2011.

Intro:
Do you ever worry about getting too comfortable?  Don’t misunderstand me, we all want to be “comfortable.”  We all would prefer comfort to pain.  We would rather have plenty of money at the end of the month than to have to scrimp and save to get by.  We prefer to have clothes that fit rather than to squeeze into that suit and endure the wedding.  Most of us have that shirt or that pair of paints or those shoes that we just love to wear.  They may not look so nice or be all that stylish but it doesn’t matter they’re comfortable.  You may have even rescued them a few times from the rag box or the trash can but like an old friend, you’re just not ready to let them go.  I understand that but in other areas, comfort can be a problem.  When you get comfortable with a job you become lax.  Details become less important.  Time restraints are often ignored.  Enthusiasm, passion and zeal are lacking and if not corrected you may find yourself in the unemployment line.  When you get comfortable in relationships you take things for granted.  Rather than being appreciative you become demanding.  What was once considered a favor is now expected.  Relationships become strained, nerves get frayed and distance is created.  Before long you’ve grown apart and there is nothing to keep you together.  So, I worry about getting too comfortable.

There is an area of life where I’m convinced “comfort” is deadly.  Comfort is deadly to faith.  You can be too comfortable with the Gospel.  If you’re not careful you can become so comfortable with the language of faith, with the truths of the Gospel that it can be deadly to your spiritual growth and development.  The truths of the Gospel become like an old shirt, you wear them well.  You are familiar with them and you begin to take them for granted.  You are familiar and comfortable with the language of faith and you mistakenly translate that as being familiar with God himself.  Trust in God’s grace becomes presumption upon His grace.  Forgiveness once understood to be the precious gift of God’s mercy and grace is now expected.  Salvation once received with wonder and profound gratitude is now held as your divine right.  The wonder is gone.  The joy is lacking.  Your faith is lifeless.  Not because you do not believe.  Not because of some “crisis of faith” that caused you to doubt.  You got comfortable.  The Gospel became routine.  How do you recover?  How can we regain the joy and the wonder of salvation?  Come to the Scripture and take a good, long look at the Savior.  Look to the beauty and the wonder of the One who died to set you free.  Look to Him who bore your sin.  Look to the Shepherd of your soul.  Our text this morning is found in the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 10:1-18

Thesis: The wonder, the grace and the glory of the Gospel are made clear through Jesus’ revelation of himself as the Good Shepherd.

You really must see John 10:1-18 in its context.  This talk of thieves, robbers, hirelings and the true and good shepherd follows the events of chapter 9.  Jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth.  The Pharisees, who were the shepherds of God’s people, refused to see the miracle and to rejoice is God’s goodness and grace.  In fact they cast out the man who had been healed because he refused to join them in their disdain for the Lord Jesus.  Those who were charged with caring for, feeding and protecting the people of God pushed the man aside in their pursuit of  maintaining the purity of their traditions while Jesus loved and cared for him giving him both physical and spiritual sight.

The opening words of chapter 10 are aimed directly at the Pharisees.

There are three things I want you to note.

1. The wonder of the Gospel is found in the Shepherd’s relationship to His sheep.  (10:1-6)
2. The graciousness of the Gospel is demonstrated by the Shepherd’s provision for His sheep.  (10:7-10)
3. The glory of the Gospel is manifested in the Shepherd’s love for His sheep.  (10:11-18)

Conclusion:
I would suggest that when you consider the relationship between the Shepherd and his sheep; the Shepherd’s gracious provision for his sheep; and the profound love our Shepherd has for us the Gospel is anything but common.  Such could never be considered routine.  Rather it demands our eternal gratitude and our most profound worship.

Standard Podcast [ 39:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (228)

Gospel of John #25: An exposition of John 9:1-42. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 29, 2011.

Intro:
Blind since birth, he spent his days begging for alms in the marketplace or wherever a crowd might gather.  His days were spent in darkness and discouragement.  He had never known the beauty of a flower, the brilliance of a sunset or the tenderness of a smile.  Life was hard, hopeless and bitter.  But one day everything changed in an instant.  From darkness to light.  From despair to joy.  From hopelessness to optimism.  It happened all because of grace.  His story is found in the 9th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 9:1-42

Jesus has been teaching and preaching in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths.  He had boldly declared himself the “water of life” and the “light of the world.”  He has confronted the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.  In chapter 8 he warned of the devastating consequences of unbelief.  As a result of His words many “believed.”  He then confronted those who believed with what it meant to truly believe.  His sermon caused them to pick up stones to kill Him!  That brings us to chapter 9 where we witness our Lord’s love and compassion for the disenfranchised and the calloused, hardened unbelief of the religious establishment.

Storm clouds continue to gather that will erupt at Calvary.

Ever since that day in Capernaum when Jesus healed that cripple man and declared his sins had been forgiven the religious crowd in Jerusalem have despised Him.  They have conspired, planned and orchestrated His destruction.  It has all be for nothing up to this point because His time had not yet come.  But that is about to change as our Lord has sent His face as a flint and begun his march to the cross.

The Context:
The Feast of Tabernacle (September or October) (chapter 8) is over and the Feast of Dedication (November or December) (chapter 10) is about to begin.  We are not given a time reference for this particular encounter but it is sometime between these two events and serves to further establish the contrast between Jesus and the establishment.

As we work our way through this chapter the message becomes clear…

Thesis: Our God sovereignly, graciously gives light and life to those trapped in darkness while assigning the “enlightened” to eternal darkness.

In this passage the blind see and the seeing are blind.

I want you to notice three things from this text.

1. An act of sovereign, overwhelming grace.  (9:1-12)
2. A demonstration of defiant, stubborn blindness.  (9:13-34)
3. A simple, sobering truth.  (9:35-41)

Standard Podcast [ 37:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (240)

Gospel of John #24: An exposition of John 8:31-59. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 22, 2011.

Intro:
The announcer’s voice was clear and distinct, “Don’t be fooled by imitations these are genuine diamels.”  Don’t be fooled by imitations these are genuine fake diamonds!  Or how about, “Get the look and feel of genuine leather for a fraction of the cost.”  It is official, we live in an artificial world.  A world of look a likes, knock offs and imitations.  A superficial world where reality is fast becoming illusion.  Unfortunately this “make believe world” is not limited to commercials and other forms of advertising.  It is not limited to consumer goods it has found its way into every area of life.  We find it in relationships when genuine concern for a friend’s well fare is replaced with an endless pursuit of self-satisfaction.  We find it in marriage when “until death do us part” is replaced with “until I’m no longer happy.”  We find it in church when “dying to self daily” is replaced with “what’s in this for me?”  Bombarded daily with empty promises and meaningless existence there is the cry for something real.  Something genuine.  Nowhere is that need more evident than in the church.

Let me ask you:

• Do you think perhaps the reason the world does not take the church seriously is because the church isn’t serious?
• Could the problem be that the church isn’t genuine?
• Could it be that a superficial faith has resulted in a superficial church?
• Are you attracted to phonies?
• Are you drawn to that which is insincere or lacks integrity?

Our text this morning is found in John chapter 8 beginning at verse 31.

Text: John 8:31-59

This is a very interesting passage.  Look up at verse 30.  Praise the Lord!  Mark it down, put it in the books, what a great evangelistic event.  Remember the context?  The Festival of Booths.  Jesus has made two great statements: 1.) If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink and out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.  2.)  I am the light of the world he who follows me will never walk in darkness.

Using the 2 central rituals of Booths Jesus declares himself God!
So much for laying low.
He had begun His march to the cross.
He has just warned of the devastating consequences of unbelief and “many believed in him.”

Wonderful!
But look verse 31 and then down at verse 59.
“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him…so they picked up stones to throw at him.”
The believers where ready to kill him!
What happened?
They didn’t care for the sermon.

I have my share of those who don’t care for my preaching but I’ve not had to dodge any rocks.  What did Jesus say to cause such a reaction?  What was so bad that it caused such a swing in mood?  Let’s work through the text and see if we can find an answer.
It is clear that…

Thesis: The teaching of Jesus does not allow for superficial faith to pass for saving faith.

What we have in this text are those who “believed” and yet did not believe.

They liked the notion of rivers of living water and light that cannot be extinguished but there was no change, no real repentance.  There was belief but not conversion.  Is that possible?  Absolutely look back at John 2:23-24: Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people…

Or consider Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”

There are 16 million Southern Baptist less than 5 million in church on any given Sunday.
Trinity over 1200 on the rolls and we’re having a good day when we have 200!

In this text our Lord gives us some of the characteristics of genuine faith.  I want to note three of them.

1. Genuine believers exhibit an abiding faith.  (8:31-32)
2. Genuine believers demonstrate true repentance.  (8:32-41)
3. Genuine believers reflect the character of God.  (8:42-59)