an oxgoad, eh?

We had another excellent night in our services with a fine message and blessed special music. A couple of visitors, but this time no outward signs of any spiritual work in hearts. I spoke with one of them afterward and there is an area of mutual interest where I think I may be able to do some follow-up work. Pray for the ongoing work of the Spirit.

The Rich Young Ruler (Mt 19.16-22)

Evangelist Ken Lynch brought another powerful evangelistic message in our service tonight concerning the rich young ruler. He emphasized that the rich young ruler was respected, religious, and respected Christ. He was rich, but his riches could not obtain the sense of loss he experienced in his life. To his loss, his earthly mindset was fixed on making a deal with Christ so that he could obtain eternal life. What a tragedy … eternal life was available for him, but he would not do the one thing that was needed most of all, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Vision of Isaiah (Isa 6)

Evangelist Ken Lynch brought another powerful message for us tonight from Isaiah’s vision. Men reject what little they know of God, but if they would look at the Lord and who he is, if they would look at themselves as they really are, they would beg and plead God for pardon for their sins. Bro. Lynch gave us a closing illustration that brought out the difference between men who value pardons and men who do not.

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The service was a real blessing with more special music from bro. Lynch. We had two visitors, one of whom asked for spiritual counsel after the service. We hope to be able to have further opportunities with this one to help understand the gospel.

Blessed are the Forgiven (Ps 32.1-5)

We are blessed these next four days to have Evangelist Ken Lynch speaking (and playing various instruments) in our services. Brother Lynch first visited our work about 14 years ago while on vacation with his family. We are glad to see him return for special meetings with us.

The first message of the day was a sound exposition of the condition of sin, the consequences of sin, the conviction of sin, the confession of sin and the cancellation of sin. The message was a thorough examination especially of the condition of sin and its confession. There was no doubt concerning the solution for the sinner: turn to Christ, have your sins forgiven, covered, and cancelled.

The Lord Proves You (Dt 13.3)

In our Bible Study time, bro. Lynch began a message from Dt 13. In the first part of the message, he emphasized the fact that the Lord works in our lives, bringing even false prophets in contact with us (as well as other trials) to prove or test our need of the Lord … and the quality of our relationship with Him.

Responsibilities to the Lord Thy God (Dt 13.4)

Concluding the message from earlier in the day, bro Lynch emphasized our relationship to our personal God and our responsibilities to walk with Him, obey Him, and serve Him.

Today’s messages were a great blessing to us all. I believe brother Lynch fulfilled the mandate of Eph 4 where Paul says evangelists (among others) are God’s gift to the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

We begin our summer ministry with almost all of our family home! What a blessing to see four of our five in our pews! God bless our oldest, serving on the foreign field (i.e., the USA!!).

Now for today’s summaries:

The Sinfulness of Sin (Rm 1.18-3.20)

Our message is a preview of the whole section of Romans where Paul proves that all men are sinners without exception. First, Paul shows the downward spiral of sin, then proves that the moral man and the religious man are not immune from sin’s pervasive influence and condemnation. He argues that the Jews are privileged, but still sinners. He shows how the Scriptures indict every man. There is no escape, all are sinners. ‘But now,’ the next section will begin, ‘but now there is righteousness from God without law.’ As William Newell said, Paul’s indictment of sinners is not one of eternal damnation but one of at-the-present-moment under condemnation. There is hope, if the sinner will but now repent and believe.

The Nature of Angels (1)

In which we begin to discuss the nature of angels as persons and as spirit beings.

The Priest’s Part (1) (Lev 6.8-7.10)

We look at a repetition of the sacrificial system, this time from the perspective of the priests. From this revelation we see the responsibility of the priests for maintaining the perpetuity, the holiness and detailed ritual of the Levitical system. New Testament worship can no less be concerned about reverence, holiness, and pleasing God.