Category: Penny Pulpit

Msg #1433 LORD, Shepherd, Lord and Christ

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The psalmist and shepherd, King David, writes some things about Jehovah God which are so eternal that twenty elder lips whispered them in unison in a nursing home in upstate New York. That is three thousand and thirty years after the psalmist wrote. The six sentences penned in the Twenty Third Psalm have been memorized by more humans than any declaration in the history of humanity. The present tense and indicative mood of “be” is “is.” It is not that the LORD, with all caps, “was” my shepherd, nor that the LORD, the most personal and revered name of Jehovah God, “will soon be” my shepherd. It is the present tense, absolutely assured form of “be.” The LORD is, presently, right now, an assured possession in a positive relationship, my shepherd. Jesus, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth, took the acclaimed name of Jehovah God, “I Am”, and declared, “I am the good Shepherd” (John10:11). Three hundred years after the psalmist's pen, the Prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD (all caps) hath laid on him (his wounded, bruised despised servant (vr3n5)) the iniquity of us all” (Isa53:6).Seven hundred and eighty odd years later an old fisherman, who had set aside nets and become a fisher of men, wrote it this way, “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1Pet2:25) Today the blood bought and born-again can say with the assurance of the psalmist, “The LORD is my Shepherd.” Others, not-so-much.

An Essay for week #33 08/17/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140817.mp3

“REFORMED THEOLOGY IS NOT A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY ” found at http://www.gsbaptistchurch.com/seminary/master_thesis/thesis_reformed.pdf

Msg #1434 Being a Friend of God

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Three Bible characters were called the friend of God. In Genesis 12 Abram walks onto the page of our Bible to be the first. “But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend” (Isa 41:8, cf 2Chron 20:7, James 2:23). Jesus told his disciples “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Thirty seven hundred years ago God carefully recorded details of Abram's walk into friendship. It is for our benefit. Abram, who never even got to know God by his “first-name” (Exod 6:3) had a tough row to hoe. He started his journey with great promise, partial obedience, crippled faith, and no trust. God “had said” (past tense) to get out from kindred (11:31), but Abram took them with him. God said “I will give this land,” but a famine scared Abram into Egypt. God said “I will make of thee a great nation” (12:2), and Abram said, “The Egyptians will kill me” (12:12). The inspired, inerrant word of God is profitable for correction, to keep us on track, and for reproof to get us off a wrong track. Abram had to come all the way back to an altar he had built to get back on the right track. That altar, the Bible is specific, was east of Bethel and west of Hai. Neither city had been founded yet, but the meaning is east of the “house of God” and west of the “heap of ruin.” God was so tender with Abram, and he is with us. A friend's reproofs are necessary, learn from them, Abram did.

An Essay for week #34 08/24/2014

In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch

Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140824.mp3

“Reformed Theology Is Not A Biblical Theology ” found at http://www.gsbaptistchurch.com/seminary/master_thesis/thesis_reformed.pdf

Msg #1430 Take Away the Stone

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, where his claim of being the resurrection and the life would first be substantiated, and the glory of the Christ would once more be revealed, Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Believers know he could have levitated the stone away or spoken the word and dissolved it into sand or less. It is oft found in life that before the glory of the Christ can be revealed there is something man must do. Abraham cleaved his own covenant signifying sacrifices (Gen 15); Isaac dug his wells; Jacob stacked his pillars of stones; Sampson searched out a jaw bone; Samuel stacked his own 12 stones, as did Elijah; David used his own wit at Engedi; the stone needed remove from the tomb, before the glory of God would be revealed. Martha was told what was to happen but could not believe it, the crowd had no idea but each had to incorporate obedience to Jesus before they could see the Christ. Perhaps the stone on your your tomb is confusion or complacency. We may sing the lyrics “Trust and obey, for there is no other way,” and little comprehend that truth. Perhaps a stone of covetousness or conceit is keeping that decaying carcass in a tomb. Perhaps a stone of contention, or contrariness blocks the glory of Christ from being revealed. Some tombs still hold the dead because of compromise or coldness. There was a stone on Lazarus' tomb and Jesus asked those present to remove it before he prayed to his Father and called out Lazarus. We needn't get a candle to search out leaven, nor a kerchief to get a moat out of an eye, when stones over tombs are in plain view. The Resurrection-and-Life said, “Take away the stone.”

An Essay for week #30 07/27/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140727.mp3

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Jesus said “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.” (Matt 10:34-36) It is amazing that when the Resurrection and the Life rose Lazarus from the tomb, there was a decisive division amongst the Jews. “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees…” (John 11:45-46a) When going in two opposite directions, as is true for these believers and the unbelievers, there is no compromise or middle ground, there is only a greater and widening divide. The unbelieving faction went so far as to desire the death of Lazarus. The depths of an unbelievers depravity has no foreseeable limit, nor should the depths of a believers compassion. With eyes to see each could say, “But for the grace of God, there go I.” The progressive-liberal and the conservative Christian are going in opposite directions. The big-bang evolutionist and the born-again Creationist, believing in a 6 day creation, are going in opposite directions. The fundamental Muslim and the fundamental Christian, are going in opposite directions. There is no middle ground, and their can be no compromise. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, must arm themselves for a pending conflict. The primary weapon needs to be the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the primary tactic, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, … humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Onward, Christian soldiers.

An Essay for week #32 08/10/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140810.mp3

Msg #1431 Only The Son Descended and Ascended

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

At Lazarus's tomb, before the miracle of his resurrection, the prayer that Jesus made was for our benefit not his. “That they”, said he, and we, “might believe that (God, the Father) hast sent me.” (John 11:41, 42) Believing in Jesus, descending from heaven, as the Messiah, the Christ, is the substance of salvation. You will not be quickened without it. John closes his written gospel witness, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and the believing ye might have life through his name.” Three “verily, verily” statements, (in Greek they are “Amen, Amen” statements) made in chapter 5 emphasize this truth about everlasting life and the resurrection of the dead. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 1) the Son can do nothing of himself,…. 2) He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,… and 3) The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (vr 19, 24 and 25) This lecture is on the Son's ability to “quicken whom he will”, (vr21) and has its crowning illustration in the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus mentions to Nicodemus that the “Son of man” must come down from heaven and ascend back heaven. (John 3:13) Paul includes, in his dissertation on salvation, the necessary belief that the Son must descend and ascend. (Rom 10:6,7) One cannot be saved without the doctrine of the trinity and the belief that Jesus is the Christ.”For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

An Essay for week #31 08/03/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140803.mp3

Msg #1428 Work for the Night is Coming

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice 

Work for the night is coming, now it is high time to awake, if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not. It is curious that this medley of thought comes up when Jesus would head to Lazarus' side. The disciples warned, “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” John eleven being about Christ, not Lazarus, puts focus on his death, not Lazarus' sleep. The oncoming night was coming in the ninth hour of crucifixion day. His raising Lazarus from the dead empowered his assertion that, “I am the resurrection and the life.” The night represents the power of darkness. “Seeing the light of this world”,is the daytime manifestation that he was indeed the Christ, the Hebrew Messiah, the Saviour of the world. “And this is the condemnation , that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” (John 3) John eleven is the surge of light before the coming night. Then Romans 13:12 says, “night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” This is the same night, but now we are on the other side of it and walking in the Day of the Lord. Don't let John Calvin's covenant theology cause confusion, there is a Day of the Lord in a premillennial second advent when he will be the Judge, but we have been living in the day of the Lord, in a new covenant relationship, for almost 2,000 years now. It is high time to work, to witness, and to watch, for the night is coming. Make no provision for the flesh, see the light of the world, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

An Essay for week #28 07/13/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140713.mp3

Msg #1429 The Resurrection and The Life

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

While approaching the tomb of Lazarus the Lord Jesus announced, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Jesus describes himself with seven I-AM likenesses in the Gospel According to John. I am the bread, I am the light, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, and here, I am the resurrection and the life. Coming up in chapter 14 and 15, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and, I am the true vine. Consider how the scribes, pharisees and lawyers winced every time Jesus said it, “I-AM.” “I-AM” and “Jehovah” are inseparably connected in the poetry of the Hebrew language. God told Moses, “I AM THAT I AM: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” In Hebrew it is AHYH, while Jehovah is YHOH. When Jesus said “I am…” he knew what he was doing, and when, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, he said, “I am the Alpha and Omega,” there can be no doubt about what he was saying in all these instances. We worship and pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is our God. In John 11 he announces that he is the resurrection and the life, because of his pending resurrection, not because of Lazarus'. Because He had lives in a resurrected body, so shall we. Notice, once more, that this only applies to the believer. “Well, I like a lot of the teachings of Jesus” does not cut it, even for Mr. President. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Got life? Don't delay!

An Essay for week #29 07/20/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140720.mp3

Msg #1426 Seven Messages to the Seven Nations

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Seven burdens to seven nations follow close after Isaiah's prophetic revelation about Israel, Babylon, and Lucifer in chapter 14. These burdens have a near term fulfillment in the actual nations addressed, and a long term, more global fulfillment detailed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But they also have a natural fulfillment in the nature of all nations, and mankind. These four perspectives of these seven burdens might consume hours of ones study. The believing study of Biblical prophecy tells us what the Lord our God had done, is doing, and will do. It allows us to see the heart beat of God, and it gives us the big picture, at the same time clarifying where we fit into it. The burden of Moab, in chapter 15-16, concerns the the incestual offspring of Abraham's nephew, Lot, who escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but carried their vice right back into society. Moab's annihilation is certain. The burden of Damascus, chapter 17. concerns the war mongers and world dominating forces. They are subdued. The woe to the land shadowing with wings, in chapter 18, concerns the USof A, who is blessed because it has given Israel, God's chosen people, refuge and rest. Last count there were more Jews in NYS than in Israel. The burden of Egypt is curios in that it speaks of their spiritual, material, and political influence, destruction, and restoration. Egypt typifies the world. The burden of Assyria, in chapter 20, concerns infighting. The burden of the desert and sea surely concerns the farce called global warming. The burden of Dumah, a son of Ishmael, is a riddle and a prelude to the burden upon Arabia, which concerns the hireling religion of Islam. Verse 21:17, assures these prophecies, “for the LORD God of Israel hat spoken it.”

An Essay for week #26 06/29/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140629.mp3

Msg #1427 Jesus Wept

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

John 11:35 is likely the most memorized verse in the Bible because of its brevity. It is the centerpiece in the account of the resurrection of Lazarus. John eleven is not about Lazarus, nor is it about death, nor is it about resurrection. It is about the Christ who said,”I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” I have made a pact with myself, I will never quote John 11:35 but that I run through verse 25 as well. Lazarus fell sick unto death. At first glance Jesus does not come nor care, and lets him die. When a saint falls sick unto death today, at first glance, Jesus may seem not to come or care. The Friend, that is closer than a brother, does care. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. But when your friend is also your Lord, it behooves one to remember that it is not about him, it is all about Christ, and thus it should be. That is much easier to pen than it is to live. But the Friend also promised “My grace is sufficient for you” (2Cor12:9) When “Jesus wept”, it was not for Lazarus, nor was it for his weeping sisters, Jesus “groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,” (vr.33) because death is separation, death is sorrow, death is sadness. He came that we might have life more abundantly. (Joh10:10) But, alas, the majority rejected Him then, and they do today. Jesus wept for mankind and his plight. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

An Essay for week #27 07/06/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140706.mp3

Msg #1425 Israel Will Rise Triumphant

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

None can understand Biblical Prophecy until they come to grips with the revelation of Isaiah 14; “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” When Constantine highjacked Christianity, the founders of the Roman Catholicism used allegorical methods to claim all the promises of Israel for the Roman Catholic Church. The allegorical methods and the lies of Covenant Theology were adopted into Reformed Theology, and no Protestant denomination understands the Biblical Prophecy about Christ's Second Advent to this day. Isaiah 14 addresses the true destiny of Israel, in the actual promised land of God, when they are the rulers of all nations. It is not the Catholic Church which rises triumphant, as the song puts it, it is Israel who rises triumphant. Curiously, in the same chapter, the king of Babylon is the mirror image of Lucifer, son of the morning, and the doom of both is clearly announced, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming.” (vr.9) The context of this chapter makes Babylon representative of all nations which exude that self-made, greater than God attitude. Our own nation, wielding a pen and a phone and having no creator but Charles Darwin, is now Babylonic. All dooms and destinies are clearly portrayed in Isaiah 14, unless you are a denomination blinded by Calvin's Covenant Theology. The Lord will indeed rapture his church, and meet them in the air. His foot will touch down on the Mount-of-Olives when he rescues his chosen Israel, and the 1,000 year reign of Christ from David's Throne in Jerusalem is not allegorical, it is literal. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

An Essay for week #25 06/22/2014

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Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs140622.mp3