August 10, 2010

The Irish Elk once roamed the forests of Eurasia, boasting a head over ten feet in height and a rack of antlers that sprawled twelve feet in width. Even the thought of such a creature elicits awe and admiration. But the Irish Elk is no more. It is extinct. And its grandeur is merely a thing of legend and its rack of glory is now only an entry in the fossil record. And like the Irish Elk, a brawny, lionhearted, outrageously triumphant form of Christianity once roamed planet earth. But as of today, it’s become only a thing of legend and its rack of glory has been isolated to merely the pages of Scriptural text. It’s time this rack of glory returns!

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sermon notes

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
– Psalm 12:1

ON THE VERGE
We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West. Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants . . . Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline.
– Michael Spencer

TOO EMBARRASSING?
At some point, clinging to a belief in God is just going to be too embarrassing.
– Sam Harris, Neuroscientist

THE NEW ATHEISTS
It is time to declare our positions. This is the challenge posed by the New Atheists. We are called upon, we lax agnostics, we noncommittal nonbelievers, we vague deists . . . we are called out, we fence-sitters, and told to help exorcise this debilitating curse: the curse of faith.
– Gary Wolf

IMPENDING DOOM?
Within 100 years, the Bible and Christianity will be swept from existence, and pass into history.
– Voltaire (circa 1778)

Only fifty years after his death the Geneva Bible Society used (Voltaire’s) press and house to produce stacks of Bibles.
– Geisler and Nix

BEHOLDING MAJESTY
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
– Daniel 7:9-10

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
– Isaiah 6:1-5

THE PRESENCE WITHDRAWN
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy . . . then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
– Ezekiel 8:1-3, 5-6

THE MARK OF THE INKHORN
He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lies toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
– Ezekiel 9:1-5

THE IRISH ELK
Fossil evidence demonstrates that there once was a great elk that roamed Europe and parts of Asia. This mighty and majestic animal stood near seven feet in height just at his shoulders, and with an air of dominance, his regal brow reaching heights of near ten feet. But the crowning jewel of this massive elk was not his height alone, but his astounding rack of antlers, which boasted a span of twelve feet and rose an additional four to five feet above the elk’s already superior brow.

FOSSIL EVIDENCE DEMONSTRATES
Despite being officially classified as extinct, sightings are still reported.

A protected life, fortressed by the Most High, impervious to the harassment of darkness
Rees Howells
Hudson Taylor
William and Catherine Booth
David Wilkerson Gladys Ailward Amy Carmichal

Strong and energetic for the things of God, sharp and focused, tenacious for Truth
C.T. Studd
John Knox
John Wesley
Edward Payson
John “Praying” Hyde

Honorable, and above reproach in every thought, attitude, word and deed
David Brainerd
Jim and Elisabeth Elliot
Rees Howells
Amy Carmichael
Leonard Ravenhill

Constant and unwavering in devotion
Leonard Ravenhill
Praying Hyde
Richard Wurmbrand
Corrie ten Boom

Triumphant over physical weakness, made strong to be poured out
Andrew Murray
C.T. Studd
Hudson Taylor
Amy Carmichael

Abiding in love, joy, peace, and a sacred calm
John Wesley
Jackie Pullenger
Richard Wurmbrand
Hudson Taylor

Unwavering in faith, persistent until the breaking of day
George Mueller
Rees Howells
John “Praying” Hyde
Leonard Ravenhill

A workman approved with the Holy Scriptures
Charles Spurgeon
A.W. Tozer
E.M. Bounds
Paris Reidhead

Endued with power, marked with the authority of Christ
Rees Howells
Jackie Pullenger
George Müeller
D.L. Moody

Marked by the face of a lion, passionate for the glory of God
C.T. Studd
Leonard Ravenhill
William Booth
David Wilkerson
Paris Reidhead

Able to carry God’s burdens, feel what God feels, and share in His Gethsemane. One made strong for others, able to carry the burdens of the weak and downtrodden
John “Praying” Hyde
David Brainerd
Edward Payson
Rees Howells

Marked by audacity, boldness, courage and daring
David Livingstone
D.L. Moody
C.T. Studd
Amy Carmichael
Esther Ahn Kim

Able to rejoice in suffering and find pleasure in persecution
William and Catherine Booth
John Wesley
Keith Green
Leonard Ravenhill

MAJESTY RETURNED
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
– Isaiah 58:8 KJV

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