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1. How The Mighty Have Fallen!
Luke 9:18-27
Illustration
Richard A. Jensen
... of popular culture. A newspaper report a few years ago on some pastors who had fallen from grace used this biblical passage as its headline. The article was about two well-known television preachers -- Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker -- whose sins had been publicly exposed. "How the mighty have fallen" the newspaper headline gloated! Jimmy Swaggart is an interesting case in point. Newsweek magazine once carried an article that featured this highly talented preacher. The article quoted one man as saying that ...
2. Last Words
Luke 24:36-49
Sermon
King Duncan
... old self-defeating script anymore. You are forgiven." Those, then, are the two messages Jesus means for his church to proclaim to the world, "Turn around" and "You are forgiven. The past is past. This is a new day." According to writer Jamie Buckingham, the day after Jimmy Swaggart, one of the nation's best-known TV evangelists, went on public television to confess his sin of immorality and ask the nation's forgiveness, a friend of Jamie's called him on the phone. "Do you want to know what God thinks of ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... was accused of adultery -- there were pictures of a woman and a motel room. Shortly thereafter, the popular Bible teacher and author John MacArthur gave a lecture. He spoke in the chapel of Master’s College on the subject, “What We Learn From the Fall of Jimmy Swaggart.” He said a lot of good things. His reason and logic were almost impeccable. I found myself agreeing with about 90% of what he said. But I have to confess in the first part of the lecture he came through to me like a Pharisee. He ...
4. The Devil Made Me Do It
Illustration
Michael Horton
... is left with the impression that the two gods each possess equal power both in quality and quantity. Everything that is wrong in the world is the fault of the bad god. And it's up to the initiate or believer to make sure the good god wins. Back when Jimmy Swaggart defied the orders of the Assemblies of God to refrain from preaching for one year, he assured the public that he was free of moral defect, for, he said, Oral Roberts had cast out the demons from his body over the phone. Oral Roberts confirmed ...
Sermon
Robert Allen
... to murder his wife, thus eliminating her from the scene. But, his plot failed and his ministry is at an end. The soap opera saga of Jim Bakker and Jessica Hahn had just about run its course when the news of Jimmy Swaggart burst into the headlines. Jimmy Swaggart was the Baton Rouge television evangelist who sought to destroy Jim Bakker for losing a battle with temptation. He ranted and raved about excising the malignant cancer from the church of those who give in to temptation while, according to the ...
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
... broken at least three major campaign promises. Truth is hard to find these days. We struggle with truth in advertising, truth in labeling, truth in packaging, as well as truth in medicine, law, business and even religion. With such charlatans as Jimmy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart deceiving millions, even clergy men and women are more suspect than ever before. Truth is hard to find these days. Even in families truth is hard to find. Parents and children regularly deceive each other. Husbands and wives not only ...
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
... been accused of deception and broken promises. Truth is hard to find these days. We struggle with truth in advertising, truth in labeling, truth in packaging, as well as truth in medicine, law, business, and even religion. With such charlatans as Jimmy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, who deceived millions, even clergy men and women are more suspect than ever before. Truth is hard to find these days. Even in families, truth is hard to find. Parents and children regularly deceive each other. Husbands and wives not ...
8. Proper 4
Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... built up the PTL Club through tele-evangelism. He had visions of a complex of institutions. They were founded on a shaky financial empire. His personal indiscretions undermined the whole structure and it came down as his authority was destroyed. Similarly Jimmy Swaggart gained a large following through his television and radio programs. His authority was destroyed when his life did not accord with what he had been preaching for others. 4. Building on Unsound Ground. Many people with plenty of money have ...
9. David and the Devil
2 Samuel 11:1-27
Sermon
Robert Noblett
... on all the time. When these circumstances are replayed in the life of a public official, we are apt to hear all the lurid details for days in the press. And when they are replayed in the life of a public religious figure, like Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart, we are apt to hear about them for months on end. A Common Scenario The opening scenes of our biblical drama are certainly not uncommon. “One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap (I wonder what he might have been dreaming about?) and ...
Sermon
Larry Powell
... true of religious achievements. The gospel has been preached throughout the world - no small miracle. Rev. Robert Schuller has constructed a "Crystal Cathedral" in California, wonderfully conceived and awe-inspiring. Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, a host of other evangelists, along with the institutional Church, have together accomplished some really miraculous things under the power of the Gospel. With all our combined resources, access to the media, and established foothold in ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... magazine, "Parents used to worry if they caught their children playing doctor. Now they worry if they're playing evangelist." It has been 60 years since Sinclair Lewis wrote his fiery indictment of the traveling evangelist. His spiritual predecessor of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart was named Elmer Gantry. In this classic portrayal of the yearning of the spirit in battle with the weakness of the flesh, the flesh wins. Lewis saw in a clear and unforgiving way, the potential for abuse that the role of the ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... we might ask, what got into Rover? We are more likely to ask, however, what got into Ronnie or Rhonda or Randy or Ramona. Humans are far more unpredictable than animals. What is it that gets into people? What is it that got into Jim Baaker and Jimmy Swaggart that caused them to jeopardize their ministries and their marriages? What is it that causes a man to go on a rampage and murder his former boss and several coworkers before killing himself as we've read about in recent days? What gets into a young ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... in any other age. Never before have human beings been so constantly bombarded by the demands of the world. The concept of "privacy" of an inner self shielded from public assault, as any politician (Edward Kennedy) or justice (Clarence Thomas) or televangelist (Jimmy Swaggart) will tell you, is all but dead. The home used to serve as at least a semi-private place away from our public lives. Ironically, however, the very gadgets that make it easier to stay home yet stay in touch - personal computer, modems ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... about one of the most effective evangelists who ever lived. But this evangelist had a shady past. Now, when I say “a shady past,” some of you who are over 40 may have a picture in your mind of Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry, or of Jimmy Swaggart or Jim Bakker or some other well-known modern evangelist with a blemished past. Modern TV evangelism is more like show business than it is about church. As such it often draws personalities with enormous egos who may start out with good intentions, but sometimes ...
15. Do As You Please
Illustration
Michael Horton
The radical gospel of grace as it is found throughout Scripture, has always had its critics. Jimmy Swaggart once said that by trusting in God's justifying and preserving grace, we would end up living a life of sin before long and thus, lose our salvation and be consigned to hell. Paul anticipated that reaction from the religious community of his own day after he said, "Where sin ...
Teach the Text
Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
... : As in the case of David long ago, we know that Christians are not exempt from hurting others, from cheating and deceiving their public. In the last two decades we have heard the stories of Jim and Tammy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, other televangelists, and contemporary musicians who took enormous donations while lining their pockets and living lavishly, some of them even committing serious moral indiscretions. The Catholic Church presently struggles with its priests who have abused children and teenagers ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” Have any Christian leaders ever been guilty of causing other people to stumble? Sadly, as we all know, it has happened, and it somehow always makes the headlines. It’s tragic. Do the names Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker come to mind to some of us? Could any of us cause someone else to stumble? Yes, I’m afraid so. I hope not, but it’s possible. Jesus says it is a serious matter if we stumble, but it’s much more serious if ...
Sermon
Steve Molin
... that when pastors made the news, it was because of a momentous gathering, or a new ministry initiative, or a column of encouragement or guidance. These days, clergy are the news, and for far more scandalous reasons. The failures of Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and Ted Haggard were well documented in the late twentieth century. More recently, the plethora of child sexual abuse among priests, the plagiarisms by some, the indiscretions by others, and the opulent lifestyles of more than a few clergy; these shock ...
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