Church guide

Today’s sermonette (Psalms 23–31) Testimony About God “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7) THE Psalmist is giving a great testimony about God in our verse. In summary he speaks of help from God, happiness from God, and hymn for God. Help from God. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped.” This statement speaks of both the character of the help and the claiming of the help. The character of the help concerns our strength and shield. He gives us power (strength) to act plus protection (shield) from our enemies. This is great help; there is none better. God helps in every area. The claiming of the help requires faith (trusted) as our text notes. And it is “heart” faith. This is the only kind of faith that is acceptable. Many have mouth faith (they can talk it) and head faith (they know about it) but they do not have heart faith (actual trusting in God). Happiness from God. “I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices.” Both the cause of happiness and character of happiness is stated here. The cause of the happiness is help from God. He never disappoints. He always satisfies. Much of the help we get from man does not satisfy, but God’s help always does. The character of the happiness is seen in the word “greatly.” God does not do things in small measures when He blesses His people. Hymn for God. “With my song will I praise Him.” The blessings of God produce the finest of music. Handel’s great “Messiah” is all about the redemption plan of God which gives man his greatest help. We need to get back to this verse with our music in our churches.

Car need a bath? Come on out to Elam Baptist Church on Saturday June 22 and give your car a “spa day”. Donations accepted. Hours are 7 am till Noon.

(Psalms 18–22) Prayer for Good Conduct “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) WE pray for many things, but seldom do we pray for good conduct. However, the Psalmist is praying for good conduct in our verse. It is a model prayer for all of us. Our verse speaks of the subjects of conduct, the standard of conduct, and the Sanctifier of conduct. Subjects of conduct. “Words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart.” The Psalmist is concerned about two important areas of conduct in his life. They are his mouth and his meditations. First, his mouth. How important to have a sanctified mouth. Too often the tongue is a cesspool of iniquity spewing out filth from morning till night. Many tongues are full of lies and profanity which hurt people and dishonor God. But a good tongue is a benefit to everyone. Wise men will pray that their tongue will be a holy tongue. Second, his meditations. Our thoughts are the key to our deeds. Therefore, we need a good thought life. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7). We may not be what we think we are, but we are what we think! Pray for a sanctified thought life, if you want a holy life. Evil thoughts will produce evil conduct. Standard of conduct. “Acceptable in Your sight, O LORD.” The Psalmist prays that his conduct will meet with God’s approval which is the highest of standards. Some men want only the approval of men, but men’s standards are often very corrupt. The true standard of right and wrong is God’s standard. Choose to live by God’s standards if you want to live a life of high character. Sanctifier of conduct. “O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” The One Who can sanctify us is the Lord. He is our Redeemer; and after He saves us, He gives us strength to live a holy life. Thus Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13). Christ both saves and strengthens. We are too weak to break the grip of sin on our life. But Christ can do it for us.

(Psalms 1–9) A Great Doxology “O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9). HERE is a great doxology about God. In it is submission to God, character of God, and place for God. Submission to God. “O LORD, our Lord.” The first “LORD” is a translated from a different Hebrew word than the second “Lord.” The first “LORD” means Jehovah; the second “Lord” means master. The first “LORD” says who God is; the second “Lord” says who we are, namely, servants. The Psalmist thus submits to God by taking the servant position. You will never find out your place in life unless you learn God’s place in your life. Furthermore, some will say “O LORD” who will not say “our Lord.” They acknowledge God but will not submit to Him. You will not get far in life where it matters the most if you stop at the first “LORD.” The devil acknowledges “O LORD” but not “our Lord” (James 2:19). Character of God. “Excellent is your name.” The name of a person in the Bible oftentimes represented the character of a person. We still use that meaning in a figure of speech when we say a person has a good “name” meaning he has a good character. So the Psalmist here is praising God’s character. Jehovah’s excellence makes Him far superior to the heathen gods. The character of Jehovah-God is unequaled. His holiness, mercy, love, power, and wisdom are in excellence beyond all human comprehension. Many degrade the character of God and of Christ today. We need to get back to the Scriptures to learn that God’s character is “excellent.” Place for God. “In all the earth.” Here is the application of God to our lives. God is applicable everywhere. Our age is not so sure. Many people limit God’s place to church but do not want Him in the government or the schools. Many people limit God’s place to Sunday but not to the other days of the week. Many people wear their profession of faith in God when with other Christians but not when they are mingling among the world. But our text says God is applicable everywhere. We need God on all days of the week. We need Him at work and at play. We need Him in government as well as in church.

(Job 38–42) The Ending of Job’s Trial “And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10) JOB’S trial came to an end. Trials are not forever. They have a purpose; and when that is accomplished, the trial ends. From our verse on the ending of Job’s trial, we have God’s power, God’s prerequisite, and God’s provisions. God’s power. “The Lord restored Job’s losses.” Trials often seem to take us captive. They chain us in distressing circumstances; we cannot get loose. But God can deliver us from all trials. God’s power is infinite. There has never been a trial from which He could not deliver us. The Psalmist said, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19). Your afflictions may seem too great for anyone to affect your escape, but God is always able. God has the power to deliver anyone from their captivity. God’s prerequisite. “When he prayed for his friends.” God’s power in delivering us from trial is limited to our attitude. If we are not willing to pray for those who have aggravated us, do not look for God to work much on your behalf. These “friends” really aggravated Job. God told them, “you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” (Job 42:7). Yet Job was to pray for them that God in grace would not “deal with you [them] according to your [their] folly” (Job 42:8). It took a lot of grace for Job to do that. But if you want God’s grace working to deliver you from trial, you will find that you will need to exercise some grace, too. God’s provisions. “The LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Trials are to bless us, not curse us. When trials come, they seem to devastate us as it appeared so in Job’s case. But in the end, Job had twice as much. God sends trials to increase our blessings. Remember this when you are under trial and it seems all is lost. Do not give up on God, the trial will in the end bless you greatly. That is God’s purpose. Some of the best blessings come to us only through trial.

Today’s sermonette (Job 34–37) Meditation About God “Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” (Job 37:14) THIS message given Job by Elihu is a message that applies to all of us. It speaks about meditating on God. Our verse speaks of the particulars, priority, and patience regarding this meditation. Particulars. “Consider the wondrous works of God.” The particular thing on which we are to mediate about God here is His “wondrous works.” We seldom think about God’s wonderful works—which are many and great. Our public schools do not seem to want the students to think about God’s works. And evolution teaching also opposes our verse, for it wants us to view the universe from a godless viewpoint. Also spending so much of our time seeking pleasure and business matters, as many do, keeps us from considering the wonderful works of God. If we meditated more on the wonderful works of God, we would think more highly of God. Small views of God come from failure to meditate on the wonderful works of God. Creation, salvation, and miracles of God are some of the wonderful works upon which we need to meditate more. Priority. “Listen to this.” This mediation on God’s wonderful works which Job and which we are to do is given high priority by these words. The priority of this meditation makes it more important than many other things. Therefore, we ought to do this mediating exhorted here more often than most of us do. We think on a lot of things. But how little we think on the wonderful things of God. Patience. “Stand still.” This means to stop what we are doing and meditate on the wonderful works of God. This requires patience. If you are going to learn much, you will have to stop running around and stand still and let the learning process take over. People today are on the go so much they do not have time to just stop and think. No wonder people are so rattled and nervous, confused, frustrated, depressed, and lose perspective and values. Stop and think on the wonderful works of God is our need. Be patient and take time to mediate on God and His wonderful works.

(Job 29–33) Salvation “Then He is gracious to him, and says, `Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom'” (Job 33:24) THIS verse comes from the speech of Elihu who was the last of the four men to speak to Job about his misfortunes. While Elihu’s understanding of Job’s situation was quite deficient, yet some of the things he said were true and instructive. This verse, while intended to apply to Job’s situation, has a Gospel capsule in it. It is speaking of deliverance which can portray the Gospel of soul salvation. The verse speaks of the pity for salvation, the protection in salvation, and the payment for salvation. Pity for salvation. “Gracious to him.” Salvation is a result of Divine grace. It is not a result of merit. We have no goodness by which we can merit salvation. If we are to be saved, it will be because of God’s grace and mercy. “For by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:8). We can be mighty thankful salvation is of grace. This makes it available to all people. No matter what your past or your sin, grace makes it possible for anyone to be saved. Protection in salvation. “Deliver him from going down to the Pit.” The pit here speaks of the grave, but symbolically it also speaks of eternal damnation. Without salvation you will go to the pit of hell for all eternity. But God’s gracious salvation will deliver the believing soul from the condemnation of eternal hellfire in the pit. This protection is what mankind needs more than anything else. Yet, people spend money for all sorts of protection which only concerns this life while they ignore the need of protection for eternity. Payment for salvation. “I have found a ransom.” The word translated “ransom” here means the price of redemption. Salvation is costly. It is too costly for any man to pay. “Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him--” (Psalm 49:6, 7). But Christ could pay the ransom, and He did by His death on the cross of Calvary. “I have found a ransom” can be said by all those who have come to Christ for soul salvation.

Today’s sermonette (Job 22–28) Exalting the Word “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12) HERE is a great testimony regarding the Word of God. The speaker is Job, and he is answering one of his critics who had unjustly charged Job with evil. In the midst of Job’s speech comes this declaration about the Word of God. In it is the esteem for the Word, the essentialness of the Word, and the endurance of the Word, Esteem for the Word. “I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.” Job so values the Word of God that it is more important to him than physical food. Many despise the Word of God, and others simply ignore it. But Job saw its real value, and he gave it the honor we all should give it. This sort of attitude in people will make them really faithful to church attendance at a church where the Scriptures are faithfully proclaimed. They will not be off doing other things if they so esteem the Word of God. Essentialness of the Word. “I have treasured the words of his Mouth more than my necessary food.” Job shows the essentialness of the Word in that he says it is greater than “necessary food.” Job did not say he thought the Word more important than just some other non-essential thing, but he went farther and said it was more important than even the most essential things of life. Food is indeed very essential. It is “necessary” or our physical body will die. But the Word is even more important. For it feeds the spiritual being, and the spiritual is more important than the physical! Endurance of the Word. “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips.” Despite his great troubles, Job had not junked the Word of God. Despite his great troubles, Job still obeyed the Word and still esteemed the Word above even the essential things of life. Obviously then, the Word of God had not failed Job in trial. Many other things fail us in our darkest hours, but the Word of God will not fail. The Word of God will endure all our troubles and trials. It will never let us down. It will always be of help.

(Job 16–21) Impiety of the Wicked “Yet they say to God,`Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.” (Job 21:14) IN our verse Job is describing the great impiety of the wicked. Theirs is a terrible attitude, but it is a very common attitude in our land unfortunately. Our verse tells us two things the wicked desired in their gross impiety. They desired isolation from God and ignorance about God. Isolation from God. “Yet they say to God, Depart from us.” The wicked do not want God around. They want to be isolated from God. Our verse speaks of the command for the isolation and the cause for the isolation. First, the command for the isolation is in the word “Depart.” That is an order. This underscores the earnestness of the impiety of the wicked. It sounds like our courts today who literally command our schools and other organizations to get God out of their institutions. The courts command governments to remove nativity scenes and other mentions of God. Second, the cause for the isolation is in the word “Yet.” It looks back to the previous verses which tell why the wicked have become so opposed to God. The reason is not a tragedy of some great loss, but it is prosperity. Because they have become prosperous, they do not want God around. That is the problem in our land. Prosperity has ruined us. Hard times would do our land a lot of good; for in hard times, people often turn to God for help. When tragedy comes to our land, even our government talks about needing God. Remember all of Congress on the steps of the Capital singing “God Bless America” after 9/11? Ignorance about God. “We do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.” The wicked do not want to know about God. How foolish, for no knowledge is more important. Sad to say, many in our churches also evidence this attitude of not wanting to learn about God. They do not study their Bibles, and they frequently skip church services where they could learn about God through the sermons and classes. Research shows many professing Christians maintain secular views on the Word of God and agree with what society calls “normal” but the Bible calls “an abomination.” This ignorance of God will prove costly. No ignorance brings a greater curse on people than ignorance of God. Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [knowledge of God]” (Hosea 4:6). And that destruction includes eternal damnation.

Today’s sermonette (Job 11–15) Spiritual Failure “Yes, you cast off fear, And restrain prayer before God.” (Job 15:4) ONE of Job’s friends is making an accusation of Job here. While this accusation is wrong about Job, it is right about a lot of people. The charge is basically twofold. It accuses one of dishonor for God and disinterest in God. Dishonor for God. “You cast off fear.” This speaks of lack of reverence for God. Job’s friend misinterpreted Job’s speech as lacking fear for God. Job’s friend was wrong about Job, but there are many others who have this fault. They simply do not fear God. They have no reverence for Him. This dishonoring of God is pronounced in our land. It is evident in the great amount of profanity that is heard on every hand. It is evident in the attitudes in our land that want to take God out of every area of our public life—such as from our schools and government. It is an attitude, that if not corrected, will bring Divine judgment. Disinterest in God. “And restrain prayer before God.” The word translated “prayer” is the Hebrew word siychah (see-khaw), it literally means ‘thoughtful contemplation”. It means to meditate on God’s word (Psalm 119:97). Job was not guilty of this charge but many people are. They have failed in supplication and meditation. Failure in supplication. Many people fail in their prayer life. They fail in their personal prayer time—they have no personal devotions. They fail in their family prayer time—they do not have a family prayer time in which the entire family is gathered together for prayer. They fail in the church prayer time—they do not attend prayer meetings at church. Failure in meditation. Another area of failure is in the meditation upon the Scriptures. Few are interested in the Word of God. Few read their Bibles, even fewer study their Bibles with earnestness. The Psalmist said He meditated upon the Word “all the day” (Psalm 119:97). Not many do that today. It would cut into their TV watching, their social media time. But if people would turn off their TV sets and smartphones, computers, tablets, and devote that time to Bible reading, in less than a month’s time we would have a revival which our churches could not contain.

Tonight was the final CIA meeting for the 2015/16 school year. The kids were learning about Bangladesh, and they played a game called "River/Shore" which is a game the kids in Bangladesh play.