Sermons

If God is sovereign, & if God is good, why does one of the most faithful men in all of Scripture die this way? Why is John’s story not a story of rescue & vindication? John gives us a kingdom perspective that refuses to measure God’s faithfulness by the length of our ministry, & insists that the world may silence God’s servants, but it cannot stop God’s kingdom.

When God’s ways confuse us, the answer isn’t to demand our way. It’s to look at what He is actually doing. He is always working, it may just be different than we think.

Real repentance, John insists, is ethical & relational—not merely emotional & ceremonial. The fruit tells the truth that the feeling often conceals.

Why? Habakkuk 1:2-5

The devil doesn’t need bars, porn shops, neon signs, or pentagrams. He just needs moralism without Christ; religion without repentance; churches without the gospel; spirituality without Scripture; & inspiration without salvation.

The devil knows your weaknesses. He knows your insecurities. He knows your patterns. He knows your pressure points. And he will use whatever those are to: steal your hope, kill your worship, & destroy your witness.

If the cross is not about wrath, then:
• Christ did not take your punishment
• Christ did not bear your guilt
• Christ did not satisfy justice
• Christ did not remove condemnation
• Christ did not reconcile you to God
And if Christ did not take your wrath… then you must.

God does not need your permission. God does not need your activation. God does not need your cooperation to be sovereign. The devil loves this lie because it shrinks God. A small God can’t save you. A small God can’t sanctify you. A small God can’t sustain you. And a small God can’t be worshiped.

We try to fix ourselves with self help. God fixes us with salvation. We try to build our own lives. God gives us new life. We try to make our own world. God is making a new heaven & new earth. We try to save ourselves. God sent a Savior. God says: “You cannot cover you. But I can. And I will.” This is the gospel.