Atlanta Reformed Presbyterian Church

"Unfaithfulness" (Part 5)

Theme: God condemns unfaithfulness. I. The Nature of Unfaithfulness A. Deliberate—refusing to listen and to do B. Breaking the Lord's covenant and the law of God II. Penalty for Unfaithfulness A. All kinds of punishments (vv. 16-39) B. War => sword, plague, famine, exile (vv. 23-39) C. Religiously (vv. 30-31) III. Pardon for Repentance from Unfaithfulness A. Confession 1. Iniquity—twistedness; distortion 2. Acknowledgement of sin and of God's judgment B. Humility—expression of a circumcised heart C. Covenant 1. Historical covenants [Adam, etc.] 2. God's remembrance—the land; Sabbath; promises IV. The Summary—law and covenantal faithfulness (v. 45) Observations A. Nothing new under the sun when it comes to iniquity B. "Iniquity" emphasizes distortion/ugliness/inappropriateness Application A. Don't wallow in your sin and rebellion B. Find in Jesus the pardon for your sins 1. All of the promises of God are yes and amen in Him 2. He is the embodiment of the law, which He fulfilled for you 3. He is the mediator of the covenant of grace

"Unfaithfulness" (Part 4)

Theme: God condemns unfaithfulness. I. The Nature of Unfaithfulness A. Deliberate—refusing to listen and to do B. Breaking the Lord's covenant C. The law of God is in view, and is being rejected II. Penalty for Unfaithfulness A. All kinds of punishments (vv. 16-39) B. War => sword, plague, and famine (vv. 23-26) 1. It is said that the Lord will bring the sword 2. Plague will result, and famine, too C. War => exile (vv. 27-39) 1. Cannibalism (v. 29) 2. Make the cities waste (vv. 31, 33) 3. Make the land desolate (vv. 32, 34-35) 4. Fear and confusion (vv. 36-37) 5. Physical perishing (v. 38) 6. Spiritual rotting (v. 39) D. Religiously (vv. 30-31); God says: "I shall loathe them" 1. False worship will be destroyed 2. Way of death (corpses thrown on the wrecks of idols) Observations A. Man in his unregenerate state is always at war B. The Lord is always at war against His enemies Application A. Are you keeping the Sabbath as you should? B. Beware of hardness of heart that refuses to submit to God C. Make sure that you are in a right relationship with God

"Unfaithfulness" (Part 3)

Theme: God condemns unfaithfulness. I. The Nature of Unfaithfulness A. Deliberate—refusing to listen and to do B. Breaking the Lord's covenant C. The law of God is in view, and is being rejected II. Penalty for Unfaithfulness A. General warning (vv. 16-17) B. Droughts and bad harvests (vv. 18-20) C. Wild animals (vv. 21-22) Observations A. Unfaithfulness starts in the heart—the intentions B. Relationship between the individual and the society C. There is a specificity in terms of the outward conformity D. If/then conditional E. Rewards/punishment F. Pointing to sufferings of hell and sufferings of Christ Application A. Make sure that you are not being unfaithful! B. Make sure that you are trusting in Christ 1. Put your faith in Jesus 2. Trust in His righteousness on your behalf 3. Rely on His suffering for all your unfaithfulness

"Unfaithfulness" (Part 2)

Theme: God condemns unfaithfulness. I. The Nature of Unfaithfulness A. Deliberate 1. Refusing to listen 2. Refusing to do 3. Having an attitude of rejection—despising; abhorring B. Breaking the Lord's covenant 1. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties 2. The immediate context is the Mosaic covenant C. The law of God is in view 1. Many different words that can be used for God's law 2. Often, terms are piled up in a triad, for the sake of emphasis 3. Here, commandments; statutes; judgments 4. This law governs our relationship with God and with man D. The law of God is being rejected 1. Omission—by not listening and not doing 2. Commission—by breaking the covenant Application A. Examine your heart regarding your faithfulness toward God 1. Have you broken the covenant? 2. Is the root of your unfaithfulness a despising of God? 3. Do you abhor God's law? 4. Do you abhor God's grace? B. Cling to Christ as the fulfiller of faithfulness for you 1. Fundamentally, this is the covenant of grace 2. Jesus fulfilled the covenant as our righteousness 3. He paid the price for our violations of that covenant 4. He enables us to be conformed to His image

"Metanoia Prison Ministries"

The Rev. Lowell Ivey presented the story of how he came to Christ while serving 15 years in prison in Texas, and then how he was called into the gospel ministry. He also spoke about Metanoia Prison Ministries, an agency of the Presbyterian Church in America, of which he is the director.