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By Derrick Bowman on March 6th, 2010For several years now, Dr. Kevin Bauder, President of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, has been a leading voice for the more "sane" segment of Fundamentalism. He has recently published an article that expresses the differences and similarities between today’s Gospel-focused Fundamentalist and the modern conservative Evangelicals.
I was very impressed by this article, so I am posting a link to it here for you to read. I am interested in hearing your comments about what Dr. Bauder has to say. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
Here is the link to the article:
www.centralseminary.edu/publications/Nick/Nick257.html
By Derrick Bowman on March 2nd, 2010Psalm 130:4, "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
This verse points our attention to the wonderful truth of the forgiveness of sins. What mercy and grace there is in the Gospel message that we who were once lost in the darkness of sin can now experience a full forgiveness. The Bible tells us that the only way we can have this forgiveness is through the precious shed blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In God’s act of justification, He takes all of our sins away from us and imputes them to Christ, and He takes all of the righteousness that Christ earned and imputes that righteousness to us. As a believer, you stand before a Holy God clothed in the perfect and complete righteousness of Jesus Christ. O believer, what a glorious forgiveness we have in Christ.
But the verse we are considering says that “there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” I am afraid that the fear of the Lord is a biblical truth that is largely ignored in our day. The best definition of the fear of the Lord that I have ever heard is this: To fear the Lord is to live in the awareness of God. At your job, you always try to do your best when the boss is around. I remember one summer I worked as a bricklayer’s helper. Some of the other helpers were so lazy that they only worked when the boss was looking. Well, as Christians, we are supposed to be working in the Kingdom of God, and we must remember that the Lord sees everything that we do. If you are really living in the fear of the Lord, it will stop you from sinning because you realize that the Lord is always watching.
But why are we supposed to fear the Lord? Is it because we are afraid that the Lord is going to punish us if we don’t? Do you view God as a heavenly policeman who is just waiting for you to mess up so that He can get you? I have to tell you that God does not act like that. Remember the words of the verse we are considering. There is forgiveness with God. If you are saved and washed in the blood of Christ, all of your sins – past, present, and future have been forgiven. You stand clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. That means that you and I are to fear the Lord, not out of a fear of punishment, but instead out of a heart full of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins that we have in Christ.
My friend, let me ask you: Do you know the forgiveness of sins in your own heart today? Do you know for sure that if you stood before the Lord today, you would stand before Him completely forgiven? You know there is a way you can know that for sure. The Bible says that “him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” If you are not saved, come to Christ today. You don’t have to wait to be in a church building, and you don’t even need to talk to a preacher. Just come to Christ in simple faith. You can be confident that if you come to Christ in repentance and faith that He will take you in and forgive you of all your sins. If you are not saved, won’t you come to Him today? “There is forgiveness with God that He may be feared.”
By Derrick Bowman on February 24th, 2010"He shall not fail nor be discouraged."
Isaiah 42:4a
Our devotional today is found in the first part of Isaiah 42:4. The Bible says, “He shall not fail or be discouraged.” This passage of Scripture is speaking about Christ Himself. What a tremendous truth we learn here about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He cannot fail or be discouraged.
I want you to see today that this is an Amazing Statement. It is especially amazing when we compare it to our experience. As sinful humans, we constantly fail and are often plagued with discouragement, but our Saviour never fails. It is also amazing when you consider the opposition Christ faces. Satan and all of his followers do everything they can to cause Christ’s kingdom to fail. But the glorious truth that we learn here is that Christ cannot fail. Satan cannot frustrate the plan of God. I find this statement about Christ to be amazing also because of what Christ has to work with. What I mean here is that Christ has chosen to use you and me as His instruments to do His work here on this earth. If you have ever been in charge of a group of people, you will know that people often let you down. Being an employer can be a very discouraging task, but Christ is never discouraged. He is always in control. He knows the beginning from the end, and He will make sure that everything goes according to His perfect plan.
As we continue to look at this verse, I want you to see the Cause of this statement. How can Isaiah say that Christ cannot fail or be discouraged? Well, the first reason is found in verse 1 of Isaiah 42. The Bible describes Jesus Christ as God’s Servant. He is especially upheld and chosen by God for the work He came to earth to do. Christ cannot fail or be discouraged because He is the eternal God-Man. He is the only begotten Son of God. We see another reason for this statement in verse 1. The Bible says that God delights in Christ. There are only 3 times that God spoke audibly in the New Testament. Two of those times God said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We also learn in Isaiah 42:1 that Jesus Christ was empowered by the Holy Spirit for the work He came to do. We can sum all this up by saying that Christ cannot fail or be discouraged because He has all of the omnipotence or power of Heaven behind Him.
Finally, I want you to see what this statement guarantees. Christ cannot fail or be discouraged, so that guarantees that Christ will prevail in your salvation. There are some people who teach that a believer can loose His salvation. Well let me ask you one simple question. Did you save yourself? Of course you didn’t. You were saved by the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. Do you think for a moment that Christ can fail to finish what He started? This verse also guarantees that Christ will fulfill all of His promises. You and I could promise to do something, but because of our personal limitations, we might fail to make good on those promises. But Christ cannot fail. He will always keep the promises he has made to you. Do you trust Him today? O, that you and I will turn our eyes upon Jesus Christ. He is the one who cannot fail or be discouraged.
By Derrick Bowman on February 17th, 2010Every once in a while, I come across a sermon that I think everyone should listen too. That’s ironic on one hand because I have said several times during my own sermons that if you think this sermon is for someone else, then chances are that you are the one who needs it the most. I can safely say that the message I have to recommend today definitely applies to me as a minister of the Gospel.
The sermon I want to recommend to you was preached on January 1, 1980 by a man named Paris Reidhead. Mr. Reidhead’s biographical sketch on SermonAudio.com says this, "Paris Reidhead devoted his life to communicating the message of the Gospel in America and throughout the world. A student pastor in the rural Minnesota at age eighteen, Mr. Reidhead felt led of the Lord to overseas mission work. In 1945, Paris Reidhead and Marjorie, his wife of two years, traveled under the auspices of the Sudan Interior Mission to the Sudan-Ethiopia Border where they surveyed and analyzed tribal languages in preparation for evangelism and education in this area."
The title of this sermon is "Ten Shekels and a Shirt," from Judges 17. One person described the sermon this way, "Paris Reidhead preaches what could be called one of the most influntial sermons of the 20th century. The real point of this sermon is an indictment of individuals and organizations practising humanism behind a mask of Christianity! This sermon should be preached on a regular basis in every church in America! In Judges 17, the prophet, Micah hires a Levite as his personal priest. The price for the Levite’s services was ten shekels (of silver) and a shirt. The real point of this sermon is an indictment of individuals and organizations practising humanism behind a mask of Christianity!" I believe that you will find this message to be quite challenging.
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