15/3/15 Pastor Prince Sermon Notes (taken by 13yo Kaelen @DARE)

Habakkuk 2:1-3

“…watch to see…” “…make it plain…” “…that he may run that readeth… “

Habakkuk 2:4

Those who are proud cannot live by faith.

On Bethsaida and Pride:

Matthew 1

Jesus has a double claim on the throne.

Matthew 4

He said the kingdom of heaven is at hand because the King (Jesus) is here.

Why is Bethsaida in ruins today? The majority of the people in Bethsaida rejected Him. That is why he said “… narrow is the way…” They rejected Him as a prophet, priest and king. (Matthew 12) Thus, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit by rejecting him. When great grace is shown, there is a responsibility to repent. However, by rejecting Him, they refused to repent. (Matthew

) Therefore, their judgment will be worse when the day comes. That is why Bethsaida is still in ruins today.

We should receive His Word like babies, who are teachable and trusting and learn to be humble in heart like Jesus and we will find rest for our souls. Restlessness is because of pride, which ultimately caused woe upon Bethsaida. We should have faith like a mustard seed that has the potential to grow into a big tree and we will be able to uproot big problems like a sycamore tree and plant them in the sea. Did you know that a sycamore tree has large, deep roots that is likened to problems we encounter in life. Even if our problems have deep roots like the sycamore tree, if we keep speaking on it, we will be able to get rid of it. If we take our pride in our actions, we will still lack things, but if we are humble, we will not lack. The Lord proclaimed Zaccheus ‘Not guilty’ because he came to see Him and humbled himself before the Lord. No laws were given to Zaccheus and he had no problem with giving his money away. However, when the young man came to Jesus full of pride, he could not bear to part with his money and walked away.

On Samson and Temptation:

Even in bible times, people were tempted by the same things as today…

Isaiah 9:6 As a child, the Messiah was born, speaking of His humanity and as a son, He was given, speaking of His Godliness.

Judges

The Angel of the LORD told Manoah to offer his offering to the LORD, thus, this Angel is the Messiah and not a regular angel. Whenever an offering goes up to the LORD, His blessings come down.

Samson suffered from rejection when he was young and did not feel special. Thus, he took his calling by the LORD to be the cause of his rejection and lack of joy. This was why he fell to temptation.

Galilee and Its Prophecy

Self-righteousness is the reason why people fall from grace. This is why Jesus preached more in Galilee than in Jerusalem. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, He will take care of us.

Isaiah 9:1-2

Heavily oppressed = greatly honoured (kavod)

Galilee was once greatly honoured when He preached there the most, but is once again heavily oppressed after they rejected Him.