Pastor's Sermon Notes: Secondhand Sermons (series), Sermon #2 - Colonists in Christ

Series: Secondhand Sermons

AKA: Hand-Me-Down Homilies

From: The Expositor’s Antique Shoppe

Sermon #2: Colonists in Christ

Introduction:

“The Colonies” and Colonial America

Planting the flag in the name of a King and/or Queen

Planting the flag on the moon

A colony on Mars?

Outline:

I. Our Identity as Colonists in Christ

II. Our Residence as Colonists in Christ

III. Our Mentality as Colonists in Christ

Transition:

“Christians therefore are colonists, living in the dispersion in this present world.”

— Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1998), pg. 51.

I. Our Identity as Colonists in Christ (Heb. 6:5; 9:11; 10:1; Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6; Gal. 1:4; Rom. 12:2)

Heb. 6:5 — And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Heb. 9:11 — But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Heb. 10:1 — For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

 1. Christians as Eschatological Creatures

“…believers are in actual contact with the world to come and its blessings. They are eschatological creatures….these good things to come are regarded as realized by the death of Christ. The writer affirms this not only in terms of time, but also in terms of place.”

—Vos, op. cit., pg. 50.

2. Christians as Colonists

“Christians therefore are colonists, living in the dispersion in this present world.”

— Vos, op. cit., pg. 51.

Phil. 3:20 — For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Eph. 2:6 — And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Gal. 1:4 — Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Compare the following:

1) The salt of the earth and the light of the world —

Mt. 5:13-16 — Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

2) Ambassadors for Christ —

2 Cor. 5:20 — Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Eph. 6:20 — For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

3) Strangers and pilgrims —

Heb. 11:13 — These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1 Pet. 2:11 — Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

4) Strangers in a strange land —

“Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians. The novel explores his interaction with—and eventual transformation of—terrestrial culture. The title is an allusion to the phrase in Exodus 2:22. According to Heinlein, the novel's working title was The Heretic. Several later editions of the book have promoted it as "The most famous Science Fiction Novel ever written".”

“In 2012, the US Library of Congress named it one of 88 "Books that Shaped America".”[1]

Ex. 2:22 — And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Ex. 18:3 — And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

3. Christians as Chronological Phenomena

“The Christian therefore is a peculiar chronological phenomenon.”

— Ibid.

Rom. 12:2 — And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

“To Paul, the death and resurrection of Christ are the beginning of the world to come, and of the eschatological process.”

— Ibid.

II. Our Residence as Colonists in Christ (Heb. 12:22)

Heb. 12:22 — But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

“We miss the writer’s meaning of this if we regard this as a mere metaphor. Christians are really in vital connection with the heavenly world. It projects into their lives as a headland projects out into the ocean.”

— Ibid.

“And in the second place the Christian virtue of patience is something that can spring only from true vital connection with the spiritual heavenly world. It is something entirely different from stoical apathy or resignation. If the Christian patiently endures, it is because he sees the invisible; because there is a counter-power, a counter-principle at work in his life which more than offsets by the joy it creates, the pain of tribulation. This is naught else but the power of the spiritual, heavenly world itself to which through faith he has access. Although in one sense the inheritance of this world lies yet in the future, yet in another sense it has already begun to be in principle realized and become ours in actual possession. The two spheres of the earthly and the heavenly life do not lie one above the other without touching at any point; heaven with its gifts and powers and joys descends into our earthly experience like the headlands of a great and marvelous continent projecting into the ocean.”

— Geerhardus Vos, “A Sermon on Hebrews 12:1-3” (delivered  6 APR 1902 at Princeton Theological Seminary), Kerux 1:1 (MAY 1986), pp. 4-15; on Kerux at http://www.kerux.com/doc/0101A1.asp [accessed 28 AUG 2015].

III. Our Mentality as Colonists in Christ (Heb. 13:14)

Rom. 12:2 — And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

“To Paul, the death and resurrection of Christ are the beginning of the world to come, and of the eschatological process.”

— Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews, pg. 51.

Heb. 13:14 — For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

“In principle, but in principle only, the coming age has already arrived.”

— Op. cit., pg. 52.

“This may be called a semi-eschatological state of mind. The chronological aspect of the new age is only expressive of intense conviction of its reality on the part of the early Christians. We of the present day, having lost the realism, have also lost the sense of the soonness of its culmination. To be indifferent in regard to the time of this culmination is to commit a chronological sin. The normal Christian state of mind is to pray: “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”

— Op. cit., pg. 53.

[Sermon preached 30 AUG 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Appendix: Resources by Geerhardus Vos on Hebrews

Geerhardus Vos, “Hebrews the Epistle of the Diatheke,” The Princeton Theological Review 13:4 (OCT 1915), pp. 587-632; on Princeton Theological Seminary at http://journals.ptsem.edu/id/BR1915134/dmd003 [accessed 28 AUG 2015]; reprinted in Geerhardus Vos, Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos, ed. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980), pp. 161-192.

Geerhardus Vos, “Hebrews the Epistle of the Diatheke,” The Princeton Theological Review 14:1 (JAN 1916), pp. 1-61; on Princeton Theological Seminary at

http://journals.ptsem.edu/id/BR1916141/dmd002 [accessed 28 AUG 2015]; reprinted in Geerhardus Vos, Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos, ed. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980), pp. 192-233.

Geerhardus Vos, “The Priesthood of Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” The Princeton Theological Review 5:3 (JUL 1907), pp. 423-447; on Princeton Theological Seminary at http://journals.ptsem.edu/id/BR190753/dmd004 [accessed 28 AUG 2015]; reprinted in Geerhardus Vos, Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos, ed. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980), pp. 126-143.

Geerhardus Vos, “The Priesthood of Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” The Princeton Theological Review 5:4 (OCT 1907), pp. 579-604; on Princeton Theological Seminary at http://journals.ptsem.edu/id/BR190754/dmd003 [accessed 28 AUG 2015]; reprinted in Geerhardus Vos, Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos, ed. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980), pp. 143-160.

Geerhardus Vos, “A Sermon on Hebrews 12:1-3” (delivered  6 APR 1902 at Princeton Theological Seminary), Kerux 1:1 (MAY 1986), pp. 4-15; on Kerux at http://www.kerux.com/doc/0101A1.asp [accessed 28 AUG 2015].

Geerhardus Vos, “A Sermon on Hebrews 13:8” (delivered  11 JAN 1903 at Princeton Theological Seminary), Kerux 4:2 (SEP 1989), pp. 2-11; on Kerux at http://www.kerux.com/doc/0402A1.asp [accessed 28 AUG 2015].

Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1998).

See also the following works by Vos for further relevant content:

Geerhardus Vos, The Pauline Eschatology. (Princeton: Princeton University, 1930; reprinted Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952).

Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory: Sermons Preached in the Chapel of Princeton Theological Seminary, with Introduction by R. Scott Clark (Vestavia Hills, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, n.d.; from 1922 ed. by The Reformed Press, Grand Rapids). This paperback reprint is available on Solid Ground Christian Books at http://www.solid-ground-books.com/detail_829.asp [accessed 9 FEB 2014].

The 1922 edition by The Reformed Press is available online or as a digital download on  Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=Wm5GAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 3 FEB 2014]; and on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/graceglorysermon00vosg [9 OCT 2014].

A 1994 revised print edition by The Banner of Truth (Carlisle, PA) is available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Glory-Geerhardus-Vos/dp/0851516637 [accessed 9 OCT 2014].

The Banner edition includes all fifteen sermons printed individually in various editions of  Kerux at http://www.kerux.com/Author.asp?id=1 [accessed 9 OCT 2014].

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End Notes:

[1] Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land [accessed 29 AUG 2015].

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Secondhand Sermons (series), Sermon #1 - Convicted to Christ

Series: Secondhand Sermons

AKA: Hand-Me-Down Homilies

From: The Expositor’s Antique Shoppe

Sermon #1: Convicted to Christ

Introduction:

The catechetical method of instruction and education was widespread, and recommended for centuries in Christian education.

An example from the 17th century:

James Ussher, A Body of Divinity: Or, The Sum And Substance Of Christian Religion Catechistically propounded and explained, by way of Question and Answer.  Methodically and familiarly handled, for the use of Families., ed. Michael Nevarr (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2007; from 1648 original).

An example from the 19th century:

Robert Lewis Dabney,  Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n.d.; 1985 reprint from Syllabus and Notes of the Course of Systematic Theology and Polemic Theology Taught in Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, 6^th ed., Richmond: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1927).

Question: What conviction of a state of sin, and of the guilt of sin, is necessary to cause a soul sincerely to look after Christ?

From:

Sinclair B. Ferguson, John Owen on the Christian Life (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987), pg. 51.

John Owen, The Works of John Owen, 16 vols., ed. William H. Goold (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, n.d.; 1965 reprint of Johnstone & Hunter ed. of 1850-1853), IX:359-361, cp. IX:292-293.

Outline:

I. A man must realize he is not righteous in and of himself (Mk. 2:17)

II. He must have a sense of dis-ease with sin (Mt. 9:12)

III. He must be weary of his own efforts for acceptance with God, and see that it can be found in Christ alone (Mt. 11:28)

Transition:

Why is this important?

1. You may not be a Christian even if you think you are if you have not dealt with these issues. This is not a subject to be ignored, or lightly dismissed.

2. You may be involved in evangelizing others who need to understand where they are at in relation to Christ. You need to understand what to press home to the lost while ministering the Gospel to them. These are considered “indispensable” by Owen, and should be by ourselves as well.

3. We all need to maintain these attitudes toward sin, righteousness and the Savior throughout our Christian lives by coming back to the foot of the Cross regularly.

I. A man must realize he is not righteous in and of himself.

Mark 2:17 — When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Context (Mk. 2:13-17):

¹³ And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? ¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1 Tim. 1:15 — This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

1. Those who trust in themselves that they are righteous

Rom. 10:3 — For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

2. Those who may not trust in themselves that they are righteous, but seek to establish their own righteousness by works of the law

II. He must have a sense of dis-ease with sin.

Matthew 9:12 — But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

Context (Mt. 9:9-13):

⁹ And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? ¹² But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. ¹³ But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

What does it take to get you to the doctor?

Love of lollipops?

1. Uneasiness

2. Fear of death

III. He must be weary of his own efforts for acceptance with God, and see that it can be found in Christ alone.

Matthew 11:28 — Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Context (Mt. 11:25-30; cp. 11:1-24):

²⁵ At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. ²⁶ Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. ²⁷ All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. ²⁸ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Is. 57:10 — Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

“God in a cloud”:[1]

“When God converts a soul, he comes into it with a cloud….God generally takes possession of souls in a cloud; that is, there is some darkness upon them: they cannot tell what their state is; — sometimes they have hopes, and sometimes fears; sometimes they think things are well, and sometimes they are cast down….seldom have I heard of any that have come unto God, but that God first took possession of them in a cloud.”

1. Try, and hope

2. No hope…go unto Christ

[Sermon preached 23 AUG 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

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End Notes:

[1] John Owen, The Works of John Owen, 16 vols., ed. William H. Goold (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, n.d.; 1965 reprint of Johnstone & Hunter ed. of 1850-1853), IX:292-293.

The Study of the Scriptures - Session 13: Wednesday, 19 August 2015 at Faith Baptist Fellowship Church Lake Ariel, PA

The Study of the Scriptures

Session 13, Wednesday 19 August 2015

Faith Baptist Fellowship Church

Lake Ariel, PA

http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/

Review Sessions 1-12[1]

The Means God Uses: The Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the Church

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)

1. Placing trust in God: The ability of God and the sufficiency of the Scriptures — Coming to the Scriptures with Faith

2. Putting man in his place: The inability of fallen man and an understanding of the responses of the creature to the revelation of God — Coming to the Scriptures with Humility

3. The Unity of the Word of God: the First, Progressive, and Full Mention Principles of Interpretation — Coming to the Scriptures with Hope

4. The Diversity of the Contexts within the Canon of Scripture — Coming to the Scriptures with Respect

5. The Humiliation of Incarnational Hermeneutics — Coming to the Scriptures with Caution

6. Putting the Scriptures in their Place: The Historical Perspective in Bible Study — Coming to the Scriptures with Perspective

7. Familiarity Breeds Contempt — Coming to the Scriptures without Presumption

8. Texts and Translations — Coming to the Scriptures with Thanksgiving

9. Three Issues With Unfulfilled Prophecies — Coming to the Scriptures with Consistency

10. Lex Rex: or Slow Down, Simplify, and Separate — Coming to the Scriptures with Simplicity

11. Praying, Singing, and Trembling — Coming to the Scriptures with Worship

12. The Problem of the Parables — Coming to the Scriptures with Sensitivity

Let’s take a poll!

In your opinion, based on your experience, what are the most difficult passages in the Scriptures?

For me such a list would include Ezekiel 40-48!

My notorious “None Of Your Business” list! (See Appendix 1 below)

I. Seeing Darkly (Partially) — 

The Partial in the Present — 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

⁸ Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 “through”? This is not about a window, dirty or otherwise!

“glass” - highly polished and reflective metal surfaces

Clint Eastwood, “A man’s got to know his limitations!”

III. Seeing Clearly (Personally) — 

The Microscope in the Eye — Matthew 7:1-5

¹ Judge not, that ye be not judged. ² For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ³ And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? ⁴ Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? ⁵ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

“I can see clearly now…”

III. Seeing Continually (Perfectly) — 

The Mirror of the Word — James 1:18-25

¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ¹⁹ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: ²⁰ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. ²¹ Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. ²³ For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: ²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. ²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Did you look in the mirror lately?

Bathroom mirrors: magnifying mirrors, turn the lights on, lights around the mirror, put a little light on the subject

Car mirrors: blind spots, convex shape, rear view, a clean windshield

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” — 2 Cor. 3:18

Through the Looking Glass

Sola Scriptura, Soli Deo Gloria,

John T. “Jack” Jeffery

Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel

Greentown, PA

Appendix 1: The “None Of Your Business” List[2]

“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God:

but those things which are revealed belong

unto us and to our children for ever,

that we may do all the words of this law.”

Deuteronomy 29:29

Some Of The Secret Things That Belong Unto The Lord Our God — So Far!

Where Moses is buried (Deut. 34:6)

What the still, small voice said to Elijah (I Kings 19:12)

What Nehemiah prayed (Neh. 2:4)

What a day may bring forth (Pr. 27:1)

What or when your time is (Eccl. 8:7)

That which shall be (Eccl. 9:12)

The way of the spirit (Eccl. 11:5)

How bones grow in the womb (Eccl. 11:5)

The works of God (Eccl. 11:5)

Where the wind comes from or goes to (Jn. 3:8)

What Jesus wrote on the ground (Jn. 8:6, 8)

What the Corinthians wrote to Paul (I Cor. 7:1)

What the present distress was (I Cor. 7:26)

When and where Christ appeared to Cephas alone after His resurrection, and what

was said at that time (I Cor. 15:5; cp. Lk. 24: 34)

Whether Paul was in the body, or out of the body, when he was caught up to the

third heaven (II Cor. 12:2)

What Paul heard in Paradise (II Cor. 12:4)

Who wrote Hebrews (the human author)

What shall be on the morrow (Jas. 4:14)

What we shall be (I Jn. 3:2)

What the seven thunders uttered (Rev. 10:4)

The time of the coming of the Son of Man (Rev. 16: 15; cp. Mt. 24: 36; 25: 13;

Mk. 13:32; Lk. 12:40; I Th. 5:2)

******************************************************************************

Sola Scriptura, Soli Deo Gloria,

John T. “Jack” Jeffery

Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel

Greentown, PA

As of 15 OCT 2012

Revised:

17 AUG 2015

Appendix 2: Basic Bible Study Materials — A Suggested Bibliography (with links to Amazon)

This is the book that I recommend as collateral reading for the "Scripture Study Seminar":

Sinclair Ferguson, From the Mouth of God (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2014); paperback (no Kindle available at this time) for $10.59 on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Mouth-God-Sinclair-B-Ferguson/dp/1848712421/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

1. In addition to Sinclair Ferguson's work that I am recommending as collateral reading the following five recent works on the subject may be the most helpful:

J. Scott Duvall, and J. Daniel Hays, Journey into God's Word: Your Guide to Understanding and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Journey-into-Gods-Word-Understanding-ebook/dp/B000SEJRJI [accessed 14 JAN 2015].

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding the Bible, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1982, 1993, 2003, 2014); 

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth-ebook/dp/B00GS084YA/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Peter Krol, Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible (Minneapolis: Cruciform Press, 2014);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Knowable-Word-Helping-Ordinary-People/dp/1936760894/ [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991, 2006);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Hermeneutical-Spiral-Comprehensive-Introduction-Interpretation/dp/0830828265/ref=sr_1_sc_1 [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977, 2009);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Scripture-R-C-Sproul/dp/083083723X [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

2. Here are five recommended older works whose value does not fade!

James M. Gray, How to Master the English Bible: An Experience, a Method, a Result, an Illustration (London: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1907);

in public domain, available online or as a free downloadable digital file (PDF or ePub) on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=AOUOAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 18 FEB 2012].

J. Edwin Hartill, Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1947);

available online or as a free PDF file download (60 mb) on Seminario LAMB at  http://seminariolamb.com/biblioteca/lib/lib-biblical%20analysis/Principles%20of%20Biblical%20Hermeneutics%20-%20J%20Edwin%20Hartill.pdf [accessed 9 MAR 2014];

print editions available on Amazon at 

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Biblical-Hermeneutics-Edwin-Hartill/dp/0310272556/

[accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Arthur T. Pierson, The Bible and Spiritual Criticism: Being the Second Series of Exeter Hall Lectures on the Bible Delivered in London, England in the Months of February, March and April, 1904 (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., n.d.; 1970 reprint of 1905 original by The Baker and Taylor Co., New York);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Spiritual-Criticism-Arthur-Pierson/dp/B0045PPI6W/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Robert A. Traina, Methodical Bible Study: A New Approach to Hermeneutics (Wilmore, KY: self-published, 1952; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980); 

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Methodical-Bible-Study-Robert-Traina/dp/0310246024 [accessed 9 MAY 2014].

Oletta Wald, The New Joy of Discovery in Bible Study, rev. ed. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/New-Joy-Discovery-Bible-Study/dp/080664429X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 [accessed 9 MAY 2014].  

Note: This newly revised edition is also available in Kindle.

Compiled by:

John T. “Jack” Jeffery

Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel

Greentown, PA

---

End Notes:

[1] The notes from the previous sessions have been posted to the Wayside Gospel Chapel blog at  http://waysidegospelchapel.blogspot.com/search/label/Scripture%20Study%20Seminar.

[2] I  jokingly remark that this list is going to heaven with me where I will get in line and wait for answers to these questions! If you think of anything that I have left out send it my way as the list is a work in progress until the place of the answers, i.e., “glory,” is reached. 

The title comes from an apocryphal account of Dr. Albert Einstein lecturing to physics students in the doctoral program at Princeton. He was developing the corollaries of the theory of relativity. When he got to the proof that the universe had an outer edge, one of the students raised his hand. When called on the student asked, “Dr. Einstein, what is beyond the outer edge of the universe?” Dr. Einstein replied, “None of your business young man!” I refer to this account as apocryphal since I failed to retain the source where I read it many years ago, and can no longer document it despite ongoing searches. Therefore, despite the fact that it is a good story, since I cannot vouch for its veracity, I must for the time being refer to it as an “apocryphal” good story. If anyone comes across some evidence that would document the historicity of this incident I would appreciate having that information!

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Five Words You Must Understand (series), Part Twenty-six: “My sheep hear My voice.” (John 10:27)

Sermon Series:

Five Words You Must Understand

1 Corinthians 14:19

Yet in the church I had rather speak

five words with my understanding,

that by my voice I might teach others also,

than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Part Twenty-six: John 10:27

“My sheep hear My voice.”

Introduction:

On the old Daniels and Webster program on ROCK107 we often heard from one Walter Nepasky.  He would begin his commentary in his very recognizable “Coal Cracker” dialect with either, “I'm Walter Nepasky and today I wanna talk about tree tings.”, or “Hi. My name is Walter Nepasky. How ya doin’? Today I want to talk to you about tree tings.”

What if we had a modern Christian radio station —The Rock of Ages 316 — with a program that began, “Hi, I’m Paul of Tarsus, and today I want to talk about five words.”

The Apostle Paul wrote: Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,

that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.[1]

Paul follows up his introduction on The Rock of Ages 316 with his personal example — an extreme preference framed as a mathematical proportion: 5 versus 10,000. This is Paul’s “druthers”!  This is when 5 is better than 10,000!

If Paul were here, and you could pin him down to a literal selection of five words, what do you think he would choose?  “Gimme Five Paul!”

Before we get to a selection from the list of five word Scripture passages that might be in Paul’s “in box” we should also consider how Charles Haddon Spurgeon went even beyond Paul, perhaps due to “spiritual inflation” in the intervening centuries!

“But the seed, though very small, was a living thing. There is a great difference between a mustard seed and a piece of wax of the same size. Life slumbers in that seed. What life is we cannot tell. Even if you take a microscope you cannot spy it out. It is a mystery, but it is essential to a seed. The Gospel has a something in it not readily discoverable by the philosophical inquirer, if, indeed, he can perceive it at all. Take a maxim of Socrates or of Plato, and inquire whether a nation or a tribe has ever been transformed by it from barbarism to culture. A maxim of a philosopher may have measurably influenced a person in some right direction, but who has ever heard of a someone's whole character being transformed by any observation of Confucius or Socrates? I confess I never have. Human teachings are barren. But within the Gospel, with all its triteness and simplicity, there is a divine life and that life makes all the difference. The human can never rival the divine, for it lacks the life-fire. It is better to preach five words of God's Word than five million words of human wisdom. Human words may seem to be the wiser and the more attractive, but there is no heavenly life in them. Within God's Word, however simple it may be, there dwells an omnipotence like that of God from whose lips it came.”[2]

Note: The five word statements from Scripture selected may not actually be five word statements in  either the Hebrew or Greek originals, nor are they necessarily complete sentences or verses in English language translations from the Hebrew and Greek, including the King James Version  which is the source translation for the statements.  Nevertheless, they were selected for the fundamental truths and span of doctrine that they present.  The current list of 37 examples is not intended to be comprehensive, and may easily be expanded or consolidated.

The 37 selections are categorized under the following four headings:

The Person of Christ — The Redeemer

The Work of Christ (as Prophet, Priest and King) — Redemption Accomplished

The Salvation of Christ — Redemption Applied

The Return of Christ — Redemption Revealed

The advantage of short simple sentences like these is that they are easy to remember. There is little or no danger of our failing to see the forest for the trees! May these words ring in our ears, resonate in our minds, and abide in our memories.

Now for one of the possible selections from Paul’s “in box”:

The five word statement to be considered on this occasion, “My sheep hear My voice,” falls under the third of these four headings, The Salvation of Christ — Redemption Applied.

Outline:

I. The Possession of the Sheep by the Shepherd: My sheep

II. The Grace of Hearing from the Shepherd: hear

III. The Recognition of the Voice of the Shepherd: My voice

Transition:

We have gone to the Gospel of John several times in the past in this series,[3] including one from this very chapter: “I am the Good Shepherd.” (Jn. 10:11).[4]

I. The Possession of the Sheep by the Shepherd: My sheep

The setting for this statement:

the previous monologue,

the reaction to the monologue,

the location,

the occasion,

the audience

The Shepherd lays claim to those who are His.

The Shepherd speaks of them as “mine.”

They are His because they were given to Him by the Father.

They are His because He has purchased them.

They are His because He keeps them.

He will never lose even one of them.

This Great and True Shepherd never loses a sheep!

No! Not one!

Mt. 18:12-13 - How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Those who are not known by Him as His sheep are referred to as goats.

This distinction embraces the entire human race.

Mt. 25:32-33 - And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Under-shepherds do well to bear this in mind!

Jn. 21:16-17 - He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

His sheep are treated by the world like He was:

Rom. 8:36 - As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

I am His sheep, and He is my shepherd! (with the emphasis on the first)

II. The Grace of Hearing from the Shepherd: hear

The sheep are not deaf when it comes to the call of the Shepherd.

The sheep do not have this ability naturally.

The ability to hear the voice of the Shepherd is a grace gift.

Having ears to hear is a blessing from God.

What the sheep hear is the call of the Shepherd.

The call of the Shepherd is an effectual call.

It is of interest that this verb is plural here in this verse, but the previous usage in verses 3-4 is singular! Yet the subject in both cases is plural. 

[See the following on this: F. Blass, and A. Debrunner, trans. and rev. Robert W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 9th ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961),, pp. 73-74, §133; and A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), pp. 403-404.]

“Let him who has ears to hear hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.” (Rev. 2-3)

“We have heard the joyful sound, the Shepherd’s voice, the Shepherd’s voice”

 1 Pet. 2:25 - For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

1 Pet. 5:4 - And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

III. The Recognition of the Voice of the Shepherd: My voice

There are many voices.

There are other voices.

There are thieves and robbers.

There is only one Shepherd.

Mt. 7:15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Jeremiah 23

Ezekiel 34

[Matthew 23]

The sheep are able to distinguish the true from the false.

The sheep have the ability to discern the true Shepherd from the thieves and robbers.

RCA Victor, and the historical background to “His Master’s Voice”

The artist, Francis Barraud, was commissioned by the gramophone company to paint 24 replicas of his original. One of these paintings is seen drying in the background in this photograph.[5]

In England, artist Francis Barraud (1856-1924) painted his brother's dog Nipper listening to the horn of an early phonograph during the winter of 1898. Victor Talking Machine Company began

using the symbol in 1900, and Nipper joined the RCA family in 1929.[6]

Conclusion:

“Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
O this full and perfect peace!

O this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.

Heav’n above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,
Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.

Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast.
O to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav’n and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline;
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.”[7]

Heb:13:20: Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

[Sermon preached 9 AUG 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

---

End Notes:

[1] 1 Corinthians 14:19.

[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Mustard Seed: A Sermon for the Sabbath-School Teacher” (Lk. 13:18-19), Sermon No. 2110, delivered 20 OCT 1889, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, U.K.; in Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 35 (1889), pp. 565ff.; in Charles H. Spurgeon, The Parables of Our Lord (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2003), pg. 707; and on The Spurgeon Archive at http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2110.htm [accessed 23 DEC 2014].

[3] 13 of the 37 texts in this series are from the Gospel of John, more than from any other Biblical book.

[4] Part 3, 3 APR 2011.

[5] Design Boom at http://www.designboom.com/history/nipper.html [accessed 11 SEP 2015].

[6] See “His Master’s Voice,” on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Master%27s_Voice [accessed 11 SEP 2015]; Rain Noe, “HMV Logo Origin Story: A Painter, a Dog, a Dead Guy and a Record Player” (13 APR 2011), on Core77 at http://www.core77.com/posts/19036/HMV-Logo-Origin-Story-A-Painter-a-Dog-a-Dead-Guy-and-a-Record-Player [accessed 11 SEP 2015]; “Nipper,” on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipper [accessed 11 SEP 2015]; and “Francis Barraud,” on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Barraud [accessed 11 SEP 2015].

[7] George W. Robinson (1876); on CyberHymnal at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/a/iamhisah.htm [accessed 11 SEP 2015].

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Five Words You Must Understand (series), Part Twenty-five, "By grace ye are saved.” (Ephesians 2:5)

Sermon Series:

Five Words You Must Understand

1 Corinthians 14:19

Yet in the church I had rather speak

five words with my understanding,

that by my voice I might teach others also,

than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Part Twenty-five: Ephesians 2:5

“By grace ye are saved.”

Introduction:

On the old Daniels and Webster program on ROCK107 we often heard from one Walter Nepasky.  He would begin his commentary in his very recognizable “Coal Cracker” dialect with either, “I'm Walter Nepasky and today I wanna talk about tree tings.”, or “Hi. My name is Walter Nepasky. How ya doin’? Today I want to talk to you about tree tings.”

What if we had a modern Christian radio station —The Rock of Ages 316 — with a program that began, “Hi, I’m Paul of Tarsus, and today I want to talk about five words.”

The Apostle Paul wrote: Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,

that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.[1]

Paul follows up his introduction on The Rock of Ages 316 with his personal example — an extreme preference framed as a mathematical proportion: 5 versus 10,000. This is Paul’s “druthers”!  This is when 5 is better than 10,000!

If Paul were here, and you could pin him down to a literal selection of five words, what do you think he would choose?  “Gimme Five Paul!”

Before we get to a selection from the list of five word Scripture passages that might be in Paul’s “in box” we should also consider how Charles Haddon Spurgeon went even beyond Paul, perhaps due to “spiritual inflation” in the intervening centuries!

“But the seed, though very small, was a living thing. There is a great difference between a mustard seed and a piece of wax of the same size. Life slumbers in that seed. What life is we cannot tell. Even if you take a microscope you cannot spy it out. It is a mystery, but it is essential to a seed. The Gospel has a something in it not readily discoverable by the philosophical inquirer, if, indeed, he can perceive it at all. Take a maxim of Socrates or of Plato, and inquire whether a nation or a tribe has ever been transformed by it from barbarism to culture. A maxim of a philosopher may have measurably influenced a person in some right direction, but who has ever heard of a someone's whole character being transformed by any observation of Confucius or Socrates? I confess I never have. Human teachings are barren. But within the Gospel, with all its triteness and simplicity, there is a divine life and that life makes all the difference. The human can never rival the divine, for it lacks the life-fire. It is better to preach five words of God's Word than five million words of human wisdom. Human words may seem to be the wiser and the more attractive, but there is no heavenly life in them. Within God's Word, however simple it may be, there dwells an omnipotence like that of God from whose lips it came.”[2]

Note: The five word statements from Scripture selected may not actually be five word statements in  either the Hebrew or Greek originals, nor are they necessarily complete sentences or verses in English language translations from the Hebrew and Greek, including the King James Version  which is the source translation for the statements.  Nevertheless, they were selected for the fundamental truths and span of doctrine that they present.  The current list of 37 examples is not intended to be comprehensive, and may easily be expanded or consolidated.

The 37 selections are categorized under the following four headings:

The Person of Christ — The Redeemer

The Work of Christ (as Prophet, Priest and King) — Redemption Accomplished

The Salvation of Christ — Redemption Applied

The Return of Christ — Redemption Revealed

The advantage of short simple sentences like these is that they are easy to remember. There is little or no danger of our failing to see the forest for the trees! May these words ring in our ears, resonate in our minds, and abide in our memories.

Now for one of the possible selections from Paul’s “in box”:

The five word statement to be considered on this occasion, “By grace ye are saved,” falls under the third of these four headings, The Salvation of Christ — Redemption Applied.

Outline:

I. The Necessity for Salvation by Grace - by grace

II. The Recipients of Salvation by Grace - ye

III. The Reality of Salvation by Grace - are saved

Transition:

Familiarity breeds contempt.

“Perhaps there will be no disagreement if I conclude that the four most familiar passages in the Bible — besides individual verses — are the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21), Psalm 23, the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), and the “Lord’s” Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).

Previously we have considered the value for Bible study of the story of “The Student, the Fish, and Agassiz.” In that case the lesson had to do with looking, i.e., the value of persevering in intense, prolonged scrutiny and detailed examination. Let us now consider another, much shorter, and much older tale that may serve as an example to bear in mind on another aspect of Bible study.

A slave who lived at the same time as the Babylonian Captivity of Judea wrote many brief stories that have stood the test of time. Here is one of them:

“When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the King of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by. The third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.”

These tales are traditionally followed by phrases summarizing the moral. In this case the moral of the story is: “Familiarity breeds contempt.”[3]”[4]

We need to beware that this does not happen in our study of the Scriptures, especially in the more familiar passages! Let us venture forth with one such example.

Two papers presented to the John Bunyan Conference held at the Reformed Baptist Church, 830 Buffalo Road, Lewisburg, PA, on Monday, April 26, 2010.

Series Title:  Seeing the New Testament through New Covenant eyes

Series Subtitle:  Two Test Texts: The Point of the Parentheses in Romans 2:13-15

and 1 Corinthians 9:21

Title: The Law and the New Covenant Believer in 1 Corinthians 9:21

Subtitle: The Point of the Parenthesis in 1 Corinthians 9:21 — The Focus of Law in

the New Covenant

Title: The Case for New Covenant Gentiles in Romans 2:13-15

Subtitle: The Point of the Explanatory Parenthesis Following the First Mention of Law in the Pauline Diatribe — The Fulfillment of a New Covenant Promise in the Gentiles in Romans 2:13-15

Biblical Parentheses and Parenthetical Theology:

define “parentheses” and illustrate

none in original text

subjective area in translations

sometimes where brackets are employed, and disagreement as to where the interruption begins and ends.

I. The Necessity for Salvation by Grace - by grace

Why is salvation by grace?

Why must salvation be by grace?

Why cannot it be any other way than salvation by grace, and by grace alone?

Romans 11:5-6 — “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Sola Gratia

II. The Recipients of Salvation by Grace - ye

The identity of the 2nd person plural pronoun in context

Work the context!

Ask the question!

Get the answer!

III. The Reality of Salvation by Grace - are saved

The meaning of “saved”

Matthew 14:30 — “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

The implications of the perfect passive participle - The Great Good News of God’s Grace

Same tense as John 19:30 — “It is finished.”

Conclusion:

This is a statement of fact, wonderful historical fact.

It may also be rephrased as a question: Have you been saved by grace?

Is it enough? Is God’s grace enough for you to trust Him implicitly and explicitly for your eternal salvation, for all that is necessary to bring you to glory? Is it sufficient in and of itself?

Are you one of the saved, or are you one of the multiplied billions who pass into a Christless eternity not satisfied with God’s love, mercy and grace, but attempting to please Him another way? What is the hope of those who, dissatisfied with what God has provided by His grace, attempt to add to it?

[Sermon preached 2 AUG 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

---

End Notes:

[1] 1 Corinthians 14:19.

[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Mustard Seed: A Sermon for the Sabbath-School Teacher” (Lk. 13:18-19), Sermon No. 2110, delivered 20 OCT 1889, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, U.K.; in Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 35 (1889), pp. 565ff.; in Charles H. Spurgeon, The Parables of Our Lord (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2003), pg. 707; and on The Spurgeon Archive at http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2110.htm [accessed 23 DEC 2014].

[3] “Aesop (c. 620-564 B.C.) 

       The moral of “The Fox and the Lion” story in Aesop’s Fables 
       In traditional English translations of Aesop’s Fables, there’s a phrase at the end of each brief tale that summarizes “the moral of the story.” The origin of the proverbial saying “Familiarity breeds contempt” is widely credited to the traditional translation of Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Lion,” which reads: 
        When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the King of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by. The third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony. 
       “Familiarity Breeds Contempt””
— Quote/Counterquote at http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2012/05/familiarity-breeds-contempt-and.html [accessed 28 APR 2015].

Another, much later source for this moralism, is the following: “Parit enim conversatio contemptum; raritas conciliat admirationem,” Translation: “Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration.” Variant translation: “Familiarity breeds contempt, but concealment excites interest.” De Deo Socratis (On the God of Socrates), ch. 4; pg. 355.  Lucius Apuleius (c. 125 – c. 180), Metamorphoses, in The Works of Apuleius (London: Bohn’s Classical Library, 1853); on Wikipedia at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Apuleius [accessed 28 APR 2015].

[4] The Study of the Scriptures: Session 7, Wednesday 29 APR 2015, at Faith Baptist Fellowship Church, Lake Ariel, PA; http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/.