Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

On February 20, 2011, I had the privilege of preaching Mark 3:7–35 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit.”

You must either submit yourself to the authorized teaching of the Apostles of Jesus (Mark 3:13–19) or reject him as either a maniac (cf. Mark 2:21) or one whose power comes from an unclean spirit (cf. Mark 2:22, 30).

Jesus is the bond-breaker, the sick-healer,
The bane of unclean spirits and the binder of the strong man.
He is the truth-speaker, the world’s-ruler,
The King of Israel and her humble servant.
He is the sin-bearer, the hope-giver,
The bridegroom and the lover of our souls.

And they defiled his name
By mentioning it in the same breath with Beelzebul’s.
They attributed the life-giving, rest-bringing, leper-cleansing, bondage-breaking power Jesus exercised
To the prince of demons.

What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I’ll give you the best answer I’ve got.

A Day in the Life of Jesus

On January 30, 2011 I had the privilege of preaching Mark 1:14–45 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “A Day in the Life of Jesus.”

In Mark 1:15 Jesus claims that the time is fulfilled (perhaps interpreting Daniel 9:24–27?) and that the kingdom of God is at hand. It’s a bold man who claims that his coming marks the fulfillment of the time and the arrival of God’s kingdom.

These are deadly serious claims. Mark presents Jesus claiming that the culmination of all that has preceded has finally arrived. The whole history of the world has been building, Jesus claims, to this moment.

Do you see this audacity? Do you see this boldness? This is no gentle Jesus, meek and mild. This is a Jesus who comes declaring that the moment has arrived. This is a Jesus who has gone into action with decision and firmness and resolve. This is a Jesus who has come as a peasant but who nevertheless talks like he is the world’s true King.

Do you know this Jesus? No, I mean do you know him? He will not be domesticated. You cannot tame him. His sails will not be trimmed and his rough edges cannot be sanded away. He confronts us as he is. Do you know him?

To know him is to bow. To know him is to be awed by his magnificence. To know him is to be owned by him. To know him is to feel in the depths of your being that he made you, that he sustains you, and that he can therefore command you to storm the very gates of hell and expect to be obeyed.

If you think you can have him as you want him, you don’t know him.
If you think you can line him up next to the other authorities in your life, you don’t know him.
If you think you can decide which aspects of his character you like and which you’ll disregard, you don’t know him.
If you think that he’s weak, let me assure you, you do not know him.
If you think he is optional. You certainly don’t know him.

Let’s get this straight, shall we?

Jesus of Nazareth is Lord of the Universe.

You are either a loyal subject of the world’s true King, or you are a rebel who will be crushed.

If you’d like to hear more about Mark’s presentation of “A Day in the Life of Jesus” from Mark 1:14–45, this link’s for you.

 

In the Wilderness Prepare the Way of the Lord

On January 16, 2011 I had the privilege of preaching on Mark 1:1–13 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “The Baptist and the Christ.”

In this text John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus in the wilderness, and there are some interesting statements in roughly contemporary texts from Josephus that shed light on the symbolic import of what John was doing in the wilderness.

Josephus, War, 2.258:

“Besides these there arose another body of villains, with purer hands but more impious intentions, who no less than the assassins ruined the peace of the city. Deceivers and imposters, under the pretence of divine inspiration fostering revolutionary changes, they persuaded the multitude to act like madmen, and led them out into the desert under the belief that God would there give them tokens of deliverance. Against them Felix, regarding this as but the preliminary to insurrection, sent a body of cavalry and heavy-armed infantry, and put a large number to the sword” (italics mine).

Similarly Antiquities, 20.168–170:

“. . . called upon the mob to follow them into the desert. For they said that they would show them unmistakable marvels and signs that would be wrought in harmony with God’s design. . . . there came to Jerusalem from Egypt a man who declared that he was a prophet and advised the masses of the common people to go out with him to the mountain called the Mount of Olives . . . For he asserted that he wished to demonstrate from there that at his command Jerusalem’s walls would fall down, through which he promised to provide them an entrance into the city” (italics mine).

Josephus, Antiquities, 20.188:

“. . . the dupes of a certain imposter who had promised them salvation and rest from troubles, if they chose to follow him into the wilderness” (italics mine).

These texts also shed light on something Jesus said in Matthew 24:26–28,

“So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (italics mine).

See also Josephus, Antiquities, 20.97:

“During the period when Fadus was procurator of Judaea, a certain imposter named Theudas persuaded the majority of the masses to take up their possessions and to follow him to the Jordan River. He stated that he was a prophet and that at his command the river would be parted and would provide them an easy passage” (italics mine).

If you’d like to hear my interpretation of the significance of these things, it’s only a click away.

Jeremy Farmer, Psalm 127, and Taking the Gospel Where Christ Has Not Been Named

This past Sunday we were privileged to hear a fabulous exposition of Psalm 127 in its canonical context at Kenwood Baptist Church from Jeremy Farmer. This was the first sermon I’ve heard on Psalm 127, and Jeremy did a great job tracing out how this Psalm of Solomon fits with the promise to David and is fulfilled in Jesus.

You definitely want to hear this.

If you’re like me, you’re eager to know about and support those who are taking the gospel where Christ has not been named, and Jeremy and his family are doing just that. So I commend him to you. Jeremy is a great preacher who understands biblical theology and does a great job articulating God’s big purpose from the perspective of the whole story.

Check out their website. They have raised about 60% of the support they need, and they hope to be ready to go to Cambodia by May of 2011.

If you want to know how to help them get there, you can visit this page, and you can contact them here.

Here’s how Jeremy concluded his sermon:

The eternal purpose of God is to call out from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, a multitude redeemed by the blood of His Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, over whom He will crown His Son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of kings and Lord of lords forever.

This is the passion of the heart of God that cannot be quenched, the obsession of His mind that cannot be denied, the vision of His eye that cannot grow dim, and the destination to which He has committed His omnipotent, immutable, eternal being: a destination He will not abandon. (Daryl Champlin)

Hasten the Day

Hasten the Day
Prepared for the conclusion of a sermon on Isaiah 40:1–11,  “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” preached at Kenwood Baptist Church on January 2, 2010.

The Lord will come, prepare the way;
The Christ is slain, hasten the day;
He rose again, so we can say
To all who hear: Prepare the way!

His glory shines; his arm will rule.
He will repay to every fool
Who won’t repent the deeds done cruel.
Come Lord Jesus, in wrath to rule.

Now see the Judge so tender grow,
And steadfast lovingkindness show,
To all who their own weakness know,
And therefore take his easy yoke.

Like heavens high above the earth,
His love toward those who know his worth.

Sermons on Nehemiah

In God’s kindness we made our way through both Ezra and Nehemiah at Kenwood Baptist Church. The sermons on Ezra can be found here.

May the Lord bless his word.

September 12, 2010, Nehemiah 1–2, “Pray and Act”

September 19, 2010, Nehemiah 3–4, “Building While the Nations Rage”

October 3, 2010, Nehemiah 5, “A Wartime Lifestyle on a Millionaire’s Budget”

October 10, 2010, Nehemiah 6–7, “Press On”

October 24, 2010, Technical difficulty – Nehemiah 8, “God’s Word Forms God’s People” was not recorded

October 31, 2010, Nehemiah 9, “Repentance”

November 14, 2010, Nehemiah 10, “Making a Covenant to Keep the Covenant”

November 28, 2010, Nehemiah 11–12, “Repopulating the City and Dedicating the Wall”

December 5, 2010, Nehemiah 13, “The Ongoing Need for Correction and Repentance”

December 26, 2010, “The Messianic Hope in Ezra–Nehemiah”

1 Peter 5:1-11, Shepherd, Submit, Stand

It was my privilege to preach at the installation of Ryan Bishop as the Pastor of Graham Bible Church in Graham, TX this past Sunday.

The apostle Peter, the rock, follows Christ by humbling himself to serve others, identifying himself as a fellow-elder as he exhorts elders to model Christ-like self-sacrificing shepherding (1 Pet 5:1-4).

Then he calls the congregations to Christ-like humble submission to authority (“I came not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me”) as he calls them to be subject to the elders in humility (1 Pet 5:5-7).

Peter then explains that Christ-like shepherding and Christ-like submission are enacted in Christ-like standing against Satan (1 Pet 5:8-9).

He concludes with a promise and a doxology (1 Pet 5:10-11).

Spurgeon, being dead, yet speaketh, and here are some of his eloquent statements that appeared in this sermon:

“It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” (Lectures to My Students, 2).

On the pastor’s job description:

“To face the enemies of truth, to defend the bulwarks of the faith, to rule well in the house of God, to comfort all that mourn, to edify the saints, to guide the perplexed, to bear with the froward, to win and nurse souls—all these and a thousand other works beside are not for a Feeble-mind or a Ready-to-halt, but are reserved for Great-heart whom the Lord has made strong for himself. Seek then strength from the Strong One, wisdom from the Wise One, in fact, all from the God of all” (Lectures to My Students, 12).

On seeing the saints safely home:

“I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan’s day.  I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business.  I am engaged in personally-conducted tours to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest:  I am glad he is still alive and active.  And there is Christiana, and there are her children.  It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants’ heads, and lead on the timid and trembling.  I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings.  I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God’s grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river’s edge.  Oh, how many have I had to part with there!  I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City” (source).

Have a listen here: 1 Peter 5:1-11, Shepherd, Submit, Stand

What is the greatest honor you can imagine? Perhaps the medal of honor given to an American soldier? The honor that Christ the King will bestow on those who served him faithfully so far surpasses that as to make the comparison of the two seem inappropriate. The church is God’s cause in the world. She is Christ’s own bride. The work done in the church has eternal ramifications and it pertains to all nations.

There is no other gospel that saves, no institution more significant, no agenda more important, no task more urgent, no cause more noble, no message more true, no office more dependant on the character of those who discharge it, and no reward greater than what Peter describes here.

Sermons on Ezra

It has been my privilege to preach through the book of Ezra at Kenwood, and here are the sermons in one post:

June 27, 2010, Ezra 1-2, God Keeps His Promises

July 4, 2010,  Ezra 3, Disappointing Fulfillment

July 18, 2010, Ezra 4, In the World You Will Have Trouble

August 1, 2010, Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple

August 8, 2010, Ezra 7, Change the World: Study the Bible

August 22, 2010, Ezra 8, The Hand of Our God for Good

August 29, 2010, Ezra 9-10, Repentance Is the Only Remedy

May the Lord bless the reading and hearing of his word.

Ezra 7, Change the World: Study the Bible

James Davison Hunter recently published To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, which Justin Taylor and Douglas Wilson both blogged through, and Greg Gilbert reviewed.

Ezra set out to advance the kingdom of God, and seeking that agenda entailed nothing less than changing the world.

Ezra 7:10 tells us how Ezra went about seeking to change the world:

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”

Here’s my attempt to exposit Ezra 7, “Change the World: Study the Bible.”

Well, Then This Is Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple)

In his forum piece in the most recent SBJT (pp. 78-80), Kevin Vanhoozer writes,

“TIS [Theological Interpretation of Scripture] holds that the most important context in which to interpret the Bible is the church.”

He later states:

“TIS acknowledges the Bible for what it is: the word of God at work in believers (1 Thess 2:13).”

Having asked:

“where might biblical interpretation be headed after its liberation from bondage in the academy and wandering in the desert of criticisms?”

He states in his concluding paragraph:

“It is best to view the new interest in TIS in relation to the old task of training ministers of the gospel. If TIS is to have a future, it must stop clearing its throat and preach what it is practicing. The church ultimately needs theological interpreters of Scripture in the pulpit, not just behind the lectern, though education is of course essential to this end. Pastors may well be the ones to show us the way past the debilitating dichotomy of biblical exegesis and doctrinal theology. If the chief end of biblical studies and theology is to minister understanding of God’s word, then the pastor-theologian should be evangelicalism’s default public intellectual, with preaching the preferred public mode of TIS. The health, not only of TIS but also of the church itself, depends on it.”

To these thoughts I voice a hearty amen, and I offer an attempt at Theological Interpretation of Scripture in the church for the church. Yesterday it was my privilege to preach Ezra 5-6 at Kenwood.

This passage teaches that God causes those who believe the Bible to prosper in whatever they do (even using opposition to bless his people). Do you want to be a part of a movement that will toil through difficulty across the ages and come out victorious in the end? Do you want to be part of a movement that appears to be small and insignificant but will certainly triumph? If so, you should want to be part of the church!

Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple

Ezra 4: In the World You Will Have Trouble

God glorifies himself as the weak overcome the proud and strong by faith, and these triumphs are like God’s creative surprises–he makes butterflies from caterpillars and oaks from acorns.

Here’s my attempt to exposit Ezra 4: In the World You Will Have Trouble.

The chapter is arranged thematically rather than chronologically. Here’s a chart that lays out the contents and timeline of Ezra 4:

Ezra 4:1–5 The Time of Cyrus to Darius	538 – 530, reign of Cyrus 522 – 486, reign of Darius
Ezra 4:6–7 The time of Ahasuerus to Artaxerxes	485 – 464, reign of Ahasuerus (cf. Esther) 464 – 423, reign of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:8–16 Rehum’s Letter to Artaxerxes	464 – 423, Reign of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:9–23 The Response of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:23 could be the setting for the news Nehemiah received in 445 BC (cf. Neh 1:1–3)
Ezra 4:24 Return to the Time of Darius	520 BC “second year of the reign of Darius”

Interview with Jason Skaer: From Pro Basketball to the Pastorate

You never know who is sitting in your class. When I was teaching at SWBTS Houston, I had the privilege of teaching Jason Skaer. It’s been an even greater privilege to see our friendship grow over the last few years, and he was kind enough to answer some questions about his conversion, how basketball (Oklahoma State, Rice, Austria, and the Rockets made the mistake of not keeping him) has helped him in the ministry. Whereas he used to talk trash at Michael Jordan, Jason now pastors The Church at Alden Bridge in The Woodlands, TX.

Fast facts: Jason was second off the bench on the 1995 Oklahoma State team that went to the Final Four, and he was a Rhodes Scholar candidate. His wife was a star basketball player at Rice and a scholar in her own right (if it doesn’t open to page 10, go to page 10 on the linked PDF). The best thing about Jason, though, is that he is a humble man of God who knows that God the Father exalts Jesus by his Spirit through the word.

Could you describe how you came to faith in Jesus?

Not growing up in the church I had very little Bible knowledge and consequently knew close to nothing about the gospel.  However, during my first year playing professional basketball in Europe I decided to read the Bible from cover to cover.  Thus it was quite literally through the power of God’s Word that I came to know Christ.  No tricks, no gimmicks, the gospel was good enough to convict and save.

Are there ways that basketball has helped and/or hurt your approach to the ministry?

Basketball has been immensely helpful.  There’s no “I” in team and that certainly holds true in the church.  It takes everybody working together and utilizing their gifts to grow a healthy congregation.  Stubborn persistence taken from the athletic arena has also served me greatly.  Helping plant and eventually pastor a new church is difficult work.  There will be days when the deck seems stacked against you.  But if you believe God’s called you to the task you can’t give in.  Too many ministers (and church members) throw in the towel during the hard days.  But as we’re experiencing now there is great fulfillment and joy in sailing through the storm and ultimately seeing brighter days.

Tell me about The Church at Alden Bridge.

The Church at Alden Bridge has a simple mission statement:  “Our mission is to be disciples and make disciples of Jesus Christ.”  This means we aim to both know God and make Him known.  Thus we are serious about discipleship and equipping our members while being equally passionate about reaching the lost.  In my experience churches are usually good at one or the other.  Either we’re good at equipping but offer a cold environment, or we’re really welcoming but have no real depth.  My hope and prayer is that TCAAB holds these two important mandates in balance.

What do you find most helpful as you prepare to preach?

The most helpful aspect of my preaching preparation is that I am absolutely committed to and passionate about expository preaching.  We simply march verse by verse through the whole counsel of God’s word.  For instance, we spent the last two semesters in James and this Summer we are working through Psalms 11-21.  I simply don’t have the capacity or creativity to wake up each Monday morning and invent some new catchy sermon series.  We believe that God’s Word is good enough for God’s people and it’s been my experience here that His Word is more relevant and penetrating than anything I could ever invent.  Thus in sticking with the Bible, regardless of how it gets delivered (which I work very hard on), I know for certain that the content is always good.

Tell me about the specific challenges of doing ministry in The Woodlands.

The Woodlands is a pretty affluent community and thus like other similar communities many don’t see a need for God.  We’ve built our identity around job and possessions and family and missed out on the Main Thing.  I will say however that with the recent economic downturn some of our idols have been taken away and many are now asking questions that only the gospel can answer.

What have you most enjoyed seeing God do as you have served The Church at Alden Bridge?

There are few greater joys than witnessing hungry people get fed the things of God.  We get lots of folks who are “tired of seeing the same movie every week” and looking for something deeper and it’s fun to feed them.  We also get lots of unchurched and unbelieving folks who stroll in on a Sunday not knowing what they’re looking for but get turned on to the truth of the gospel and it’s fun to feed them too.  God is building a church in this community that vindicates once more the sufficiency of His Word and it thrills me to no end to have the privilege of serving a work like this.

Thanks for taking the time to serve us with this interview, Jason!

It’s beautiful to see the Lord transform people. Glory to God for his mercy!

I recommend you check out Jason’s sermons here.

Disappointing Fulfillment: Ezra 3

Yesterday at Kenwood it was my privilege to preach Ezra 3. The main point of the sermon was that safety is only to be found in obedient worship to God. This grows out of the way that the returnees respond to their fear of the inhabitants of the land by building the altar and renewing Israel’s worship according to the instructions in the Law of Moses (Ezra 3:3). The other side of this main point is that sin will rob you of joy and endanger your life. We see this in Ezra 3 as the returnees mingle joy and weeping at the foundation of the temple in Ezra 3:12-13.

This weeping also indicates that while certain prophecies are being fulfilled in the return to the land, the dramatic end time restoration promised in the prophets awaits future fulfillment. So in the midst of the fulfillment of prophecy, they are disappointed, and yet they are safe as they obey God and worship.

Thanks to Josh Philpot for his kind words about something that happened last week, and for his ministry in getting these sermons online.

May the Lord bless his word. Disappointing Fulfillment: Ezra 3.

God Keeps His Promises: Ezra 1-2

As mentioned in a previous post, I started a sermon series on Ezra – Nehemiah this past Sunday at Kenwood. And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with a building program. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable.

Preparing for this sermon was a study in the OT’s use of the OT. Ezra is interpreting Moses and the Prophets and showing his audience how to read earlier passages of Scripture as he claims fulfillment and hints at yet greater fulfillments to come.

God Keeps His Promises: Ezra 1 – 2

Baptism Now Saves You?

Have you ever wondered why Peter says (1 Pet 3:20-21) that the waters of the flood through which Noah and a few others were saved correspond to baptism?

In the sermon it was my privilege to preach yesterday, I tried to pursue a biblical-theological explanation of how the flood was an expression of God’s wrath that was used by Israel’s prophets to symbolize the wrath of God that would fall at the exile. When Jesus died on the cross, the full expression of wrath anticipated by the flood and the exile was poured out on him. To capture this reality, Jesus spoke of his death as the moment when he would “drink the cup” of God’s wrath and be “baptized” (e.g., Mark 10:38-39). Jesus was baptized into the floodwaters of God’s judgment, and when believers are baptized into the body of Christ, they are united to Christ, and his baptism into the floodwaters of judgment counts for us. We are saved through the death dealing waters of judgment and raised to walk in newness of life.

As I say, I did my best to exposit these themes in a sermon preached at Baptist Church of the Redeemer on June 6, 2010. You can download it here. Thanks to my dear friend and former fellow elder, Travis Cardwell, for letting me seek to serve the beloved saints of Redeemer.

I didn’t say this in the sermon, but if my exposition is correct, we see Moses doing biblical-theological interpretation of the creation and flood narratives and then connecting those events to his own experience as a baby in the Nile and Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea at the exodus. The prophets then follow the biblical-theological interpretation modeled by Moses, and Jesus interprets what will happen to him in line with these biblical-theological moves made by Moses and the Prophets in the OT. That is, Jesus interpreted the OT and his own life the same way that Moses and the prophets interpreted the OT and their own lives. Then the Apostles, Peter in this case, interpret the OT, the Gospels, and their own experience the same way that Moses and the Prophets did, and Peter learned this way of reading the Bible, as well was this way of reading life through the lens of the Bible, from Jesus.

I didn’t say this in the sermon either, but I think that the flood, the exile, the cross of Christ, and the baptism of new believers all show that the glory of God in salvation through judgment is indeed the center of biblical theology, which is the thesis of my forthcoming book. One of the reasons I wanted to preach this sermon was that I hadn’t dealt so much with these connections between the flood and baptism in the book.

As days go by someone may want to find this sermon among the others in the sermon player on that page. If you need to search the sermon player, you can probably search my name (Jim Hamilton), the date (June 6, 2010), or perhaps the title of the sermon (“The Floodwaters of Judgment”).

Lillback Lecture on George Washington

I’m eager to read or listen to Peter Lillback’s new book, George Washington’s Sacred Fire, but until someone gets it for me from my wishlist (not so subtle hint!), my next move is going to be to listen to this free lecture touted by Doug Wilson.

Peter A. Lillback is the President of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Baptists and the Cross Conference, and a bit on Michael Haykin

This looks like a great conference put on by the Andrew Fuller Center at SBTS: Baptists and the Cross.

Date: August 30-31, 2010.

Speakers: Akin, Bebbington, Schreiner, Dowling, Fuller, Thompson, Wellum.

Discounted rates.

Here’s a brief podcast on it with the director of the Andrew Fuller Center, Michael Haykin.

A brief testimony about Michael Haykin: this brother is committed to personal discipleship. I asked him about reading the Apostolic Fathers in Greek, and he has graciously shared his time with me by meeting regularly to read these texts and allow me to benefit from his deep learning on these matters. What a blessing to have an older brother take me under his wing, share his expertise, and give life on life time in this way. How Christian of him! I know of no better way to recommend him, his blog, and the Andrew Fuller Center, which is putting on this conference.

Check out Dr. Haykin’s writings here, and some audio here. Much more audio, including many excellent historical lectures, here.

Sermons on Titus

The past four weeks at Kenwood we were in Paul’s letter to Titus. Here are the sermons:

April 18, 2010, Titus 1:1-4 Truth Produces Godliness

April 25, 2010, Titus 1:5-16 Elders in Response to False Teachers

May 2, 2010, Titus 2:1-15 Behavior that Commends the Gospel

May 9, Titus 3:1-15 Behavior Based on the Gospel

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word.

Revelation Sermon Series

In God’s kindness, Kenwood Baptist Church voted to call me as their pastor of preaching the last Sunday of March, 2009. The first book I preached through was the book of Revelation. While some might question the wisdom of jumping right into apocalyptic literature, the book of Revelation pronounces a blessing on those who read, hear, and keep what is written in it (Rev 1:3). Those who understand John’s Apocalypse–and live such that they have “kept” what it reveals–are blessed. We went through the book from April to April, and the year’s worth of sermons are linked below. May the Lord bless us with the reading, hearing, and keeping of this word.

April 5, 2009 Revelation 1:1-8 The Blessing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ

April 12, 2009 Revelation 1:9-20 John’s Vision of the Risen Christ

April 26, 2009 Revelation 2:1-7 First Love

May 3, 2009 Revelation 2:8-11 Faithful unto Death

May 10, 2009 Revelation 2:12-17 Repent of Nicolaitan Teaching

May 17, 2009 Revelation 2:18-29 King Jesus Versus Jezebel

May 24, 2009 Revelation 3:1-6 Wake Up!

May 31, 2009 Revelation 3:7-13 An Open Door No One Can Shut

July 5, 2009 Revelation 3:14-22 I Will Spit You Out of My Mouth

July 12, 2009 Revelation 4:1-11 The Throne Room Vision

July 19, 2009 Revelation 5:1-14 The Lamb Standing as though Slain

July 26, 2009 Revelation 6:1-16:21 God’s Plan to Save and Judge

August 9, 2009 Revelation 6:1-17 The Seals on the Scroll

August 23, 2009 Revelation 7:1-17 The Sealing of the Servants of God

August 30, 2009 Revelation 8:1-13 Trumpeting the End of the World

September 6, 2009 Revelation 9:1-21 The Unimagined Horrors of God’s Judgment

September 13, 2009 Revelation 10:1-11 Eat This Scroll (and prophesy the history of the future)

September 20, 2009 Revelation 11:1-19 Bearing Witness til Kingdom Come

October 11, 2009 Revelation 12:1-17 The Seed of the Woman Conquers the Serpent

October 25, 2009 Revelation 13:1-10 The Beast

November 1, 2009 Revelation 13:11-18 The False Prophet

November 8, 2009 Revelation 14:1-13 The Song of the Redeemed

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 14:14–20. For this sermon, please see my forthcoming Preaching the Word volume on Revelation. Please let me know if you are interested in funding a new sound system for Kenwood Baptist Church.

December 20, 2009 Revelation 15 Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

December 27, 2009 Revelation 16 The Seven Bowls of Wrath

January 3, 2010 Revelation 17 The Harlot and the Beast

January 10, 2010 Revelation 18 Lamenting or Rejoicing over Babylon’s Fall?

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 19:1–10 The Harlot and the Bride

February 14, 2010 Revelation 19:11-21 The Return of the King

February 28, 2010 Revelation 20:1-15 The Millennium

March 7, 2010 Revelation 21:1-8 A New Heaven and a New Earth

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 21:9–27 The New Jerusalem

March 21, 2010 Revelation 22:1-9 They Will See His Face

April 4, 2010 Revelation 22:10-21 Come, Lord Jesus

Crazy Love for Radicals?

Some think we should sell everything and give it all away, or that we should be constantly rearranging the furniture of our lives. It’s almost as though they think not having an experience like Abram’s–where God calls you to leave everything and go to the land he will show you–is a lack of integrity or disobedience.

That’s not what Paul called for when he gave instructions for ordinary Christians pursuing radical Christ-likeness in displays of crazy love.

How did Paul expect Christians to be revolutionary?

I sought to exposit what he says in the second chapter of Titus this past Sunday at Kenwood: Titus 2:1-15 – Behavior that Commends the Gospel