LBC Sermons & Messages

Revelation 3:7-10

A missionary struggling in his ministry wrote “sometimes adversity tempts me to discouragement in the faith with seeming failure, but I take courage and press on anew, as I remember that God does not hold me responsible for success but for faithfulness.” Far to often we as individuals and as a church view success by the worlds standard of size, money, etc.

We need to ask ourselves the question, Who ultimately determines what success is?, and what measuring stick is used?

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus states that the church is His to build. It is not based upon man’s definition and the Word of God is our measuring stick. God does not ask us to strive for greatness but to strive for FAITHFULNESS.

The church at Philadelphia, Rev 3, was a successful church because it was a faithful church. Jesus identifies himself in v7 as. “I am holy, I am true, and I am sovergn”. This dictates that we as his people do not use worldly methods in the ministry, we accept his evaluation of our ministry and that we recognize that Jesus is in charge of the minisrty thru us.

Jesus gives His approval of their work. He knows what they have been doing, He knows that they are small in size and they have remained loyal to Him. He commends them for their faithfulness in preaching the gospel message and not denying His name thru compromise

The Lord promises them opportunities for continue ministry, protection from their enemies and that they will be kept from the hour of trial (tribulation) that is coming by the return of Christ.

It is not our responsibility to bring in great crowds, it is our responsibility to sow the Word of God faithfully. It is God’s respnsibility to give increase as He deems best.

God is looking for FAITHFULNESS.

(sermon by guest speaker, Pastor Shawn Beliveau, missionary pastor in Vancouver, Canada)

II Corinthians 3:6-11

Jesus Christ just prior to the cross event, prayed to the Father: “I have glorified you on earth, having accomplished all the work you have given me to do”. It is still His purpose to do so, but now He does it thru the His redeemed one, those saved by His grace.

Paul gives us a contrast between the two covenants that the redeemed can live their life by. The original, symbol.ized by the face of Moses and characterized by letters written in stone had glory. The new covenant, symbolized by the face of Jesus and was characterized by the Holy Spirit in our hearts had much greater glory.

These two covenants are in conflict with one another (Gal 5:17) and we the redeemed are under the control of one or the other at any given time. Paul gives a series of contrast to help us recognize which covenant we may operating under.

Death or life (3:6c). If we are exhibiting (Gal 5:22), “love, joy, gentleness, self-control, etc) then we are living under the glory of the new (life). If not then we are the control of the old covenant (death).

Stones or hearts (3:3). If we are more concerned about externals (rituals, ceremonies, procedures), we are living under the old, but if our primary concern is for the well being of others, and their relationship to the Lord, then we are under the new covenant.
Condemnation or righteousness (3:9). Feelings that I must do it, my ability, my money, my self drive. This is the old and will accomplish little or nothing for the glory of God.

Fading or permanent (3:11). Slipping into dullness, apathy, indeifference to the thing of God, is a sign of living under the old, the opposite is living under the new.

Living under the control of the new covenat brings glory to the Father. This can only be accomplished as we learn to live by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Genesis 8:20-22

God expects His creatures to worship Him and Him alone.He has revealed himself and instructed us how we are to worship.
We respond in three ways: adoration, sacrifice and proclamation.

Adoration. We praise Him for who He is and for what He has done, and is the way in which we show our humbleness before Him. The psalms gives us the pattern of adoration with the phrase “Praise the Lord”.

Sacrifice. This always will involve a cost of some kind on our part. Today we don’t sacrifice animals, but we are to be a living sacrifice, showing our reverance to our awesome, majestic God.

Proclamation. This is the response to the service element in worship. When Abraham built an altar for worship, it is stated that “he called upon the name of Lord”. We need to do the same for all to see and observe that we worship the Lord God.

We can define worship as: the humble response of regenerate man to the self-disclosure of the Most High God. It is based upon the work of God. It is achieved through the activity of God. It is directed to God. It is expressed by the lips in praise and by the life in service.

Saddly, today worship has degenerated into a “it’s all about me” type of exercise. But Noah, the very first thing he does when he steps off the ark, is to worship God. Praising God for what He has done in protecting him from the destructuive flood. Giving us a pattern for our worship of this almighty, all powerfull, all knowing God.

Those amoung us today, who write off the church are writing off worship as unimportant. They are either not saved or have never grasped the implication of their salvation. They live their lives in the temporal mode as if it was eternal, unaware of the danger that they are in.

II Corinthians 3:1-6

Victory. We all would like to live lives that are successful and meaningful. In the secular world, there are many “How to” books giving the author’s views on how to obtain such a life. For the believer in Christ there is only one book that explains how to have victory in our lives, the Bible and that victory will bring glory to God.

The apostle Paul, was a man with incredible qualifications and authority (Phil 3:4-8). He proclaimed Christ as the Son of God with great vigor and was able to prove it from the Old Testament Scriptures. Yet his earliest years as a disciple of Christ were anything but successful. The believers sent him up to the city of Tarsus and we hear nothing more concerning him (Acts 9). Ten years later Paul is sent out by the church at Antioch, and now his ministry becomes successful.

What changed in the life and ministry of Paul? He discovered that the ministry is not based upon our sufficiency but by relying on the sufficiency of God.

Just prior to Christ going to the cross, He stated “this cup..is the new covenant in my blood”. Jesus Christ inaugurated the promise made by the prophet Jeremiah. (Jer 31:31-34). There are three major points in this covenant. The first two points are the basis for preaching of the gospel. (1) we will all know God, this happens when by faith we accept Christ as our Savior. (2) our sins will be forgiven, and this is fully explained how God accomplished this in Heb 8-10, thru the blood of Christ. The third point of the new covenant (3) the law will be within us and written in our hearts, is where we as believer are right now.

Paul had to learn, as we all do, that when one accepts Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us, sanctifies us and empowers us for living “In Christ”. This becomes a life long living experience where we slowly learn to rely on the Holy Spirit empowering our life, in thought, in word and in deeds.

This is where our sufficiency lies. It is not our strength, ability or achievement. It is not accomplished by living under the power of the old covenant (Gal3:3), but by walking by the Spirit of the new.

Genesis 8:20-22

The flood recedes and after approximately 377 days on the ark, Noah and his family are able to disembark. He sees no living creature or hears anything. God has separated all the wicked from off the face of the earth and the very first response from Noah, is worship.

What is worship?

There are three basis elements involved in worship.

(1) Humility. It’s focus, is on the exalting and praising of God, a sign of our submissiveness to a greater being. A good example is John the Baptist recognizing the superiority of Jesus when he said “he must increase and I must decrease”.

(2) Reverence. It’s focus, is on our recognizing the awesome majesty of God. In Rev 5, worship is given Christ for His power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. The inhabitants of heaven all break out saying “worthy is the Lamb”.

(3) Service. It’s focus is on work or labor for our Lord. In the Old Testament it involved priestly service. Today, all believers are now in the priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God. This will always involve a cost of some sort.

True worship must involve all three of these elements and it is serious business in God’s sight. The church at Corinth revealed a spirit of irreverence and lack of humility and as such severe judgment was brought down upon them. Irreverence is antithetical to worship.

Rom 11:36 states “for from him and thru him are all things, to Him be glory forever”. This verse needs to be the basis for our response in worshipping the Lord God Jesus Christ..

I Corinthians 15:12-20

Christianity is based upon an event, the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, all other belief systems in the world are based upon the ethical and moral teaching of its founder. If the resurrection did not happen, then Christianity falls, but if it did happen then that event proves that Jesus is who he said he was (Son of God), and therefore we had best listen and obey what he has taught.

The tomb in which he was buried in was opened not for him to get out of, but that his disciples could see in and be convinced that he truly had risen out of death and the grave, just as He had said. These disciples physically saw, touched and talked with the risen Jesus. Completely convinced of this fact, they went out into the world, willing to be martyred if necessary. No person would be willing to die for a falsehood.

Two results occurred as a result of the resurrection. Both implore us of the urgency to respond to Him. Just knowing the facts of this event is not enough, one must personally appropriate it for themselves.

The first result, concerns itself with our perception of who Jesus Christ is. We now see Him in the full essence of His deity. The apostle John, when he sees Jesus Christ, he simply falls down before Him in complete reverential fear and awe. (Revelation 1)

The second result, concerns itself with Jesus coming the second time as judge. At his first coming, Jesus did not come to condemn the world (John 3:17). Why? Because he himself would bear our condemnation for our sins when he went to the cross. His resurrection is our guarantee that we will all be resurrected, but some to eternal life other to eternal damnation. (John 5:28-29). All those who have rejected God’s grace, will now have to stand before this awesome God and hear the frightful words “depart from me, I never knew you”. (Matt 7:21-23.

It is urgent that one needs to see their sin as it really is, repent (turn around) and ask Jesus to save you from the coming wrath.

Genesis 6:14-8:19

A major theme in the account of the flood, is that God will separate the unrighteous from the face of the earth. This happened once already in the days of Noah and it will happen again during the great tribulation.

God gave Noah a very detailed plan on how to build an ark for the preservation of himself and his family. There was only one plan, no alternative “plan B” and it was exclusive (no other way). Noah responds by faith and obeys all that God told him to do. (Gen 6:22).

What does it mean to “live by faith”?

Hebrews 11, is a chapter which gives examples of many who lived by faith and how they did it. In verse 1, of Hebrews 11, it states that faith involves two areas, “assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not seen”

What unseen thing was Noah convinced would happen? The flood. What was he hoping for? Deliverance from the flood. He showed by his actions that he believed God existed and would delivery him (Hebrew 11:6).. For the next 120 years he set about building the ark, and was a testimony to all the world of God’s grace. Noah went into the ark, God shut the door, and the flood came. The theme of Chapter 7 is that sinful men do not deserve to live on the earth, and Chapter 8 foreshadows God’s protection of Israel thru the great tribulation. The day of grace was over and only Noah and his family were secured.

Those that perished interpreted God’s grace as divine indifference and concluded that God is either dead, apathetic or incapable of dealing with the world as it is and therefore disregarded the warning.

Noah on the other hand, recognized grace as an opportunity to enter into an intimate relationship with the Lord and also at the same time avoid God’s displeasure and judgment.

For us today, we need to accept Christ as our ark of salvation and be secured “in Him”.
Remember from God’s perspective 1000 years is like one day.

Matt 27:45-54

The events surrounding the cross gives testimony to the uniqness of Jesus, to his claims as to who he is, and to the fact that redemption comes thru faith in him.

On the cross for three hours, sudden darkness falls upon the scene, quickly the mocking, jeering, and hatred towards Jesus stops. The crowd becomes fearful and anxious.

What does the darkness mean? What does it signify?

1). It authenticated Christ’s character. A year earlier Jesus told the people, “I am the Son of God”, and the people tried to kill him. They asked him for a sign, they now have their sign. The Roman soldiers picked up on this and said “truly this was the Son of God”.
2). It interpreted his death and mission. Mankind is in darkness, in the shadow of death. Jesus came to deliver us from that darkness. In order to do this he had to go thru it himself. God the Father answered Jesus prayer of Heb 5:7, by bring him out of death three days later.
3). It demonstrated God’s holiness and the barrier that sin creates. Our sin was placed upon Jesus, The Father turns away and Christ cries out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me”..
4). It was a prophesy of the doom that awaits the unbeliever. The Bible teaches that a day of wrath is coming, and all those who have rejected Christ and his work at Calvary, will themselves experience the horror of God turning away from them for all eternity..
5). It is a symbol of the darkness of the human soul. Lost and separated from God. John 3:19, tells us “that man loves the darkness because his deeds are evil”.

Are you in darkness or light? John 1:12 states – “but to all who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God”.

Just knowing the facts is not enough. Each individual must personally see and recognize his own sin, repent from it (turn your thinking around concerning it) and accept what Jesus has done for you at the cross by asking Him to save you,