Sermon
Psalm 119 — The Mount Everest of Bible Memory
Click to Listen Reverend Anthony R. Locke February 12th, 2017 Psalm 119:1-8 (English Standard Version) 1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! 4…
Read MoreGod Never Leaves a Job Half Done — 1 Thessalonians 5:24
September 25th, 2016 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker 1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.[1]English Standard Version There are no greater promises in the Bible regarding our salvation than a verse like this. That He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. I…
Read MoreDespise NOT Prophesying — 1 Thessalonians 5:20
August 21st, 2016 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not despise prophecies.[1][1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. Everybody on this planet hears the voice of God speaking to them about His glory. Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky…
Read MoreIs The Bible History Reliable?
When the early church pieced together the Apostle’s Creed, they were using the baptismal formulas previously in use by the actual Apostles. We don’t know which Apostle coined each phrase of the Apostle’s Creed, but one of the twelve was baptizing converts in the name of Jesus Christ who suffered under Pontius Pilate.
Which begs the question, “why are we confessing anything about a secular Roman governor?” This morning I am going to explain why Pilate’s name is in the creed, and I am going to suggest that it is necessary for a sound faith.
During this time period in Rome there were mystical religions that taught a variety of strange ideas. These false religions didn’t claim their teachings were real in a historic or scientific sense, but their teachings were spiritually real.
Lots of Christians understand their own faith within this context. My sermon will try to convince you otherwise.
Read MoreWhy Does the Apostle's Creed Profess Faith in Pontius Pilate? — Luke 1:1-4
Reverend Anthony R. Locke June 27th, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Luke 1:1-4 Apostle’s Creed Series 10 English Standard Version 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of…
Read MoreWhy a Trinitarian Benediction?
The Trinity is one of those distinctively Christian doctrines that separate us from other faith groups in the world. The early church tried to give a synopsis of this teaching with short Triads of Trinitarian Truth.
I’ll share one of these very early Triads of Trinitarian Truth with you.
- The Father is God, but He is not the Son and is not the Holy Spirit
- The Son is God, but He is not the Father or the Holy Spirit.
- The Spirit is God, but He is not the Father or the Son.
The doctrine of Trinity is not explained in Romans or hidden in some secret chapter in Hezekiah, but it is the way the Bible reveals God. The whole Bible teaches Trinity.
The word TRINITY is a theological construct. We invent the word to explain a biblical phenomenon, to encapsulate in a word something unique that the Bible teaches.
There is no doubt that the Bible teaches Trinity.
- The Bible identifies the Father as God.
- in such passages like Ephesians 6:23, Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- This is more than just saying that God is like a father or that He is fatherly. Rather, there is a person who chooses to reveal Himself as THE Father and this person is Deity in the ultimate sense.
- There are many verses like this which identify the Father as God.
- The Bible identifies the Son as God.
- John opened his gospel with a powerful affirmation of Christ’s deity. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- i. The only religious group in the world that describes that verse as anything less than the fullness of deity in the ultimate sense is the Mormon Church.
- ii. Historically they have been labeled a cult for this reason alone.
- The former skeptic Thomas cried out in John 20 when he saw the resurrected Christ, “My Lord and my God! Jesus did not correct Thomas for Jesus Himself had said numerous times that He was equal with the Father.
- Romans 9:5 labels Jesus as God blessed forever.
- Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1 refer to the one person Jesus as our God and Savior.
- The deity of Jesus is further proven by the words of God the Father Himself. God the Father refers to Jesus in Hebrews 1:8 in this way, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
- John opened his gospel with a powerful affirmation of Christ’s deity. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- The Bible identifies the Holy Spirit as God.
- In Acts 5:3 Peter asked Ananias, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? In the next verse Peter says, You have not lied to men but to God.
The Trinity can be summarized in a simple syllogism: The Bible teaches there is only one God. Yet it calls three persons God. Therefore, the three persons are the one God.
As the Great Shema declares in Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And this one God has revealed Himself as three distinct persons.
Read MoreEach According to the Measure — Romans 12:3-8
Reverend Anthony R. Locke September 5th, 2010 www.FirstPresTucker.org at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker. Romans 12:3-8 Spiritual Gifts English Standard Version 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according…
Read MoreA Reformed View of the 1,000 Years — Revelation 20:4-6
The number ten is a specific number that holds meaning in the Bible. Like the Ten Commandments which cover all the Laws of Moses. So the number 10 times 10 times 10 is the completeness of the Trinity’s view on a matter within time and history. Two illustrations of that.
Remember the number 144,000 that are saved? Was that a literal number limiting the actual souls of people who can get saved? Of course not. In sermon #27 covering Revelation 14:1-5 I said that This 144,000 represents the twelve tribes of Israel, multiplied by the twelve Apostles, multiplied by a millennium. It’s God’s way of speaking about the Great Host of the Redeemed, united in one Faith Community in Heaven. (12x12x1,000=144,000) Cults think it is literal.
Jesus talked this way when He said that 7 times 70 is all the goodness and kindness we must offer in hospitality. To limit our forgiveness to 490 would disappoint Jesus and the Apostles. We must think deeper than that.
When a period of time is described as a thousand years, God is describing a period of time that is complete and done. God is counting out complete periods of time between one event and another. 
God is not counting out the exact years. This period of time described as a 1,000 years is God’s way of saying that the specifics of that period of time will never again occur. The uniqueness of that period of time is done. Complete. Satan will never again be bound awaiting his being loosed back to the Earth. Satan is never coming back!
There is a long period of time when Satan is bound, and a short period of time when Satan is loosed. If 1,000 was literal, then why didn’t God give us the exact number of years for the little period of time? Because neither period of time is necessary for us to know in real numbers.
Read MoreA Place Prepared for the Devil — Revelation 20:7-10
What is the Lake of Fire? The Sea of Fire is a place so big, that there are no shores. No islands of refuge. No stable footing and no reachable surface. There is sulfur. Gunpowder is made with sulfur to increase the heat and explosive nature of the compound. Sulfuric acid has lots of sulfur. Sulfur boils at 850 degrees.
Ancient civilizations understood that volcanoes have lots of sulfur in the magma. The Old Testament tells us that God rained down brimstone, which is a synonym for sulfur, on Sodom and Gomorrah.
So God is asking for us to imagine a sea of boiling sulfur into which the Devil is cast and sinks. That’s not a comforting thought, unless you hate the Devil.
And this experience of the Devil is permanent. There’s no end to his torment. He is lost under the billowing waves of God’s wrath. He will forever feel like he is burning up. He will forever feel like he is drowning. He will be forever lost to God’s love.
Read MoreThe Dragon Isn’t Above the Law — Revelation 20:1-3
Jesus will orchestrate the Omega of this Creation and declare with absolute finality the destiny of every person.
After the war. After He has changed His blood splattered garments. After He has brought us into His eternal rest. God the Father will reveal a new name by which we will know Jesus.
Today we know Jesus as Redeemer. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is the Lamb and He is a Lion. Jesus is THE Wonderful Counselor. He is Mighty God, Everlasting Father and THE Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Great High Priest. He is the Great Prophet. Jesus is the Great King.
Revelation 19:12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. This name will be revealed!
Maybe His new name will have something to do with reversing the Fall, ending sin and chaining the Dragon.
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