Notes from 2-1-2009 Sermon – Remember
Angels anecdote (grace).
Hebrews 13:7-8. Context: the people embraced Christ, but their culture was anti-Christ. They were asking themselves “Is this ok?”
How often have you sat down with someone who is backslidden and asked “How much time have you spent remembering?”
Jeremiah 6:16
“The chrurch should be reformed and always reforming back to the ancient paths.”
Jeff: “I don’t encourage alliteration in the outline, but this one just fell into place.”
## 1: the divine office they held
Hebrews 13:7
Role of pastor: “lead” = guide / chief / governor. Bishop and overseer – same word.
1 timothy 3:1, Ephesians 4:11 (Pastor whose job is Teacher) (Whatever they have it’s a gift given by God so they can give to the church.
The pastor is an extension of Christ’s authority and rule – the office of Christ. (My thought: “mini pope?”)
FBC Dallas, tx: “a benevolent dictator”
Matthew 20:25-28, 1 Peter 5:2, 2 timothy 4:2.
** “The pastor has no legislative power. The church doesn’t even have a legislative branch. The legislation has been laid down… in the Bible… Someone should tell the Catholic church this.”
Hebrews 13:7
Honor them not for their person but for their position – it’s the office of power that God has ordained.
## 2: the doctrine doctrine they preached.
“Remember those who ‘spoke’ the word.” the great business of the church is the speaking of the word of God.
2 Cor 4:2.
Some people piece together the Bible in a man centered way – this is adulterating the word.
Should be proper historical and grammatical context.
“The church shouldn’t develop and appetite for clever, seasoned speech that is only sprinkled with the word of God.”
1 Cor 2:1
## 3: Remember the discipleship they preached.
Acts 6:11-14, Acts 7:54-60
My thoughts: Proof that the office of pastor isn’t, however, inerrant – Jeff: “More pastors read Spurgeon than any other book ever written.”
Bro Jeff also says that a lot of the modern biographers skew the doctrinal beliefs of prominent calvinists because of the market favors non-calvinistic books right now.
Translated to Glory
Revelation 12:5-13
Revelation 7:14-17
## 4: Divine presence they possessed.
Immutability of God. Martyrs and heroes of the church’s past had the power of Christ, and he’s the same Christ today that he was then.
Jeff: “People say funny things about us. No, they say mean things about us, let’s be honest.” (because of the church’s commitment to historical Baptist doctrines and uniqueness apart from others)
—-
random Tollie thought:
What is the purpose served by the “audience cam”?
Is it to provide relevance, so that viewers can relate to and connect subconsciously with others in the church? If so, is this biblical? I don’t know. The gathering of believers is certainly black-and-white ordained. The question is “why” is it ordained. Perhaps part of the reason for gathering together is that there is a tangible rationale – sociological reinforcement that others are also participating, which leads to greater participation and involvement. If so, digitally, the audience cam may be a way to help augment the subconscious sociological influences, thus digitally providing more of the “nutrition” provided by attending a biblical church than would be provided by preaching alone.
On the other hand, is it for aesthetics alone? If so, then this is biblical as God is certainly pleased by Christ honoring art (like the art of music used in musical worship), but I would contend that perhaps this aesthetic worship is better provided for by the artful portion of worship (the singing/music), and not necessary during the preaching/teaching portion of worship.
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