Podcast 6 – Josiah the Restorer

It's time once again for Biblically Speaking, a podcast taking material from God's Word and making it relevant for those living in the world today. I am your speaker, Jeremy Butt and I look forward to making the journey with you from biblical learning to practical living. Go ahead and open your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 34. In a moment we will read from the text, but let me first introduce our topic for the day.

When we mention the theme of restoration here in the United States I would dare say most of us in the church recall names such as Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, "Raccoon" John Smith and various others. The Restoration of New Testament Christianity is of major significance to us in the church today because leaders of the restoration movement urged everyone to go back to the Word of God as our only religious guide. Those who decided to follow this plea put away all denominational titles, creeds and unscriptural practices such as instrumental music in worship and infant baptism. These individuals sought to be led by the Word of God alone, no more, no less. Did you know however there was a time in the Old Testament when a young king of Judah in Jerusalem set forth a pattern of restoration?

As a background behind our subject today, King Josiah took over ruling Judah at the very young age of eight, following after the corrupt reign of his father, Amon, who did evil just like his father, Manasseh. Josiah walked in the ways of his ancestor, King David, choosing to do what was good and not evil like so many of his forefathers. He made it a point to get rid of the images that people worshipped, even beating them into powder. In the eighteenth year of his reign he sent some key individuals to repair the temple of the Lord. The money that was in the temple was given to Hilkiah, the high priest to distribute to the workers, and in doing so Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law. Sources disagree with how long the Book of the Law had been missing, some saying perhaps 57 years and others as long as 75-80 years, but regardless of how long it had been the people now had access to the Word of God.

Shaphan the secretary read the Book of the Law before the king, and upon hearing it the king tore his clothes. He was distressed and anguished, affirming verbally that their fathers had not kept the Word of the Lord. Huldah the prophetess made the prophecy that there would be disaster for Judah and its people because of those who forsook God and worshipped idols, thereby provoking God to wrath. However, because Josiah's heart was touched by the Book of the Law, he would not see the disaster take place in his days. Upon this message being passed on to the king, we now come to our text for today. I read from 2 Chron. 34:29-33.

It is clear from the text that Josiah went back to the Book from which the people had strayed for all these years. Upon Josiah's reading of the Book of the Law, he made a covenant to walk after the Lord and keep his commandments and his testimonies and statutes with all his heart and soul. It appears to me that Josiah was dedicated to the restoration of God's Law among His people. He saw to it that during the rest of his days that the people served the Lord and did not turn away from following Him. Some list Josiah as a reformer, but the better term is restorer. He reinstated the type of relationship the people had with God at one time, bringing it back the way it should be.

Have you ever seen people restore furniture or cars? The purpose is not to enhance or change but to restore. The old piece of furniture will look as it did in its former days. The old car will look as it did in its former days. They're not supposed to look like something different. They're not reformed, but restored.

In a time today when so many people seem to get further and further from the Word of God, isn't it refreshing to take a look back at Josiah the restorer to see how important it is to go back to the Word of God? Maybe there are some people out there who need a restored relationship with the Lord. Perhaps you've even been away from the Lord about as long as the Book of the Law was hidden in the temple. The Word of the Lord was found in the house of the Lord. In the Old Testament the house of the Lord was the physical temple. However, for us today under the New Covenant, our bodies are the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Renew and restore your covenant with God in your daily walk with Him. Let's all take a page out of Josiah's book and make sure we are devoted wholeheartedly to following the Lord as laid forth for us in Scripture. Thanks for listening to today's podcast, Josiah the Restorer. Until next week, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Podcast 5 - A Soothing Aroma

It’s time once again for Biblically Speaking, a podcast taking material from God’s Word and making it relevant to those living in the world today. I am your speaker, Jeremy Butt and I look forward to making the journey with you from biblical learning to practical living.

As an introduction to today’s lesson, I ask the following question. Have you ever been to a steakhouse where before you enter the restaurant the fragrant aroma of the steaks cooking on the grill tantalizes your sense of smell? That pleasurable smell makes you want to go inside to see what the steakhouse has to offer. If the smell coming from the grill was not pleasant, you might not accept the offer to eat at that establishment. Years ago, my family ate at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. Prior to entering the restaurant patrons are smacked in the face with the aroma of a nearby stockyard. Needless to say, that’s not the best aroma to smell prior to entering a restaurant. A Soothing aroma creates an environment of acceptance from the one who receives it. Did you know that God wants our sacrifices to Him to be a soothing aroma? The title of today’s podcast is A Soothing Aroma. Please open your Bibles to Gen. 8:20-22.

When Noah stepped off the ark to make the first sacrifice to God after the flood, the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. He was pleased with the offering that Noah had made. After the establishment of the Law of Moses burnt offerings were made which were a soothing aroma to the Lord as well (Ex. 29:18, 25). We live in a time when the burnt offerings are no longer made, because the last sacrifice requiring the lifeblood of an unblemished offering was the Son of God upon the cross of calvary (Heb. 10:10). If that was the last sacrifice requiring death, what type of sacrifices can we offer today?

Paul says our bodies are to be presented to the Lord every day as a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1). Everything we do no matter what day it happens to be should be an offering to God. It seems that if we would have this in mind we may avoid some of the daily activities in which we are involved. Everything in life is not worship, per se (such as brushing our teeth or changing our clothes), but we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice in service to Him every day. Christ purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and since we were bought with a price, we are to glorify God with our bodies (1 Cor. 6:20).

Some people think that once they leave the church house on Sunday morning that they don’t have to be religious again until next Sunday morning. That concept is foreign to Scripture. Just because we have gathered to worship God on Sunday doesn’t give us the license to diminish our vocabulary by using bad four letter words, nor does it mean that we can treat people however we see fit. Those of us who are members of the body of Christ are representatives of Him wherever and whenever we go. The life that we live on Monday through Saturday should reflect our attitude toward God that we display on Sunday.

Unfortunately, hypocrites in the church is a big reason some avoid being a part of the body of Christ. Here’s a quote given to me by my good brother, Jonathan Jones: “if you let a hypocrite stand between you and God, the hypocrite is closer to God than you are.” Hypocrisy shows its ugly face even in the lives of God’s people at times. “The church is made up of people, and people will let you down.” This was some advice my uncle, Stan Butt gave me before I took the job here at West 7^th, and it’s oh so true. Because of this, the church needs to be continually taught what it means to offer our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God.

A while back I preached a sermon titled “Are You a Smelly Skunk or a Fragrant Flower?” The lesson was designed to decipher whether our daily sacrifice was a soothing aroma to God or whether it was unpleasant to Him. Let’s all make sure we are offering the kinds of sacrifices to God that are well-pleasing to Him. Jesus said in Jn. 8:29 “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” Let us live our lives in such a way that we’ll be able to hear from the Lord that He has been well-pleased with us at the time of Judgment (Mt. 25:21).

Based on how you are living your life right now, can you say beyond the shadow of a doubt that your daily sacrifice is a soothing aroma to God? John tells us in 1 Jn. 5:13 “these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Based on the fact that we can know that we’re saved, we ought to be able to recognize whether or not the aroma from our sacrifice is soothing or putrid. What kind of sacrifice are you offering on a daily basis? Peter says “as you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5).

Thank you for listening to today’s edition of Biblically Speaking. Again, if you have any comments or questions please email them to me at jeremytbutt@gmail.com. I look forward to being with you again next week, and until then have a marvelous day!

Podcast 4- The Barnabas Factor

It is time once again for Biblically Speaking, a podcast taking material from God’s Word and making it relevant to those living in the world today. I am your speaker, Jeremy Butt and I look forward to taking the journey with you from biblical learning to practical living.

The title of this week’s podcast is the Barnabas Factor. The text comes from Acts 4:32-37. In the midst of the early church having an attitude far from selfishness, they were bringing proceeds of the sale of houses and land and laying them at the feet of the apostles for distribution to those who needed them. It is in this setting we are introduced to Joseph, a man whom the apostles called Barnabas because of his encouraging nature. What was it about Barnabas that the apostles saw in him?

Other texts reveal more information about Barnabas. When Saul of Tarsus had obeyed the gospel he eventually came to Jerusalem to associate with the disciples. When they were unsure about the legitimacy of his being a disciple, Barnabas stood up for Saul by describing how he obeyed the gospel after seeing the Lord on the road to Damascus and also how he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. Barnabas was being an encourager in Acts 9:26-27.

Even in the midst of an argument, it seems that Barnabas was being an encourager. You well remember the spat between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:36-41. Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark with them on their follow up preaching tour to see how the churches were. However, Paul did not want to take him because he deserted them at Pamphylia to return to Jerusalem. A heated disagreement ensued that led to Paul and Barnabas parting ways. Paul took along Silas headed to Syria and Cilicia, and Barnabas took along John Mark sailing away to Cyprus. Though the argument caused a separation between Paul and Barnabas, it seemed that the desire to take John Mark might have been an encouragement to him. Paul later says of John Mark that he is useful to him for service (2 Tim. 4:11). Perhaps the encouragement given by Barnabas had helped to mold his character from a deserting worker to a determined worker.

What exactly is encouragement? One definition is the act of drawing alongside or lending energy to get another going. I like this definition. In fact, there’s an easy way to illustrate it. When your battery dies in your vehicle, you need to find someone who can supply the power from their car’s battery to get you going again. Your car battery is drawing the energy from the other battery. This illustration is so simple yet so practical, as we all need encouragement at times.

What are some ways we can be an encourager? Here at West 7th we are reorganizing part of our visitation program that makes contacts to the shut-ins of our congregation. The group is being renamed the Barnabas Factor. We will be mailing cards and making phone calls to people to encourage them. The people we encourage feel uplifted and energized because someone made it a point to show they care. If you’re at West 7th and you want to find a way to get involved and become an encourager, please come to our luncheon after Bible classes on Sunday, April 17 in the Family Center. We will discuss the reorganization of this program and how we can all be better encouragers.

Barnabas had what it took to be an encourager in the first century church. Let us all learn from his example as we strive to build our fellow Christians up each and every day. We can have the Barnabas factor in our congregations today. Paul writes “therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11). Thank you for listening to this week’s edition of Biblically Speaking. Look for us on Facebook, and don’t forget you can email me any suggestions you might have for the program. I look forward to being with you again next week to study God’s Word. Have a marvelous day!

What Happens When You Go When You're Not Supposed to Go?

My family had piled into the car headed into town for Wednesday night Bible study just like every other Wednesday evening. As we were almost halfway to town, I noticed a car beginning to pull out from a stop sign to my left. Very quickly I realized not only was the car trying to cross in front of me but it was not in a hurry. Responding to the brake pedal, the pressure from my foot sent the brakes from moderate force to punching the pedal to the floor, bringing us to a screeching halt on the highway. At this time I had lain on my horn, to which the car didn't even seem to acknowledge my presence. By the time the vehicle came to a complete stop, there were only a few feet between us and the other vehicle. After being noticeably shaken from the incident, we proceeded on into town to the West 7th church house. What happens when you go when you're not supposed to go? In this case a wreck almost happened. That vehicle that pulled out in front of us was not supposed to go; they should have waited until our vehicle was clear before it proceeded forward.

This incident gave me the perfect illustration for my devotional talk last night. I was already planning on addressing the text from Numbers 14:39-45. After struggling with how I wanted to illustrate it, the clear answer hit me (almost literally) on the way into town by means of this near automobile accident. The Israelites wanted to go when they weren't supposed to go. Here's the background behind the text.

At the end of chapter thirteen, Joshua and Caleb had given favorable reports of the Promised Land; however, the other ten spies gave bad reports telling the people they would not be able to occupy the land because of the large people who inhabited it. Because of the bad reports, the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron in chapter fourteen. On through the chapter, God is very upset with Israel wanting to destroy them because of their disobedience, unbelief, grumbling, etc. Moses talks God out of that idea, but He states that they will not get to enter the Promised Land because of their behavior. However, their children would get to enter the land along with Joshua and Caleb. God decides to make another point to the Israelites by striking the ten spies with a plague, killing them.

God had told them through Moses that they could not go into the Promised Land. The Israelites mourned, but they decided they were going up to the Promised Land anyway. Three observations I would like to make from this text:
1 -We need to listen to the instructions from the Lord
They didn't pay any attention to what the Lord said. We need to follow the Lord's instructions today, and they're given to us through His Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
2 - Warnings are meant to be heeded
Moses tried to warn the people that God would not be with them if they went up to the Promised Land and they would be struck down, but they wouldn't listen. We need to heed warnings as given by the Lord in Scripture (Heb. 2:1-4).
3 - We see what happens when people walk away from God
The Israelites went up to the heights of the hill country but the Lord's presence was not with them. The ark of the covenant and Moses stayed behind in the camp. The Israelites turned their back on God, and they were defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites. There is no victory for us if God is not with us (1 Jn. 5:4).

Remember the words of the song "If Jesus is with me I'll go anywhere." Just make sure the Lord is with you before you go!

Podcast 3 - Homosexuality and Harding

(You can listen to the audio by clicking the title above)

It's once again time for Biblically Speaking, a podcast taking relevant material from God's Word and making it relevant to those living in the world today. I am your speaker, Jeremy Butt, and I look forward to taking the journey with you from biblical learning to practical living.

Today's text comes from Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error".

Paul describes in the opening of this great book what happens to those who reject God. Among the many things that are detestable to God is homosexuality, and the Bible is loud and clear about the Lord's stance on this matter.

Recently at my alma mater, Harding University, an underground website sprung up that required some swift attention by the university. The following is an excerpt from The Bison, the school's student newspaper in an article written by editor in chief, Sara J. Kyle:

In chapel Thursday morning, President David B. Burks defended Harding University's decision to censor an underground student website, citing his personal feelings and a formal statement by the university. Harding came under scrutiny by several blogs and social media sites Wednesday afternoon after deciding to block the website, HUQueerPress.com. The e-zine, which was also distributed to several students in the dormitories in the form of a pamphlet, detailed the anonymous experiences of gay and lesbian students at Harding. HUQueerPress.com was blocked at about 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The site included testimonials from current and former students, some of which included explicit sexual detail and offensive language (http://www.christianchronicle.org/blog/2011/03/harding-university-defends-decision-to-block-website/)

As a member of the Lord's church and alumnus of Harding, I am proud of their stance against such ungodly material. The issue of homosexuality is a hot button of conversation in our world today, and taking such a stance against it will bring backlash from the liberals who say we are homophobes and gay-bashers. Dr. Burks made it clear in his chapel remarks that it was not about bashing homosexuals, but rather it was about following the Bible's teaching on proper sexual relationships. According to Dr. Burks this not only includes homosexuality but also premarital sex and extra-marital sexual activity, which we know as adultery.

People in this world who are homosexuals need to understand what God teaches about the heinousness of their so-called lifestyle. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed largely because of their homosexuality (Gen. 19). Paul said that homosexuality is contrary to sound teaching (1 Tim. 1:10). He also told the Corinthians that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

Many people today will claim to have been born this way, but Brother Jimmy Allen cites in his commentary on Romans some information gathered by Neil and Briar Whitehead. They did scientific research for more than eight years on homosexuality, and they would respond to this so-called homosexual gene that people claim to have as being genetic nonsense; it doesn't exist (Allen 75-76).

The liberal media of today's time will seek to devour anyone who opposes homosexuality, claiming that such a person is unloving, intolerant and unaccepting. Television shows have even depicted family members of gays and lesbians who don't accept their sexual choices as being without the love of Jesus. Seriously?

Let us understand that because God loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son so that we wouldn't have to perish eternally (Jn. 3:16). Jesus said "if you love me you will keep my commandments" (Jn. 14:15). Homosexuals and those supporting them often fail to realize what the love of God compels us to do. Jesus died on the cross for all of us, and we in turn are told to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him (Mt. 16:24). Denying ourselves and daily dying to self are not concepts they would promote. If we're tying to please ourselves, then we're not accomplishing the Father's will.

Hell is a real place and those who live contrary to the Word of God will be there. Going back to the statement made by Paul in our text for today, homosexuals abandon the desire for the opposite sex and burn in their desire toward one another (Rom. 1:27). A burning eternity awaits those who choose the homosexual lifestyle. Some of the Corinthians repented of this sin to become Christians. "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).

Let us as Christians continue to hold fast to the Word of God so we won't be pressured by the immoral world to abandon truth. Let us like Harding University continue to stand upon the bedrock of truth as God has given us in the Bible. Thank you for listening, and until next time, I hope you have a wonderful week!