Author: Pastor David Page 18 of 22

Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord Will Provide

“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.” (Genesis 22:14)

Abraham had been called by God to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering upon a mount in Moriah. Abraham was faithful to God’s command and was willing to sacrifice Isaac, but the angel of God intervened to prevent him from going through with that particular act. In the place of Isaac, God provided a sacrifice for Abraham to offer instead, in the form of a ram caught in a thicket. In response to such a miraculous intervention of God’s providence, Abraham named this place “Jehovah-Jireh” which means “the Lord will provide or the Lord has seen”. If we examine our lives, I believe that we will also see these Jehovah-Jireh memorials of not just providential blessings but the ultimate Jehovah-Jireh of the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Send A Revival, Start The Work In Me

During the early 1800’s it was a time of great outpouring of God’s Spirit and additions to the Baptist Church. From 1801 to 1802 AD in the churches of Kentucky, about 6,000 persons were baptized within about an 8 month period. During the same two-year period in the Kehukee Association in North Carolina, about 1,500 members were baptized into their churches. Within 18 months beginning in 1812, Elder Wilson Thompson baptized some 400 to 500 persons into Bethel Church in Missouri. In 1829, Elder John Leland wrote, “In the south part of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, there are more than a thousand Baptist churches, now existing, which arose from that beginning” (referring to the constitution of Sandy Creek Church in North Carolina by Elders Daniel Marshall and Shubal Stearns in 1755.) This period of growth continued for many years until, unfortunately, in response to the great number of additions and baptisms, the unscriptural necessity of “missions” to continue to convert men to the church was introduced. This caused the division between the Old School, Primitive Baptists, and the New School, Missionary Baptist in the 1830’s. (numbers and quotes above are taken from Hassell’s History)

Worship in the New Testament Church

These messages were delivered by Pastor David on the Gospel of Grace Radio Broadcast from June to September 2017.  Jesus Christ did not leave the church in the dark to wonder how we are to conduct worship in the New Testament church.  The scriptures of the New Testament are very specific to precisely define the “true worship” of “worship in Spirit and in truth” and give the commands to the church how we are to engage in worshiping Jesus Christ in the New Testament church.

Click here to download a PDF study guide of Worship in the New Testament Church

Sermons

Click on each sermon link below to listen to message in another window.

Worship in Spirit and in Truth

Regulative Principle of Worship

Singing in the Church

Prayer in the Church

Preaching in the Church

Family Integrated Worship

Proper Teaching Environment in the Church

Worship on the 1st Day of the Week

What Manner of Men Among You

“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:23-25)

Here James describes the condition of a man who has heard the word of God but has not put that word into active practice in his life. The “forgetful hearer” is depicted as a man who has beheld his natural face in a glass (a mirror) but has forgotten the reflection that he originally saw – what manner of man he was before the grace of God changed his life. We must never forget the condition that God has brought us from if we are to properly serve him in discipleship during our lives.

Exaltation of Christ in the Ministry

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” (John 1:6-8)

John the Baptist was a very interesting character in the scriptures, to say the least. His ministry was prophesied of in the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:3-5Mal. 3:1,4:4-6). He was to be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb and was born again even before his natural birth (Luke 1:15,41-44). He would be God’s messenger to convert God’s children among the Jews back to a proper relationship with their heavenly Father (Luke 1:16-17). John the Baptist was also the forerunner of Christ who was to prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus Christ (Mal. 3:1Isaiah 40:2-5).  He was the “bulldozer” before Jesus Christ that filled in the valleys, tore down the hills, straightened the crooked paths, and smoothed out the rough places (Luke 3:4-5) to where the ministry of Jesus would be on a level and straight pathway. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets and came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 16:161:17). Even with such an impressive resume, that was not the central theme of his life and ministry – that was to “bear witness of the Light”.

God, The Liberal Giver

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:4)

The term “liberal” should not always be rendered as a bad or negative word.  On the contrary, the term is often used in a very positive light in scripture as evidenced by the term being associated with the generous giving nature of God. The definition of “liberal” at the time the KJV was translated (when the translators chose “liberally” to describe the nature of God’s giving) was “free in giving, generous, or open-hearted” (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary).  To commend the translators, using that definition, I cannot think of a more precise and accurate term to describe to free, generous, and open-hearted giving of blessings that God grants upon His children, especially when we ask of Him in prayer.

An Eternal Personal Love

“The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

Jehovah God gives a personal admonition to the nation of Israel (that primarily applies to the elect family of spiritual Israel) of God’s everlasting love for His elect.  This verse affirms that God looked out over all of eternity and saw all the persons that would be created in the world, and He chose to love a set and distinct group of people.  However, not just did God love a vague and nebulous group, but His love was “individual and personal” – I have loved “thee” with an everlasting love!

The Godly Tentmakers: Aquila & Priscilla

“Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.” (Romans 16:3-4)

We are first introduced to the godly couple of Aquila and Priscilla as Paul arrives in Corinth in Acts 18:2. They were Jewish tentmakers who had fled Italy under the discriminatory decree of Claudius Caesar expelling Jews from Rome. The couple comes in contact with Paul because they were of the same profession (they were tentmakers), and Paul comes to reside with them during his ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:3-4). They are presented initially as simply quiet, unassuming disciples of Christ, but these simple tentmakers had a profound impact on the kingdom of God and on the first-century church.

God Telleth The Stars

“He telleth the numbers of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” (Psalm 147:4)

Stars were created by God on the fourth day of the creation week, after He had made the sun and the moon. After a detailed explanation of the creation of the sun and moon are made for all five verses of the fourth day, God’s creation of the numerous stars of the sky is presented as almost an afterthought – “he made the stars also” (Gen. 1:16).  When we think about the vast, truly incomprehensible multitude of stars in the universe, it’s quite amazing that God not only knows the total number, but He even calls each one by its own divine name.

Articles of Faith

From November 2016 to June 2017, Pastor David preached through Macedonia Primitive Baptist Church’s Articles of Faith and also the New Testament scriptural pattern that we are to conduct worship in the church. In conjunction with preaching through these messages, he produced verse outlines to provide support for our positions on each topic.  The result was a comprehensive treatment of both the church’s doctrine and practice.

While Clear Springs PBC’s Articles of Faith are minimally different than Macedonia PBC’s Articles of Faith, they represent the general beliefs of all Primitive Baptist churches and Clear Springs Church as well.

Comprehensive Verse Outline

Click here to view and download a PDF comprehensive verse outline of the Articles of Faith of Macedonia PBC and the Practice of the New Testament Church

Macedonia PBC Articles of Faith

1. We believe in one true and living God, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. (1 John 5:7, John 1:1)

2. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, King James Translation, are the word of God, and the only rule of faith and practice. (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16)

3. We believe in the doctrine of election that before the foundation of the world God chose a definite number of the human race in Christ Jesus to salvation, predestinated the elect to heaven, and the elect are redeemed in particular by Christ on the cross. (1 Peter 1:2, Ephesians 1:4-5)

4. We believe in the doctrine of original sin that Adam’s fall in the garden plunged his entire posterity into death in trespasses and sins and that man cannot, of his own free will and ability, recover himself from the fallen state that he is in by nature. (Romans 5:12, Genesis 2:17, Romans 4:16, John 6:44)

5. We believe that sinners are justified only through the merits and power of the obedience, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus imputed to them. (Acts 20:28, Revelation 5:9, Romans 4:11)

6. We believe that God’s elect shall be called, regenerated, justified, and glorified by the Holy Spirit and that the saints will be preserved by grace and never fall finally away. (Romans 8:29-30, 2 Timothy 1:9, John 10:27-29, 1 Peter 1:23)

7. We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper and feet washing are ordinances of Jesus Christ, and that true believers are the only proper subjects and the proper mode of baptism is by immersion. (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Romans 6:4, Ephesians 4:5, John 13:14-16)

8. We believe that Jesus Christ who is the Head and Lawgiver has instituted the ordinance of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are to be perpetually observed by the Church to the end of the world. (Isaiah 33:22, James 4:12, John 13:17)

9. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment and that the joys of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked will be everlasting. (John 5:28-29, 1 Corinthians 15:19, Daniel 12:2)

10. We believe that no minister has a right to the administration of the ordinances except those who have been regularly baptized and called of God and have come under the imposition of hands by a presbytery and that only so long as they continue in the faith once delivered to the saints. (Acts 13:2-3, Titus 1:5-6)

11. We know, from experience, that no good can result to the church from any secret organization; therefore, we declare non-fellowship that those who participate or engage in secret organizations of any kind. (John 18:20-21, Ephesians 5:11-13, Matthew 5:14-16)

12. We believe in the simplicity of New Testament worship consisting of acapella singing, prayer, preaching, and fellowship. (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19, Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 1:18)

Page 18 of 22

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén