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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A Tithing Experiment

Rather than come on too strong about tithing, which I confess I have done in the past, let me offer a truce between us. Could we meet halfway, and agree to an experiment? Would you pray about possibly tithing, talk to your family and friends about it, and give one percentage point more each year to see if you might eventually tithe? I feel strange in doing this, but tithing is an area of life YHWH challenged us to test Him in (Mal. 3:10).

         Raised by tithers to be a tither, I never doubted God expects us to live on 90% of what we make. My earliest recollection of an allowance was fifty cents a week, of which a nickel had to be put in a church-offering envelope. This left me with forty-five cents, which was painful, because it cost fifty cents to go see a movie. Roy Rogers always seemed only a nickel away.

         I fear too many of us can relate to the following humor. After church one Sunday, a family was heading home in the car. The children were in the backseat, listening to their parents assess the day. Dad was pessimistic, "The sermon was too dull, and the music not loud enough." Mom was optimistic, "You have to admit, for a family of four it was a good show for a dollar."

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Changes in Travel

I traveled to San Francisco last week. Being addicted to watching people, I notice things I did not see years ago when I started flying often.

People in airports are now carrying more stuff. Unwilling to check baggage, they are hauling it themselves.

Everyone seems to be using a phone. The airports now even provide places to charge your phone. That was not the case years ago.

More people are using earbuds. I assume they are listening to sermons about predestination.

Many more couples are traveling without wearing wedding rings.

Many things are the same. Some people running. Others resting. Almost everyone looking tired.

Another thing that never changes is; there's no place like home with my sweet babe, the Babe Ruth.

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