Category Archives: Seven Sermons

Christ’s Words Of Victory

I receive obituary notices through my email from Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home, Heritage Funeral Home, and Williams Funeral Home every day. I rarely know who these people are who passed, but I like to keep up and read the obituaries. I started this practice years ago as a Pastor when I found out I was preaching a funeral that afternoon – but no one from the Funeral Home let me know! It was only by the Grace of God that I found out.

As I read the obituaries this week, I read things like:

1. The departed loved animals, and was a collector of many things.
2. The loved one was devoted to family, faith, country, and community.
3. The person had a love for the simple things of life, like fishing, music, and spending time with family.
4. She “passed away peacefully”, and was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
5. The lady helped build a world shaped by devotion, honest work, and dedication.
6. If the person attended Church at all, they are noted as “a member of such and such Church”.

One of the oldies but goodies is “She earned her angel wings”. Did you know Dolly Parton earned her angel wings this week? That’s what one article stated.

As you all probably know, Dolly Parton passed away this Tuesday, August 25. She was 80 years old. One newspaper article stated “Cause of Dolly’s… Continue reading

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Christ’s Word of Suffering

When God created us, He gave us something called a HYPOTHALAMUS. It’s in the center of our brain, and it constantly monitors our fluid balance, our blood concentration, and even our blood pressure. There are two types of thirst: Osmotic and Hypovolemic. Most of us have experienced the first type – Osmotic thirst. This is when you labor and overheat, you lose water through sweat, and that triggers thirst. In the Garden of Eden before Adam’s sin I do not think people ever really suffered thirst. It was only after Adam’s betrayal of God’s Covenant that the Lord told him:

(Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV) … Cursed [is] the ground for your sake; IN TOIL YOU SHALL EAT OF IT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. [18] Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. [19] IN THE SWEAT OF YOUR FACE YOU SHALL EAT BREAD Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you [are], And to dust you shall return.

Adam’s sin brought toil, and cursing, thorns and thistles, hard labor to cause sweat. Adam’s sin brought suffering along with sin into the world. Adam thought that God’s Word could be trifled with. Our Lord Jesus told us “Scripture – the Word of God – CANNOT BE BROKEN” (John 10:35). What God has said must come to pass. What God has promised must be fulfilled. Adam’s sin brought suffering into the world. Adam’s sin brought thirst to man. Adam’s sin brought thirst to animals. But Adam’s sin did something much more startling.

Adam’s Sin Brought Thirst To The Son Of God

The second type of thirst is Hypovolemic. This occurs when the volume of the blood in your body drops to an unnatural level. That brings on a raging thirst. All three on that Hill called Calvary suffered this type of thirst that day – but only One was the Son of God. … Continue reading

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Christ’s Word Of Anguish: Matthew 27:45-46

The “CUP” Jesus dreaded drinking was the cup of God’s wrath. The sin of the world could not be taken away until Jesus drank the cup dry. He paid our penalty in full. He alone is the satisfactory Payment for our sins (1 John 2:2)

For three hours Jesus endured the darkness. From noon till 3 pm there was no word from the Cross. Then …

Christ’s Misunderstood Word Of Anguish

Matthew 27:43 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”

It is amazing the depravity that sin will lead us to. Several years ago I was preaching from this text my Hero Jesus – my Savior and Lord – when an older gentleman in the audience got offended. I’ll never forget it. He sent another Pastor to me with the complaint that I was speaking in tongues while I was preaching. Sin closed this man’s mind to the Savior. Satan – that Old Serpent – blinded this man close to the end of his life with foolishness, rather than examining his own life and running to the Savior’s arms.

Oh, my Lord!

When Jesus said “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” (Mark 15:34 records it as “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”), He was speaking Hebrew and Aramaic.

The Jews of Jesus’ day had been in captivity for so long, that many of them (outside of the Pharisees and Priests) could not speak nor understand their own native language. Many spoke Greek, so many that about 3 years before Christ became incarnate that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek by a group of Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt. That what we call the Septuagint, the Bible most quoted by the Apostles. Not knowing their own language, when Jesus cried out:… Continue reading

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Christ’s Word To The Family: John 19:25-27

John 19:25-27 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and THE DISCIPLE standing by, WHOM HE LOVED, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith He to THE DISCIPLE, Behold thy mother! And from that hour THAT DISCIPLE took her unto his own home.

You Should Honor The One Who Bore You

When God led His people Israel out of Egypt it took this ragtag group of ex-slaves about 50 days to get to Sinai (compare Exodus 12:37 to Exodus 19:1-2). God would commemorate their arrival at Sinai by establishing the Feast of Pentecost (also called Shavuot). At Pentecost, Israel went from being Jacob’s family to being God’s nation.

God planted the seed of Israel in Egypt. But God, not Egypt, bore Israel. God made Israel, called Israel, was a Father to Israel, and gave Israel His Law.

God gave Israel the Law, starting with the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments would be that basis on which all other laws would be based. I don’t have time to talk about the Ten Commandments today, but I want to focus on the FIFTH Commandment. The first four commandments told Israel to worship the God Who saved them out of Egypt. You should honor the One who bore you – and God gave Israel life. God was a Spiritual Father to Israel. In like manner, each person should honor the physical ones who bore them. This is what the Fifth Commandment tells us.

(Exodus 20:12 ESV) HONOR {kāḇaḏ} your father and your mother, that YOUR DAYS MAY BE LONG in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Word Study: The Hebrew kāḇaḏ means “to consider valuable, weighty. To respect and honor above ones self”. God’s people are to honor God. God’s people are to honor their parents. Continue reading

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Seven Sermons From The Cross: The Word of Salvation

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.

There are things that we as humans believe about God and Heaven that are just untrue. We believe that only good people go to Heaven. We believe that “There are good people, and bad people”. We believe that God judges us on a scale, and if our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, we go to Heaven.

That’s not true.

Our Lord Jesus has said in Matthew 19:17 … there are NONE GOOD, but ONE, THAT IS GOD

The Apostle Paul wrote quoting Psalm 14:1-3 and Psalm 53:1-3:

(Romans 3:10-12 LSB) as it is written, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; [11] THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; [12] ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME WORTHLESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.

A popular liberal talking point is to “Defund The Police” and “Get rid of prisons”. This is based on the thought that people are generally good. The Bible doesn’t support this myth.

Even the word penitentiary – a word we use for prisons – is a myth. According to the dictionary, “penitentiary comes from the Latin roots… Continue reading

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Seven Sermons From The Cross: The Word Of Forgiveness

(Luke 23:33-34 KJV) And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. [34] Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Our Lord Jesus came from Heaven to this earth to bring the Word of God to us. Jesus preached His first sermon to the devil in the wilderness. As Satan tempted Him, Jesus repeatedly replied “It is written” (Matthew 4:4-10). After John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod, Jesus preached:

(Matthew 4:17 KJV) Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

In Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, He preached in the Synagogue that He was the Messiah that Israel had been waiting for (Luke 4:16-21). Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) while sitting on a mountainside. When Jesus preached His Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-49) He was standing on level ground. Jesus preached in the Temple. He preached in the streets. He preached parables.

Preach: To shut Jesus up, religious hypocrites and crooked politicians had Jesus executed by crucifixion. Crucifixion was a method of public execution reserved for the worst of criminals. Large 7 inch long spikes were driven through the wrists, tearing the median nerve. Spikes were also driven through the feet, impaling the plantar nerves. Before being pinned to the Cross, the criminal was beaten with whips and canes. King David prophesied the horror of what Jesus went through in:… Continue reading

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