Category: Sermon Supplements

Yes, I watch American Idol. But mostly to see the disasters; alas, the fun part of American Idol has now ceased. Last night a horrible singer throws glitter and flowers out of his pocket to woo ‘the ladies’ leaving a mess to be cleaned up. Simon asks for Ryan to come in and clean it up. He tells the stage hand to wait for Ryan.  Ryan enters, is a bit patronizing, and shrugs off the duty. So Simon takes the broom, and although he has no clue how to use it, attempts to dispose of the sparkly carnage. After being informed that the cameras are now off he quickly gives the broom back to the stage hand.

Ever notice someone higher than you do work that you thought you were above?

Jesus came as a humble shoot from a stump. He came a servant to give his life as a ransom (Matthew 20:28).

Frustratingly I cannot remember where I read it much more poetically stated that:

Once Christ has humbled himself, how can man ever be prideful?

It’s about Jesus, it’s always about Jesus, its only about Jesus, its solely about Jesus, and we are Jesus people living in the wake of Jesus’ death and resurrection and so for us it is about Christ, it is only about Christ, it is always about Christ.  – Mark Driscoll, in a sermon titled Examining Two Enemies of the Gospel

Seeing is a blessing. I have never had to wear glasses; I have always had perfect vision, although I anticipate that this will not always be the case. If I had to give up a sense it would not be sight. Loosing touch or felling would be kind of cool, you could have people beat up your foot like Mr. Deeds. Smell, it could be a blessing in many ways to loose your sense of smell, especially if my allergies would be banished with it. If I lost the sense of taste I am sure I would eat much healthier than I do now. Hearing would be painful to part with, but not as much as sight.

We have seen Jesus. We dwelt in darkness, but we have seen Jesus. Isaiah got a glimpse and looked forward. We look backwards and forwards, but we look at and towards Jesus. What has been alluded to throughout Isaiah is now made clear to us because we stand on this side of the cross.

Take some time to praise God for your spiritual eyesight. So many are blind. So many will never see the glorious light of the gospel of Christ. You have seen the most wonderful sight by the eye of faith and are promised that what is now of faith will one day be made sight. After thanking Him, take some time to read Is. 9:1-7 and behold, meditate, and worship the Christ.

The revelation made of Christ in the blessed Gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, more filled with rays of Divine wisdom and goodness, than the whole creation, and the just comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or apprehend. Without the knowledge hereof, the mind of man, however priding itself in other inventions and discoveries, is wrapped up in darkness and confusion. This therefore deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them. For if our future blessedness shall consist in living where He is, and beholding of His glory; what better preparation can there be for it, than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory, in the revelation that is made in the Gospel unto this very end, that by a view of it we may be gradually transformed into the same glory.  – John Owen  in The Glory of Christ

In case you haven’t watched a horrible movie in a while and are longing to waste 96 minutes of your life might I suggest the 1995 flop Judge Dredd. Thankfully Stallone has since realized that he has all the film material he will ever need within the Rambo and Rocky franchises, bring on the sequels. To save yourself the pain, Stallone plays a perfect, genetically engineered crime fighter who must combat his twin gone wrong, the ultimate criminal. Basically he shoots all the bad guys and says a bunch of corny one liners such as “I am the law! Put down your weapons and prepare to be judged.” In the end I am left with no dread for Judge Dread. Aquaman could likely beat up Judge Dredd. That is the ultimate cut down in the world of superheroes.We dread a lot of things in America:

Credit card bills
Report cards
Bank statements
Driving an unreliable car
Leaving the house to an undesirable work place
Coming home to an unhappy spouse
Giving blood

God tells Isaiah to let Him be his dread. Do we dread God? When the high Priest came before God on the Day of Atonement with the bells ringing around his ankle as signs of life I think he did so with a smattering of dread. God is not requesting that we live in a state of fear, looking around our shoulder expecting to be zapped at any moment. I think He simply wants to be taken seriously. His threats are not empty, His promises are sure, and his gospel is that precious. Do we think God corny, unthreatening, and goofy like Stallone when He threatens?

How much time do we spend worrying about:

How we might be failing God
Unconfused sin
Discovering the sin we are blind to that is still in our lives
Insincere worship
Unsanctified affections
Hardness of heart
Lack of devotion

in proportion to the stress over the credit card bill?

But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.  – Isaiah 8:13

Seraph was the guardian of The Oracle in the Matrix. He could pretty much beat up anybody he wanted to in one on one combat. It would be pretty safe to conclude that if someone came along that Seraph couldn’t beat up, you should run too.

The seraphim stood above God’s throne in Isaiah’s vision. They had six wings. They used two to cover their face and two to cover their feet as a position of humility before Yahweh. Seraphim means “burning ones”. So her are these angelic beings, burning ones, but when before God, they assume a position of humility and sing his praise. Angels could beat us up. If burning ones assume a position of humility and praise before the thrice holy God, shouldn’t we?

Addendum:  I ran accross this great quote from Tozer and had to share:

Yet we must not compare the being of God with any other as we just now compared the mountain with the child. We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God. This would be to grant God eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough; we must grant Him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word. Forever God stands apart, in light unapproachable. He is as high above an archangel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite. The caterpillar and the archangel, though far removed from each other in the scale of created things, are nevertheless one in that they are alike created. They both belong in the category of that-which-is-not-God and are separated from God by infinitude itself.  – A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy

You ever get that feeling that something is missing? The strongest you ever get this feeling is when you have one of those dreams where you forgot to wear you clothes to school or work. You apparently make the drive wondering, “What did I forget?”

You pack for a trip. You have double checked everything, but you still feel like something is missing. You are two hours into the trip when it hits you.

The new year seems lacking,

especially in the evenings,

weekday evenings more specifically. What could it be?

NO 24!

In Isaiah 5 GOD is upset that something is missing in HIS vineyard. There is a serious fruit shortage. That something is missing is blatantly obvious, as obvious as a drive to school in your underwear. When we finally snap out of our dream we rationalize its unreality, “there is no way I could walk out the door in my underwear, where would I put my wallet, this can’t be real.” do we fail to rationalize our spiritual state? Are we delusional? Are we running around naked acting as if we had clothes on before a holy GOD?

Who/what sits upon the throne of your heart?

Tommy Lee?

Oprah?

Bono?

Food?

Movies?

Pornography?

The American puritan Cotton Mather said that “the great design and intention of the office of a Christian preacher [is] to restore the throne and dominion of God to the souls of men.” Why do I preach? More specifically why am I going through Isaiah where the message of repentance away from idols and towards love for God is continually hammered seemingly ad nauseam?

Because God does not sit upon the thrones of our hearts.

I base my diagnosis greatly upon myself. My heart leaps after foolish things. My love, joy, peace, hope are greatly anchored in the things of this world. I need repentance. I do not think that you are unlike me. And the lost world has no other hope that to see the grotesque nature of sin in contrast to the glorious nature of Christ.

Dethrone the false kings. The battle will be fierce. They will not want to step down. They will constantly assail your heart. Allow no substitute to take you thoughts, affections, and actions.

How many of you have got all of your Christmas shopping done except for the hardest person…

dad.

He is the hardest person to buy for, he has everything.

Food – at least he looks like he is getting enough of that, and mom always make sure he is abundantly filled during the holiday season. Underwear – nobody wants to… nobody should they have to buy underwear for their dad. Clothes – where do you even find clothes that look like that? Do they still make them? Jewelry or a watch – no that would cost too much, dad should spend more money on you than you do on him. You know you were thinking it. It’s the only way to come out ahead during Christmas.* you have to spend less on your parents than they do on you otherwise you lose. A pocket knife – no he is getting too old to use such harmful objects.

What about God?

What could you possibly give to God? He doesn’t simply have everything. He made it. He owns it. He holds it together. All of our sacrifices and gifts are insufficient. It is not God who is lacking, we are. When a family brought a lamb to the temple they came to receive from God, not to get. God provided a means for atonement, and they needed it.

So celebrate Christmas by receiving. Come to Christ and receive the greatest gift of the gospel – Himself. Become so overwhelmed by the treasure that you receive that all else sparkles far less in the radiance of His beauty. Be so satisfied with the treasure of Jesus that you want to give, you want to imitate and be like Jesus so that others may know Him.

So what do we give God? We come pleading nothing but that which He has given us. We come to Him clinging to Jesus. We come to Him with the blood of Christ. Nothing will delight His heart more.

* In my family we all draw gifts now. We are supposed to spend $50 on each person. We make out a list and draw each other’s list. In a few years we will cease this process, all bring $50 bills and exchange them. Give that a few years and we will simply bring a gift we have bought ourselves in the name of our family to display.

I Repent by Derek Webb

I repent, I repent of my pursuit of America’s dream
I repent, I repent of living like I deserve anything
Of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
In our suburb where we’re safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent, I repent of parading my liberty
I repent, I repent of paying for what I get for free
And for the way I believe that I am living right
By trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent of judging by a law that even I can’t keep
Of wearing righteousness like a disguise
To see through the planks of my own eyes

I repent, I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent, I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
By caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
By domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong and of these things
I am wrong and of these things
Oh I am wrong and of these things I repent