Preaching From The Newspaper

Sermon for 9/23/2001

Luke 13:1-5

Preaching from the Newspaper

Introduction:

B. Change gears this morning. I must discuss what is happening in this world. Apply the Word to life.

C. Some preachers talk too much about life and not enough about the Word, some talk too much about the Word and not enough about life.

1. Preacher who came in and preached from the morning newspaper. He talked about life but little about the Word.

2. Preachers who do not refer to any events. If they do so old that outdated. One time there was an Elderly interim preacher who preached about the evils of the President. The crowd began to realize that he was Not talking President Clinton; He was talking about President Nixon.

D. We need a good balance. Must relate the Word to life.

E. "This year will have a notoriety among its fellows as the year of calamities. Just as that season when man goes forth to reap the fruit of his labors, when the harvest of the earth is ripe, and the barns are beginning to burst with the new wheat, Death too, the mighty reaper, has come forth to down his harvest; full sheaves have been gathered- the tomb, and terrible have been the wailing which compose the harvest hymn of death. In reading the newspapers during the last two weeks, even the most stoic must have been the subject of very painful feelings. Not only have there been catastrophes so alarming that the blood chills at their remembrance, but column after column of the paper has been devoted to calamities of a minor degree of horror, but which, when added together, are enough to astound the mind with the fearful amount of sudden death which has of late fallen on the sons of men. We have not simply been stunned with the alarming noise of one terrific clash, but another, and another, and another, have followed upon each other’s heels, like Job’s messengers, till we have needed Job’s patience and resignation to hear the dreadful tale of woes."

F. This is not the word of an older preacher in our day. The year was 1861 and the preacher was Charles Spurgeon. On August 25 of that year, a nightmarish train crash in the Clayton Tunnel (a 1.5-mile long tunnel between London and Brighton) had claimed 23 lives. Another train wreck in Kentish Town Fields (in North London) on September 2 of that year claimed 15 more lives.

G. Such things as these have always happened in all ages of the world.

H. Think about the Crusades. If a soldier went on the Christian Crusades, he was guaranteed heaven by the Pope if he died in battle.

I. Many people are saying that this age is a harsh and evil one. If the truth were known, every age since the fall of men has been a harsh and evil one.

J. God’s Providence, the universal rule of God, has become lax. No, there have always been seasons when death was handed many victims. Not until the Lord returns will death be done. In the meantime, death will have many festivals, and eat on the flesh of men.

K. Some are saying that God has thrown away the reigns of the world. No, he is still in control.

L. The world and nations go through times of peace and prosperity, and through times of war and poverty. It is the way of this old, evil world.

WBTU:

A. In Jesus’ preaching, teaching, he had a balance between talking about life and teaching the living Word of God.

1. Jesus did make some political comments about his day.

a. The Pharisees.

b. Because Jerusalem rejected him, Jerusalem would be destroyed and the whole nation.

c. When Jesus was told something about Herod Antipas- Go tell that fox.

d. However, mostly Jesus stayed out of commenting on political, foreign, or domestic policies.

2. Most of the time Jesus spoke of everyday things and applied spiritual heavenly meaning to them.

3. I am sure that the Jews wanted the Messiah to speak against the Romans, against taxation and be a great military and political leader. This was not Jesus’ mission.

B. Events of last Tuesday.

1. Why? Why did God allow this to occur?

2. These people in New York and the World Trade Center were wicked people so God judged them.

3. We live in a wicked nation like Israel so people punished as a warning to this nation.

C. Newspaper that day.

1. Galileans.

a. During religious feasts in Jerusalem, the Military governor was to keep order.

b. Many revolutionaries came to the feasts to cause rebellion among the people.

c. Pilate and his soldiers went right into the temple area. A no-no.

d. The Zealots flourished in Galilee.