No Selah
If you expected to see another “Selah” post this morning, I apologize. I really did want to have the next one finished for this morning, but I was unable to do it. However, I did preach on the subject of the next verse, and so I know it is a good one.
So, next week’s study through the “selah’s” of Psalms will be on Psalm 9:16. Look it up and see what you come up with, and then we can compare notes. Hint: there’s a very unique word which will play a big part.
Preparing
Tomorrow morning (Sunday) I am going to be preaching a sermon on a very difficult subject – Hell. I know that some of you may have a different take on the place Jesus mentioned far more than heaven, but it’s something that needs to be preached.
Today I’ve been listening to some old sermons by some great preachers of the past. One was an audio version of Charles Spurgeon preaching a sermon called “Heaven and Hell.” Another was a 1985 recording of a sermon entitled “Hell Has No Exits,” by Leonard Ravenhill. In addition to my own notes, I wanted to hear what others had said, and the way they said it.
And, oh, how my heart was not only stirred, but greatly burdened!
My father used to tell me when I was young, “Son, never get behind the pulpit unless your mad, sad, or glad.” In other words, get up to preach with the appropriate emotion for the subject at hand – don’t be dull, drab, or apathetic. After hearing the above sermons, in addition to my recent study on Hell, my heart is breaking…not just for the lost, but for the rest of us who have forgotten what those without Jesus will one day face.
Just a Glimpse
Folks, if we could only catch a glimpse of Hell – forget Heaven! If we could just see for a second that horrible place! If we could only for a second comprehend the terror of our friends and loved ones that moment before they are “cast” into eternity.
Everything Heaven is, Hell will be the opposite (I’ll save that for a future post). Just ponder that for a moment! Everything you look forward to in Heaven, the opposite will be what the lost will endure.
Leonard Ravenhill said in his sermon that much of us think what’s wrong with America is that so many people don’t believe in hell anymore. He said [quoting loosely], “I’ve got news for you! YOU don’t believe in Hell! If you did, you’d live differently, preach differently, pray differently, and worship differently!”
Pray for Me
So, would you take a moment and pray for me? Pray that God would speak through me in the morning. Pray that His power would fill me. Pray that my heart and my mouth might be prepared in such a way that those who hear the sermon will respond appropriately to the Spirit’s leading.
Most importantly, pray for that soul who might be present in the morning; that soul who is lost. Pray that he/she/they might feel the same convicting power which flooded over those when Jonathan Edwards preached. May they cry out before the sermon is over, “What must I do to be saved??”
God bless. Y’all go to church somewhere on the Lord’s Day, you hear?
The following is the outline I took to with me to the pulpit Sunday morning. It starts off with some arguments against the “once-saved-always-saved” position. The next part lists six basic arguments in favor of the eternal security of the believer.
Selah. A musical notation calling us to pause, to rest for moment and consider what has just been said. In this verse David asks God to let his enemy “persecute” him and essentially pound him into the earth! Why? Let’s think about it.
Oh, but it was a blast! I even got to tease my daughter a little, making her think I was going to show one of her “baby in the bathtub” pictures on the big screen behind me 🙂 Instead, I had them put up a picture of Baby (her dog) in the bathtub.
Little girls, as well as little boys, can get downright mean with the things that they say. However, they have no idea of the lasting consequences of their teasing. They have yet to sit through months or years of counseling.
