Category Archives: Word on Worship

Sunday July 10, 2022 Romans Week 58 Romans 11:6-11 “The Sovereign Grace of God”

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Sunday – July 10, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – July 10, 2022

Romans 11:11-12
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

Have you ever thought through the Bible considering its emphasis on failure in proportion to its emphasis on success? The Bible speaks far more about failure than success. For example, Genesis begins with the failure of man in the Garden of Eden. From this point on, man’s failure is more prominent than man’s success. In reading through the history of Israel in the Old Testament, much more text is given to the description of man’s failures than of man’s faithfulness. In the New Testament, we see the failure of the nation Israel to receive Jesus as the promised Messiah and the failure of the disciples to comprehend what His teaching and ministry were about. Virtually all the churches described in the New Testament have problems and failings.

Why the emphasis on man’s failures rather than on his faithfulness? Simply because this is true to life. There is absolutely nothing we do which is not tainted by sin. I may (someday) preach a message you may think is a masterpiece. But I may very well preach it out of less than perfect motivation. And even if I felt I did well and was rightly motivated, only God knows my heart and its deceitfulness. You may witness to a fellow-worker and that person may come to faith in Christ. But your service is not free from the taint of sin. If your ministry is effective, it is due to the grace of God- not your message or method.

I did not say the Bible has nothing to say about success, and blessing, and fulfillment. When there is success in this life, it is because God has accomplished it by His grace. When the Bible speaks of perfection and freedom from failure, it speaks of heaven. Men and women of faith do not look for perfection here on this earth but in the kingdom of God which is yet to come: And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect (Hebrews 11:39-40).

When you stop to think about it, all through the Bible, from beginning to end, God seems to use people more in their failures than through their faithfulness. Even the great men of the Bible seem to have experienced more failure than success. As I look at my life, the lives of others, and at the Scriptures, I find that when God accomplishes that which is good, it often seems to be almost accidental by those God has used as the instruments of His grace. God will finish what He starts, on the basis of His sovereign grace, achieved through a remnant of those whom He chooses and preserves. Sovereign grace views failure in an entirely new light.

Sunday July 3, 2022 Romans Week 57 Romans 11:1-6 “The Promises Will Never Fail”

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Sunday – July 3, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – July 3, 2022

Romans 11:5-6
In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

At first glance, a chapter like Romans 11 that deals with the subject of whether God still has a purpose for His people Israel might seem irrelevant to your life. What does the future of Israel have to do with finding a marriage partner or staying happy with the one you’ve got? What does Israel’s future have to do with the pressures of work and keeping your family’s finance afloat? What relevance does this topic have as you struggle with personal issues or health problems? Maybe you think you can skip chapter 11 and just check back in when we get to the practical stuff in Romans 12!

Let me suggest why this subject should be of interest to you. The underlying issue Paul is dealing with in Romans 11 is, “Can God’s promises fail if our sin is too great?” God chose the nation of Israel as His people apart from all other nations on earth (Deut. 7:6). Through the prophet Jeremiah, God assured the stubborn nation that was about to go into captivity His promises to Israel could never fail. To dispel the thought that Israel’s sin could lead to their permanent rejection, God added (Jer. 31:37), “Thus says the Lord, ‘If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,’ declares the Lord.”

In other words, if God rejects Israel as His people because their sin is too great, then His promises are conditional and can fail. And if His promises to Israel fail, then how can we know that His promises to us will not fail? And since those promises include working all of our trials together for good (8:28) and His promise that no trial can ever cut us off from His love (8:35-39), the question of why God has seemingly rejected Israel becomes very practical! It boils down to can you trust God to do as He promises?

Our failures are never fatal when they cause us to turn to the sovereign grace of God. They are for our good. They are for His glory. Sovereign grace views failure in an entirely new light. I will not ask you if there are failures in your life because I know the answer to this question. But I will ask, “Have you thought that God has given up on you because you have failed?” Do you think that God is only interested in you when you succeed? Then you have completely failed to understand the grace of God. Sovereign grace means that man’s failure is the occasion for God’s grace, if we simply acknowledge our failure, our need, and receive His grace. Grace is never more sweet than it is to one who has failed. Grace is never so distasteful than it is to one who thinks he has been successful.

Sunday June 26, 2022 Romans Week 56 Romans 10:14-21 “So What Is Your Excuse”

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Sunday – June 26, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – June 26, 2022

Romans 10:14-15
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

The Old and New Testament Scriptures are clear, salvation will come to anyone, Jew or Gentile, who “WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD.” Many see these verses as a “missionary text.” While missions may be inferred from what Paul is teaching, missions are not the goal. If missions were the goal, we would not be finding questions here but commands. The passage is not a reiteration of the Great Commission, but an explanation for the necessity of the Great Commission.

The gospel begins with sending, then there is proclamation, then there is hearing. This should result in heeding, as one calls upon God for salvation. God is sovereign, able to overrule the laws of natur;, and occasionally He does so. But God usually works through normal processes rather than avoiding them. A process is outlined in Romans 8:28-30; a process is also explained in Romans 9-11. God’s work, as outlined in the Bible, is a process. Why should we expect God to avoid the processes He ordained? God uses messengers to proclaim the good news. He has done this in Israel’s past as recorded in the Old Testament. He has done this in the gospel as well, fulfilling the requirement that the gospel be proclaimed so that men may be held accountable for their unbelief.

Those who proclaim the gospel are, in contemporary language, “beautiful people.” Isaiah says the feet of those who proclaim the gospel are beautiful. The one who receives the gospel as good news gladly receives the messenger as having beautiful feet. As a messenger of the gospel, Paul viewed his task as one of great privilege. So should every other messenger. In order for God to hold men responsible for their response to the gospel, the gospel must be proclaimed, and proclaimers must be sent. This is indeed precisely the case. God has sent forth many messengers. Through them Christ has spoken, and the word concerning salvation through Christ has been proclaimed.

The words of Isaiah predicted this and history has shown this prophecy to have been fulfilled. Just as in Isaiah’s day, however, Israel failed to respond to divine revelation as they should have. Isaiah saw Israel’s rejection of his message as typical of her rejection of God’s Word, conveyed through His messengers throughout their history (“our report”). Faith, then, cannot be exercised apart from the hearing of the Word, the gospel, which is the basis for faith and repentance. And if heeding cannot be expected where hearing has not taken place, let all Israel know that God has sent forth His messengers to proclaim the gospel to His people, Israel.

Sunday June 19, 2022 Romans Week 55 Romans 10:1-13 “The Essence of the Gospel”

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Sunday – June 19, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – June 19, 2022

Romans 10:8-10
“But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Every time I purchase a new item from the store, the first thing I notice as I take it out of the box is the list of “appropriate” uses for the product.  The manufacturer, I am sure out of fear of being sued, goes to great lengths to explain the appropriate use and care of their product knowing that someone will always find a new but unintended use.  It is always possible to misuse a good thing.

It is also certainly possible to misuse the Old Testament Law, for purposes for which it was never intended. Unfortunately, this is what happened with many of the Jews. God gave the Law for one purpose, but the Jews used it for another. The Law, which was never given as a means of attaining righteousness, was used by the Jews for this very purpose. The result was that the Jews, though working hard to keep the Law, failed to attain righteousness, while the Gentiles who did not even seek righteousness or possess the Law, did attain it.

God made several provisions for His people to enable Him to dwell in their midst—in a way that would not result in their death due to His holiness and their sin. First, God provided the Law. The Law of Moses prescribed the conduct necessary for Israel to live in God’s presence without offending His righteousness. Second, God provided the people with a sacrificial system. The sacrificial system was instituted so that the sins of the people could be atoned for temporarily, by the shedding of the blood of a victim in the sinner’s place. Third, God provided the people with the tabernacle, a provision whereby a holy God could dwell in the midst of a sinful people without putting them to death for their sins.

If law-keeping were God’s means of attaining righteousness, why was it necessary for these elaborate provisions to be made? If Law-keeping was God’s means of making men righteous, then why was it necessary for Christ to come to the earth and die in the sinner’s place? The Old Testament gave every indication that law-keeping was not going to justify anyone. Law-keeping was never a second way of salvation. It was something self-righteous men sought to do, in defiance of God, and in rejection of His provision of righteousness through faith. This is the difference is between faith and works. The Jews tried to earn righteousness by law-keeping; the Gentiles attained righteousness as a gift, by faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Men are saved by believing in Jesus, not by behaving good enough to earn God’s approval.

Sunday June 12, 2022 Romans Week 54 Romans 10:1-21 “Human Responsibility and Salvation”

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Sunday – June 12, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – June 12, 2022

Romans 10:2-3
“For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

Many are familiar with the comedian Jeff Foxworth and his routine “You might be a redneck if…”. A series of one-line descriptions, that if true of listener, indicate the reality they really are a redneck. It is all in good humor, until you recognize he may be referring to you.  Rednecks are not the only ones who may be ignorant of their true identity. Many religious people, some even zealous, consider themselves spiritual smart, but in fact are truly ignorant of the Scriptures. Let’s take short quiz and see where we may find ourselves.

Even though you are a biblical scholar, you may be ignorant of the Scriptures. The Jews considered themselves to be experts concerning the Law (Romans 2). But in the final analysis, they were ignorant concerning the Law. The gospel which they rejected is that which Paul has taught from the Old Testament. Those who took it upon themselves to oppose and correct Jesus were the religious leaders and the biblical scholars of that day. And yet Jesus repeatedly rebuked them for their ignorance concerning the Scriptures. Why was it that the scholars were so ignorant and that people whom they considered “ignorant” were able to understand the Scriptures?

Because when you reject what is clear and compelling in the Scripture, but choose to focus on that which is obscure, or trivial you are ignorant of the Scripture. The Deuteronomy 30 text Paul referred to gives vitally important principles which should guide us in our study of the Scriptures, particularly in our study of the Old Testament of which the Jews were ignorant. First, we must study the Scriptures not as an academic exercise of the mind, but in order to know and to practice what God wants us to do. Many wish to study the Scriptures as an intellectual exercise. They want to deal with truth academically and philosophically, not to obey it. When we view the Bible as something to only know, rather than as something to believe and to do, we have lost sight of its purpose.

Also, our study of the Scriptures should focus on God and the righteousness and salvation which He provides in Christ. Those who correctly searched the Scriptures found Christ there. Those who searched for Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures looked for His coming and recognized Him when He appeared. Our study of the Old Testament should be Christ-centered. Israel’s failure was not in studying the Scriptures but in how they studied them. May God grant that we would study the Old Testament more to find there the same gospel revealed in the New Testament. And may we find there, more and more, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory.

Sunday June 5, 2022 Romans Week 53 Romans 9:30:33 “The Right Way to God”

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Sunday – June 5, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – June 5, 2022

Romans 9:32-33
Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Romans 9 has the dubious honor of teaching one of the most emotionally volatile doctrines of all the Bible, that of election.  “What shall we say then?” (9:30) serves both to draw a conclusion and to introduce a new section- more on this next week. The question that Paul has been focused on is, “If God is faithful to His covenant promises to His chosen people, then why are most of the Jews rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and Lord?” Paul has given several explanations for the condition of Israel in his day and in ours as well. Israel’s widespread unbelief and rejection of Jesus is explained by the doctrine of divine election. God did not promise to bless every descendant of Israel but only those to whom He gave the promise. Not all the physical descendants of Israel are true Israelites but only those whom God has chosen as such (9:6-23).

The salvation of the Gentiles is also explained in that God had both purposed and promised to save some Gentiles as well as some Jews. God’s promise to Israel through Hosea was also a promise for the Gentiles, who like Israel, are “not God’s people,” due to their sin, but who can become God’s people by His grace (9:24-26). The small number of believing Israelites is no problem to God or to the fulfillment of His promises. God promised to judge the sins of His people, and in so doing many Jews were destroyed. But God also promised to restore and to bless His people, and consequently He has assured the Jews that He will preserve a remnant, insuring the fulfillment of His promises (9:27-29).

The salvation of the Gentiles and the failure of the Jews is also explained in the Old Testament. God has always saved and blessed men by faith and not by works. Believing Gentiles have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelieving Jews are condemned for their lack of faith and for their determination to be declared righteous through law-keeping. For those who believe in Him, Jesus is God’s rock of salvation. Jesus is, for those who reject Him, God’s “stone of stumbling”.

What kind of a “stone” is Jesus to you, my friend? Is He the rock of your salvation, or is He a stone of offense? Is Jesus the basis of your stumbling or the source of your salvation? Do not leave this passage without making your decision about this most crucial question. It matters not whether you are Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, but only if you are trusting in Jesus alone for salvation and not in your own merit and works.

Sunday May 22, 2022 Romans Week 52 Romans 9:24-29 “Fulfillment in Failure”

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Sunday – May 22, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – May 22, 2022

Romans 9:23-24
What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

When someone succeeds without even trying, we try to be gracious, especially if we have failed with great effort. We are naturally inclined to resent the success of those who do not strive for it. This is precisely the case with the Gentiles and the Jews. In Romans 9, Paul summarizes the state of affairs with both Israel and the Gentiles. He says that the vast majority of the Jews have labored hard to earn their own righteousness while the Gentiles have attained righteousness with no effort at all. Does this make sense? Does it seem fair? Romans 9 was written with this dilemma in mind.

Paul is dealing with the difficulty of the widespread unbelief of the Jews. Only a small minority of Israelites have believed in Jesus as their Messiah, contrasted with a larger number of Gentile saints. How can it be that God has made so many promises to the nation Israel which have not been fulfilled and which appear at the moment to have little hope of fulfillment? Does Israel’s failure to trust in Jesus not only mean that the Israelites have failed but that God’s promises have failed as well? Is Israel’s failure also a failure of the Word of God? Is God’s Word reliable? Can we stake our eternal future on the promises of God in His Word?

Just as individual salvation is based upon the promises of God, Israel’s hope as a nation is based on God’s Word. God has made promises to the nation which may appear to have failed in the light of Israel’s unbelief. In chapters 9-11, Paul sets God’s promises to Israel and Israel’s history side-by-side. His whole purpose is to show the reader that all that has happened to Israel is in complete harmony with God’s Word concerning Israel. Israel’s present condition does not prove to be an embarrassment to anyone who believes God’s Word. Israel’s condition is evidence of the faithfulness of God’s Word and of His sovereignty in history as He brings about the fulfillment of His every promise.

The matter of the faithfulness of God’s Word is not important only to the Jews. The Christian serves the same God of the Old Testament. The Christian receives God’s promised blessings as a true son of Abraham. We who are Gentile believers are blessed by God’s grace in bestowing on us those things which He promised the true Israelite. If God’s Word, as revealed in the Old Testament, has proven to be unreliable, then His Word in the New Testament is unreliable as well. Every Christian should be convinced of the faithfulness of God’s Word.

Sunday May 15, 2022 Romans Week 51 Romans 9:4-23 “Glory in Judgment”

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Sunday – May 15, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – May 15, 2022

Romans 9:16-18
It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”

One of the key words in our passage is the word “mercy.” In tracking the use of this word in the New Testament, I learned something very significant: No one ever called upon our Lord for mercy and was turned away. No one ever came to our Lord and asked for mercy and received a response like: “Well, you are not one of the elect. I’m sorry, you’ll have to go away.” Every individual who asked Jesus for mercy in the gospels received it. Those who spurned His grace were condemned.

Some Christians seem to think God is glorified only by the salvation of sinners. This is not the case. God is equally glorified by the condemnation of sinners. Moses and the exodus of Israel from Egypt glorified God. Pharaoh’s hardened heart and his resistance against God and His people also glorified God. All of God’s creation will ultimately bring glory to Him. The ultimate question is not whether God will receive glory. The ultimate question for you is whether He will be glorified by your salvation or by your condemnation. God has nothing to lose and everything to gain. You have everything to lose or everything to gain.

The doctrine of election is not brought up by Paul until Romans 9. It is a doctrine every Christian needs to understand. It is not a doctrine every unbeliever needs to know. Unbelievers need to know that they are sinners and that the wrath of God awaits them. They need to know that God has provided a way of escaping His wrath and of entering into His promised blessings. That “way” is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. By His death, Jesus suffered God’s wrath on the sinner. By His life, you can be given new life. Receive this gift. Call upon Him for mercy, and He will forgive; He will save.

The principle laid down by Jeremiah still holds today. God has promised to forgive and to bless those sinners who repent and who will receive His mercy. God has promised to judge those who resist and reject His grace. When the day of judgment has come or when the day of our death comes, there will no longer be an opportunity for mercy. The time when God’s mercy is extended to sinners is now. The day of judgment rapidly approaches. Do not delay, my friend. Plead for mercy, and He will grant it. God’s justice will be executed. We must not doubt this. God’s mercy is now offered. Take it, today.

Sunday May 8, 2022 Mother’s Day “A Biblical Response to Abortion”

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Sunday – May 8, 2022

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Word On Worship – Sunday – May 8, 2022

Psalm 139:14-16
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

One of the greatest truths in life is that there is no escape from God. Like fugitives, we may run, but we cannot ultimately hide from the God who penetrates even the darkness with the gaze of His light. He formed us even in our mother’s womb for His purpose and ordained all of our days before we ever saw the light of day. If we manage to dodge Him in this life, we must still stand exposed before Him on that fearful day of judgment. There is no place to hide from God.

Every person has in his or her body sufficient proof that God exists. To ignore that kind of evidence renders a person without excuse (Rom. 1:18-23). Every second more than 100,000 chemical reactions take place in your brain. It has 10 billion nerve cells to record what you see and hear. That information comes to your brain through the miracle of the eye, which has 100 million receptor cells (rods and cones) in each eye. Your retina also has four other layers of nerve cells. Altogether the system makes the equivalent of 10 billion calculations a second before an image even gets to the optic nerve. That’s not to mention the miracle of the ear and how it translates sound waves into meaningful speech and sounds; or of touch, taste, and smell.

A single human chromosome contains 20 billion bits of information. How much is that if it were written down in an ordinary printed book in modern language? Twenty billion bits are the equivalent of about three billion letters. If there are approximately six letters in an average word, the information content of one human chromosome corresponds to about 500 million words. If there are about 300 words on an ordinary page of printed type, this corresponds to about two million pages. If a typical book contains 500 such pages, the information content of a single human chromosome corresponds to some 4,000 volumes.  The zygote contains 46 chromosomes, half contributed by each parent, in a unique configuration that has never existed before and never will again. It is not plant life or animal life, nor is it mere tissue like a tumor. From the moment of conception, the new life is genetically different from his or her mother, and is not a part of her body like her tonsils or appendix. This new human being is a separate individual living inside the mother.

The sacredness of life demands far more of us than merely prohibiting murder. It demands that we seek to save the life of those who are in danger of death, those whose lives we are able to spare. It means we cannot stand idly by without attempting to stop abortion on demand. It means, just as much, that when a person is dying of starvation, disease, or natural disaster, you and I are obligated to do everything in our power to save their lives. If life is sacred, then we must seek to save the lives (and the souls) of all men and women, not just those who seem innocent, or helpless, or socially desirable. May God give us the ability to grasp the sacredness of life, and to have an attitude of being willing to lay down our lives for the benefit of others.