Honor Both Testaments.

Today I began my Christmas sermons for this year. My text today was Hebrews 1:1, “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.” In the Old Testament, whatever the portion proclaimed, and whatever the method, the important fact was that God was doing the speaking. God was in the prophets, controlling their thoughts and guiding their words. The same God who speaks in the New Testament also speaks in the Old. We must think of both testaments with equal reverence. The Old Testament is also God's Word. "It was our Savior's Bible" (F. B. Meyer). Jesus loved it, and fed on it.

Neither testament would be complete without the other. One is the plant in full bloom, the other the seedbed. The roots of Christianity are buried deep in Judaism. The Old is fulfilled in the New, the New is built on the Old. For instance, Leviticus "lives" when studied in the light of Hebrews, and Hebrews is impossible to completely understand without Leviticus.

Our writer believed God wrote the Old Testament. Hebrews gives abundant proofs of the verbal inspiration of Scripture. In referring to Old Testament passages, our writer usually makes no mention of an author's name, but instead speaks of the passages as emanating from God Himself.

Whether Old Testament or New, it is God who speaks. He inspired the writers, who wrote His utterances.

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Ferguson

Tonight I've watched with rapt attention the news about the city of Ferguson, Missouri. Seeing the destruction and fires is breaking my heart. This city hugely blessed me in my younger years.

As a teenager, I lived and worked in the Ferguson area during the summer. My life was forever affected by the ministry of Pastor Bob Werner at First Baptist Church of Ferguson.

He poured his life into us young bucks. To him we mattered. I look back on those days as being profoundly significant in my spiritual development.

Ferguson blessed me. Now I pray God will bless Ferguson.

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God Desires Our Salvation

God is always more willing to save us than we are to be saved. No unbeliever has ever had to wait for Jesus. Long before we come to Him, He comes to us. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, it is the Father who ran.

God’s enthusiasm for us is boundless. If we can eke out only a spark of interest in Jesus, He has a blazing furnace of interest in us. “The gate of salvation is flung wide open. The door is taken off the hinges” (Spurgeon).

         Some taunt God, saying they plan to come someday, but not right now. Whoa! Is Jesus to wait for our convenience? Is He our lackey, a servant having to wait for our pleasure and timing? Do we really want an extension of our time to rebel, and more time to risk everlasting perdition?

         People can be obstinate. They do not like God’s terms. They love their sins, and don’t want to give them up. They also love their good works, and want to trust in their own righteousness. This puts them in double jeopardy. Since they will not yield to God’s governance and grace, the deal is off.

 

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Zechariah the Martyr

Zechariah was the son of the great priest Jehoiada. Wicked Queen Athaliah ordered all the seed royal to be executed in order to eliminate any possible rival claimants to the throne of Judah. Jehoiada hid baby Joash from the murderers, and later made him king. Due to his extraordinary greatness, Jehoida the Priest was buried with honor in the tombs of the Kings.

Years later (2 CH 24:20-25) King Joash scorned Jehoiada’s kindness by murdering the priest’s son Zechariah, who as a prophet rebuked the king for embracing idolatry, “You have abandoned YHWH, He has abandoned you”. The king’s assassins killed the prophet in the Temple courtyard. As he died, he said, “May YHWH see and demand an account”. In a year, Jerusalem had been plundered, its leaders killed. King Joash, severely wounded in the attack, was assassinated by his servants, and denied burial in the tombs of the kings.

         Jesus chose Abel and Zechariah as prime examples of the religious leaders persecuting the prophets (Luke 11:50) because they were the first and last martyrs in the Old Testament. Zechariah was not the last martyr time wise, but the last book in the Hebrew canon is 2 Chronicles. Thus, for Jesus to say Abel to Zechariah would be like us saying from first to last or Genesis to Revelation.

 

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Lost Forever?

Some do not believe in eternal damnation, but Jesus did. Don't try to be smarter than Jesus. Believing in the possibility of eternal separation from God helped drive 2000 years of mission passion. We have fervently believed people desperately need a Savior. Harold Renfrow, longtime Southern Baptist missionary to Brazil, may have been responsible for more salvations than anyone else I ever knew personally. He was driven by people's lostness.

Dr. Renfrow is the only person who ever chided me for having John 3:16 as my favorite Bible verse. He adamantly believed John 3:18 was the most important verse, "He that believeth not is condemned already." He urgently said, "John, people are already condemned here and now. We must rescue them here and now."

Universalism sucks the life out of Christianity. Some are calling for the Church to "lighten up" a bit, to compromise core convictions. They think if we become more like the world, we will win more to Jesus. Not true! The very churches that are doing this are the ones dying fastest among us.

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