The Webster Bible Church Podcast

Rest For The Stressed - Psalm 4

Transformative Truth:
Believers can rest secure, because our God reigns supreme.

"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." - Luke 24:44

REST FOR THE STRESSED Psalm 4:1-8

Believers can rest secure, because our God reigns supreme.

1. Call upon the Lord. Psalm 4:1

Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. - Hebrews 4:16

2. Confront your enemies. Psalm 4:2-3

3. Counsel your friends. Psalm 4:4-5

a. Be angry.
b. Don't sin.
c. Search your hearts.
d. Be silent.
e. Offer right sacrifices.
f. Put your trust in the Lord.  

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. - James 1:19

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:23-24

4. Count on God's peace. Psalm 4:6-8

Believers can rest secure, because our God reigns supreme.

The Way To Live - Psalm 1

Transformative Truth:
Christ has provided the path of blessing for his people.

The Way of the Godly Psalm 1:1-3

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. - Joshua 1:8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. - Jeremiah 17:7-8

The Way of the Ungodly Psalm 1:4-5

The Watchfulness of the Lord Psalm 1:6

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Four Responses 1. "Amen!" 2. "Oh, no!" 3. "Oh, yes!" 4. Let's go!

The Gospel For All People - John 4:27-35

Introduction

 

Proposition: We must be available to take the gospel to all people … to target unreached people and unevangelized places.

 

Transition: In John 4:27–35, we discover 3 ageless, timeless obstacles to being available to take the gospel to all people … to targeting unreached people and unevangelized places.

 

Outline

 

1. Prejudice is a hindrance to availability (4:27) … “Not them!”

 

   Whereas prejudice is a hindrance to the gospel penetrating all nations, Jesus models the universality of God’s grace in 4:27.

 

 

2. Preoccupation is an obstacle to availability (4:31 to 34) … “Not that!”

 

   The Samaritan woman forgot her … 

 

•Purpose (compare verses 6 and 7 with 28)

 

•Possession (verse 28a)

 

•Pride (compare verses 6, 7, and 16-18 with 28 and 29)

 

   The disciples, on the other hand, remembered their food.

 

   Whereas preoccupation is an obstacle to the gospel reaching all people, Jesus emphasizes the priority of the gospel in 4:31-34.

 

 

3. Procrastination is a barrier to availability (4:35) … “Not time!”

 

   Whereas procrastination is a barrier to the gospel impacting our generation, Jesus appeals to the urgency of our witness in 4:35.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Divine Love Unveiled - Ephesians 3:14-19

Transformative Truth: 
Divine love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Paul prays
(1) That God might strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being (Ephesians 3:6-17a)
(2) That we might have power to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

Divine Love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

First, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love Exists 
 
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Deuteronomy 6:4)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  2 Corinthians 13:14

WBC doctrinal statement He (God) is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honor, confidence, and love. He eternally exists in three persons, who are equal in every divine perfection, and who execute distinct but harmonious roles in the work of creation, providence and redemption.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  1 John 4:8 

"It is common when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His own essence and perfection..."  (Jonathan Edwards)

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;  and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:16-17

Second, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love is Expressed

"His self-giving affection for his image-bearing creatures and his unselfish concern for their well-being, that leads him to act on their behalf and for their happiness and welfare " 

The God who is love - is the Father who sends his Son.
 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Son) Romans 5:6

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Father) Romans 5:8

And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.... (John 16:8 )

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  John 3:5 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14, NLT

Third, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love is Extended

In other words, the shape of the Father-Son relationship (the headship) begins a gracious cascade, like a waterfall of love: as the Father is the lover and the head of the Son, so the Son goes out to be the lover and the head of the church. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you," the Son says (Jn 15:9). And therein lies the very goodness of the gospel: as the Father is the lover and the Son the beloved, so Christ becomes the lover and the church the beloved. That means that Christ loves the church first and foremost: his love is not a response, given only when the church loves him; his love comes first, and we only love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)

Divine Love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Mankind's Free Will Versus God's Sovereign Election - Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:4-10

Transformative Truth: 
Without God’s grace, sinners are unable to choose salvation.

1. Predestination (Ephesians 1:3-14)

2. Arminianism’s argument against God’s Sovereign Election

3. God’s formula for salvation (Eph. 2:4-10)
a. God’s grace
b. When God “draws” his elect to salvation

4. Saul’s conversion

5. Questions about Free Will vs God’s Sovereign Election
a. What about verses that suggest belief is from Free Will?
b. Does God also predestine those who will go to hell?
c. Is God’s Sovereign Election unfair?
d. What about the people from Old Testament times?

6. Application

Having Something To Say! - Psalm 113

Transformative Truth: 
O God, Your GRACE overwhelms us… And I simply must SAY something!

 

Andrew, The Brother - John 1:29-42

Transformative Truth: 
Andrew exemplifies how a true disciple of Christ walks with his Lord.

Andrew, the Little Brother
John 1:29-42 (p. 833)
Mark 1:16-20 (p. 785)

Andrew, the Big Brother
John 6:4-14 (p. 838)

Andrew, the Christian Brother
John 12:20-26 (p. 845)
Matthew 26:36-41 (p. 781)

Victory In Jesus - Revelation 22:1-21

Transformative Truth:
Live for the Lord and the world to come.

The River of Life
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me,
as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were
to receive.... - John 7:37-39

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation
of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. - Psalm 46:10

The Return of the Lord
The confirmation of his return (v. 7)
The consequence of his return (v. 12)
Our consideration of his return (v. 20)

The Response of the Living
As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of
wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.
Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? - Ezekiel 33:11

The Believer's Blessed Hope - Revelation 21-22:6

Scripture: Revelation 21–22:6
Secondary Texts: 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Cor. 2:9-10

Transformative Truth:
The Book of Revelation is intended to buoy the hopes of God’s people in difficult times,
and to refocus their hearts and minds so as to truly “love His appearing.”

13 Things that won't be in the New Heavens and The New Earth
1 / 21.1 – No more SEA
2 / 21.4 – No more DEATH
3 / 21.4 – No more MOURNING 
4 / 21.4 – No more CRYING
5 / 21.4 – No more PAIN
6 / 21.8 - No cowardly, faithless, detestable, murderous, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolatrous or lying persons
7 / 21.22 – No TEMPLE
8 / 21.23 – No SUN or MOON
9 / 21.25 – No LIMITED ACCESS:
10 / 21.25 – No NIGHT
11 / 21.27 – Nothing UNCLEAN
12 / 21.27 – No one DETESTABLE
13 / 22.3 – No more CURSE!

Great White Throne Judgment - Revelation 20:11-15

Transformative Truth: 
At the end of all things - what matters is whether or not one stands before God, having had Jesus 
take all the just due for their sins on the cross at Calvary – being listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life
- or standing before God and having to give an account for every act, the motive behind every act, 
every wayward, evil or contrary thought, and their unrepentant state in refusing Christ as their
sin-bearer and Lord.

I. (v. 11) The JUDGE
II. (vss. 12-13) The JUDGED
III. (vss. 12-13) The JUDGMENTS
IV. (vss. 14-15) JUSTICE

3 Takeaways:
1 - There WILL be ultimate justice
2 - Satan, death and sin WILL be eradicated forever
3 - All things WILL be summed up in Christ