Magnifying Christ
Magnifying Christ, an inspiring sermon recorded live as Dr Nelson Perdue delivered it to the congregation at the Mount Sterling, Ohio Church of the Nazarene on January 11 is on you’ll want to add to your collection. Since 2009 was only beginning, Dr Perdue felt it wise to take some time to reflect on accomplishments and failures of the old year as he prepared for the year that lie ahead.
Says Dr Perdue, “I wanted the Word of God to speak to me personally and to challenge my ministry for the days ahead. As I studied my heart was stirred with the Apostle Paul’s obsession with Christ, and it provoked me to draw closer to Him so that I too, might do my best to magnify Christ in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.“
The sermon is available as an instant download in MP3 format. It is approximately 33 minutes in length with a filesize of 28.2 MB. We welcome you to listen to a sampling of this sermon on the audio player in the right sidebar. If you wish to hear it in it’s entirety, just click the link below to add it to your shopping cart.
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MAGNIFYING CHRIST
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Update On Next Holiness Summit
In an attempt to bring special emphasis to scriptural holiness, Dr. Perdue met with Dr. Louie Bustle and others in Kansas City about conducting summits on the doctrine of holiness at strategic locations across the nation. The purpose for these summits would be to bring together people from various holiness denominations to show solidarity in the message, experience and life of Christian holiness. To date, Holiness Summits have been held at the Ohio Christian University, Nazarene Bible College and Olivet Nazarene University.
The speakers and participants of these summits have included people from the Wesleyan Church, Church of the Nazarene, Churches of Christ in Christian Union, Salvation Army, the Methodist Church and others. Summits being planned for this fall include Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Kansas City, Missouri and Ashland, Kentucky. Dr. Perdue will be speaking at the Holiness Summit which will be held at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City as well as the Holiness Summit at the Daystar Television Studio in Ashland, Kentucky.
Everyone is encouraged to make these summits a matter of prayer and fasting that God will use these gatherings to bring about a great spiritual awakening. More information about these Holiness Summits is available at www.holiness-summit.org
Immortality: Life after Death
Many years ago Job ask the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” I believe that everyone seeks an answer to that question. There was one who came inquiring of Jesus in Mark 9:17, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” We should not stop in our quest for the answer until we have found it, for there is something innate within every person that cries out for immortality. God has not left us without an answer for He brought immortality to light when He rose from the dead and declared in Revelation 1: 18 “I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death.” In John 11: 25-26, Jesus was speaking to Martha on the occasion of Lazarus’ death said, “I am the Resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die….” Continue Reading >>
The Pillars of Christianity
The three outstanding pillars of Christianity are the miracles of the Incarnation, the Resurrection and Pentecost.
The three outstanding pillars of Christianity are the miracles of the Incarnation, the Resurrection and Pentecost. We commemorate the incarnation at Christmas, the resurrection at Easter and Pentecost is celebrated 50 days following Easter.
The crucifixion, the resurrection and Pentecost are inseparable. Each of these events was required for man’s complete redemption. Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the remission of sins; He was raised from the dead for our justification; it was Jesus who, “being at the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this [Pentecost], which ye now see and hear.”
An Autobiography of Paul the Apostle
Background Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8
James 4:14 records that life is like a vapor that appears for a brief time and then vanishes. In II Timothy 4:2 Paul charges Timothy to, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season…” Reading on to verses 6-8 we find that Paul begins to make reference to his own life and ministry. He succinctly states the summation of his own lifespan.
Past Reflections
He states, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (v.7) Notice that Paul makes no reference to his life before his conversion. To the Philippians Paul had written, “Forgetting those things which are behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal…” (Phil. 3:13-14) It seems that Paul knew first hand the importance of not getting caught in the trap of remembering a shameful past over and over again. For Paul, life really began when he came to know Jesus Christ.
Evil Heart of Unbelief
Background Bible Reading: Hebrews 3:12
It has been my observation that much of the church seems to be lacking something. Their Christian experience is not what they expected it would be. Victory often has recurring defeat, instead of advancement one is often losing ground. Is this all Christ meant when He said, “Come unto Me?” The Word of God says emphatically NO!
The warning given in my text is not given to the world but to the people of God. Ten times a warning is expressed in this epistle by the use of a small but very significant word, “Lest.” 2:1-3:12- 3:13-4:1-4:11-12:3- 12:13-12:15a-b-12:16
This Epistle was written primarily to the Jewish believers and the writer knew that they were in danger of reverting back into their former manner of life and the writer, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives these words of warning. It is the warning of my text that concerns me and it deals with the Cardinal Sin of Unbelief!
I call it the Cardinal Sin because the Sin of Unbelief lies at the very root of every spiritual difficulty. It may sound a bit overly simplistic but I am convinced if we would deal with Unbelief in our Nature, things would clear up immediately. Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit, “When He is come He will convict the world of sin……because they believe not on me.” That is the basis of everything else and the final ground of condemnation for every man.
However, the trouble in the text is deeper than what I just quoted….Here the writer is saying, “Lest there be in any of you (Who? Brethren… Professing Christians!) an Evil Heart of Unbelief .” The cause of all weakness and arrested development and growth is this UNBELIEF!
Every error, false cult, skeptical critic, has come about at the point of the church’s unbelief which is the result of either the questioning or flat out denial of the 2nd work of grace that deals with this problem. Notice the workings of this baneful thing called the Evil Heart of Unbelief and how it is manifested.
Christians Should Heed Biblical Call to Consecration
Background Bible Reading: Leviticus 1
Leviticus is the place in the Old Testament where we find God’s directions as given to His people regarding worship and rituals such as the various sacrificial offerings. In the first chapter, procedure for the whole burnt offering is described. This is only the first of several sacrifices. This particular sacrifice is made up of five specific steps.
First, the sacrifice is presented or voluntarily offered by the owner as an act of worship (v. 3). The sacrifice itself was to be without blemish or defect.
Second, the worshipper would place his hand on the head of the sacrifice to indicate that the animal had become his substitute and would die in the place of the worshipper (v. 4)
Third, the worshipper would slaughter the animal and prepare it to be burned on the altar (v. 5).
Fourth, the priests would sprinkle the blood around the altar. It was the sprinkling of the blood which made atonement for the sins of the worshippers.
Last, the priests would place the parts of the animal upon the altar in an orderly fashion and the parts of the sacrifice would be burned.
This particular offering is unique in that the whole animal is placed on the altar and offered as a sacrifice. Other offerings made allowances for the priests to consume part of the animal.
Paul Intentionally Pursued Close Walk With Christ
Background Bible Reading: Philippians 3:1-11
In the identified verses Paul the Apostle clearly states that his deep desire is to know Jesus Christ (v. 10). Philippians 3 begins with a warning to these believers not to allow themselves to put their confidence in anything other than the savior.
Paul even expressed that at one time he himself had been guilty of placing emphasis on the wrong things. According to verses 4-6 his religious credentials were impeccable. However, when Paul was converted as a result of the Damascus Road experience, his priorities were completely reestablished.
Previous to his conversion Paul’s priority was his religion and his religious reputation, but he further testifies in these verses that this is no longer the case.
Paul writes, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ….” (v. 7-8)
Paul is telling these Christian believers that knowing Jesus Christ has become his new priority. Like Paul, we must make knowing Jesus the priority of our lives. We must give ourselves to the study of God’s Word and spending time in prayer in order to draw near to him. It takes intentional effort to refuse to allow the busyness and distractions of temporal life and living to dwarf our spiritual lives.
Holiness: A Desirable Experience and a Beautiful Life
In John chapter 12 when the inquiring Greeks came seeking an audience with Jesus we are not told what their motives were. It would seem obvious that they were seeking light and truth. Whatever their motive was it gave Jesus an occasion to unveil the central principle of the atonement. It is called the grain-of-wheat principle.
In John 12:24 Jesus declares “except a (corn) grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
In His death on the cross Jesus answered the question and fulfilled the purpose of His coming into the world. It was “for this cause He came unto this hour” (vs.27).
The choice was, “‘Should I save my own life and let a guilty race march on to hell, or will I indeed be “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.’” It was on the cross that Jesus gave His life in order that “the prince of this world be cast out.”
The message of the cross is that He became our substitution; this truth we gladly accept. However the cross means more than our substitution. It also demands our fellowship. We, as His children, must identify with Him in the crucifixion of our old man (Romans 6:6).
Our Likeness in Christ
Background Bible Reading: I John 4:17
Several times in the First Epistle of John we are told to be like Christ with the phrase “as He is” or “even as He”. (2:6-3:3-3:7-4:17). We are admonished to be like Him in this world and such an identification with Christ precludes any idea of a sinning religion. Matthew 1:21 says, “thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people FROM (not IN) their sins.”
The People:
Sometimes we handle the word too haphazardly or indiscriminately and when we take it out of its context we do injury to the truth. The Apostle in 4:13 identifies to whom he is writing. “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of His Spirit.”
In verse 15 he continues, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” In our text we read that, “our love is made perfect.” These verses leave no questions as to whom John is writing. They had received His Spirit, they were dwelling in him and him in them and they were made perfect in love.
