Author Archives: Rev. Dr. David Bissett

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About Rev. Dr. David Bissett

I pastor a church in upstate NY. I'm happily married and the father of seven kids. It's fun, really! Leave me some feedback...

Put Your House in Order

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Our Sunday morning sermon was on these sobering words from Isaiah 38…

38:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (esv)

I hope to have the audio of the message online here by Tuesday. In the meanwhile, here are a couple of key points made by C.H. Spurgeon —

The text says, Set thine house in order. This shows that we are not to destroy it, nor even to injure it Our body should be the temple of the Holy Ghost. Nothing should be done by us that may injure our body; for, in the case of the believer, it is a precious thing, ordained to rise again at the last day, since Chris Jesus has bought it, as well as the soul which it contains, with his own blood. Nor are we to waste our substance, for this is the accusation which, of old, was brought against the unjust steward, that he had wasted his master’s goods.

We are to set our home in order, that is, our own house. Some persons are very busy setting other people’s houses in order, and oh, how fast their tongues will go when they are sweeping out their neighbor’s kitchen, or dusting our his cupboard! Set your own houses in order, sirs, before you attempt to arrange the affairs of other people.

Again, the tenant himself must do it Set thine house in order. You must not leave it to a priest; you must not ask your follow-man to become responsible for you. You must make personal application to him who can set all in order for you, even to him who came into the world, and died for this very purpose. If you need oil for your lamps, you must go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves, for your fellow-virgins can give you none of their oil. Set thou thine own house in order. This is the chief business of every living man as a tenant under God.

— pdb

“Steady As You Go” by Alistair Begg

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This message has struck me personally, so I post it here for you too.
pdb

Reformed Theological Seminary Commencement Address
Rev. Alistair Begg (May 16, 2008)

“Steady As You Go” – 2 Timothy 4: 1-8

We hear the Word of God again; this time in Second Timothy and in chapter 4. “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Amen.

I have been afforded a great privilege in being invited to participate in this event. First allow me to congratulate all of the graduates upon the successful completion of their studies, and also to offer my word of congratulations to the faculty for their selfless endeavor in preparing another graduating class for this day.

Someone has observed that on an occasion such as this, the key to a good address is to have a good beginning, and then a good end, and try and keep the two of them as close together as possible. Continue reading →