Weighed Against the Word

Don Sarazen, one of Hope Church's elders, preaches on testing everything against the Word of God. Opening with Psalm 145:1-3, he reminds us that Scripture alone is the guaranteed source of truth, and that books, songs, sermons and Christian movies must be weighed against it, like the Bereans of Acts 17:11 (2 Timothy 3:14-16; Hebrews 4:12-13). He then examines a line from a popular Christian film: 'Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn't want them turning to God.' Scripture does show that Satan blinds and deceives (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Luke 8; John 8:44) and that worldly comfort can choke the word (Luke 12; Luke 16; Matthew 13:22). But the devil allows nothing; God is sovereign. We are born in darkness and love it rather than the light (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12; John 3:19-20; Romans 1:18-20). Through his own story of a stolen wrestling jacket and of coming to Christ as a young army lieutenant, he shows that no devil can stop anyone who lays down their pride and responds to the light: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; John 1:11-12; Romans 10:9-10).

During the message, Don shared a scene from the film God's Not Dead (2014), where Mark visits his mother. The clip has been removed from this recording for copyright reasons, but the whole film is well worth watching.

Scripture: Psalm 145:1-3

Speaker: Don Sarazen