Emmanuel Baptist Church, Sterling, Co

John 21:1-14

John 20:24-31

Pastor Sean continues his series on pastors and theologians who have greatly influenced his life and ministry. The venerable Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, has impacted Sean in many areas: preaching, understanding the cross, spiritual depression, revival and spiritual awakening, and prayer. Listen as he gives a brief biography as well as quotes from Lloyd-Jones' sermons and books. You can access Lloyd-Jones' sermons at: https://www.mljtrust.org/

From the story of Gideon, we learn four major truths: 1) If anything positive or successful will happen in Israel, then it will be by His grace alone and not their merit or worthiness. 2) With God on their side, no enemy is invincible, but victory is inevitable. 3) Sometimes God’s people lack trust in His clear written Word and past faithfulness. As a result, they test God and try to manipulate Him in order to avoid obedience. 4) Those is leadership often face the real temptation to elevate personal ambition above God’s agenda.

John 20:19-23

John 20:1-18

The English Puritan John Owen (1616 - 1683) has had a tremendous spiritual impact on Pastor Sean. In this podcast, he gives a brief biography of Owen and then interacts with many of his books. He spends the last half of the podcast giving 6 principles for fighting temptation from Owen's book "Temptation." This is the first of future podcasts where Pastor Sean will share theologians or preachers who have impacted him both personally and pastorally. Here is a list of the John Owen books discussed: Death of Death in the Death of Christ; Mortification of Sin; Temptation; Communion with God: Fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Assurance: Overcoming the Difficulty of Knowing Forgiveness; The Holy Spirit; The Glory of Christ: His Office and Grace; The Priesthood of Christ: Its Necessity and Nature;

In Judges Chapter Three, we see the first two leaders God raised up to deliver Israel—Othniel and Ehud. Here is the cycle/downward spiral in Judges 1) The people do evil in the sight of the Lord 2) God’s anger kindles against them and they are overtaken or oppressed by a pagan nation for a considerable amount of time 3) The people cry out in desperation to be delivered 4) God raises up a judge or a military leader to deliver the people 5) The people experience victory and considerable years of peace 6) The people get comfortable without a leader and fall back into gross idolatry and do evil in the sight of the Lord and the cycle begins all over again. We also ask two theological questions: What was the role of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament believers? And, how does God’s absolute sovereignty reconcile with human responsibility otherwise known as compatibilism. In the end, Othniel and Ehud were only temporary deliverers who were insufficient to deal with Israel’s bondage to sin. Jesus is the Ultimate Savi

As you start 2018, I encourage you to look AT Jesus, so you can begin to look MORE like Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, Paul alludes to Moses' shining face and veil on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 34. As you look at Jesus and gaze upon His beauty, just like Moses on the mountain, you began to reflect that glory like a mirror. You mirror Christ. The more you look AT Him, the more you look LIKE Him. The Spirit causes us to undergo a transformation where we begin to look more and more like Jesus. WE are being transformed into the same image as Christ.

Israel preferred their slavery to pagan idolatry instead of trusting in the LORD. Instead of truly repenting, they continued in a downward spiral of sin and rebellion. Yet in God’s grace, He provided judges or military leaders to deliver His people. Even in the midst of gross idolatry, God still remains steadfast to His covenant people and will never leave nor forsake them. He will discipline them as a jealous Husband who has every right to passionately protect His bride from being defiled by the nations around Israel. As believers in Jesus, we have been saved by grace alone and delivered from bondage to sin. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can experience a lifestyle of repentance. When we do fall back into rebellion and sin patterns, we must remember that Jesus is our Savior and we find assurance by faith in Him and the gospel. The grace of God in Christ is never an excuse to continue to live a life of rebellion and sin, but should move us to repentance and find assurance in His steadfast love for

Colossians 3:5-17

John 19:16-30

John 18:37-19:16

In light of God’s patience in the Day of the Lord, we should see this as an opportunity to tell people to repent and trust in Jesus while we as believers live godly and holy lives in anticipation of Christ’s return. We must not be led astray by false teachers, but instead we should always be growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

John 18:28--38

Pastor Sean and Andrew discuss the theology of Molinism. Andrew was formally a Molnist, but over time came to embrace Reformed theology. What is Molinism? It represents an honorable attempt to protect both the absolute sovereignty of God with libertarian free will. In other words, it takes the main tenets of Calvinism and Arminianism and attempts a happy medium. A Jesuit Catholic theologian Luis De Molina (1535-1600)had a problem with Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther’s view on God’s omniscient and foreknowledge, and argued that God’s hypothetical knowledge of free decisions is LOGICALLY PRIOR to God’s creative decree. Here is how Molinists explain their position: God is omniscient and never learns things but has exhaustive foreknowledge. There Types of Knowledge: 1. God’s Natural Knowledge: God knows everything that COULD happen—possibilities. 2. God’s Middle Knowledge: God knows everything that WOULD happen—God knows which possibilities are feasible From God’s natural and middle knowledge, He LOGICA

Pastor Sean teaches from 2 Peter Chapter Two which explains the dangers of false teachers who introduce heresies into the church. What are the characteristics of false teachers and how can believers grow in discerning truth from error?

Pastor Sean teaches the first chapter of 2 Peter. Since God’s written Word is fully truthful and authoritative, we should PAY ATTENTION to it through careful reading, study, memorization, and meditation so that we can be daily reminded of the gospel. The more we saturate ourselves in the Scriptures the more we will come to fully know how God has granted us everything we need for life and godliness. As a result, we will grow in eight virtues or qualities of holiness and thus prove that we are truly chosen and called by God.

John 18:12-27