Subtopic: “ Hearing The Word Of The Lord”--- “Can You Hear Me Now”

Sermon Notes By Pastor Arthur H. Coleman Sr. for Sunday June 29, 2014

Text :Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”


PREMISE

The Pulpit Commentary,Vol.21, Page34 A Comment On 1 Thess.2:13---The Thessalonian  Reception Of The Truth. “The apostle had spoken of his own part in the work of grace; he now speaks of the manner in which his converts accepted. “Ye are my witnesses; now I am yours.” His immediate ground of thankfulness was that they had received , not man’s word, but God’s, and that the  Word was so thoroughly efficacious. “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received not the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God.” 

Subtopic: "It's God's Way Or No Way"

Sermon Notes By Pastor Arthur H. Coleman Sr. For Sunday March 2, 2014

Text: Psa. 127:1 "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Eccl.3:14 "I know that, whatsoever God doeth , it shall be  for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it : and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."

Isaiah 55:6-9 “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (vs7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (vs8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. (vs9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

St. John 15:4-5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (vs5) I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Premise

The Pulpit Commentary Volumes 8 &9 , Pages 62-63 &227-228 , comments on Psa.127:1 and Eccl. 3:14."UNBLESSED LABOUR 1. We can do nothing at all without the Divine co-operation. We constantly depend on the presence of his material, on the action of his laws, on the activity of the forces he keeps in play. We all recognize this in agriculture; that it is vain for the husbandman to sow his seed, unless God sends his rain and wind and sunshine ect. It is also true of our other occupations. The sailor and the builder depend on the constancy and regularity of Divine laws and forces. We are always assuming their existence, though we may think nothing of their Author. 2. We can effect nothing without divine permission. If God means that the guilty city shall fall, the watchman will wake and the soldier will fight in vain. If God intends to humble a man whose pride needs to be brought down, his utmost exertions in his trade or in his profession will not bring success. Many a man has found, as he at first thought to his cost, but afterwards knew to his advantage, that when God's wise and faithful providence is against his prosperity, he wakes early and works hard in vain. But how much more is blessed is he in a corrective adversity, than he would be in a hardened prosperity! We do well to ask that God's blessing may wait upon and crown all our activities; we do well, also; to remember that it may happen that, for our own sake, God will not grant us our desire in the form of temporal success. 3. We find no blessedness in a prosperity which is not hallowed by devotion. It is a vain thing for a man to strive hard and to attain the immediate object of his pursuit , if he is not making his life a life of holy service. Even if the bread he eats is not "bread of sorrows" in the sense that it is scanty, yet it will be such in the sense that it yields no abiding joy; for it is abundantly clear that a life of even prosperous labour , apart from the service and without the friendship of God, selfish and earthbound, is a life of dissatisfaction and practical defeat. The springs of pure and lasting joy do not rise on that lower ground."

A comment on Eccl.3:14 says "Behind man's free action and volition (the act of willing) stands the will of God, which orders events with a view to eternity, and that man can alter nothing of the providential arrangement. We cannot hasten or retard God's designs; we cannot add to or curtail his plans. There is a moral purpose in this disposal of events. Men feel this uniformity and unchangeableness in the working of Providence, and thence  learn to cherish a reverential awe for the righteous government of which they are the subjects."

Subtopic: “ My Work For God Is A Duty Not A Choice”

Sermon Notes By Pastor Arthur H. Coleman Sr. for Sunday November 3, 2013

Text; Isaiah 6:1-8 “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (vs2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (vs3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,holy,holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. (vs4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (vs5) Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. (vs6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar: (vs7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sins purged. (vs8) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”   1 Corinthians 9:16-17  “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the gospel! (vs17) For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”

PREMISE

The Pulpit Commentary, Vol.10, Pages 114-115, a comment on Isaiah 6:8. “THE CALL TO SERVICE. Again the august and dominant voice of the Eternal is heard: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” A ready answer, full of devotion, full of self-abandonment, comes from that lately overwhelmed heart: “Here am I; send me.” Out of weakness Isaiah has been made strong, and there is no hesitation now. There is “triumph lingering in his eyes, wide as of some swimmer’s descries help from above in his extreme despair.” The foolish imprudence which cries, “Here am I; send me,” without having calculated the cost of the enterprise and the extent of the resources, is not that of Isaiah. Still less is the unfaithful trifling with one’s powers and opportunities under the excuse of modesty, or the delight in dreams of action rather than in action itself, seen in him. We see some men rashly staking their future on the cast of a die, impetuously crossing a course of action from which one cannot turn back; others lingering on the brink, or moving superstitiously in a fancied circle, beyond which seems to lie the frowning impossible. And we see a third class who have learned the Divine magic of the word “obey,” and who alone move safely and with high heart to ends greater than their dreams. The servants readiness, his quickness of eye and ear, is what we need. Can we allege that we have never seen our vision, heard our call from the unmistakable voice? If the plea be sound, then our mistakes and straying cannot be charged against us. But can we maintain such plea so long as there is any meaning in the words, “truth and duty”? Truth is ever beckoning to us, duty’s low clear voice is ever sounding, though the paths to which they guide lie but dimly before. The call to act is for us all; the call to act greatly but for God’s elected few. Let us not mistake our wishes for Divine commands, nor in vanity create a destiny which is only our own fiction. Still less let us treat impressions which have seized us and shaken us with awe, and against which reluctant flesh and blood have struggled, as dreams to be set aside and fancies to be overcome. If, after straining eye and ear, God seems to leave you through wide tracts of life’s way to struggle with your ignorance and to work out your problems unaided---be it so. This is your call. If otherwise you are the subject of strong and extraordinary impressions, reaching into the reality behind the shows of things, hearing with open ears where others know but confused sounds,--- be it so. Your call is more direct. If only we will not indulge the blindness of those who will not see, the deafness of those who stop their ears, the proud weakness of those who hate to obey, all may be well.”

Text: Isa: 33:6 "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times and strength of salvation: The fear of the Lord is his treasure."

St. John  8:31-32  "Then said Jesus to those Jews  which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples in deed; (vs32) And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free".

 Premise

The Pulpit Commentary, Vol.10, page 550, a comment on Isa.33:6. "The true source of stability and of strength is in heavenly wisdom--- that "knowledge" of God which means, not only a perception of the truth but a love of it, a delight in it, an acceptance of it as the one thing that will cleanse the heart, and that should regulate the life.

A Quote From The Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon's 2200 Quotations, page117, concerning           " knowledge"  "The knowledge of God is the great hope of sinners. Oh, if you knew him better, you would fly to him! If you understood how gracious he is, you would seek him. If you could have any idea of his holiness, you would loath your self-righteousness. If you knew anything of his power, you would not venture to contend with him. If you knew anything of his grace, you would not hesitate to yield yourself to him".

Subtopic: Will You Answer The Call

Text: Isaiah 1:18-20 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.(vs19)If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: (vs20) But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

Revelation 3: 20-22  (To The Lukewarm Self-Satisfied Laodicean Church) "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (vs21) To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (vs22) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

The Septuagint(Hebrew OT into Greek)by Charles Thompson translates Isa.1:18 as "then come---(let our controversy be brought to issue, saith the Lord) and though your sins be as a purple stain: I will make you white as snow--- though they be as a stain of scarlet: I will make you white as wool"

PREMISE

The Pulpit Commentary, Vol.10, Page 23, a comment on Isa 1: 18 "THE MAGNITUDE OF DIVINE MERCY. In estimating the fullness of God's grace to mankind, we must include: 1.His patience toward all men, both penitent and impenitent. From the beginning of sin until the present hour God has been forbearing to inflict penalty." He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities."(Psa. 103:10) The times of long- continued ignorance God overlooked, or did not interpose with special penalty or redemption (Acts 17:30).