Articles
"Only God is Great"
“Only God is Great”
"Only God is great." That was the solemn and unexpected declaration of Jean-Baptiste Massillon as he began his sermon at the funeral service of King Louis XIV. The king, who liked to be referred to as Louis the Great, had ruled France from 1643 to 1715 with absolute power and incredible splendor. His funeral was held in a magnificent cathedral that was lit by a single candle alongside the elaborately ornate coffin. When it was time for Massillon to speak, he reached out and extinguished the flame. Then he broke the silence with the words, "Only God is great."
We recognize and admire some of our fellow mortals who are considered to be great thinkers, great scientists, great inventors, and great achievers in every field of public or private endeavor. In many ways they excel beyond most of us ordinary people, but they still have the same needs we do. They experience aches and pains. They have troubled minds, hungry hearts, weak moments, and flashes of temper. They cannot avoid illness, stave off death, nor guarantee life beyond the grave.
Only God is truly great—great enough to meet all our needs, great enough to forgive all our sins, and great enough to carry us through the dark valley of death into eternity, to be with Him forever. So we declare with the psalmist (Psalm 86:8-13) - “Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Choose a Side
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt. 12:30).
At the outbreak of the Civil War, a certain individual could not decide which cause to support, the North or the South. He had friends on both sides; thus, he decided to be neutral. He wore a gray jacket and blue trousers, thereby dressing for both the Confederacy and the Union.
One day the neutral man was caught in the middle of a skirmish between the two armies. He stood up and shouted that he was neutral in this fight and expected to be allowed to leave the field before the battle closed in on him. However, Union sharpshooters, seeing the gray jacket, riddled it with bullets. And, Confederate marksmen, seeing the blue pants, filled them with lead.
We have no way of knowing if the above story is true or not; however, the point is well taken. In important issues one cannot be neutral. He must make his stand one way or the other.
Praying to God
Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs. "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE... I PRAY FOR A NEW PLAYSTATION... I PRAY FOR A NEW SMARTPHONE..." His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf." To which the little brother replied, "No, but Grandma is!"
There is the temptation to pray to people rather than to God. We've all heard public prayers, I'm sure, that were worded in such a way so as to "preach" to the congregation rather than to approach the throne of God. That's why Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matt. 6:5-6).
Jesus was not forbidding (as some have suggested) public prayer. Jesus offered many public prayers Himself. However, He was warning us about the tendency to pray our prayers for the express purpose of being heard by other people. (Alan Smith)
A Moments Wisdom on Learning
--Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
--Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
--Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
--Children don't always remember what you try to teach them. They are more likely to remember what you are.
--Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.
--The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.
--Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.
--Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
--Never let hard lessons harden your heart; the hard lessons of life are meant to make you better, not bitter.
--Learning never exhausts the mind.
--I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.
--Change is the end result of all true learning.
--There is no school equal to a moral home and no teacher equal to virtuous parents.
Test Your Bible Knowledge of Conversions in Acts
1. I was a magician who tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. I was baptized after attempting suicide.
3. I heard the Gospel in a riverbank Bible study.
4. I was baptized while traveling home to Africa.
5. I was baptized after praying for three days.
6. I was the first Gentile to be baptized.
Upcoming Sermons
3/8/20 AM - Appointing Elders and Deacons
PM - What Does the Bible Teach about Christians and Self-Defense? (Conclusion)
3/15/20 AM - “If I Do Not Wash You…”
PM - Seven Scriptural Crowns
3/22/20 AM - A Godly Man’s Resolve
PM - Stand Still and Be Quiet
3/29/20 AM - The Bible’s Big Words
PM - Moment by Moment
