The Ray C. Stedman Memorial Library
Expanded Index with Summaries
Introduction
Ray C. Stedman was this century's great champion of expository
preaching. Rather than topical preaching, which is common in many
churches today, Ray believed the "whole counsel of God"
was best communicated to God's people by systematically teaching
through the entire Bible, usually an entire book at time. This
included giving the sense of the passage (Nehemiah 8:8) and its
application to contemporary living. In this way the Christian
could build up a broad base of Biblical knowledge---since the
Bible teaches truth on various topics, "here a little there
a little, line upon line, precept upon precept." Ray's sermons
were delivered with minimal notes and when transcribed into printed
form rarely needed any editing. Ray was always prepared for questions
afterwards. It is said that he recommended to young pastors that
they spend 20 hours of preparation for a one hour message.
Occasionally Ray would preach on an issue of critical current
concern to his audience, or on an issue of basic foundational
truth. These topical messages are usually to be found under the
category of "Single Messages."
On this page we have attempted to very briefly summarize the
overall content of Ray's available messages. A topical index is
planned for the near future. A list of email contacts is included
at the bottom of this Index.
Surveys of the Entire Bible
Studies of Complete Books of the Bible
- Genesis 1-11, 32 messages (301-332)
This series on the first 11 chapters of the Bible cover the creation
of the universe, the origin and fall of man, the great flood
of Noah and the Table of Nations outlining the repopulation the
world after the flood. The realities of the human condition today
and how we got where we are are beautifully brought out.
- Studies in Leviticus, 24 messages
(501-524) An excellent study of the holiness of God. "If
you want to get at the meaning of this word you must go back
to its original root. This word is derived from the same root
from which a very attractive English word comes. This is the
word 'wholeness.' So that holiness means wholeness, being complete.
And if you read 'wholeness' in place of 'holiness' everywhere
you find it in the Bible you will be much closer to what the
writers of that book meant. We all know what wholeness is. It
is to have together all the parts which were intended to be there,
and to have them functioning as they were intended to function.
That is what God is talking about. He says to this people, 'you
shall be whole, because I am whole.' God is complete; he is perfect.
There is no blemish in God; he lives in harmony with himself.
He is a beautiful person. He is absolutely what a person ought
to be. He is filled with joy and love and peace. He lives in
wholeness. And he looks at us in our brokenness and says to us,
'You, too, shall be whole.' That word, wholeness, has power to
awaken desire within us. We long to be whole people. Don't you?
Don't you want to be what God made you to be, with all the ingredients
of your personality able to be expressed in balance. That is
to be a beautiful person, and that is what God is after. That
is what the book of Leviticus is all about. In fact, the whole
Bible is on that theme."
- Esther, 9 messages, (Book in
print) (32-40) One of Ray's earliest, and best, studies covering
the Old Testament book of Esther. Ray shows how the conflict
between the spirit, (typified in Mordecai) and the flesh (as
typified by Haman) is to be found among us in every generation.
How does the Christian learn to successfully rule the kingdom
of his life in Christ?
- Job, 14 messages, (Book in print)
(3540-3553) "This book mentions a time when 'the sons
of God shouted with joy' at the creation of the world. But other
scriptures tell us about a time that is coming when the sons
of God will be revealed. Paul calls it 'the manifestation of
the sons of God,' when all creation will shout in a greater glory
than was ever hailed at creation, in the new creation, the new
thing that God has brought into being by means of the sufferings,
the trials, and the tribulations of this present scene. That
is why scripture speaks in numerous passages about 'this slight
momentary affliction preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison,' and of how the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be
revealed in us. When that day breaks, the one thing for which
we will be infinitely thankful, the one thing above all others
that will thrill us and cheer us and cause us to glory, is the
fact that out of all the created universe we were chosen to be
the ones who bore the name of God in the hour of danger and affliction,
problem and trial. There is no higher honor than that. That is
what Jesus means when he says, 'Blessed are you when men persecute
you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's
sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your honor
before the Father. For so persecuted they the prophets who were
before you.'"
- Psalms, 24 messages, (Book in
print) (383-401, 169-173) Ray's great familiarity with the
Psalms shines forth in this series. Never superficial or shallow,
Ray's teaching style was always straightforward and easy to understand,
but his insights were often profound. 19 Psalms are studied in
detail in this series.
- Ecclesiastes, 11 messages, (Book
in print) (3806-3816) Now available in a small paperback
form, this study cuts right to the heart of the lessons Solomon
learned about life from vast experience: true happiness in life
is a gift from God and is imparted by the Lord only to those
who learn to please Him. A popular subtitle for this series is
"The Things that Don't Work." Ray says, "The book
is not merely a collection of ancient philosophy, for what it
talks about is very much up-to-date and extremely relevant. Here
is what you will hear propounded in soap operas, in political
speeches, in the radical or conservative movements of our day.
Here is what you will hear in the halls of academia, or on the
streets of any city. In this book the philosophies by which people
attempt to live life are brought into consideration and examined.
That is why Ecclesiastes is so practical and up-to-date."
- Isaiah, 13 messages, (576-588)
Ray began his ministerial career in 1950 by completing Harry
Ironside's classic commentary on Isaiah after Ironside went home
to be with the Lord. Isaiah was one of Ray's favorite books.
This short series of 13 messages leaves the reader longing to
read what Ray might have said in a full-length study of all of
Isaiah.
- Jeremiah, 16 messages (Book
in print) (3201-3214) Jeremiah the "suffering prophet"
remained in Jerusalem during the final devastating judgments
of God culminating in the destruction of the Temple of Solomon.
His forty-year ministry was devoid of visible fruit. Ray's series,
"Death of a Nation" shows how spiritual decline and
compromise among God's people leads inexorably to the end of
a nation. Very relevant for our nation today. "I have chosen
this series of studies because it is set in a time of crisis
and of the moral decline of a nation. It reveals what is behind
the death of a nation. In two years the United States of America
will celebrate its two hundredth birthday. And it may be that
in these very days, as we celebrate our Bicentennial as a nation,
we also may be witnesses to the beginning of the end of the United
States of America. There are some who feel this is so. I hope
it is not true. But the forces which are destroying our nation
are the same forces which destroyed the nation Jeremiah witnessed
to. We can learn a great deal about what is going on in our nation's
life by studying this great prophecy of Jeremiah. We can learn
here how to behave in a time of national and personal crisis.
What should a believer do when things are falling apart around
him in his home, his community, his nation, and the world in
which he lives? The answers are here. And from this prophecy
we will also learn what is the word of hope in an hour of despair
and darkness, and how God plants the seeds of new life in the
midst of death and destruction all around. It is a great book..."
- Nehemiah, 12 messages (4157-4168)
Ezra, Nehemiah and Zechariah were written after the return of
the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah tells us about
the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in the midst of variegated
and ongoing opposition. "But Nehemiah did more than rebuild
a wall, as we will learn. This book is also the story of the
restoring of a people from ruin and despair to a new walk with
God. Jerusalem is not only an historic city which has for centuries
been the center of the life of the nation of Israel (and, in
fact, the center of the biblical record), it is also a symbolic
city. Jerusalem is also used in a pictorial sense throughout
the Scriptures. What it pictures is the place where God desires
to dwell. When the city was first designated to King David as
the place where God wanted him to build the temple, he was told
that this was the place where God would dwell among his people.
Jerusalem therefore, throughout the Old and New Testament, has
pictured the place where God seeks to dwell. However, it is only
a picture---it is not the actual place where God dwells for according
to the New Testament man is to be the dwelling place of God.
God seeks to dwell in the human spirit. That is the great secret
that humanity has largely lost today but which New Testament
Christianity seeks to restore. The apostle Paul's great statement
in the letter to the Colossians is, 'Christ in you, the hope
of glory.' This is God's provision and desire for man. Jerusalem
in ruins, therefore, is a picture of a life that has lost its
defenses against attack and lies open to repeated hurt and misery.
If you are at all acquainted with the world in which we live
today, you will know that every time you turn your television
on you are exposed to the hurt and misery of people whose walls
have been broken down. Jerusalem in ruins is a vivid picture
of their danger and despair. The book of Nehemiah depicts the
way of recovery from breakdown and ruin to a condition of peace,
security, restored order, and usefulness."
- Daniel, 9 messages (361-369)
Ray's knowledge of Bible prophecy and current events was profound.
A frequent visitor to Israel and a keen observer of the world
scene, Ray was careful not to major only in Bible prophecy. When
he addressed great themes of prophecy such as those found in
Daniel his insights seem decades ahead of his time. "I wonder
if there are any of us who have any real idea of how despairing
many are today. Do we have any concept at all of how hopeless
life appears to many young people in our day? They are thwarted
on every side and do not know where to turn. They find no sense
or meaning to life. These are not merely passing fancies, they
are conditions under which some live all the time, without a
ray of hope. I feel strongly that we need to lift up our voices
on prophetic matters because they are designed to be light to
shine in a dark place."
- Gospel of Mark, 31 messages, (Book
in print) (3301-3331) Servant authority and servant leadership
was a strong theme of Ray's lifestyle, ministry, and service
to the Lord, and to people. Ray's study of the Gospel of Mark
shows clearly how Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.
In so doing, the Lord turned upside down the authority structures
of the world. And, "Jesus came with the good news that all
the power of God is now available to break the helpless deadlock
into which man has fallen. Scripture tells us that man in his
natural condition is helpless. No matter how much we like to
think we are able to do something to correct our condition, we
would be absolutely helpless and hopeless without the aid of
God. In fact, human life would be impossible. Without God's mercy,
without his restraining hand on forces that affect us, we could
not even sit in the same room together---we would be at one another's
throats, gouging out each other's eyes, hateful, and hating one
another---animals, destroying ourselves."
- Gospel of John, 48 messages, (Book
in print) (3831-3878) Somehow Ray stripped away layers of
varnish and the encrustation of centuries of tradition surrounding
the Person of our Lord Jesus in this fresh, bright, powerful
study of the Fourth Gospel. Editor James Denney has further enchanted
these messages in the book form. "Everywhere in Scripture
we are invited to pursue knowledge and discover what is around
us in all the exciting mysteries God has hidden in life. We can
pursue science, medicine, art, literature and politics, and all
that is right. But there is something more. If that is all we
have, life at that level is narrow, crabbed and limited, and
we can never understand what is really happening. It is only
as we come to the level of divine light, understanding as it
is in the Scriptures, coming from the lips of Jesus, that we
begin to put all the pieces together. Only then can we see who
we are, why we are here, and get the answers to all the puzzles
and conundrums of life. So when John introduces his gospel he
wants us to understand this: that the One he is going to talk
about, this amazing man from Nazareth is God himself somehow
become a Man. He is the Creator become part of his creation,
the Originator of life and of wisdom who somehow limited himself
to learning as a little child, growing and partaking with us
in the search for truth, and, at last, manifesting the fullness
of it in his resurrected power. This is the One who is at the
center of our faith. That is why we cannot forget Jesus. Every
human being sooner or later must deal with Jesus of Nazareth.
He is the ultimate crisis in every human life."
- Book of Acts, 41 messages, (Book
in print) (411-451) An unusually comprehensive series of
41 messages on the history of the early Christian church as recorded
by Luke. Reading through this series is like being taken vividly
back to the First Century, but in such a way that the reader
gains a sense of continuity with events in the church taking
place today. "this is the book of action, revealing how
God is at work through Christians. There is intense conflict
throughout the book but a conflict met by a ringing confidence
that is wonderful to see. It is a record of power exercised in
the midst of persecution; an account of life and health pouring
from a living Christ into a sick society through the channel
of obscure men and women, very much like you and me. We could
never understand the New Testament if we did not have the book
of Acts, for it fills the gap that would exist between the gospels
and the book of Romans, which follows. At the end of the gospels
we find a handful of Jews gathered in Jerusalem talking about
a kingdom to come to Israel. In the book of Romans we find an
apostle who is not even mentioned in the gospels and who was
not one of the twelve, writing to a band of Christians in the
capital city of Rome, talking about going to the ends of the
earth. The book of Acts tells us how this happened and why this
change occurred."
- Romans, Series I, 27 messages,
(3-37). Available until recently only in printed form, this
sermon series is now available on this web site through the help
of Ben Whitney. This early series is of historical importance
to us at PBC and it shows how Ray Stedman could preach more than
once on a book of the Bible and never say the same thing twice.
- Romans, Series II, 39 messages,
(Book in print) (3501-3539) During his 40-year ministry at
PBC Ray preached through this monumental epistle three times
with great thoroughness. "I don't know any letter that is
more fundamental and foundational than Paul's letter to the Romans.
It is unquestionably the greatest of all of Paul's letters and
the widest in its scope. It is most intent and penetrating in
its insight into the understanding of truth; therefore, it is
one of the books of the New Testament that every Christian ought
to be thoroughly familiar with. If you haven't mastered the book
of Romans and aren't able to think through this book without
a Bible before you, then I urge you to set that as your goal.
Master the book of Romans---be so acquainted with it that you
can outline it and think of its great themes without a Bible
open before you. That requires reading it and studying it and
thinking it through in careful detail. I think it is safe to
say that Romans probably is the most powerful human document
that has ever been penned."
- First Corinthians, 39 messages
(3571-3609) Ray called Paul's letters to the Church at Corinth
in Greece, "the Letters to the Californians," because
life in ancient Corinth was so much like that experienced in
the twentieth century in California's Silicon Valley. Ray deals
systematically with division in the church, with sexual immorality,
marriage and divorce, tongues, the nature of spiritual gifts,
the resurrection. This is a foundation series for the Christian
life. "In some ways, most remarkably, this letter is different
from all the other letters the apostle wrote. Most of them began
with a rather lengthy doctrinal section in which he is teaching
great truth, and close with a practical section in which he applies
what he is teaching. But here, right from the very beginning,
he plunges into the problems of the church, and intersperses
a kind of practicality of doctrine with revelations of truth
throughout the letter."
- Second Corinthians, 23
messages, (3676-3698) The Second Letter reveals the secrets
of the ministry. Ray frequently taught other pastors and his
own staff great principles of ministry using this great letter
from the pen of Paul. "A Christian, of course, is not simply
one who joins a Christian church. Many people feel that that
is the criterion, but it is not. There are millions of church
members in this country today who are not Christians. Nor does
adhering to a certain moral standard in your life, or the fact
that you consistently read the Bible make you a Christian. The
thing that really marks it is if Jesus Christ is living in you.
A true Christian is someone in whom Christ dwells. And the person
in whom Christ dwells will have certain inescapable evidence
of that fact given to him or her. That is what Paul is suggesting
we ask ourselves. Do we have the evidence that Jesus Christ lives
in us? Has a fundamental change occurred at the very depths of
our being? It is actually the question, of course, 'Are you really
born again?' That is a term that has fallen into wrong use these
days. Many people who merely change their actions for a little
while are said to be 'born again.' People are using that term
about everything today. But this is the question that Paul is
asking, 'Are you truly and permanently different because Jesus
Christ has come to live within you?'"
- Colossians, 12 messages (4019-4030)
As Ephesians addresses the Christian's life "in Christ,"
the theme of Colossians is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Paul opens the letter with a magnificent description of Christ
as the Creator of the universe, the Head of the Church and the
Heir of all things. "At first glance it is hard to tell
who are the Christians in this world. They are ordinary looking
men and women, boys and girls. But according to the Scriptures,
and in actual experience, confirmed again and again in many of
our lives, being a Christian means we have an extra dimension
to life. There is a hidden resource, an invisible reality, which
the world does not have and cannot see. This is not referring
to Christ being 'up in heaven,' lost in space somewhere! Rather,
this refers to what Paul has talked about earlier in this letter,
"Christ in you, the hope of glory." This extra dimension
is not far removed in the reaches of space; it is right within
the heart, an untouchable, invisible dimension within us. This
is the glory of the Christian life and the secret of its power,
joy and courage. If you have not discovered this yet as a Christian
you have not yet begun to live as you can and should. This is
what puts a smile on a Christian's face, even though he or she
is in trouble."
- Ephesians, 31 messages, parts
in books, (98-133, 3001-3017) Over the years Ray preached
several series of messages which are all collected together in
this file. Some of Ray's richest teaching on the ministry of
all God's people, spiritual gifts and spiritual warfare are found
in these messages. The overall theme concerns the riches of the
Christian's heritage in Christ. "This is a revolutionary
age. The hurricane winds of change are everywhere blowing in
our world. The race seethes with unrest and lawless rebellion.
What are Christians to do in this hour? Should we surrender the
greatest revolutionary message the world has ever heard, which
can come to it from no other source, and content ourselves with
doing what any worldling can do? Shall we become nothing more
than another political action group, or succumb to the fallacy
that change, any kind of change, represents progress? God forbid!
What the apostle desires is that we heed our calling, that we
renew our commitment to the Lord who is behind all things to
become individually responsible to tell this radical, revolutionary,
life-transforming, life-changing good news throughout society;
that we should invade commercial and industrial life, education
and learning, the arts and family life, morals and government
with this tremendous, unequaled message. Ask any Christian what
is the greatest thing that ever happened to him in his life.
Without hesitation he will reply, when he came to know Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior. Then the second question naturally
follows, what is the greatest thing he can tell anybody? How
to come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour! Christians
are not to witness in arrogance and rudeness, not in holier-than-thou
smugness, not in sanctimonious presumption, and certainly not
against the continual background of ugly church fights and harshness
and sharpness between Christian and Christian."
- First and Second Thessalonians,
12 messages, (Book in print) (4089-4100) The main theme of
these two letters of the Apostle Paul concerns the second coming
of Jesus Christ. The rapture of the church, the revealing of
the Man of Sin, and how Christians are to live in the light of
the approaching end of the age comprise the subject matter of
this series, "Waiting for the Second Coming." "Many
years ago, Dr. E.M. Blaiklock, who was then Professor of Classics
at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, visited our fellowship
and said something which I have never forgotten. This renowned
Biblical scholar declared: 'Of all the centuries, the twentieth
is most like the first.' We can, therefore, feel very close to
this young church in Thessalonica. Many today sense an approaching
world crisis. A nervous, jittery stock market; a growing sense
of cynicism and distrust of the political process; an increase
in drug and alcohol dependency, with the resultant physical and
mental toll in human lives; scientists tinkering with our genetic
make-up and actually developing a business of selling fetal tissues;
all portend a frightening crisis looming on the horizon of our
times. Add to this the now familiar threat of AIDS, the spread
of famine in many countries, and, of course, the ever-present
threat of nuclear warfare, and it is clear that something terrible
is about to happen. We are living in a world in crisis."
- First and Second Timothy, 31
messages (3764-3794) Never yet published in book form, these
studies are packed full of help for young pastors and all those
being discipled and trained by the Lord Jesus Christ. "the
apostle is obviously seeking to open Timothy's eyes to the importance
of what he is called to do. Paul flings back the boundaries of
time and space to reveal to Timothy the unseen realities before
whom every Christian lives and labors, reminding him of the great
personages who are involved in his witness in Ephesus: 'I charge
you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge
the living and the dead,' Paul says. There is nothing more helpful
to us in the midst of pressure than to realize that what we are
doing is a very important thing; yet there is nothing harder
for us to understand about our own Christian ministry than that
fact. Like Timothy, we see ourselves as a tiny minority amidst
an overwhelming, mounting majority committed to evil and unbelief.
Our voice seems to be a mere whisper in the tumult of chaos and
the clamor of voices that speak and echo other things today.
Most of us think of ourselves and of our day to day commitment
to walk with Christ as being almost insignificant, that we are
contributing nothing to arrest the downhill slide of our day,
that we cannot speak with any impact at all against the voices
of unbelief we hear on every side...What the apostle does here
is roll back the separation between the visible and invisible
worlds and show us in whose presence we are laboring, who are
the powerful forces observing us and working with us in everything
we do and say as Christians. Paul reminds Timothy that he is
laboring in the presence of God the Father, the Creator, the
One who holds in his hands the life breath of every human being,
the One who is Sovereign over all human events. Timothy is also
reminded that he carries on his ministry in the sight of Christ
Jesus, the One who is to be the Judge of all men, before whom
every human heart is exposed, the One before whom everyone, believer
and unbeliever, must ultimately stand and give an account, although
not at the same judgment. Jesus himself said that the Father
had committed all judgment into his hands. So Timothy carries
on his ministry before the One who thoroughly understands all
of human history. This is what I hope we capture here in this
passage---a consciousness of who is watching and before whom
we labor."
- Hebrews, Series I, 14 messages
(84-97) (Book in print) (84-97) This earlier series on Hebrews
by Ray Stedman contained startling and new insights when preached
in 1965 were later put into paperback book form. His later series,
below is an entirely different series---both are outstanding.
"Hebrews is all about Christ. The introduction declares
that Christ is God's final word to man. There is nothing more
to be said, there is nothing that can be added after what Jesus
Christ has said and done. And it is utterly foolish to ignore
it, the writer says, because we cannot exist without Christ.
It is basic dishonesty to pretend we can. We are not independent
of God, as we sometimes foolishly imagine. We are not even independent
of each other. We need one another and we need God, desperately,
every moment of life. Therefore, if Christ be God, as this letter
so dearly claims, he is the inevitable One, and it is foolish
to ignore him."
- Hebrews, IVP Commentary (Book
in print) Intervarsity Press commissioned Ray Stedman to
write The IVP New Testament Commentary Series on Hebrews, Grant
R. Osborne, series editor. This book---published in 1992---is
now online, with kind thanks to the publisher. Intrducting this
book Ray wrote, "The epistle to the Hebrews begins as dramatically
as a rocket shot to the moon. In one paragraph, the writer breathtakingly
transports his readers from the familiar ground of Old Testament
prophetic writings, through the incarnation of the Son (who is
at once creator, heir and sustainer of all things and the fullest
possible manifestation of deity), past the purifying sacrifice
of the cross to the exaltation of Jesus on the ultimate seat
of power in the universe. It is a paragraph daring in its claims
and clearly designed to arrest the reader's attention and compel
a further hearing."
- First John, 34 messages (134-168)
Ray mined the deep truths of the Apostle John's First Epistle
in a series of 34 sermons. "Peter...was called as a fisherman,
and we are told in the Gospels that the moment of his call occurred
when the Lord found him casting a net into the sea. That work
of fishing for men is characteristic of the Apostle Peter. He
is always beginning things, initiating new programs. To him was
committed the keys of the kingdom by which he could open the
door to the new things God was introducing. On the day of Pentecost
he used one of those keys and as a result caught 3,000 fish in
his gospel net. You find that characteristic of this man all
through his written ministry. To the Apostle Paul, however, was
committed a different task. When Paul was called he was a tentmaker.
He made things. He built things. This, then, was the ministry
committed to the Apostle Paul. He is a builder. He not only lays
the foundation but he builds upon it. He calls himself "a
wise master-builder" and to this man, this mighty Apostle,
was committed the task of building the great doctrinal foundation
upon which the Christian faith rests. But John is different than
both of these. When John was called he was found mending his
nets. John is a mender. His written ministry comes in after the
church has been in existence for several decades and at a time
when apostasy had begun to creep in. There was need of a voice
to call people back to the original foundations and that is the
ministry of the Apostle John. He calls men back to truth. When
we begin to drift, when some false concept creeps into our thinking
or into our actions, it is John who is ordained of the Lord to
call us back, to mend the nets and to set things straight."
- Revelation, 23 messages,
(Book in print) (4189-4211) Since the Ray Stedman library
went online in May 1995, more people have accessed Ray's series
of sermons from the book of Revelation than any other set of
messages. Preached in 1989-90, these sermons were subsequently
edited by James Denney and are available in book form. Ray begins
his study with these words, "The author is not John, the
apostle, as many suppose, though John is certainly involved in
giving us this book. The author is God himself! Notice the words,
'The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him.' This book
began among the Godhead, and God, the Father, is its author.
He revealed the book to his Son. It all began in the mind of
the Father and then was revealed to Jesus, his Son. Remember
that in Matthew 24: 36 Jesus said that though he understood many
of the events of the last days, he did not know the time when
it would all happen. He said that knowledge belonged only to
the Father. Now, of course, risen and glorified, he knows all
these things, but at that time he did not know. It had not yet
been revealed to him when these events would occur. But now Jesus
is given this revelation and he passes it on to an angel who
in turn makes known by symbols to John the apostle what is in
the mind of God, and eventually it comes to us. This means this
book is unique in the Bible. No other book was given in quite
this way. It comes from the mind of God the Father, through the
agency of the Son of God, to an angel of God, and thus to the
apostle of God, John the writer of this book."
Topical Expository Studies
- Prayers of the Old Testament,
11 messages (DP# 3735-3745) Studies of eleven great prayers
found in the Old Testament. An excellent introduction to the
eternal verities of the believer's access to an unchanging God
through prayer, in any age. "Prayer, basically, is simplyconversation
with God. There are always only two people represented in true
prayer, you and God, and no one else. Others may be present...There
can be two hundred people, or, as here this morning, many hundreds
of people present, but real prayer is always a conversation directly
between a single human being and God himself. There are many
kinds of prayer we could talk about and will be talking about
in the course of these studies. We will look at intercession,
thanksgiving, supplication and various forms of petition, etc.,
but fundamental to them all is simply a conversation, a dialogue
between an individual and God."
- The Christian and Moral Conditions,
6 messages (78-83) Central issues of the family, insights
into sex in marriage, the differences between the sexes, single
life as a Christian, and common issues faced by young people.
Ray says, "This message begins a series on the general theme
'The Christian and Moral Conditions' in which we shall take a
square and forthright look at the moral conditions of our day,
the powerful forces behind them, and what the Bible has to say
on this theme. I hope this will prove to be practical, enlightening
and helpful. I shall begin with what I consider to be the heart
of the whole matter: the home. Never before in all history has
there been such a concerted, world-wide, all-out assault upon
the home. As an amateur student of history, I know there have
been many times in the past where conditions as we see them today
have combined to destroy the home life of a nation, but never
before on such a world-wide compass has this taken place. The
family is the oldest institution known to man. It is coexistent
with the human race, and predates by considerable time the other
great institutions of humanity---human government, the school,
and the church."
- The Tongues Question, 4 messages
(41-43, 43S) Ray thoroughly analyses the Biblical gift of
speaking in tongues, the Biblical guidelines for exercising this
gift, and how to distinguish the true gift from false tongues-speaking.
- The Christian and his Possessions,
5 messages (68-72) The proper use of money and resources.
Principles of Christian giving. "Some of you here feel unloved.
I know you do, you have said so. You feel that your life is lacking
in this essential ingredient to make it worthwhile, rich, warm.
Your lives are barren and cold and a burden to you and a burden
to others because of the missing element of love. Now I suggest
you try, then, this simple formula that the Apostle gives. Sow
love and you will reap love. You who feel that love is lacking,
find someone around you and begin to help. An overworked mother,
perhaps, who never gets a chance to get away from the continual
demands of a brood of children. Take those children and baby
sit them for an hour or two and let her have a free moment. Find
an underprivileged child and send him to camp this summer, pay
his way. Think of some exhausted Sunday School teacher who has
been laboring for years without relief in taking care of your
children and relieve her for the summer. Take a lonely missionary
who is hungering for word from someone, write to him and supply
his need, both emotional and material. And when you have finished
that deed, turn and find another. This is the simple formula
for blessing. Sow! You cannot reap unless you sow. And he who
shows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows abundantly will
reap abundantly. Jesus said it, 'Give and it shall be given unto
you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over, shall men give into your bosom.' This is the law of life."
- Christian Relationships,
4 messages (130-133) From the book of Ephesians, studies
concerned with authority: husbands and wives, parents and children,
employers and employees.
- Treasures of the Parables,
12 messages (371-382) Studies in the Parables of Jesus, from
Matthew and John. "The parables are very exciting and challenging
portions of scripture. They are like mystery novels; there is
always something secret about them, something hidden; thus they
are enticing, challenging. There are clues given in each of the
parables to lead us to the meaning of it. This is God's way of
stimulating us to investigate and discover a hidden truth which
will be a real treasure to us, enriching our lives in fantastic
ways when we act upon it. The study of the parables can be as
exciting as reading a mystery novel---even more so---because
you are always involved in the parable and there is a treasure
to be found at the end."
- Guidelines for the Home,
6 messages, (3021-3026) Sermons primarily from the Law of
Moses (Deuteronomy) concerning principles of family and community
life for Christians. In Ray's words, "As you know, ignorance
and confusion abounds on every side in the whole matter of what
homes ought to be like, what parents ought to do, and how they
ought to handle the raising of children. We are torn between
conflicting schools of thought in the world of psychology and
psychiatry. Authorities in this area do not speak with one voice
at all. Some advocate strong discipline and directive control
of the growing experiences of children. Others say no, we ought
to remove all restrictions and let them express themselves fully,
and this will produce what we're after; parental limitations
only hinder and abort the whole process. Most of us don't know
which to believe, and so we do perhaps the worst thing of all---we
drift uneasily and uncertainly between these extremes. But today
many are asking for guidelines from the Scriptures, and I am
so glad that is true. We are recognizing once again that we must
come back to the wisdom and authority of the word of God... Once
again we are driven back to face what the Scriptures have been
saying all along---that there is no substitute for a home, that
the home is the place where all this needs to be done, and that
it is not in a school or an institution of any sort."
- Behind the Scenes of History
(Matthew 13), 9 messages, Book in print, (452-460) Secrets
of God's workings in history as found in the Parables of Jesus,
Matthew 13. "We might call it the 'Sermon on the Sea.' Jesus
gave three great messages which are recorded in Matthew: the
Sermon on the Mount...the Sermon on the Sea...and the Olivet
Discourse...The passage in Matthew 13 is less well-known than
the Olivet Discourse. It consists of seven parables which our
Lord told all in one day. In them he traces not the events of
history but the principles which affect all of human life during
what we call the present age, the age between his comings. I
propose that we study these great parables very carefully, relating
them to their corresponding fulfillments in history. So we are
not finished with history in the Bible yet. We are going to look
at history in the light of what Jesus has revealed will be the
governing factors of human life during this period. We will see
history then as God sees it. All of us are familiar with history
as man sees it---the rather meaningless jumble of kings and empires,
presidents and wars, discoveries, betrayals and exploitations,
etc., which constitute what we call the record of history. That
is at best a very twisted and distorted view of history. But
in these seven parables we want to look at God's view of history,
at the great, meaningful, effective forces which are at work
in human lives to bring about the events that we see recorded
in our newspapers and history books."
- Secrets of the Spirit (John's
Gospel), 12 messages, Book in print, (3121-3132) Great lessons
Jesus taught his disciples in the Upper Room Discourse on the
night He was betrayed and sent to the cross. "This passage
takes us into the intimate thoughts of Jesus just before the
crucifixion. Some have called this the holy of holies of Scripture.
That is, if you think of Scripture as a temple, then this is
the sanctuary, in which you come into the very presence of God
himself. By means of his words to his disciples, we are permitted
here to enter into the thinking and emotions of Jesus just before
his own crucifixion. Within hours of this event the Lord was
hanging upon a cross. In less than twenty-four hours he was dead
and buried. These therefore constitute the last words of Jesus
before his own death."
- Bread from Heaven, with David
Roper, 4 messages, (3297-3300) Four messages on Jesus as
the Bread of Life. "Then what is the work of God? The work
of God is to change people. That is what God is here for. That
is what he sent the Lord for---to change people. God's work is
to take an impatient aggressive businessman who is out only to
make money for his own purposes and to advance his own style
of living, and change him into a compassionate, patient man who
learns how to think of others and to work for their good as well
as his own. Now that takes power. The work of God is to take
a shrewish, mean-tempered woman who yells at her kids and screams
at her husband, and turn her into a patient, loving wife who
learns how to handle her husband and family in love. That is
the work of God. Do you know that the nations of this earth have
been laboring for centuries to find a power that can do those
simple things? No power has been found that can do these things.
All our vast, expensive educational systems cannot do them. We
have ample testimony to that, haven't we? But God, at work in
a human being, can change him, make him new and fresh and different,
and help him to act in ways that ordinarily he would not act.
That is the work of God."
- Jesus Teaches on Prayer, 12
messages, (56-67) A wonderful series on New Testament prayers
drawn from the Gospels." Beyond the things which science
can measure and weigh and analyze, beyond this cold, impersonal
universe which appears about us, Jesus says, is a Father's heart.
Around us are a Father's arms and we are to cry out to him, for
in Christ his voice has already called to us. We are to answer
like a child crying out to his father. For, like a child, we
do not always know what is wrong with us. Helmut Thielicke suggests
that sometimes a child can only look at his mother with great,
appealing eyes and cannot say what is wrong but his mother usually
knows, for she takes hold at the right place. Like a father pitieth
his children, the Scripture says, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him and cry out to him when they are in trouble, even though
they may cry out about the wrong thing. Nevertheless, when we
cry out a Father hears and a Father's strength moves to act on
our behalf."
- Man of Faith: The Life of Abraham,
19 messages, (3656-3674) "Abraham's life beautifully
portrays the truth of justification by faith; Isaac is the man
who teaches us what it means to be a son, a child of God; Jacob's
life is designed to show us how God works in sanctification to
deliver us from the reigning power of sin; and Joseph is a most
beautiful picture of what it means to be glorified by resurrection
and thus enter into the challenging and exciting task that awaits
the day of the manifestation of the sons of God. Perhaps the
clearest and most helpful of all these Old Testament portraits
is the record of Abraham's life, beginning in distant Ur of the
Chaldees, and ending at last in the cave of Machpelah near Hebron,
in Canaan. Abraham is clearly the pattern man of faith. Again
and again, in the New Testament, he is held up in our view as
the example of how God works in the life of a man to fulfill
his promises of grace. He is obviously chief of all the heroes
of faith recorded in Hebrews 11, and in addition to the Christian
faith, two of the great religions of the earth hold him in high
esteem."
- Spiritual Warfare: The Battle
of Life, 9 messages (0286-0291, 0528-0529) A comprehensive
series of spiritual warfare studies from 2 Corinthians 10 and
from Colossians.
- "What's This World Coming
to?"---The Olivet Discourse "How would you like
to know the future? Who does not want to lift, if possible, the
curtain that hides the things to come, and read the future as
well as he can the past? Many are trying it today with varying
degrees of success, but the only book with a batting average
of 1.000 is the Bible. That's one of the things that makes it
such a fascinating book. It is always up-to-date and filled with
the most pertinent, often exciting information. In fact, it is
more than up-to-date-it is ahead of the times. There are many
predictive passages in both Old and New Testaments, but none
is clearer or more detailed than the messaged delivered by Jesus
himself as he sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city
of Jerusalem during the turbulent events of his last week before
the cross. These words have immense significance for us for they
are a revelation of the ultimate fate of earth. From his point
in time (about A.D. 32) he looks ahead to foretell the destruction
of the city of Jerusalem and the disturbances connected with
that singular event. He looks on across the centuries and outlines
the perils that lie between his first and second coming, thus
describing the very age in which we live. He looks past the present
day to that time which he calls "the end of the age"
and sets its events before us in searing and vivid detail, culminating
in his own return to earth and the ushering in of a new day."
Single Messages
Gems of Theology
- Who is God? What is Time? Two concise
short statements on the nature of God and the nature of time.
This file includes a late, popular photo of Ray Stedman.
Doctrinal Topics
- Authentic Christianity Ray's
most popular book, "Authentic Christianity" builds
on the theme of this sermon differentiating between true and
false Christianity. "Everyone is born into this world operating
on the Old Covenant, as contrasted with the New, which we can
learn when we become a Christian. Now being a Christian does
not mean that you automatically operate in the New Covenant.
That is why you find Christians who are just as mixed up, just
as torn up inside, just as unable to handle life as non-Christians
are. Though they are Christians they have not learned the value
of being a Christian. They have not learned how to operate on
the New Covenant, which they have available to them in the Lord
Jesus. They are still operating, for the most part, on the Old
Covenant. That is what is fouling up their lives...The New Covenant
Paul describes consists of this: nothing coming from us, everything
from God...It is God at work in us that makes us act and produce
this kind of living, if we are going to do it at all. If that
is the New Covenant, what do you think the Old Covenant is?'Everything
coming from us; nothing coming from God.' At any given moment
you are operating as a Christian on one or the other of those
two. You never can draw from both at once. Jesus said so: 'No
man can serve two masters. Either he will love the one and hate
the other or cling to one and despise the other.' You cannot
cling to both; you cannot draw from both. The only time you have
to live is right now. The present is all there is; the future
is not yet come; the past is gone. You only can live in the present,
and therefore the present moment is either being lived in the
Old Covenant or the New, but not both."
- A Pastor's Authority (DP #3500)
Pastors are God's servants, not mini-popes or overlords according
to Ray in this article originally written for Moody Monthly.
'"Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord
it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them,'
Jesus said to his disciples, 'but it shall not be so among you!'
Rather than being lords, he went on to say, disciples are to
be servants of one another and the greatest is the one who is
servant of all (Mark 10:42-43). By these words Jesus indicates
that an entirely different system of government than that employed
by the world should prevail among Christians. Authority among
Christians is not derived from the same source as worldly authority,
nor is it to be exercised in the same manner. The world's view
of authority places men over one another, as in a military command
structure, a business executive hierarchy, or a governmental
system...But as Jesus carefully stated, "...it shall not
be so among you." Disciples are always in a different relationship
to one another than worldlings are. Christians are brothers and
sisters, children of one Father, and members one of another.
Jesus put it clearly in Matthew 23:8, 'One is your Master, and
all you are brethren.' Throughout twenty centuries the church
has virtually ignored these words..."
- Legalism (525) A foundational
study for Christians on the issue of liberty versus license.
Ray shows that legalism tends to take different forms from one
generation to the next, but is an issue every Christian needs
to understand to maintain a healthy walk with our Lord Jesus.
"The flesh is the old life, the natural life inherited from
Adam, with its apparent resources of personality, of ancestry,
of commitment, of dedication, and so forth. You can do all kinds
of religious things in the flesh. The flesh can preach a sermon.
The flesh can sing in the choir. The flesh can act as an usher.
The flesh can lead people to Christ. Did you know that? The flesh
can go out and be very zealous in its witnessing and amass a
terribly impressive list of people won to Christ, scalps to hang
on a belt. The flesh can do these things but it is absolutely
nauseating in the eyes of God. It is merely religious activity.
There is nothing wrong with what is being done, but what is terribly
wrong is the power being relied upon to do it. That is legality."
- The Christian and Worldliness
(2) The Christian must live "in the world but not of
the world." Ray draws distinctions between a faith than
is diluted, compromised and weakened by adoption of the value
of the prevailing cultural versus Christian isolationism in which
believers are so separated from the world they are unable to
be used effectively by the Lord as salt and light in society.
"Then let's be done with nursery stuff. Let's be done with
kindergarten, with playing children's games. We've a man's job
to do in this world. We're co-laborers with God. Do you know
what that means? We're to supply the hands and feet and the voices
that He needs today. Every day should see us at the task of binding
up the broken-hearted; of bringing sight to the poor, sightless,
blinded creatures that live next door to us; of leading thirsty
men and women to the waters of Life; of bringing beauty for ashes
and the oil of joy for mourning and bringing happiness and harmony
into the desolate homes that are all about us today."
- How God Uses Government "Nations
live by pursuing truth and love; they die by self deceit, by
bigotry and injustice, and especially by ungodliness, pride,
and self-sufficiency. It would be a serious mistake to blame
governmental agents as having ultimate responsibility for a nation's
destiny. It has been said that every nation gets the government
it deserves. Final responsibility, therefore, rests with the
individuals that make up a nation. 'No man is an island,' and
every one of us is responsible for the influence we exert upon
our neighbors, our community, our city, county, state, and national
governments. The ultimate issue is our own personal godliness.
Do we 'Fear God, and honor the king?' Do we, in the great words
of Micah, 'Do justice . . . love kindness, and. . . walk humbly
with [our] God?' (Micah. 6:8, RSV). The hand of doom rests upon
any people who deliberately refuse to hear and heed the Word
of God. Ultimately, judgment will come. No political manipulation
can avert it. No partial compromise will delay it, no defiance
will evade it. There will come at last, as to ancient Judah,
some eleventh year, ninth month, and fourth day, when a breach
shall be made in the walls of the city, and the inhabitants shall
be led forth into captivity and death."
- The Scars of Sin (279) All
sin can be forgiven giving the follower of Jesus Christ a fresh,
new start in life. In this important message Ray shows that all
sin has serious and ongoing consequences that can not be avoided.
- Ten Propositions Concerning War
This study is one of Ray's finest and most thorough Bible studies
on the causes of war, God's purposes in allowing war, and the
proper Christian attitude and responsibility to government and
to military service in time of war. Includes a discussion of
nuclear warfare.
- On Dispensationalism (526)
This foundational paper discusses Ray's theological position
as a "modified dispensationalist." "...you can't
study the Bible without realizing that undoubtedly there are
time distinctions which must be recognized. God hasn't always
done everything with man in the same way. There has been a progressive
unfolding of truth across the course of history, and we must
recognize the various steps God took in that process. All Bible
students recognize this. Therefore, in some sense, all Bible
students who take the Bible seriously are dispensationalists.
You are, for instance. You don't bring a goat or a sheep to church
to offer as a sacrifice, which indicates that you are a dispensationalist,
because you understand that those requirements have now passed
away and God isn't demanding this of men any longer. I doubt
if you have a tree in your back yard which you feel forbidden
to eat the fruit of. Yet Adam and Eve had such a tree. This marks
a difference, a change of 'dispensations' since that time. And
we gather for church services on Sunday morning, instead of on
Friday evening as the Old Testament saints did. This marks a
recognition of God's differing dealings with men---a change of
'dispensations.'"
- Should a Woman Teach in Church?
(3260) A clear and thoughtful position which defends the
right of women to teach in church, subject to certain scriptural
guidelines. Affirms the basic equality of women in the priesthood
of all believers, in their possession of the principal spiritual
gifts, and the calling of women to teach.
- The Authority of the Word (73)
"...scripture does not need to be defended, but simply declared.
Charles Spurgeon's classic maxim puts it very forcefully. He
said, 'The Bible is like a lion. Who ever heard of defending
a lion? Just turn it loose, it will defend itself.' And so will
Scripture! I must confess that I have totally changed my view
on the place of apologetics in the defense of faith. I once thought
that apologetics, the science of the defense of scripture, was
especially needed to answer the skeptic and the agnostic. I remember
how I would turn to archaeology, to logic, or to some of the
scientific confirmations of scripture to try and convince a skeptic
that the Word was true. But I have learned to do differently...I
know now that it was a mistake to ask the question in the first
place. Why should I ask whether they believe the Bible is the
word of God? How could I expect them to believe it? It is only
the Christian who can have the necessary proof that this is the
word of God for he has believed it enough to put it to the test.
Therefore, to make this whole matter of the inspiration of the
Scriptures a fundamental of the faith that someone must agree
to before he can become a Christian is absolutely wrong. It is
putting the cart before the horse. No, all that is necessary
is to use the Scriptures. If it is the word of God it will confirm
itself. It will have in itself inherent authority."
- Finding the Will of God (76)
A foundational study from I Thessalonians Chapter 4 showing that
the will of God for the Christian's life is not a road map concerning
education, career, marriage, activities and the like, but rather
a program designed to produce wholeness and well-roundedness
in preparation for the kingdom of God. "I tell you, it takes
power to live today. You know that, do you not? Out in the business
world, with its sharp practices and its easy morality, in the
social world, with its constant emphasis upon the gratification
of the flesh, in all the areas of our life it takes power to
live today. But it is not your power, it takes God's power. His
is the only adequate power. And let me add this, the times in
which we are living are rapidly weeding out the phonies! If we
have not learned what the will of God is in terms of our experience,
all the facades that we have erected for others to see will come
crashing in utter ruins at our feet as the pressure of the times
mounts and exposes the rotten fabric of our lives."
- The Lord and His Church (3)
A foundational study on the church as the Body of Christ with
Christ as living Head. The role of Elders. Forms of church government
are compared and critiqued.
- Man in Three Worlds (74) "The
issue is: What is the relationship between learning-the knowledge
of man-and the revelation of scripture? Are there contradictions
between modern science and the word of God? Can the Bible compete
with modern knowledge today?" A study from I Corinthians
Chapter 1.
- Christian's Unabridged (75)
"... it is the yoke of Jesus Christ that makes life worth
living. It is as we submit to his control that we discover we
can step out into a world of adventure and glory, a world where
every day is a new experience, a new adventure of faith, an exciting
time when every contact is filled with utmost possibilities,
where you never know what is going to happen next, and life is
filled with meaning and richness."
- The Point of No Return (77)
Moving forward in Christian experience. "May the wonderful
truth that God is deeply concerned about your life...lay hold
of your heart and move you to possess your possessions, to move
in and lay hold of what God has for you."
- Tell it to the Church (Church
Discipline) (3952) The weighty matters of church discipline
as outlined in Matthew 18 are considered---and sensitively applied
to a specific situation---in this great classic message.
- The Meaning of Baptism (278)
A foundational teaching message on what it means to be placed
into the Body of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit at the
time of our conversion. Discusses water baptism, infant baptism,
and includes questions and answers.
- Doing What Comes Unnaturally (4)
This is a foundational sermon comparing and contrasting Law and
Grace. "There is still one final misunderstanding. This
is the idea that it is quite optional whether a Christian lives
by law or grace. That is, if grace is found too difficult or
demanding, the Lord will accept sincere legalism. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Legalism is sin! If you discover it
in your heart, you ought to be down on your face before God repenting
and confessing the thing. It is corrupting; it is vile; it is
disturbing; it destroys the unity of the Spirit and produces
the works of the flesh in your life. Paul calls it leaven, and
he treats it as evil in the extreme. Ignorance of grace is called
weakness in the Scripture. Such a one is expected to grow, to
develop and learn something better; but a deliberate failure
to live under grace when you know better, is called falling from
grace. It is called deceit; it is called vain jangling; it is
called empty talk. You are considered unruly and disobedient
as Christians. We could sum it all up by simply saying it is
impossible to please God by legality. He can be pleased only
by grace."
- The Supreme Need for Fruitbearing
(1) First of Ray's published sermon discusses the controversial
passage which opens Hebrews 6. Ray shows that the test of genuine,
saving faith will be a life that produces the fruit of the spirit.
- A Proper Patriotism (3215) A
sermon on prayer and fasting based on God's words to Solomon
concerning righteousness in national life and government, "...if
my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Ray says, "I believe God answers prayers. I believe there
are many, many instances today, in the past, and in the scriptures
that encourage us to pray that God will move behind the scenes
of a nation's history. By praying, we exercise a true patriotism
by upholding the leaders of government, that we may lead quiet
and peaceable lives, that the gospel may have access to the land
in which we live. Linked with prayer, throughout the scriptures,
is the subject of fasting in hours of special crisis in a nation's
history. I know many people feel uneasy about fasting...The purpose
of fasting is to afflict our souls. Fasting is something that
prepares us. It does not do anything for God; it is not something
that he requires in order to act. It is something that helps
us... Fasting is not a way of winning Brownie points with God...
Neither is fasting an ascetic practice. It is a way of bringing
yourself to the place of bankruptcy. It makes you feel your helplessness
before God more thoroughly, and it enables you, therefore, in
all honesty, openness, and sincerity, to call upon his omnipotence
for aid."
- When Stones Cry Out (3135) "The
greatest truth which God has to impart to man, I am convinced
from my study of the Scriptures, is what the Bible calls 'the
New Covenant', the new arrangement for living which God has made
possible to his people. We are not merely to try to do our best
to serve Christ, to mobilize all our human resources and put
them at his disposal...This great truth is able to transform
people, to transform congregations, and to turn the church into
a powerful army, '...bright as the sun, terrible as an army with
banners,' able to accomplish tremendous things. But the New Covenant
has been relegated to silence in so many parts of the church."
- How to Kill a Lion on a Snowy Day
(3136) In a sermon drawn from on incident in the life of
King David, Ray discusses severe trials that come to all believers
at times. "Those who go through heartaches, pressure, problems,
tribulation, always emerge, when they are in God's hand, softened,
chastened, mellowed, more loving, warmer, more compassionate.
God is building---that is the whole point. This is the secret
of survival: God knows, God builds."
- What Price Abortion? (3460S) "The
humanist viewpoint, which views man as fundamentally an animal,
gives us no reason to even confront the question, for if man
is only another animal he can be treated like one, therefore
there is no moral or spiritual question involved. But if, as
the Bible declares, man is uniquely singled out to bear the stamp
of God's image and to be the object of Christ's redemptive love,
then destroying human life assumes moral and spiritual implications
because it brings God into the picture and we face our responsibility
to him and his unchanging laws."
- The Whole Story (0280) "To
make the invisible Christ visible, that is God's grace. The life
of Jesus Christ in us, supplied to us, living through us, ministering
to our every need, that is grace, the glory of Christianity.
If your Christianity does not have that note in it, it is a false
Christianity. That is what Christian faith is all about. 'Christ
in you, the hope of glory,' says the apostle Paul to the Colossians.
Jesus Christ proposes to clothe his life with your body and live
it again in this twentieth century as he lived it in the first
century. He will, in terms of your circumstances, be what he
was 1900 years ago on the hills of Galilee, but he will be it
where you are. That is Christianity, that is God's grace."
- The Man God Uses (281) "Here
is the man God uses consistently, continuously: the man who is
confident in the power of God, confident that God is at work,
confident that he will be at work in his life. Because this is
not just for apostles, it is for everyone. Paul said that he
was a pattern for everyone of how this Christian life works.
The first note of it is that to become confident God is at work,
that he can work, does work, and will work, and that he is quite
able to do what nothing else can do. Second, here is a man who
is constrained, moved, and is motivated, not by the need around
him but by the face before him---by the love of the Lord Jesus
and the expectation of that day when he will stand at last in
his presence and all of his life will be in review. I think it
is a salutary thing to think often of that moment. I do. What
is the Lord going to say about my life when I stand before him?
What is he going to say about yours? How much of it has been
self-centered, and how much has been risked, ventured, hazarded
for his dear sake?"
- Daring to be Different (0282)
"I would like to speak to you about daughters. I am regarded
as somewhat of an expert in this field, having four daughters
of my own. But I want to speak about daring daughters. This is
not a revelation of family secrets, nor have I been pressured
for equal time by my family. I simply wish to comment on a passage
that deals with five daughters of a man named Zelophehad, and
thus to learn lessons from the heroines of faith of the Bible...I
am stirred by these five girls. Their names have come down to
us because they were women of faith. There were many daughters
in Israel that day, among those thousands of people, but these
are the only five whose names we know, because they were women
of faith, who believed in God and claimed the inheritance that
was theirs. I trust God will lead you the same way. God calls
you to the life of faith. Do not wait for the big and daring
things for it is the little things that change the world."
- Pots, Pressures, and Power (0283)
On the nature of Christian life and ministry from 2 Corinthians,
"The cross puts to death the proud ego, that factor within
us which, when we do good, wants to blow a trumpet so everyone
can hear. Or when there is an opportunity to show off, it makes
us eager to get in line. It is that faculty within which wants
no one else to be as educated or as popular or as skillful or
as beautiful as I, that faculty which resents it when another
is chosen for what I want...It is the thing which struggles to
be the center of my life, and expresses itself in self-excuse,
self-pity, self-indulgence, and self-assertion, the ego which
seeks constantly to be ministered to. This is what the cross
puts to death. And the secret of experiencing the life of Jesus
is an attitude which welcomes the cross and gladly consents to
having the ego crucified within us, put to death, allowed no
expression, allowed no place of indulgence in our life. When
we do that, then the life of Jesus becomes manifest immediately,
and shines out."
- On Living Together (0284) A
message on living together as Christians in community, from Luke
17. "When we get home he will be waiting for us. He will
gird himself and say, 'Sit down at my table,' and the Lord himself
will come and serve us. That is what God is saying to us. What
a wonderfully balanced approach to life we have in these words
of Jesus! How awesome is the sense of our responsibility for
others! It is better to be hanged with a millstone and be drowned
in the sea than to be a source of error to somebody else. How
demanding is this need for understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness
of each other when we do things that are wrong, even forgiving
seven times in a day! But God has given us all that it takes.
He has planted in our hearts a faith which looks to him for the
answer, which asks of him and he will give us all it takes to
do this, if we are ready to begin where we are, to move in that
direction, trusting him to come through with what is needed.
Then he cancels out the spiritual pride that threatens to derail
us. Thus he balances our life and keeps us useful, worthy, profitable
servants, doing that which he commands."
- Secret Growth (0285) Principles
of church ministry from experience in the early years at PBC.
"How encouraging it ought to be to us that this seed grows
secretly both in our lives and in the entire world. God has not
failed, and the church has not failed. It cannot fail. Oh, there
is a lot of scaffolding and physical structure, a lot of human
organization and trappings all around the church, which we have
falsely identified as the church, that is rotting and crumbling
and falling to pieces. But this is not the building God is building
in this age, nor the seed that he sowed and is producing. That
seed is growing unto harvest, exactly as the Lord Jesus said.
It will increase as you allow that seed to be planted in your
own heart, and God will give the increase."
- Life's Greatest Choice (0276)
"What do you say to that King? l don't know what he is saying
to you first. I don't know the immediate thing he is saying.
He may be saying to some of you, "First, go and sell what
you have." I don't know. Only you know what he is saying
about the preliminary. You must ask yourself, "What stands
between me and Christ? Whatever it is, get rid of it. Sweep it
away. Cut it off. Is it your right hand? Cut it off. Is it your
right eye? Pluck it out. Get rid of it. It is too costly. It
will keep you from the most important thing in your life. Get
rid of it. But above all, come and follow him."
- The Secrets of God (3000) "Now,
let me say something out of the depths of my pastoral heart...
You will never be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God...You
will never be able to help another. You will never be able to
demonstrate these secrets in your own life until you personally
begin to dig deeper into the Scriptures yourself, and find them
out for yourself. It is only as you take these guidelines and
begin to translate them into your own terms, into your situation,
in your home, where you live, that these truths begin to come
alive, and the community starts sitting up and taking notice
that here indeed are people who have learned to live in a wholly
different way. Only thus can we become faithful stewards of the
mysteries of God. The ultimate demonstration is what takes place
down in the hurly burly of life, right in the blood and the sweat
and the tears of the marketplace and the home and the school
and wherever we are. This is what makes me know the Scriptures
are the word of God. They solve the problems of life, explain
its puzzles."
- The Power You Already Have (4308)
(Ray's Last sermon at PBC) "...I will point out some
of the wonderful things this power can do. First of all, the
Scripture tells us that it is power to face our inner hurts and
fears. I find so many people locked up by dwelling on their past.
It helps to know your past and to look back on it; I am not disparaging
that. But once you know the things that set you on a wrong path,
you also have to remember that the Scripture says that we are
to forget the things that are past and press on because we are
new creatures in Christ Jesus. We are no longer what we once
were, and therefore we can set aside that past, having once faced
it and seen its impact upon us. We can set it aside and day by
day begin to walk with God. We will discover that this power
will enable us to overcome all the dysfunctions of a bad past.
I have seen it happen many times, and it means that no dysfunctional
background can keep us from fulfilling what God wants.
Second, it is power to abandon evil habits. I know Christians
who are still in bondage to habits that have held them in an
iron grasp--alcoholism, drug use, an evil temper, a lustful practice
and attitude. Here is a power that can enable you to say no to
these things and to go on saying no. It can break the influence
of these things. One of Charles Wesley's great hymns includes
the words, 'He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the
prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood
availed for me.' That's the power of God."
Christmas Messages
- What Child is This? (3652) "...the
thing that is most amazing of all is to remember that all that
vast universe with its teeming millions of galaxies---it takes
hundreds of thousands of light years to cross even one of them---was
brought into being by the hand of the One who lies as a Babe
at Mary's breast in Bethlehem! That is the universal testimony
of scripture, by prediction in the Old Testament, by the statement
of the gospels, and by the declaration of the apostles afterward.
The whole of the Christian society came to recognize that great
truth that the One who lay there in Bethlehem was the Creator
of the world. He brackets all of time; Jesus stands at the end
of every path upon which every creature and every human being
who ever lived travels."
- Boils at Christmas (3137) "Job...sees
two remarkable things. He sees that the ultimate answer of God
to the agony of men is to be the coming to earth of a goel...one
who has the capacity, the ability, and the willingness to heal...hurt,
change...circumstances, and deliver...from...troubles. This is
what Job saw the coming of a goel, a kinsman-Redeemer, who would
have the strength and the ability and capacity to deliver. And
linked with this was Job's realization that this would work its
way out through a death and a resurrection. He says, 'After my
skin has been destroyed [i.e., after his body has died], then
out of [or 'apart from'] my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall
see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.'"
- The Coming of Joy (3018) "No
matter what the trial may be...we have a Savior, a Deliverer,
especially designed to handle that problem, a Savior who is with
us always. If we remember that, and look to him, he will take
us through it. He does not promise to take the problem away,
but he says he will take us through it. He will strengthen us
to face it and will give us courage and peace and joy in the
midst of it. Therefore the promise of the angel was "Do
not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy that will
be for all the people [not to everyone, automatically handed
out, but to anyone]. Today in the town of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
Easter Messages
- Life Beyond Death (295) "Let
me see if I can make clear what I am getting at. I believe this
suggests that when a believer in Jesus Christ dies he at once
experiences the coming of Christ for his Church. He steps out
of time into eternity, and since, as far as his spiritual readiness
is concerned, the next event for him is the coming of the Lord,
that is what he experiences. The moment he dies he must awaken
with the consciousness, "I've made it! I thought there might
still be some time between my death and the coming of the Lord.
But isn't it an amazing coincidence? He came just as I died!"
And, what is more amazing, in the experience of that believer
he does not leave anyone behind. All his loved ones, who know
Christ, are there, too. Even those who, in time, stand beside
his grave and weep and go home to empty homes are, in his experience,
with him in glory. Furthermore, since there is no time in eternity,
he discovers that, to his amazement, just as he reaches heaven,
so does Adam. He is raised all at once---because they together
experience this great event of the coming of the Lord for his
own...Does that stimulate your thinking a bit? Does it turn the
gears a bit? It ought to."
- A Note of Certainty "In
the days of hatred and persecution, remember Jesus Christ, risen
from the dead. When violence stalks the streets of our cities,
or should nuclear missiles roar overhead, or when despair grips
your own heart, remember that there is One who arose from the
dead and who will one day, at the time of his choosing, cause
wars to cease and sorrow to nee away (Isaiah 51:11). Men shall
melt their swords into plowshares and beat their spears into
pruning hooks, and never learn war any more (Micah 4:1-4). Then
neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more
(Revelation 21:3, 4). Meanwhile, remember that this One offers
to be in you a well of living water, from which you can drink
at any moment of need. You do not have to go back again and again
to some place or person. Rather, he is in you, as he promised
to be within the woman at the well, a well of living water springing
up into abundant, eternal life (John 4:7-30)."
- Who's Minding the Store? (3712)
"World events today seem to crowd in upon us. Tragedy, catastrophe
and crisis follow hard on the heels of one another. Just when
we had got the hostages back from Iran, the Russians threatened
to invade Poland; and while that was still a possibility, the
President was attacked. Crises seem to descend upon us without
any let-up. Crime is turning our cities into ghettos of fear
and anger. Pornography and obscenity are flung at us by the media.
We are shocked by the stories of the murder and the sexual abuse
of children. Here in the Bay Area, divorces now outnumber marriages.
Inflation robs us all. Life seems to be growing increasingly
complex and frightening. No wonder many people are asking, Is
anyone in charge? Who's minding the store? Is there any power
beyond our own feeble efforts that can control the events of
today?"
- The Death of Death (0275) An
Easter message based on Hebrews 2 which shows how it is that
Jesus Christ has conquered death on our behalf. "...Paul
does not mean by this that Jesus Christ eliminated death, because
it is still true that despite the great advancements of medical
science during the last generation or so, the death rate remains
what it has been for centuries: a flat 100%. And that includes
Christians along with everyone else. We all die. But Paul did
mean something by the words 'he abolished death.' It is probably
explained best in a passage in the second chapter of the letter
to Hebrews. There the writer speaks of Jesus, who came, he says,
to partake of the same nature that we have, 'that through death
he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the
devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject
to lifelong bondage.' It is in this way that Jesus abolishes
death. He abolishes the fear of death, removing the sting from
it and thus making it harmless."
- Follow the Leader (3701) "...surely
one of the greatest truths of all to gather around the resurrection
is this great word, 'Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.'
When you are confronted with a problem, with a struggle, with
a difficulty you do not know how to solve, one you can do nothing
about, "remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead."
That is what he is there for. Remember that God has provided
a Divine Companion, a wise Leader who has been down the path
ahead of you so he knows the way; a faithful Friend who understands
how you feel and what you are going through; a divine, omnipotent
Companion who can take you through the trial and the testing
and work it out to your ultimate benefit and good."
- The Fact of Facts (117) "...if
the resurrection is untrue, then Christianity is no better than
any pagan philosophy. In fact, Christians are to be pitied for
wasting their time in a foolish dream. Why spend time like this,
in worship and prayer? Why not be out on the golf course these
Sunday mornings, enjoying the beauty of the day? Why invest fortunes
in spreading the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth,
even denying ourselves luxuries and pleasures in order that it
might be spread? Why not lie and cheat and indulge ourselves,
like the rest of the world? Let's wheel and deal and bargain
and steal; let's go on with life and get ahead at all costs.
If Christ did not physically rise, why not forget the whole Christian
business and get on with life, throw the Book away and forget
it all? After all, Paul says, if this is not true there is nothing
to be trusted about the whole thing. If it is a pack of lies,
then we are pitiable fools if we follow it."
- A Living Hope "There is
no explanation of this strange behavior on the part of the disciples
other than the fact that Jesus was risen and he was with them.
Nobody could see him but he was there, and he was strengthening
them, helping them, and ministering to them. You could take all
these three promises that have to do with our death---the promise
of his companionship, the promise of an absence of fear, and
the promise of a greater ability to function---and you can apply
them to every single hour of life if you know Jesus Christ. Now
that is the great good news of Easter to me, that I am not left
alone to face the problems of life without help."
- The Answer to Death (3138) "I
have always regretted that the world at large oftentimes seems
to see and hear the gospel as though it is a message of hope
only in the hour of death. But of course it is far more than
that. Jesus died in order that he might live in us now, govern
and control our life, and release to us that remarkable manifestation
of power to live and act and do and be which in the Scriptures
is called "resurrection power". Nevertheless, I do
not want to minimize the great truth that when you come to death,
as all of us must---the inevitable occurrence which awaits us,
every one without exception, when, alone, you have to face that
hour---then the only place of hope is in these marvelous words
of Jesus: 'I am the resurrection and the life.' There is no hope
apart from that."
- What Difference Does it Make? (3030)
"That is what we would like to say to you today. We don't
live perfectly. The church is always a kind of clinic where people
are being healed. We are in all stages of the process of healing.
There is a deep and deadly sickness loose in humanity which tears
people up, eats out their hearts, destroys them from the inside---even
though everything looks great on the outside. But that sickness
is what Jesus came to heal. And here we are, being healed. But
we are in all stages. Some are just barely beginning, and the
evidence of disease is all over among us...But we have found
the One who has the answer, and he is working it out. It isn't
an instantaneous process---one touch and it's done. It is something
which is happening day after day, week after week, hour by hour."
Worship
- Why Worship "It is startling
to realize that everyone worships! Everybody! Everywhere! Worship
is the fundamental drive of life. Atheists worship. Infidels
worship. Skeptics worship. Even Republicans and Democrats worship.
Lawyers, insurance agents and even Internal Revenue Service agents
worship! All people worship for worship is the fundamental difference
between humans and animals. Animals do not worship. They have
no sense of the beyond or of the numinous. But God has placed
eternity in man's heart, as the book of Ecclesiastes tells us.
This urge causes men everywhere to worship. If they are not worshipping
the true God, they are worshipping a god of their own composition.
Worship, therefore, is a universal phenomenon."
- What Did We Come Here For? "The
test of true worship is threefold...First, does worship help
me experience God's presence in beauty and power in a manner
true to his word? Am I in touch with the real God? You can have
worship experiences that do not reflect the reality of God...Second,
does worship foster a sense of unity in the Body or does it damage
it? Do I go out feeling closer to my brothers and sisters, more
understanding of them, or do I go out angry and upset at them,
ready to cut them off and have nothing to do with them? The purpose
of worship is to increase the love and unity of the body. Third,
does worship motivate me to take practical steps to help others?"
- The Near East in Prophecy (270)
A summary of developing world events and Bible prophecy preached
during the six-day war in 1967. "The poet James Russell
Lowell once spoke of '..one far-off, divine event toward which
the whole creation moves.' He meant by that the second coming
of Jesus Christ to earth, the reappearance of the historic person
of Jesus of Nazareth, not as he came the first time, in humiliation
and weakness, as a man among men, but coming, as he himself declared,
as the Son of God in power and great glory to establish a kingdom
that will include the whole earth, and to rule over the nations.
This event once was far off. It seems increasingly to be closer.
There are many who feel we are perhaps drawing very near to the
time, which our Lord revealed in Scripture, when he would return
to earth again. Certain clues which he gave indicate this might
be true...From time to time it happens in human history that
the events which are recorded moment by moment on television
and radio, and day by day in our newspapers, are most sharply
and clearly commented upon in the pages of the Bible. When this
happens interest in the biblical account always revives, and
we are grateful for this."
- Are These the Last Days? (3699)
Addresses the issue that the entire time period between the First
and Second Advents of Jesus constitutes the time period known
as the "Last Days" in the Bible. "Now I urge you
to read your Bible with care and caution in these areas. If the
last days mean, as we have already seen, the full period of time
between the coming of our Lord the first time and his second
appearing on earth, then what Paul is referring to is not just
one single period when these kind of conditions will prevail
on earth, but a repeating cycle of periods that will come again
and again and again in history. There will be cycles of revolutionary
conditions ('times of stress,' the apostle calls them), they
will come again and again, and every time these occur it will
look like we are approaching the days of the return of Christ."
- The Shaking of the Earth (3134)
A study of Hebrews 12. "The Scriptures speak of a time,
as we draw near to the end, when there will be a physical shaking
of the earth. In the book of Revelation a key event, described
repeatedly throughout that book of images and visions, is a great
earthquake, so tremendous that the very foundations of the earth
are shaken and every mountain and hill is removed from its place.
That is a guide to the understanding of the book, for as you
read through those visions, you find them returning again and
again to the great earthquake which will wind up the course of
human events in this age. But when the writer of this passage
[in Hebrews 12] speaks of God's shaking of the heavens and the
earth, it is a different kind of shaking to which he is referring.
He reminds the readers that once God shook the earth when he
spoke from Mount Sinai in the giving of the Law. This was the
time when the Law, coming to man, shook the nations of the world,
shook their very foundations...And now the writer is quoting
from the prophet Haggai, reminding them that there would come
another shaking. 'Yet once more,' God says, 'I will shake not
only the earth but also the heaven.' If you look back to the
prophecy from which that was taken, you will find that Haggai
was looking forward to the coming of Messiah, the coming of Christ.
This will be the time, he says, when God will shake not only
the earth but the heavens as well. And this will be a shaking
which no one can avoid.'"
- God's Faithfulness (Israel
and the New Covenant) (7101) One of Ray's last sermons. Describes
the institution of the New Covenant by Jesus at the last supper.
The disciples were representatives of true, believing Israel
and also of the church that was to come. Ray emphasizes the eternal,
enduring faithfulness of God with respect to the nation of Israel.
Series of Four Special Seminar Messages on Bible Prophecy
- The Coming Time of Trouble
- The Coming Man of Sin
- The Coming King of Kings
- The Coming New Earth
Questions and Feedback
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