Hear God Speak-Bible Commentary

Habakkuk 1:12-17 “Whatchu talking about, Jehovah?”

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:01:00 +0000

I praise God that He gives us what we need not what we want. I am so thankful that He’s sovereign and in control of everything and that in spite of how scary things look I know I can trust Him to be good. But when life gets scary, sometimes it’s hard for us to remember His faithfulness especially when facing the unexpected. Habakkuk talked with God and asked Him why He allowed sin to go unpunished. God replied that He was going to punish sin and He was going to use the Babylonians to do that. This announcement that an cruel nation that worshipped its own military might was going to be God’s instrument of judgment was beyond shocking to the prophet—crushing might be a better word for how Habakkuk felt. He knew the kind of people the Babylonians were and therefore he knew the danger his people, friends and family, were in.

First of all, notice in Habakkuk 1:12, the prophet appeals to the eternal character of God and His promise to Israel. God had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the children of Israel. Because God is eternal and His covenant was an everlasting covenant, the prophet reasoned “We shall not die”. He assumed that with such a fierce enemy that the nation of Israel would be wiped off the face of the Earth. And from the descriptions we read in God’s revelation to Habakkuk that sounds about right. One thing is for sure, they weren’t coming over to play tiddlywinks.

The prophet’s second point is that because God is holy and pure, it doesn’t make sense for Him to use sinners to accomplish His purposes. In fact, Habakkuk sees this as out of character for God. The latter half of verse 12 in most Bibles is punctuated with a period. I think it would be better taken as a question. “God, how can you use them?” The fact is, God can use all circumstances, people, and places to accomplish His sovereign will. God never causes sin and God is not evil, but even sin and evil are no surprise to God and they can do nothing to thwart His purposes. As vile as the Babylonians were, God was able to use their vileness as a tool to discipline His people Israel.

Finally, Habakkuk asks “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” His point in Habakkuk 1:13-17 seems to be “You know what they’re like, Lord. How can you look at them when you know they treat people like the catch of the day in a seafood restaurant?” The Babylonians treated the people they conquered harshly and eventually that would come back to haunt them. But when God revealed the fact that they were going to conquer Israel to the prophet, all Habakkuk knew was that his people were going to be treated as little more than raw material for them to build the Babylonian empire. Because of their conquest, Habakkuk 1:16 tells us, the Babylonians lived well—on the backs of those they conquered and enslaved. Ultimately, Habakkuk wonders “Will they go on like this forever?”
Now, friends, you and I know that God will ultimately punish sin. So, when we face a situation like Habakkuk and there are people acting in ways that we know are sinful and we wonder where God is, we can remember that He is where He was—in Heaven, on His throne, right where He was when He punished His Son on the cross for that sin that grieves us. Because He is faithful, we can trust Him, no matter how much we hurt.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Matthew 9:18-19 Surely He Has Borne Our Grief

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:45:00 +0000

In Matthew chapter 8, we read several accounts of Christ healing people of various ills. Some people teach, wrongly, that supernatural healing is normative for Christians and cite Christ’s healing ministry as proof that physical freedom from sickness is somehow part of the atonement. However, the evidence in scripture, not to mention the life experience of millions of Christians living and dead all over the world proves quite the opposite. Because of the effects of sin, our bodies and this world are both corrupted and therefore subject to disease and death. However, during His ministry on earth, Christ healed people not just to demonstrate compassion on them and certainly not to allow them to live their “best life now”. Rather, the primary reason was to be obedient to God and demonstrate that when He claimed deity, He wasn’t just making stuff up—it was true and the miracles were the proof.

As we come to our text in Matthew 9, we need to keep those truths in focus as we attempt to interpret the text. What Matthew is teaching us here is not that, as Christians, we will never get sick. Rather, he intends for us to understand that Jesus is God and as God can do things only God can do. The fact that people knew He was able to do these things is pretty evident. While He was correcting some misconceptions on the part of the Pharisees and John’s disciples (Matthew 9:11-17), He was approached by a leader of the local synagogue whose daughter was close to death (Matthew 9:18). Now, Matthew just gives us the general details about the scene—the man came to Jesus, worshipped Him (“knelt”—proskyneō 4352) and begged Jesus to come heal his daughter. Mark and Luke fill in the details for us as they did in Matthew 8:5-12. The man’s name is Jairus and his daughter was on the verge of death. Matthew records that the synagogue leader says his daughter “has just died”, but the English translation doesn’t really do the Greek justice—it could just as easily mean “by this time she must have died”.

Now, remember when Jesus healed the centurions servant, the Roman soldier refused to allow Jesus to come to his home, He claimed he was unworthy and cited Jesus’ authority in the matter. “If I have authority over soldiers, I don’t have to be present to make sure something is done. Likewise, since I recognize your authority over disease, I know you don’t have to be present for the disease to obey you” he essentially said. The man, who was considered a “dog” to Jewish people, had faith enough to trust Christ to heal his servant.

Observe here (Matthew 9:18), this man who knew God, knew the scriptures, and apparently recognized Jesus as able to heal His child, or else why would he have risked his position in Jewish religious life to call on Him, came to Jesus, worshipped Him, but needed Him to come to where the girl was dying so that He could heal her. He didn’t have the faith to believe that Christ could just speak, where they were, and heal his little girl.

However, this lack of faith doesn’t dissuade Christ. Out of His love, compassion, and obedience to His Father, Jesus agrees to go and brings His disciples with Him. As we read this and contemplate on the situation and Christ’s response, we should be touched by the compassion that Christ shows here and elsewhere for those who are sick and hurting. We should also be thankful that even when our faith is weak and we find it hard to trust Christ, Christ still loves us and accepts us where we are. He truly is our faithful High Priest.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Habakkuk 1:5-11 “Be careful what you wish for”

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:07:00 +0000

On Sunday evening, our pastor has been preaching through the book of Job. All throughout the book, Job proclaimed his innocence and wished for an audience with God to please his case. At the end of the book, Job gets his wish. However, I’m thinking about half a chapter in, Job wishes he had not gotten what he asked for. God of course give him a scathing rebuke that basically says “I am God. You are not. Be quiet”. Here, in Habakkuk, the prophet pleads his case before God. As I read verse 4, I almost wouldn’t be surprised if verse 5 read “And the Lord dissolved Habakkuk before His eyes, and Job was no more”. I mean, Habakkuk begins his conversation with God basically accusing God of not caring about the evil people did and not acting as judge of sin. I imagine, much like Job, Habakkuk envisioned his discussion with God ending with him setting God straight. However, much like Job, the conversation did not turn out at all like he thought it would.

Habakkuk asked God “What are you going to do about judging the sin of Israel?” God chooses, in His wisdom, to reveal His plan to Habakkuk. He tells him in verse 5 to prepare to be shocked—“You are not going to believe this. You think I’m not working. Well, just wait till you see what I’m going to do”. To judge the sin of His people, God has chosen the roughest, toughest, meanest bunch of hooligans the world had seen up to that point—the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 1:5).

The 101st Babylonian Infantry

Of course, we read about them elsewhere in the Bible as the Babylonians (Kings, Daniel, and Isaiah). The name may be changed here, but the carnage is the same. The Babylonians were the first real world power. Sure, the Assyrians conquered multiple nations, but the Babylonian empire was bigger and their armies were fiercer. In my mind, I imagine this group like a biker gang—they were some bad dudes and God revealed to Habakkuk in verses 5 and 6 that they were going to be His instruments of judgment to punish Israel for their continued sinful disobedience.

Notice the chilling description Habakkuk records of these people. In verse 6, we’re told they are “…bitter and hasty…dreaded and fearsome”. They stab first and ask questions later. They saw themselves not as above the law, but rather they saw themselves as the law (“…their justice and dignity go forth from themselves…”). They didn’t answer to anyone. Their motto was “I’m the boss, apple sauce” and they had the military might to back up their bully-like attitude.

They were the best there was at what they did.

Their cavalry, Habakkuk 1:8 tells us, was swift and deadly. The terrible picture painted leaves little hope for escape or mercy. You can’t outrun a leopard, you can’t out fight a wolf, and you can’t hide from the high flying eagle. No matter where you run, these guys are going to get you and when they get you, they’re not there to play tiddlywinks or Monopoly. Verse 9 further portrays the deadly peril that Israel faces—we’re told the Babylonians come marching with “all their faces forward”. In other words, they are persistent, determined. They didn’t come to negotiate. They’re not looking for your money so you can’t buy them off. They want territory and they want to enslave people. And we read in Habakkuk 1:10 that the people can’t even depend on their leaders for protection because the Babylonian see them as little more than the punch line to a joke. Your walled cities? They build up siege ramps and take your city like a hot knife through butter. They don’t worship God but rather this godless, heathen nation worships their “own might” (Habakkuk 1:11).

Just reading the description of the terrible judgment that God has prepared for the nation of Israel is gut wrenching. Can you imagine how Habakkuk felt when God revealed that to him? He had come to God with a legitimate concern, even if it was expressed disrespectfully and God gives him news that had to have turned his stomach. The same thing, brothers and sisters, happens to us all the time. Oh, God doesn’t directly reveal His plans to us like this but we face scary, trying circumstances. How should we respond? Where is the hope in our trials? We can hope in God. God is sovereign, in control of all things, and we can trust Him even in the midst of the saddest, scariest, most pain circumstances because He is God and He is faithful.

In this post, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Book Review—Give Them Grace by Fitzpatrick/Thompson

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:48:00 +0000

First of all, stop what you’re doing now and go buy this book. If you’re a parent, you need to read this. If you’re not a parent but you’re a Christian, you need to read this. We need to be constantly reminded of the gospel and so I want you to stop reading this book review and go buy the book.

Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me say first of all that I appreciate the message in this book and the sincerity of the messengers. Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, a Christian mother and daughter, did not write this book to give a method or set of steps to improving your child’s behavior. If you’re looking for Twenty Ways to Change your Kid in Twenty Days you are going to be sorely disappointed. In fact, if I had to summarize the book’s message in one sentence, it would be this: Believe the gospel and preach it to your kids.

So often as parents we just want our kids to behave—in my case, I just want quiet. We focus on encouraging good behaviors and punishing bad behaviors and, as the book points out, this kind of training is necessary and has its place. However, what most of us tend to do as parents is focus on doing good and not doing bad as a goal as if it’s the be all end all of existence. In contrast, the gospel tells us the exact opposite. The gospel tells us that we are lost, sinful, and wretched and could never do anything good enough, let alone good. The fires of hell will burn for all eternity all around many good, moral people who showed up on time for work, never talked back to authority, helped little old ladies across the street. If all we do is teach our kids to be good, or worse, to feign goodness when someone is looking, we have failed our children and failed God in the calling He has given us as parents.

Rather, as the authors point out, we should look at our children’s misbehavior and recognize our own sinful heart and open rebellion against our heavenly Father. Further, we should use those opportunities to encourage our kids to see their own sinful heart and remind them that their sin condemns them before God but that God loved us. Because God loved us, He sent a Savior, Someone to rescue us from our sin. This is not to say that we don’t discipline our children and correct them when they misbehave, but rather that we don’t just stop there. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves and our children and using their own sin to remind them of their need for a Savior is a great way to do just that.

In short, I would recommend this book to anyone for that very reason—these ladies explain the gospel clearly and remind the reader of the depths of human sin. They also explain effectively the dangers of moralism. Those are two lessons no Christian can hear too often.

Habakkuk 1:1-4 “Yeah, well if God is so good…”

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:24:00 +0000

Stop me if you’ve had this happen to you. You’re sharing the gospel with someone who is trying to come up with some rationalization why they refuse to believe. They get irritated or whatever and blurt out something along the lines of “Oh yeah, well, if God is so good then why…”. And the “why” could be any number of things from something really significant (“…why did my little brother die of cancer when he was 8 years old…”) to some things that are somewhat less than significant (“…why have the Yankees won the World Series so many times…”). I know God is sovereign and we’d be condemned as committing a heresy if we admitted it, but the fact is you and I (those of us who have trusted in Christ’s death on the cross as payment for our sins and have repented) have asked the same question even if we’ve never asked it out loud. I might surprise us to know that people asked the same sort of question in scripture—more than one person actually. For the next few weeks (months?) we’re going to take a look at just such a person, the prophet Habakkuk.

Habakkuk lived in Jerusalem during a time of great spiritual wickedness. If we looked at a two minute highlight reel of the history of Israel from when they entered the land, one pattern would become painfully obvious. They would fall into sin, God would punish them through various means, they would repent, and God would save them. Rinse, lather, repeat. According to Adam Clark’s Bible commentary, Habakkuk probably lived during the reign of Jehoiakim somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 B.C. II Kings 23:37 tells us that this king did “what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his fathers had done” So, while the nation of Judah had good kings from time to time, this guy was not one of them. And, as was typical during the reign of an evil king, he led the nation into committing sin against the Lord. To say the least, our friend Habakkuk lived in troubled times.

So, Habakkuk did as the Holy Spirit inspired him to do—he recorded this prophecy. The first verse tells us that this was an “oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw”. He didn’t make this up. We do not find here the ramblings of some guy who is just ticked off at the government or at God and wanted to vent. In fact, the word “oracle” can be translated “burden” which, as you read the book, becomes pretty descriptive of what the prophet probably felt when he received this divine revelation. He had a burden for his people and what he saw going on. He was burdened when God revealed to him that He was going to do. I suspect, also, that he was still burdened even when he had accepted that God was sovereign and would do what pleased Him, but it was a different kind of burden—a burden to see God glorified even in the midst of horrifying circumstances.

As Habakkuk opens his prophecy, we observe the man being completely raw and honest about how he feels. If I had to characterize his tone I would call it angry. To me, he sounds angry at God. In the second verse of the book, we find that he complains “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?” In other words, “God, why are you not doing anything?” And, lest we think that Habakkuk thinks it’s just that God doesn’t see or hear what is happening, he spells it out for us very plainly in verse 3 when he asks “Why do you look idly at wrong?”

He doesn’t just question God’s apparent inaction, but goes so far as to question His character. He continues to describe the awful conditions he lives in as he concludes verse 3 saying he is surrounded by “destruction…violence…strife and contention”. Because of all the evil Habakkuk sees, he believes God should act and judge. However, since he doesn’t see God acting in judgment, he concludes that “the law is paralyzed…[and]…justice never goes forth”. Or to put it more bluntly, “If God is so good, why is there so much evil in the world.”

Habakkuk, then, asks exactly the same question that we are asked so often when we share the gospel. As we continue to study this book, we’ll see the answer he’s given and I believe come to praise God for His sovereignty and justice.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Matthew 9:14-17 A Pair of Skewed Perspectives—John the Baptist’s Disciples part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:57:00 +0000

The Pharisees had a wrong perspective about Jesus and what He taught. They perceived that He was not up to their standards of holiness because He ate with people they considered sinners. They also believed that they were themselves righteous. Of course, we know that there is no one who is righteous—we all stand before a holy God justly condemned for our sins apart from faith in Christ and His finished work. However, it wasn’t just the Pharisees that did not understand Christ. The disciples of John the Baptist also had a skewed perspective. As we saw the last time we looked at these verses, the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus about fasting. He helped them come to understand that His disciples did not fast because, first of all, it wasn’t time for them to be fasting. Let’s take a look at another reason why His disciples didn’t fast like John’s disciples did.

In verses 16 and 17, Jesus used two illustrations that pretty well everyone in the Middle East would have understood. He told these disciples, in essence, that the new truths He taught didn’t fit with the Jewish religion as they practiced it. In verse 16, he compared the truth of the gospel to a piece of new cloth. Trying to fast as the Pharisees and priests taught while believing the gospel that Christ preached would be like taking that new piece of cloth that was not shrunk and sewing it onto an old coat that had a tear. When the patch shrunk, and it would shrink, it would pull away from the coat and make an even bigger tear. One cannot take the truth of the gospel and pair it with forms of external, man-centered self justification and not expect a problem. The Pharisees and religious leaders taught that it was by keeping the law and ceremonies that a person was made right with God. I don’t think that Jesus is forbidding anyone from fasting but rather he was giving the proper perspective on it. A person cannot be made right with God because they observed some ceremony. Trying to do that is disastrous—it just doesn’t fit.

In like manner, He said trying to take the new wine of the gospel and pour it into the old forms of the religion practiced by the Pharisees would be a complete waste. The truth of the gospel could not be contained by those old forms and customs. The gospel of forgiveness of sins based on faith and repentance could not fit with the doctrine of self-atonement. Because true righteousness is received through faith as a gift it could not be earned through human work. Therefore, the gospel was, and is, incompatible with the attempt that many people, even some of them believers, make to secure their right standing with God by being good. As I had preached to a congregation before, salvation is not about right doing producing right being but rather it is about right being producing right doing.

How sad it is when people try to justify themselves by being religions. It is vain, futile, and ultimately, as Jesus says here, leads to ruin. The gospel that He preached was a pure, life giving gospel that actually saves not a works based gospel that only serves to remind a person that they’re never good enough. We are not good enough to stand before a holy God, but because of the finished work of Christ on Calvary, we are declared righteous. Brothers and sisters, may we rest securely in the finished work of our Lord. As He said from the cross, “It is finished”.

Matthew 9:14-17 A Pair of Skewed Perspectives—John the Baptist’s Disciples part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:38:00 +0000

John the Baptist was a pretty interesting character. He probably wouldn’t have been invited to preach in our churches if he was around today, which wouldn’t make much of a difference to him, I would bet, because he’d be in the “boondocks” or some part of town that most of us wouldn’t be caught dead in preaching the gospel. His disciples, as we observe here came to Jesus with questions that were born out of a skewed perspective just like the Pharisees—skewed ii a different direction, perhaps, but skewed none the less. In short, the disciples of John had an incorrect perspective on the situation of Jesus’ disciples and the scope of Jesus’ ministry.

First of all, notice their perspective on Jesus’ disciples. They ask Jesus in Matthew 9:14 why His disciples do not fast as the disciples of other teachers did. Now, observe the tone they used. It doesn’t appear that they were accusatory or combative. They were just asking a question—clarifying. Furthermore, while the Pharisees fasted according to Jewish tradition on holy days as well as regularly during the week, it’s possible that at this point when they spoke to Jesus that John’s disciples were grieving the loss of their teacher after he was executed by Herod the Great. Therefore, they may have been asking Christ why His disciples were not fasting to mourn with them, since he was Christ’s cousin, or they may have been asking why they didn’t follow the same ceremonies as the disciples of other teachers.

In any case, Christ loving clarifies His disciple’s situation for them. Please notice, as I’m sure you have, that Christ does not forbid fasting or abolish the practice. Rather, He points out the unique situation of the disciples and why they are not fasting. Borrowing from the custom of Jewish weddings, which were basically huge parties, he makes the analogy that He is the bridegroom, the disciples are the wedding guests and as such it would not be proper for them to mourn (Matthew 9:15). While Christ is with them, they don’t have any reason to mourn. The Messiah has come and is preaching to good news of the gospel. The dead are being raised, the lame walk, and the blind see. For the person who had their eyes opened to this truth, there couldn’t possibly have been any happier time. Rejoicing, not weeping, would be the response you would expect of someone who had been given by God the revelation of Who Christ was.

Furthermore, as we continue to read in Matthew 9:15, Christ notes that there will be a time in the future when His disciples will fast—they will have reason to mourn. As He did several times in His ministry, he predicts a time when “…the bridegroom is taken away…” referring to the time when He was crucified. Of course, we know how sad and fearful the disciples were immediately after the crucifixion but at the time neither the disciples of John nor Christ’s own disciples realized exactly what lay ahead. However, though John’s disciples couldn’t have known exactly what Jesus meant, Jesus did point out to them the fact that they didn’t have a clear perspective on why His disciples didn’t fast. In short, the time wasn’t right.

Psalm 1:4-6 There is a Payday--Count on it.

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:48:00 +0000

I know I blogged through Psalm 1 sometime back a few years ago (see here). However, I've recently had the chance to preach through that psalm. Here is the link to the 3rd and final sermon I preached out of that psalm, which if truth be told should have been the 2nd half of the 2nd sermon I preached. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Colossians 1:1-2 The Power of the Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:27:00 +0000

I began preaching through the book of Colossians this past Sunday. Here is the link to download the audio.

Audio Sermon Links

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Here is the link of the new page I added where I'll post links to audio from sermons I have the opportunity to preach. At the moment, I'm using a freebie audio hosting site so the links won't play audio directly--you have to down load them. But come on, you've got room on your mp3 player for some more sermons, right? Of course you do.

Fundamental Friday's--God's Revelation in Scripture

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:59:00 +0000

In the early 1900's. a twelve volume work on theology titled The Fundamentals was published. This massive work, in my most humble of opinions, is just as relevant today if not more so with the ever increasing attacks on the faith of Christians--and that's just from folks inside the church. I wanted to publish some excerpts from this work that I think will be greatly encouraging to you.

But there is another revelation which God has given of Himself to men-a more definite and personal one. He gave them up to the thoughts of their own heart, and selected one man, Abraham, to go out from his friends and kindred, so that in his seed all the nations of the world might be blessed. Then, first, out of Abraham came the people of Israel, to whom were committed the oracles of God; and from this period began the history of the written Word. Moses narrates the beginning of things, also records the law, and holy men of God speak and write as they are moved by the Holy Spirit. That is inspiration—a divine in-breathing.

In giving us these narratives it may be said, moreover, that God, who numbers the very hairs of our head, exercised a providential control, so that what was reported by His chosen men should be the real facts, and nothing else. To what extent He inspired those men with the very words used by them, it is not for us to know, but probably more fully than we suspect.

But when God, after having communicated the law to Moses on Mount Sinai and in the Tabernacle, communes with him as a friend with friend, and Moses writes "all the words of this law in a book" (Deut. 28:58; 31:24), then Moses really becomes the pen of God. When God speaks to the prophets, "Behold, I put my words in thy mouth," and "the words that thou hearest thou shalt say to this people," then these prophets become the very mouth of God. When Christ appears to John on Patmos, and says, "To the angel of the church write these things," this is an instance of verbal dictation.

But just here we are amused at those weak-minded critics who, with hackneyed phrases, talk so glibly about "mechanical instruments" and "mere verbal dictation." Does then a self-revelation of the Almighty and a making known of His counsels, a gracious act which exalts the human agent to be a co-worker with Jehovah, annihilate personal freedom?The Bible is, consequently, a book which originated according to the will and with the co-operation of God; and as such it is our guide to eternity, conducting man, seemingly without a plan and yet with absolute certainty, all the way from the first creation and from Paradise on to the second or higher creation and to the New Jerusalem (Comp. Gen. 2:8-10 with Rev. 21:1, 2).

Acts 2:36-38 Now THAT'S An Invitation

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:31:00 +0000

This past Sunday, I had the chance to preach in the church I pastored before I moved to Tennessee, Matthew's Memorial Baptist Church. Here is a link to download the audio from the sermon. I pray that you are encouraged.

Psalm 1:3--True Sucess According to Scripture

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Tue, 31 May 2011 01:40:00 +0000

I know I blogged through Psalm 1 sometime back, but I've had the oppotunity to preach through it recently. Here is the second sermon I preached on Psalm 1:3. I think you have to download it as it won't play in the browser when you click the link. I pray that you are encouraged.

Fundamental Friday's--God's Self Revelation in Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Fri, 27 May 2011 17:47:00 +0000

In the early 1900's. a twelve volume work on theology titled The Fundamentals was published. This massive work, in my most humble of opinions, is just as relevant today if not more so with the ever increasing attacks on the faith of Christians--and that's just from folks inside the church. I wanted to publish some excerpts from this work that I think will be greatly encouraging to you.

But now the question arises whether God, who is both the Creator of all things and the Father of spirits, has revealed Himself to his creatures, or to His own children, the work of His hands. Such a question might surely provoke one's laughter. For what is the entire universe? what is this created nature of which we form a part? what is air? and water? and fire? what are all organized beings, my body with its many parts put together in such a highly artistic and inscrutable fashion; my soul with its infinite capabilities so little understood by myself? What are all these matters but a progressive revelation of God, given to us, as it were, in a series of concentric circles rising one above another toward their Source? For this purpose it was that God created the visible, so that through it we might perceive the invisible, and for this purpose the whole creation was made, so that through it might be manifested the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and godhead (Rom. 1:20). Creation-is only the language of "the Word that was in the beginning, and was with God, and was God, and by Whom all things were made" (John 1:1-3). What does this Word declare? What else but the great infinite name of God the Father, the primal source of all things, the name that must be hallowed? There was a time, however, even before the world was, when there existed nothing but God and his name. All the different works of creation are only letters in this great name.

The Security of Sound Doctrine--Philippians 3:1-2

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:54:00 +0000

I published a blog post from Philippians 3:1-2 some time back. However, I had the chance to preach this past Sunday and chose that text for my sermon. Here is the audio. I pray that you are encouraged.

Psalm 2:10-13 You Betta Reck-ah-nize

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:13:00 +0000

I was a school teacher some years ago. In one of my classes, a couple of the lunk-heads (i.e. students) were picking at one another. The one boy said something about the other one’s mother I think (“Yo’ momma breff so stank…”). The other boy didn’t like it and proceeded to go across the room to teach the other kid the error of his ways. Now, some of the students got in front of the kid that was about to be pounced on and I got in front of the kid that was headed over there. I don’t remember his name, but we’ll call him Bob. Bob was a good kid, basically, but he was highly ticked off right that second. He was standing in front of me and I had my hand on his chest to keep him from plowing forward. Did I mention he was about 6’5”, 220ish? Yeah, so he had stopped walking forward and was just standing there and I realized “You know, if dude decides to roll me over and go after that kid, there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it.” I knew I was in real trouble if he didn’t get control of himself because he could have hurt me badly. As we read the last few verses of David’s second psalm, we see the focus of the psalm come full circle. It started with humankind plotting their rebellion. It ends with humankind being warned against that rebellion.

As we saw in Psalm 2:4-6, God has already decreed that Christ will be exalted above everything and that the plans of rebellion plotted by mankind are just a joke to Him. We find in Psalm 2:7-9 that Christ has been promised total dominion and will judge those who will not bow to Him. Now, with that in mind, we find the kings and rulers are given sound advice. They are told first of all to “be wise” (Psalm 2:10). Since God has settled in His mind Who will be King and since the Son has announced that He has been given total dominion over everything, committing treason and rebelling against the omnipotent authority of Christ would be the exact opposite of wisdom. It would be more like suicide. The wise thing to do, then, would be to submit because as we read in verse 9, you are not going to be standing when He gets finished with the judgment.

They are further told to “be warned”. In other words, pretend like this is a life or death choice, because it is. The judgment that is coming is real. It will be final. There will be no surviving or standing there and taking it like a man. When Christ comes to execute His judgment, there will be no one left standing that opposed him. Therefore, when it happens, don’t act like you haven’t been told it was coming.

What can these rebels do to avoid their fate? Submit. Surrender is the only option. They are told, basically, to become willing servants of this King. They are advised to “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling”. Further, they are told to humble themselves and “Kiss the Son”. When you know you’re completely outmatched and overwhelmed, throwing yourself to the mercy of your opponent isn’t a bad idea. Particularly when you realize that if you don’t you may “perish in the way”. Depending on how one understands the next Hebrew phrase, the time to judgment may be short (“for his wrath is quickly kindled “ (ESV)) or even the slightest bit of his anger may be too powerful to withstand (“his wrath is kindled but a little “(KJV)). In any case, those who look to Him for salvation (“refuge”) will not be put to shame.

So, as we have examined this psalm of David, I wonder, have you examined yourself—your heart? Are you one of the proud, brave rebels who says “I will not have Him to be God over me”? Or are you instead one of those who has trusted Him to save you? The consequences of that decision are very real and eternal. I pray that you have trusted Him, because if you have, He will not turn you away.

Unless otherwise indicated, in this post scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Fundamental Friday's--God the Creator

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:40:00 +0000

In the early 1900's. a twelve volume work on theology titled The Fundamentals was published. This massive work, in my most humble of opinions, is just as relevant today if not more so with the ever increasing attacks on the faith of Christians--and that's just from folks inside the church. I wanted to publish some excerpts from this work that I think will be greatly encouraging to you.

There remains, therefore, only this alternative: either the world produced itself, or it was created. That all things came into existence spontaneously, and therefore that we must suppose an origination of immeasurably great effects without any cause, or believe that at some time a nothing, without either willing or knowing it, and without the use of means, became a something-this is the most unreasonable assumption that could possibly be attributed to a human being. How could anything act before it existed? or a thing not yet created produce something? There is nothing more unreasonable than the creed of the. unbeliever, notwithstanding all his prating about the excellence of reason.

But if this world did not produce itself, then it must have been created by some Higher Power, some Cause of all causes, such as was that First Principle upon which the dying Cicero called. Or, to use the words of Dr. Klein, that originating cause must have been a "Supreme Intelligence that has at its command unlimited creative power" (Kosmologische Briefe, p. 27). Hence what that Intelligence does is both illimitable ante anfathomable, and it can at any time either change this world or make a new one. It is therefore prima facie silly for us, with our prodigiously narrow experience, to set any kind of bounds to the Supreme Being; and a God who works no miracles and is the slave of his own laws implanted in nature; such a God as the New Theology preaches, is as much lacking in being a true Divinity as is the unconscious, but all-wise "cosmic ether" of Spiller, or the "eternal stuff" of other materialists.

We conclude, then, that the universe was created, or that God is the author of all things.

Sermon--Psalm 1:1-2 What does the Bible say about happiness?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:56:00 +0000

I know I've blogged through this psalm already, but I've had the opportunity recently to preach it so I've uploaded the audio here. It is something of a pain because you have to download it but surely your iPod has room for one more sermon, right?

The Gospel isn't Everything-It's the Only Thing II Corinthians 5:21

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:13:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday. Here is the audio from the message in II Corinthians. I'm using free file hosting so I don't think it will play for you in the browser. Instead you have to download it. But come on, you've got enough room on your MP3 player for another sermon, don't you? :-)

Fundamental Friday's--The Creation of the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Sat, 07 May 2011 03:00:00 +0000

In the early 1900's. a twelve volume work on theology titled The Fundamentals was published. This massive work, in my most humble of opinions, is just as relevant today if not more so with the ever increasing attacks on the faith of Christians--and that's just from folks inside the church. I wanted to publish some excerpts from this work that I think will be greatly encouraging to you.

The eternity of the universe is most clearly disproved by its evolution. From a scientific point of view that hypothesis is now discredited and virtually abandoned. Astronomers, physicists, biologists, philosophers, are beginning to recognize more and more, and men like Secchi, Dubois-Reymond, Lord Kelvin, Dr. Klein and others, unanimously affirm that creation has had a beginning. It always tends towards an entropy, that is, toward a perfect equilibrium of its forces, a complete standstill; and the fact that it has not yet reached such a condition is proof that it has not always existed.

There remains, therefore, only this alternative: either the world produced itself, or it was created. That all things came into existence spontaneously, and therefore that we must suppose an origination of immeasurably great effects without any cause, or believe that at some time a nothing, without either willing or knowing it, and without the use of means, became a something-this is the most unreasonable assumption that could possibly be attributed to a human being.

But if this world did not produce itself, then it must have been created by some Higher Power, some Cause of all causes, such as was that First Principle upon which the dying Cicero called. Or, to use the words of Dr. Klein, that originating cause must have been a "Supreme Intelligence that has at its command unlimited creative power" (Kosmologische Briefe, p. 27). Hence what that Intelligence does is both illimitable ante anfathomable, and it can at any time either change this world or make a new one. It is therefore prima facie silly for us, with our prodigiously narrow experience, to set any kind of bounds to the Supreme Being; and a God who works no miracles and is the slave of his own laws implanted in nature; such a God as the New Theology preaches, is as much lacking in being a true Divinity as is the unconscious, but all-wise "cosmic ether" of Spiller, or the "eternal stuff" of other materialists.

We conclude, then, that the universe was created, or that God is the author of all things.

Psalm 2:7-9 The Anointed One Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Thu, 05 May 2011 19:47:00 +0000

As we have examined this Psalm, we have heard from the wicked, sinful rulers of the earth conspiring together to revolt against God (Psalm 2:1-3). We’ve heard God have a good, old fashioned belly laugh at the very thought of these creatures imagining that they could defy Him (Psalm 2:4-6). Now, we will hear from yet another Speaker in this psalm. God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, enters the scene in answer to those who wish to rebel against His rule. As we will see, He’s not there to negotiate with them or try to win their affection. Actually, He boldly declares His sovereign rule which should be enough to frighten sinful mankind to the core.

Notice, as Christ comes in verse 7, He’s not speaking on His own authority. Christ will rule and reign over all and everyone will recognize Him as the Lord of all creation but they will do so to the “glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Therefore, since ultimately God the Father will be glorified by God the Son, it is only natural here that the Son acknowledges the authority of the Father and announce that He is declaring “the decree of the Lord”.

In fact, the first item Christ mentions is His Sonship—His special relationship as the only Son of the Father. I think that’s an important point for us all to take note of. God has not installed an underling to serve as ruler over all creation. He has put everything under the feet of His Son—One just like Him (Hebrews 1:3). Since God is holy, righteous, merciful, and faithful then we can rejoice because that’s exactly what the Son is. He is perfectly like His Father and will therefore faithfully carry out His rule.

Next, observe with me the completeness of Christ’s kingdom. God declares to Him that He will give Christ “the nations” and “the very ends of the earth” (Psalm 2:8). Now, is there anything that does not fall into those two categories? No!! Christ will rule over all men, women, boys, girls, dogs, cats, rocks, buildings, seas…you get the idea. There is no place that His rule does not extend to and there is no one that will not fall under His jurisdiction. Praise God, He will be able to fully and faithfully execute justice because He will have completely authority over everything. Where our governments fail us many times and people in different countries or cities can’t agree on things and have to negotiate, He will be able to do the right thing all the time and have the authority and power to back that up. Hallelujah!

Finally, notice that this authority does not come without the ability to enforce that authority. Those in Psalm 2:1-3 who believed that they could rebel against God and against His Christ are in for a most rude awakening. You see, Christ is certainly merciful and tender-hearted, but He is also perfectly just, holy, and all powerful. His rod, the symbol of His rule, is a “rod of iron” (Psalm 2:9). The people who rebel against Him? They’re just “earthenware”. What happens when iron strikes a clay pot? It gets shattered—completely destroyed. When Christ comes to execute judgment on the wicked, I can promise you one thing, He’s not coming to play pat-a-cake. His judgment will be swift, sure, and terrible.

As we read this, if we have trusted Christ to save us, we can rejoice as we imagine the coming rule of our Messiah. However, perhaps you’re reading this and you have not trusted Christ to save you—you have not repented of your sins. Friend, please take these verses as a warning to do that, before it is too late.

Matthew 9:13 A Pair of Skewed Perspectives—The Pharisees Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:17:00 +0000

As we observed last time in studying this passage, the Pharisees had a problem. They thought they were righteous before God whereas the people Jesus ate with (and by implication Christ Himself) were not. The truth was, of course, that they were just as sinful as those they disdained and in some ways they were worse off because they were sick with the spiritual cancer of sin and they didn’t realize it. In short, Christ had the correct perspective on their condition while they did not. In a similar fashion, their perspective on their devotion to God and their responsibility to man was likewise skewed. As we will see here, Christ again shows them that what they think is true and right differs greatly from reality.

You see, the Pharisees thought that by not associating with sinners that they were proving their devotion to God. In their mind, remaining pure and separate from those who lived godless lives was, in a sense, an act of worship. However, Christ points out the error in their thinking by referring them to Hosea 6:6. He reminded them that they should already have known this by telling them to “go and learn what this means” which was the first century equivalent of saying to them “I guess you were absent the day they taught scripture in Hebrew school, huh?” Again, these masters of scripture might have known the words but the truth of those words had not pierced their hard hearts. They had the quote from Hosea backwards in their practice. They had majored on the “sacrifices”—the external demands and duties of their religion. They had ignored the requirement for “compassion”. Instead of being a witness of the truth to those who lived in disobedience and calling them to repent, they sat in self righteous judgment and condemned those on whom they should have had compassion just as God and Christ had compassion on them.

In addition, they had a goofed up perspective on what God expected from them while also having an incorrect perspective on other people. Jesus reminded them, therefore, that God was a God who saves people and shows compassion. This salvation, though, was for those who were humble enough to acknowledge their need for it. As He said back in Matthew 5:3, it is those who are poor in spirit who are going to be blessed. Those who recognize their need for a savior and will turn to God and say “Have mercy on me” are the ones who will find a God willing to forgive and save them. Jesus, as He said here, “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners”.

The Pharisees rejected Jesus and His message because they rejected God’s word in spite of their protestations that they knew Him and followed Him. They, as a result, didn’t have a right perspective on themselves, on sin, and ultimately on God and His righteousness. What we see here then is a reminder that rejecting the truth is dangerous and carries consequences. If we want to have a right perspective on our situation, we need a right perspective on God and we only get that right perspective from His holy word.

Fundamental Friday's--The Fallacies of Higher Criticism Part VIII

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:45:00 +0000

In the early 1900's. a twelve volume work on theology titled The Fundamentals was published. This massive work, in my most humble of opinions, is just as relevant today if not more so with the ever increasing attacks on the faith of Christians--and that's just from folks inside the church. I wanted to publish some excerpts from this work that I think will be greatly encouraging to you.

Another case of forgery is found in the origin of the priestly legislation, if we are to believe the higher critics. This legislation is contained in a large number of passages scattered through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It has to do chiefly with the tabernacle and its worship, with the duties of the priests and Levites, and with the relations of the people to the institutions of religion. It is attributed to Moses in scores of places. It has a strong coloring of the Mosaic age and of the wilderness life. It affirms the existence of the tabernacle, with an orderly administration of the ritual services. But this is all imagined, for the legislation is a late production. Before the exile there were temple services and a priesthood, with certain regulations concerning them, either oral or written, and use was made of this tradition; but as a whole the legislation was enacted by such men as Ezekiel and Ezra during and immediately after the exile, or about 444 B. C. The name of Moses, the fiction of a tabernacle, and the general coloring of the Mosaic age, were given it in order to render it authoritative and to secure the ready obedience of the nation. But now:

1. The moral objection here is insuperable. The supposition of forgery, and of forgery so cunning, so elaborate, and so minute, is abhorrent. If the forgery had been invented and executed by wicked men to promote some scheme of selfishness, it would have been less odious. But when it is presented to us as the expedient of holy men, for the advancement of the religion of the God of righteousness, which afterwards blossomed out into Christianity, we must revolt.

2. The theory gives us a portraiture of such men as Ezekiel and Ezra which is utterly alien from all that we know of them. The expedient might be worthy of the prophets of Baal or of Chemosh; it was certainly not worthy of the prophets of Jehovah, and we dishonor them when we attribute it to them and place them upon a low plane of craft and cunning of which the records concerning them are utterly ignorant.

3. The people who returned from the exile were among the most intelligent and enterprising of the nation, else they would not have returned, and they would not have been deceived by the sudden appearance of Mosaic laws forged for the occasion and never before heard of.

4. Many of the regulations of this legislation are drastic. It subjected the priests and Levites to a rule which must have been irksome in the extreme, and it would not have been lightly accepted. We may be certain that if it had been a new thing fraudulently ascribed to Moses, these men would have detected the deceit, and would have refused to be bound by it. But we do not hear of any revolt, or even of any criticism.

Matthew 9:10-13 A Pair of Skewed Perspectives—The Pharisees Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:05:00 +0000

The Pharisees, as we examined the last time we looked at this passage, looked down on Jesus because He, in their minds, was not righteous because He was associating with those known to be unrighteous. In their way of thinking, the sinfulness of the people with whom He was eating made them unfit for Jesus or any respectable person to be around. As much as you and I might chide the Pharisees for this attitude, how often are we like that? I’d say more often than we admit. As my pastor pointed out in his sermon Sunday, picture two couples in your mind: one couple comes in, cleanly dressed, hair neatly combed, a man and a woman in their mid 30’s with two children who don’t make a peep the entire service. The other couple is a fairly haggard looking with greasy, matted hair, the man has tattoos on his neck that look like they extend beneath his shirt. The woman is carrying a baby that is screaming loudly and wearing a diaper and a t-shirt that has what looks to be dried squash, peas, and maybe ketchup. Now, which couple would be more readily welcomed into our churches? Which couple needs the gospel more, would you assume?

Hold on to both of those questions for a little bit while we examine how Jesus responded to these people who criticized Him for the company He kept.

First of all, notice that Christ had a different perspective on the condition of the people with whom He ate as well as a different perspective on the Pharisees’ condition than they themselves had. The Pharisees thought they were righteous. As far as people measured righteousness, they were righteous. They kept the letter of the law in the eyes of people and were considered experts in knowing how to live rightly before God. Jesus, in Matthew 9:12, reminded these men who proclaimed themselves righteous that “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” Now, Jesus was not talking about physical sickness. Rather, He was referring to the spiritual cancer of sin that was in the heart of those with whom He was eating.

However, it wasn’t just the publicans who had a problem with sin. In fact, the Pharisees should have known that better than anyone because they knew, or should have known, what God’s word said in the Psalms. Psalms 14:2-3 says “The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.” In other words, while the Pharisees might have heard Jesus’ reply and assumed they were the “healthy” ones that He was talking about, the fact is there are no people who could be called “healthy” in the example Jesus gave. We are all sick—sick with the disease of sin and it is terminal. Only Jesus, the Great Physician, has the ability to cure that disease and save us. Therefore, Jesus had a different perspective on the people He ate with and He had a different perspective on the Pharisees than they themselves had. They saw themselves as whole. He saw them, as He sees all sinners, as diseased.

Next time, we will return and examine how Christ’s perspective on the responsibility of the Pharisees to the publicans and sinners was different than that of the Pharisees. However, as we close out, based on what we’ve read now, which couple from our hypothetical situation above needs to hear the gospel more? Most people in church would probably act as though couple number 2 needed the gospel more, but in fact we often times would be more welcoming to couple number 1. Let these verses we have studied remind us that Christ sees everyone as spiritually sick and needing the services of the Great Physician who died on the cross to suffer God’s wrath in their place.

Psalm 2:4-6 The Lords Response to Rebellion

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Blackmon) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:03:00 +0000

I normally am very easy to get along with at work. In fact, on more than one evaluation, that I get along very well with the auditee and am able to ask them questions that might be hard or direct without becoming abrasive. There’s a simple reason why I am able to do this—I know my position. I know that the people that we audit are legally required to answer our questions and provide us with the information we request. One time, however, I had to become a bit, how you say, forceful with someone. I asked for some information. She told me “No one has ever asked for that before. WHY do you want to know?” I responded casually “That’s a great question. Thank you for asking.” She said “You didn’t answer my question.” I told her “I don’t intend to.” She asked who my supervisor was. I am sure in her mind she thought “I don’t know who this dude thinks he is, but I’m going to get him in a real pickle.” I laughed at her and told her the woman’s name and asked “You want her phone number?” I know that, in the end, the folks in the office had my back. I was in the position of authority and she had to do what she was told. As we read this scripture, we see God, who is the highest authority, having a similar reaction to the rebellion we read about in Psalm 2:1-3.

When we left this scripture the last time, the kings of the earth were conspiring together in a plot to rebel against God. They planned to “tear their fetters” and “cast away their cords”. They had had enough, dagnabit, and they wanted to be free of His authority. We read in verse 4 God’s reaction to their sinful plans. He has a good ol’ belly laugh. They are the butt of His jokes. I can see him turning to Michael the archangel “You know what these creatures think they’re going to do? Snicker…they’re planning on rebelling.” Michael tries to hold back a guffaw because, after all, he realizes the doom of anyone who rebels against the sovereign Lord of the Universe—remember Satan? He can’t help himself though. The joke is just too good. If you close your eyes, you can hear the booming, thunderous laughter resounding through the throne room in heaven.

Those who rebel against God have sealed their fate. The Bible is replete with warnings of God’s wrath (II Peter 3:7, Revelation 19:11-15). As we read in verse 5 of this Psalm, God will “speak to them in His anger”. His wrath may be restrained for the moment, but ultimately, those who reject the gospel and live in sinful rebellion against God will feel His “fury” in judgments.

You see, they may believe that they can pull themselves out from under the authority of God—that they can live as they want without His burdensome word ruining their fun. But what they don’t know is that the real punchline has already been written. The story is already over—God wins and they don’t even realize it. You see, while they were planning their rebellion, they didn’t realize and mankind has constantly tried to ignore one simple truth. God tells us in verse 6 “I have installed my King”. It is done and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do about it. God has already declared victory because it has already happened. God has anointed Christ as the One to whom every knee will bow. The forthcoming judgment and punishment with the wicked is perfunctory really. The end for them is closer than they realized and their fiery, eternal punishment is right at the door.

With this in mind, how have you responded to the gospel? Have you repented and trusted Christ alone to save you based on His substitutionary death on the cross? If you haven’t, why not take this verse today as a cautionary tale that God’s judgment is real and it’s coming, but you can avoid it through faith in Christ.