Category: Penny Pulpit

Msg #1451 The Christ Child's Presentation

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

The Christmas counsel of the ungodly is to mock at Luke chapter 2, but the believer, by definition, believes every precious word. The way of sinners is to reject the great price paid for their sin, the Christ child born to die, but the born-again know well the substitution that was made. The scornful call it fable but the Christian studies every detail of these miraculous provisions for the birth of the Only Begotten Son of God. One can research “that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed,” the record is clear. Each province went on a schedule for this census and tax, and all had to stay in their birth city for as much as 3 months until bureaucrats got their paperwork straight. God's provision happened to bring Mary and Joesph to Bethlehem, the Bible says, “And so it was, that while they were there…” God is good. God's provision was that his Only Begotten be born in a barn and laid in a manger, the plan unfolds with one little clause, “because there was not room for them in the inn.” God is very good. Just before Passover, during lambing season, shepherds would be “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Rome speculated Noel was on their miscalculated Sun god's longest night.) Right after the shepherds adoration the Bible records, “when the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS.” And when the days of HER purification were accomplished they brought him to Jerusalem (the NIV “scholars” said it included HIS purification… infidels). Baby Jesus just missed the wise men in Jerusalem, heads back to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then Nazareth. All in God's providence. Praise His Name.

An Essay for week #51 12/21/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141221.mp3

View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com

Msg #1450 Preliminary Preparation Preaching

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

There is plenty of prophecy of the coming Messiah, there is preliminary preparation for his arrival and there is a pertinent presentation at his first advent. Luke chapter one schedules four preachers, i.e. four spokesmen with a “thus saith the Lord” message. The four expound the preparations for our Lord's arrival in flesh. First up is Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. He has a two part message; in 13-17 he details the arrival and full role of John Baptist, and in 28-33 he details the arrival and full role of JESUS the Son of the Highest. Next up on the schedule of speakers in this chapter is Elisabeth, the mother of John Baptist. She was filled with the Holy Ghost and in 42-45 she starts outlining the messages of the 6-month old who is leaping in her womb. In verses 46-55 Mary, the virgin mother of JESUS, the Son of God and Son of man, takes the podium. She is filled with the Christ-child and acknowledges her need of the Saviour in her womb. She then expounds his mercy on all of mankind from generation to generation. Mercy is descriptive of the condemned not getting the punishment that is deserved. Mary saw that mercy, and preaches its availability for me. The final speaker of the chapter is Zacharias the father of John Baptist. After being dumb for nine months he is filled with the Holy Ghost and in 68-79 he expounds the Son of David to be both redeemer of Israel and merciful Saviour to all of mankind. Awesome messages, well worth my read in preparation for Christmas worship. A believer's whole month of December should be full of Scriptures concerning the prophecy, preparation, and presentation of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ.

An Essay for week #50 12/14/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141214.mp3

View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com

Msg #1449 The Odd Announcement

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Three odd chapters in Isaiah capture the scene for the promised coming of the anointed One of God, the Messiah (Hebrew), the Christ (Greek). Chapter 7 announces the sign, that the second Adam, the seed of woman that is to bruise Satan's head, will be born of a virgin. His name is Immanuel, which being interpreted is “God with us” (Isa 7:14, Matt 1:23). Chapter 9 announces that the people that walked in darkness see a great light, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The might God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). These names mock the cultic Morman Tabernacle Choir which denies both the trinity and the deity of this child born in Bethlehem. Jesus was indeed God in the flesh, who left the portals of heaven to be born the Son of Man and the Son of God. Chapter 9 also proclaims His endless kingdom on the throne of David, to order it and establish it. Begone Roman Religionists and Protestant Presbyters who deny the kingdom reign of Christ. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Is it strange that Chapter 11 of US bankruptcy code permits reorganization under law, and Isaiah Chapter 11 announces just such a reorganization? “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isa 11:1). The rod speaks of chastising judgment, like “spare the rod, spoil the child,” while the branch speaks of the life giving sustainer. If you do not receive eternal life from Jesus Christ as the Banch, you will soon receive eternal death from Jesus Christ as the Rod.

An Essay for week #49 12/07/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141207.mp3

View Thesis “Reformed Theology NOT” at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com

Msg #1421 Healing and Anointing Oil

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” (James 5:14-15a) Oil is not mystical or magical for healing. It is not filled with power, but obedience is. It does not get a hold of God, but prayer does. It can not heal any disease, but God can. In James 5 anointing oil is only a symbol. Baptismal water is also a symbol. It does not wash a single sin away. A communion wafer is also only a symbol. It is not a sacrament filled with magical power. It is not physically the body of Christ, nor does it magically turn into the body of Christ, it is a symbol. Jesus spent half of John chapter 4 trying to get the Samaritan woman to let go of the physical and get a grasp on the spiritual. Healing is promised to the believer and in James chapter 5 it is connected to a symbolic anointing oil. Oil is first mentioned in the Holy Bible when Jacob poured some on stones that were his pillow at Bethel. It symbolized the presence of God. Oil olive gave light where God dwelt with man, in the Tabernacle of God. Anointing oil was on the alter of incense, typifying the prayers of saints. The the meal offering included a log of oil in sacrifice. Oil anointed the priest. Oil anointed the King. The parable of the 10 virgins teaches that we cannot barrow oil from another. Many who say they believe, leave the powerful promise of James 5:14 out of their vocabulary. You can trust His Holy Word.

An Essay for week #21 05/25/2014

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Revival msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140525.mp3

Msg #1422 The Kingdom is Within You

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Although it is an often repeated phrase in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” is an undervalued commodity in post modern Christendom. Even Fundamental Christians are so busy trying to persuade men to go to heaven that we forget we are to compel them into the kingdom of God, and that is what secures them a home in heaven. Except ye be “born-again” ye cannot “see” the kingdom of God, ye cannot “enter” the kingdom of God.(John 3) Except ye be converted… ye shall not “enter: the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18) I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I still remember the day I realized that I was not “saved” into heaven, I was not “saved” into the Church, I was not “saved” into the family of God, I was “saved” and placed into the “Kingdom of God.” I now had a membership in the kingdom of heaven! I frantically looked up all the verses dealing with my salvation, the couple just mentioned in particular, and found, sure enough, I was presently a member of his kingdom, and no longer a member of the kingdom of this world. I am simple, but suddenly, with this realization, a flood of things made better sense to me. This world is not my home, I am only passing through. I'm asked to walk “circumspectly” in this world, because the prince and power of the air here is like a roaring lion, seeking whom, of God's kingdom, he may devour. Wow that was thirty years ago for me, but when I revisit that discovery, it still sets my soul on fire. Right now the kingdom is within you. (Lu 17:21) I am now a child in his kingdom. That's a life changing truth.

An Essay for week #22 06/01/2014

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Missionary msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140601.mp3

Msg #1420 Babylon is Fallen, is Fallen

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Just as God's chosen people, Israel, portray the great hope of mankind and the profound assurance that God will keep his promise, Babylon portrays the great damnation of mankind and the profound assurance that God will display his wrath. Isaiah 13 begins, “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.” One thousand five hundred and thirty years earlier man gathered, right after the world flood, to build a kingdom that would reach up to heaven. There, in Mesopotamia, the land of two rivers, God confounded their languages and called their kingdom building, Babylon. On hundred and six years after Isaiah, the seer, saw this burden, Nebuchadnezzar, the brand new King of Babylon would lay siege to Jerusalem. It was his very first conquest. That is not a coincidence. God, for a 70 year season, to chastise his own, surrendered his chosen people to a Babylonian captivity. When released from this bondage his chosen people were a wholly different people. They never embraced idolatry again. God had gotten hold of their stiff neck and stoney heart. The born-again believer has been released from a Babylonian bondage and entered into the Kingdom of Heaven. No longer under the prince and power of the air, we are in the world, but not of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ will soon return to receive his Kingdom. Before he comes there will be a new world order, and a center of world commerce. That center will be called and located in Babylon, and its fall is depicted in The Revelation of Jesus Christ chapter 14. We expect the rapture of the church any day now. The Lord is coming for his saints and then with his saints. Israel will receive her King. What a day that will be.

An Essay for week #20 05/18/2014

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In audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140518.mp3

Msg #1418 Awesome Name in an Awesome Chapter

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

God's revelation lets man know what God has done, what God is doing, and what is going to happen next. It is marvelous for the believer to read Isaiah 12 and see a description of the New Covenant relationship that we have in Christ. Penned by God through Isaiah 746 years before the Only Begotten Son of God became our propitiation it begins, “And in that day…” It defends the use of that word, “propitiation,” with this insight, “though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away.” (vr.1) We know now that Isaiah's wording “and thou comfortedst me” is prophetic of the Comforter that Jesus sent after his ascension. “Behold God is my salvation: I will trust and not be afraid,” is descriptive of the New Covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The personal name of God is only spelled out in English four times in the Holy Bible. All other times this most revered name is handled in English, as it was in spoken Hebrew, by substituting LORD in its stead. Appropriately two exceptions are when Moses and David spell out what his name actually was in Exodus 6:3 and Psalm 83:18. The remaining two exceptions drip from the pen of Isaiah when he writes about God being our salvation in a New Covenant (Isa. 12:2) and Israel's salvation in the 1,000 year kingdom reign of Christ. (Isa. 26:4) The meaning of that carefully, reverently used name is given in Exodus 3:14, “I Am, that I Am.” In Jesus Christ, called the Mighty God, called the Everlasting Father, we have our salvation, and our Saviour is called by that most revered name. Here, for the “first-fruit” inhabitants of Zion's kingdom (vr.6), that Holy One of Israel is our salvation. What an awesome chapter.

An Essay for week #18 05/04/2014

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In audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140504.mp3

Msg #1419 Mothers Day and Healing

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

On this Mothers Day we want to give special tribute to moms who have lost loved ones to, or are right now wrestling with America's health crisis called cancer. There is a known cure, it is preached here each Sunday, “Christ is the Answer.” This old world cannot even fathom the problem. America loads our food with growth hormones and antibiotics, artificial flavor, artificial color, artificial preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and then laden s us with artificial air fresheners, color enhancers and cleaning products, and then asks us to walk a million miles and spend a million dollars to figure out why our bodies are having artificial tissue growth. The Bible still instructs us best about all this, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1Cor 6) Our God who now lives in his temple, is still the Great Physician, and can heal all our infirmities. In Proverbs 31 King Lemuel's mom teaches 7 things that all mothers need to teach us, the first is Prophecy, or “Thus saith the LORD.” She follows with 12 characteristics of a virtuous woman given in 22 verses of unparalleled Scripture. The crowning virtue of all 12 is the fear of the LORD. The LORD we fear still commands, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray… Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.”

An Essay for week #19 05/11/2014

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Msg #1417 The Seven Spirits of God

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice 

“Christ is the Answer” is the theme of the 66 books of the Holy Bible, and the 66 chapters of the book of Isaiah. That is not a coincidence. After seven woes in six chapters Christ comes on the scene as a son born to a virgin in 7:14, then as a child given five unbelievable titles in 9:6. A dire woe is extended to all of mankind in chapter 10, and then, in chapter 11, after God's anger against Israel “is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still,” after he assures the Gentile nations that “he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and they shall fall by a mighty one,” his Christ is introduced in chapter 11. That introduction presents him as the Rod, a righteous judge, and a Branch, a giver of everlasting life. The Rod comes from an obscure stem, and the Branch from an all but destroyed root. The Rod and Branch of God which springs from the line of David, son of Jessie, refers to Christ's humanity. Theologians might disagree, but the Bible is clear, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he set aside the omni and the infinite and became finite. Without the omni and infinite attributes, Jesus used the Seven Spirits of God to accomplish all that he did while in the flesh. The Spirit of the LORD, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the LORD. These, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, are called the Seven Spirits of God. Isaiah 11 gives an awesome description of the Messiah. But the Seven Spirits listed are available to all believers. That is why Jesus said that we could do even greater things than he did in the flesh. (John 1412)

An Essay for week #17 04/27/2014

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