Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon — Sermon 15: The Bible

If this be the Word of God, what will become of some of you who have not read it for the last month? “Month, sir! I have not read it for this year.” Ay, there are some of you who have not read it at all. Most people treat the Bible very politely . They have a small pocket volume, neatly bound; they put a white pocket-handkerchief round it and carry it to their places of worship; when they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat, and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing. That is your style of entertaining this heavenly messenger. There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write “damnation” with your fingers.

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 15 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

How Christians Determine Truth

Keith Mascord, an Anglican pastor in Australia, wrote an opinion piece entitled “The Bible is the true prejudice in Christian opposition to marriage equality”.
When I read the title, my response was “Yes, that’s true.”  But he uses the article to argue that Christians basically need to get over the Bible’s opposition and just accept that same-sex marriage is okay.  After all, he argues, the Bible is full of ancient, outdated thinking which we need to just move beyond.  And science and experience has shown it to be full of misinformation.  Wow!  This is news to me.  The Bible has been around a long time and has been attacked and critiqued by many.  Yet it has survived.  The reason is that it is God’s Word.  It has been shown to be true time after time.  This sets it apart from every other religious text.

Continue reading

The Blessedness of Godliness

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

These verses have a simple, yet profound message.  First, stay away from ungodliness (vs. 1).  Second, delight in God’s Word (vs. 2).  Third, enjoy the benefits that right living brings (vs. 3). Continue reading

Featured Resource – Week of 05/06/2012

A Ready Defense by Josh McDowell

Thomas Nelson, 1992
496 pages
ISBN-10: 0840744196

This is a great resource for strengthening and defending your faith.  This book begins by upholding the authority of the Bible.  It addresses supposed contradictions and criticisms of God’s Word.  After laying that groundwork, a section on Jesus Christ shows that He is truly God incarnate and why Jesus must be exactly Who He claimed to be.

There are lengthy sections comparing Christianity with non-Christian religions, cults, and occult phenomena.  This is particularly helpful for defending your faith in light of these religious systems.

A section on most asked questions about Christianity covers common objections and inquiries people have when confronted with the person of Jesus Christ. This is valuable information that often comes up when sharing your faith with others.

The final section covers the uniqueness of the Christian faith.  The emphasis here is on how lives are changed through Jesus Christ.

The book is formatted so that it can be read from front to back or used as a reference book for specific topics.  The subject matter is divided into 45 chapters, so most chapters are relatively small and great for quick reading on a particular issue.

How To Face Temptation

During His earthly ministry, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ faced temptations as we do.  One of those instances is documented in Matthew 4 (a parallel passage is Luke 4) where He is tempted by Satan himself.  In accordance with His perfect life, Jesus did not give in, but rather provides us with a primer on how to deal with the temptations we face. Continue reading