Supplementary Sermon Notes for August 1, 2021

Supplementary notes for the Sermon Preached on Sunday, August 1, 2021

by Dr. Joe Alain at Carrollwood Baptist Church

 

Why Do Some People Doubt the Bible, God’s Word?

I have found that most of the doubts that people have about the integrity and truthfulness of the Bible usually result from misunderstandings about what the Bible is and what it is not. They fall under the following categories:

 

1. The Bible uses phenomenological language, rather than precise scientific language. For instance, we know the sun does not really “set” but that is how we see it, it is not incorrect to say so, it is the language that describes the phenomenon.

 

2. We sometimes hold the biblical writers to standards that they themselves did not follow or were unaware of. For instance, one writer might say there were 100,000 troops while another may say there were 125,000 troops. Does this mean the Bible is wrong or are both of these numbers simply approximates made by different people before our day and time when numbers are much more objective and precise?

 

3. Related to the above, even though the Holy Spirit superintended what the biblical writers wrote, they had the freedom to write from their understanding and point of view. We see this especially in the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three Gospels we sometimes refer to as the synoptic Gospels because they parallel one another more often than John’s Gospel. But even when you harmonize the Gospels, they have unique point of views that are key to interpreting them. Rather than asking, “Why are they not the same?” we might ask, “What makes one different from another?” The biblical writer is telling us something important by what he leaves out or by what he includes.

 

4. Some people doubt the Bible because they fail to understand the relationship of all Scripture. The Bible is a unified book and is only understood when we see how God’s revelation unfolds. The easiest way to get in trouble is to view an Old Testament passage in isolation from the New Testament. The Bible when properly interpreted, meaning everything needs to funnel through the New Testament and especially Jesus Christ, is completely true and trustworthy. Always, always, always move from the Old to the New when interpreting the Bible.

 

5. Some apparent problems people have with the Bible is a failure to understand that the Bible is written by people using a variety of literary genres. We understand that today when reading literature that poetry is read and interpreted differently than a historical account of an event. We must read the Bible the same way. The book of Proverbs (Wisdom genre) is quite different from the book of Acts (Historical, Narrative genre).  

 

6. Some people doubt the Bible because of what it bluntly says. The biblical writers did not hold back. They told the good, the bad, and the ugly! However, because the Bible does not leave the bloody and the bad out, that is in its favor as being authentic. If people would have devised the Bible, they would have taken all the unpleasant seemingly problematic passages and stories out. That they are in our Bible gives it credibility as a real document.

 

7. Related to the last point, some people doubt the Bible because they do not understand the difference between what the Bible “describes” and what the Bible “prescribes.” The fact that the Bible “describes” the anger and anguish of the Psalmist who wants to see the pagan children’s heads smashed as a “pay back” for the cruel injustices of the Babylonians, does not mean that this language is “prescriptive” or “normative” for believers today. It is important to learn what is “descriptive” and what is “prescriptive.”

 

Get Started Reading the Bible

There are many great plans for reading the Bible and an array of resources to help you. Shown below are just a few web sites that will help you get started off right. Great helps are just a click away.

 

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/

Read the Bible online in the Bible translation of your choice. Includes a link to a one-year Bible Blog. This excellent resource includes historical background of the day’s passages and elaborates on the Scriptures that you are reading.

 

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Indispensable for Bible study! Access over sixty (60) complete English versions of the Bible. Search the Bible, print Scripture, and find links to other resources.

 

https://www.backtothebible.org/main-menu

Discover a variety of complete reading plans (Chronological, Historical, Old and New Testament Together, Beginning to End, etc.). Includes other Bible study resources as well.

 

https://odb.org/

A favorite devotional, now online! Listen or read “Our Daily Bread” daily devotionals.

 

http://www.bibleplan.org/

A variety of different Bible reading plans to choose from.

 

“The entrance of your words give light.” Psalm 119:130

Welcome to Worship! Notes for July 18, 2021

 

“We Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins”

Series: The Apostles’ Creed, These Things We Believe

Matthew 18:21-35

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

 

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

 

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

 

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

 

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

 

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

 

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

 

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

 

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

 

God Forgives Our Sins

Why do we need to be forgiven? 

1. Sin separates us from God

2. Sin spoils relationships

3. Sin brings suffering

4. Sin leads to restless living

5. Sin enslaves 

 

The Meaning of Forgiveness

To "Carry Away," Ephesians 1:7

To "Wipe Away," Acts 3:19

 

God Provides Ongoing Forgiveness

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

 

We Model God's Grace by Forgiving Others

"Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35)

1. He Was a Debtor (18:23-27)

2. He Was a Creditor (18:28-30)

3. He Became a Prisoner (18:31-34)

Why We Find it Difficult to Forgive Others

1. We mistake forgiveness for giving people a pass on their bad behavior. 

2. We don't see evidence that the person is really sorry for what they have done to us. 

3. We mistake forgiveness for restoration. 

4. We don't "feel" like forgiving. 

5. We fail to realize that withholding forgiveness only harms us not the other person.

 

 

 

 

 

"The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer" (July 4, 2021)

 

“The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer”

 

Series: The Apostles’ Creed, These Things We Believe

 

(Notes from a sermon preached by Dr. Joe Alain on July 4, 2021 at Carrollwood Baptist Church)

 

The Apostle Paul once asked some disciples of John the Baptist a question whether they had received the Holy Spirit or not. Their reply was, “We have not even herd that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). That might be said of many people today, “We have not heard much about the Holy Spirit and what we’ve heard, we’re not sure we understand!” There is a good bit of misunderstanding when it comes to the third person of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And yet, we need to know about the HS if we are to truthfully confess, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.”

 

Christians believe God is a Trinity. We have already seen that God has eternally existed as one essence and three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each of the three persons of the Godhead is fully God, yet there is one God. The Apostles’ Creed affirms the trinitarian formula when it affirms belief in the Holy Spirit.

 

Why is there so much confusion about the Holy Spirit?

Confusion Surrounding the Holy Spirit

1. A problem of identification. It may be easier to identify with God as Father, the creator, or God as the Son, Jesus who walked among us, who became like us, but the Holy Spirit is more mysterious to us, harder to identify with. We do have pictures in the Bible of the Holy Spirit, how he is like breath, wind, power, oil, water, helper, but he doesn’t seem as “knowable” to us, easy to identify with.

 

2. Neglect of biblical teaching. Because of perhaps the mystery surrounding the Holy Spirit, teaching about the Holy Spirit has been largely neglected in the church. Therefore, we don’t know much about him, how he works, what he does. And maybe what we’ve heard about the Holy Spirit scares us a little. “Maybe the HS will make me do some strange things.”

 

3. Cultural perceptions of “spirit.” We might mistakenly confuse the Holy Spirit with the way that our culture views “spirit,” in the sense of an invisible and impersonal “force” like the force in Star Wars (“may the force be with you”) that only certain people can tap into, like a Jedi. Or “spirit” in the sense of “spooky.” It has not helped that the King James translation of “spirit” has been translated as “Holy Ghost.” We are not sure we want to have much to do with a “Ghost” as we think of that idea.

 

Who Is the Holy Spirit? He Is the Third Person (not an “it”) of the Trinity, He Is God!

1. References to the Holy Spirit are interchangeable with God (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor. 3:16-17)

 

2. The Holy Spirit possesses divine attributes or qualities  

                (1) Ever-present – Omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10)

                (2) All-powerful – Omnipotent (Lk. 1:35)

                (3) All-knowing – Omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10-11)

                (4) Eternal (Heb. 9:14)

                (5) Equal with God (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)

                (6) Creates (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:30; Job 33:4)        

 

What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

                1. He draws us to God

“When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment.” John 16:8, NCV. The HS is called “the Spirit of truth” (Jn. 14:17). He convicts us of what’s right and what’s not right and makes real the fact that we will face our creator.

 

 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44. The CEV says, “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day.” While we cannot make a person come to God, we can share Scripture, we can share Jesus with persons and the Holy Spirit will draw people to God.

 

                2. He enables us to believe in Jesus Christ

Being a son or daughter of God, being adopted into the family of God, this is what the Spirit of God does: ransoms us out of being spiritual orphans; pulls us into the household of faith. Here is how Paul describes what the Holy Spirit does to adopt us, to wash us clean, to bring us to God.

 

⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7

 

Jesus called this experience the new birth. No one can see or enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again, Jesus said in John 3:3, 5. How does this occur in our life? Paul wrties, ¹³ And you also were included [“chosen”] in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 (my emphasis)

 

                The order of salvation is significant:

                They “Heard the message of truth” (Rom. 10:17; Acts 2:36-37), they “Believed” the message of Christ (Rom. 3:21-24; 10:13), and finally, they were “Marked” or “sealed” with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). The Holy Spirit is the defining characteristic of the believer. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9 The HS enables us to become a believer in Jesus Christ.

 

                3. He guides us

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18.

 

²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26.

 

Believers have the very presence of God through the Holy Spirit living within them, the “Spirit of truth.” The beauty of this truth is that even when we stray off the path (and we all will and do), God is going to show us the truth. The Holy Spirit reminds us time and time again of God’s promises, he shows us the path of Christ!

 

                4. He makes worship possible

²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

 

⁶ Because you are his sons [daughters too], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6. This is an intimate picture of our relationship with God that the Holy Spirit makes possible. Just as we often have strong emotions in our family relationships, so too in worship, we are able to express ourselves and connect with our Heavenly Father in intimate ways. We love God not only with our minds and strength, but our Spirit, our Soul, our emotions too.

 

5. He empowers us to share Jesus

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

 

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18. Right after this command, Paul mentions “speaking” and “giving thanks.” In the New Testament when someone was filled with God’s Spirit, they spoke effortlessly about Jesus! Talk of Jesus flows freely to those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

6. He enables us to fulfill God’s will

Foreshadowing the day when the Holy Spirit would be with us and in us, Ezekiel said, ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:27. Without the Holy Spirit, trying to do God’s will is the quick path to burn out. My flesh cannot do it, no matter how well meaning and how many promises. But the Holy Spirit in me, moving me, gives me a love for God and a power from God to fulfill his will.

 

From start to finish, fulfilling God’s will is a work of the Holy Spirit. ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13. God gives us the “will” and the “want to” to live a life that will honor him.  

 

                7. He makes us like Jesus

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29. God has promised to make you like his Son and our Savior, Jesus. What does that look like in our lives? The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, the kinds of qualities that look like God Himself. Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine of these qualities of a transformed “Christ” life that God produces in us as we yield to him. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

 

As I yield to the Holy Spirit’s control in my life, as I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I begin to see transformation occur in my life. I begin to see that I am more content, I have inner joy and peace, I’m not as frustrated and angry as I once was, I begin to see people around me and I respond in gentleness and kindness, my life doesn’t seem to be out of control, but settled and under God’s control. These things happen because of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. Do not resist God’s working in your life, but yield to Him. John the Baptist said it like this, “He must increase, I must decrease.” I do not need more of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit needs more of me! “More of Him and less of me.”

 

Response: Are you yielding to the Holy Spirit in your life? Are there areas that are off limits to God? We can only grow in Christ to the extent that we yield to the Holy Spirit’s work in our life. What area of your life is the Holy Spirit moving you to yield to Him? True liberty is found in the Spirit for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty!