Heritage Presbyterian Church

Dr. Morecraft explains that one way you can keep from getting influenced and seduced by immorality is to watch who you associate with. Watch who you think is valuable and important to you. And make sure your assessments and your priority are determined by the Word of God and not the sinful passions and lusts and impulses of your own heart. You will always be easy prey for the seducers until you consider the saints in the earth to be the really noble and majestic ones in whom is your delight, and you'd rather be with them than anybody else upon the face of the earth. Bad company corrupts good morals. The truly noble people in this earth are not the kings and queens and princesses and people you read about in the magazines, they're not the movie stars or celebrities. The real majestic ones in whom your heart should delight are the saints in the church.

In preaching on Psalm 86:11, Dr. Morecraft notes that of all the commands God has given us in the Bible, the one that He has given the most times is to fear Him. What is it to fear God? It is when you worship Him or speak of Him or think about Him, it is with the deepest respect and reverence. There are certain things you wouldn't even think about saying with reference to God. There are certain things you wouldn't even think about thinking with reference to God when you fear Him. There are certain behaviors that you know insults Him, that you would not even think about involving yourself in, including certain places, certain people, certain books, certain activities.

Dr. Morecraft quotes from William Plumer that "the destiny of the church is not only to be assailed by external enemies, but to suffer far greater trouble at the hands of false brothers." Christians will suffer at the hands of enemies. But the worst suffering of all, the greatest trouble of all, is that which we receive from the hands of false brothers.

This is perhaps one of Pastor Morecraft's richest. I'm listening to it for the third time today!

Dr. Morecraft explains that one of the things that was practiced in the Old Testament and taught in the New Testament, is there is a clear institutional, functional separation of church and state. The church is one institution and the state is another institution. The church has one function (preaching the gospel) the state has another function (punishing law-breakers for the protection of law-keepers). They have two different jurisdictions. That separation jurisdictionally, institutionally, and functionally must be kept clear. But there is no separation of God and state, or a separation of Bible and state, or a separation of God's law and state. Although there are two different institutions with two different functions, the state is just as accountable to obey God as the church is.

Dr. Morecraft explains that whatever changes a godly person goes through (even though he has struggles and temptations) in his life, he will wind up being happy because God, who is unchangeably good, is his chosen portion. Whatever you as a godly person may be deprived of in this life, whatever you may have to do without, whatever afflictions you may undergo, God, who is our portion, whom we prefer before everything else, still is our God. He cannot lose us and we cannot lose Him.

Thank you!

I was privileged to be present when this sermon was preached. I was greatly blessed and recommend it to everyone!

Dr. Morecraft explains that the Christian life has three elements: doctrine, practice and experience. There are doctrines we are supposed to believe. There are practices that we do, in a worship service or with our children that God commands. And there are also experiences that we have. So the Christian life is not just all doctrine, and it's not just all practice. Based upon that doctrine and in the confines of that practice, we have certain experiences. The Christian life may have one or more of the four following experiences: divine humblings, divine chastenings, divine giving us over to sinful desires for a while, and divine ploughing up of our corruption.

Toward the end of this message, Dr. Morecraft explains that John Wycliffe and William Tyndale were two great men. They didn't live to see the Reformation. They didn't live to see the greatest Spirit-wrought revival in Europe since apostolic days. But there wouldn't have been a reformation without them. They prepared the way. They translated the Bible, wrote books and preached, and that was the basis of the great Reformation that would take place in the sixteenth century. Yet they never saw it. Tyndale was burned at the stake. Wycliffe died a natural death as an old man but they dug up his body and burned it. They were not appreciated and didn't see that much effect during their lifetimes. But they significantly affected history ever since. We may not see a great reformation in our lifetime, but we should do our part so when it comes in the future, they'll look back at us and say we never saw it, but it couldn't have happened without us.

Dr. Morecraft summarizes the main point of Psalm 63 and 64 by quoting Augustine. Augustine said, "Let God be all in all to you. For He is the sum of all you love. God has made us for Himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him."

Dr. Morecraft explains that whatever God brings into your life and lays upon you, cast that upon Him and trust Him to provide you with whatever wisdom or strength or perseverance you need to endure it. John Calvin wrote in his commentary on Psalm 55 that, "There is no other way of relieving our anxious souls, but by reposing ourselves upon the providence of God." Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. Trust Him to provide whatever you need to nourish you and to keep you standing and to keep you going. God may let various things happen to you in your life. He may let you stagger under the weight for a while. He may cause you to almost sink under the storms of life. But trust Him that He will eventually deliver you.

Dr. Morecraft concludes this sermon with an imprecatory prayer using the words of the Psalms for all those in places of power in America who are defiantly standing against God, who are encouraging the legality of abortion and the perversion of homosexual behavior, who are removing God's standards of justice from the courtroom, who are ruining the economy and thereby threatening the existence of the Christian family, who are assaulting the Christian foundations of the nation in order to create an all-powerful and all-controlling state, thereby robbing us of liberty and justice, that God would destroy them in His faithfulness and let them fall by their own devices.

Thank God for the work that He did in Hurricane Helene, and for giving us ministers unafraid to speak the truth about the judgment of God!

As Dr. Morecraft explains, David's sin harmed his nation, but he was repentant and wanted to make things right with the people to whom he had done wrong. David's sin damaged his nation for generations. In 2 Samuel 12:10 it says, "Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife." For generations in David's own family and in Israel there were injurious effects because of his sin. We have something to learn here: Sometimes sins forgiven still have consequences in this life that we have to endure.