About the Author

Thomas Ray Floyd was born in 1953 in Simpson County, Mississippi, the son of Roy Thomas Floyd and Lina Sue Shows Floyd. Thomas Ray's mother was a member of a Primitive Baptist church, and he cut his teeth on the doctrines of distinguishing grace.

When he was a small boy, his father was converted to Christ and became a member of a Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Ray joined the church of his father when he was 13 years old, and thought of himself as a Christian. The doctrines of grace that he had heard as a child continued to be precious to him and when he became an adult, he joined a Primitive Baptist Church. When he was 27, Thomas Ray made his first effort to preach the gospel in public and was ordained to the full functions of the ministry in 1985. In 1986 he was convinced under the preaching of Rolfe Barnard (by tapes from Mt. Olive Tape Library), the written sermons of Spurgeon, and the ministry of Elder Zack Guess that he had been a false professor and cried out in agony of soul to the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy and truly save him. And He did! Floyd then began to preach the gospel as he had been taught of the Lord.

Floyd has pastored churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and until recently was pastor of a church plant known as "Particular Baptist Fellowship." He and his wife Brenda presently attend Zion Baptist Church at Polkville, Mississippi, pastored by Elder Glen Hopkins. The pulpit ministry of Zion Baptist Church can be heard at Sermonaudio.com.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Crying for the LORD to Work

(Article for publication week of 7-2- AD 2015)
 "It is time for Thee, LORD to work: for they have made void Thy law" (Psalm 119:126).
Surely this must be the prayer of everyone who loves the LORD in the day in which we live. Surely all of us must see that we have reached a point in our country where no arm of flesh can help, but only the omnipotent arm of our Great God.
Our text speaks directly to the time and place in which you and I live. "They have made void Thy law." Sadly the professing church is guilty of having made void the law of God. The liberals (who we have no reason to suppose are saved) have made void the law of God by denying the inspiration and authority of scripture. Sadly whole denominations are under the control of this ilk. But even in more conservative churches where faith in the Bible is outwardly affirmed, the law of God has been made void by antinomianism, that is by anti-law teaching and preaching and practice. While no true Christian hopes to be saved by keeping the law of God, all true Christians should consider the moral law of God as their rule of life. The scriptures make it clear that the gospel of grace does not make void the moral law of God (Matthew 5:17; Romans 3:31). But it is widely believed that the moral law of God has been made irrelevant by the New Testament. Many teach that Christ came to give us a better and nobler law, but the fact is there is no higher code of morality than that commanded by the moral law of God briefly comprehended in the Ten Commandments. To be sure our Lord gave us further instruction in the law as to its spirituality and corrected the erroneous teachings of the scribes and Pharisees concerning the law, but He nowhere condemned the Old Testament, but upheld it in His life and teaching. Dispensationalism has led to making void the law by essentially teaching that God saved sinners in a different way under the Old Testament than as He does now under the New, but such places as Romans 4 make it clear that Old Testament Saints were saved by grace alone through faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ just as we are. It is time for the professing church to repent of having made the law of God void. I will just ask you preachers, when was the last time you preached a series of messages on the Ten Commandments? When was the last time you explained to your congregation the three-fold classification of the law as moral, civil and ceremonial? Have you ever preached these things? Do you understand these things yourself? Be honest with yourself and the Lord. It is time for the Lord to work for the professing church has made void the law of God either by silence or by erroneous teaching.
But I declare to you also that the nation has made void the law of God and has sought to enact laws of human origin rather than Divine. Now I speak to you who hold office in the Commonwealth and I declare unto you that you are obligated to obey God's law and you have no authority to enact laws contrary to His law. No nation will ever enact a better code of laws than the civil laws that God gave unto Israel under the Old Testament. Although there are things in the civil laws that were especially pertinent to that dispensation, the principles of those laws should be the foundation of all nations that desire the greatest degree of earthly happiness. Now I am going to give you a case in point that is presently on everyone's minds. The recent mass murders in South Carolina have fueled much sensationalism. And as you read the various accounts and comments no one that I have heard in the public arena is calling for national repentance and a return to the law of God. There is much jack-leg psychobabble about the piece of vermin that committed this heinous crime. There are those who are blaming the crime on the Confederate Flag. There are those who are clamoring for the scum bag to be tried for a "hate" crime (as if there were crimes that are not hateful). There are some in the professing church who are saying we have to "forgive" the murderer. But what saith the scriptures? "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (Genesis 9:6). See also Exodus 21:12 and Acts 25:11. Now here is a vile miscreant that murdered nine innocent people and there are numerous eyewitnesses. God's law says the man must be put to death. And it should not cost the State of South Carolina millions of dollars to put the evil wretch to a trial and long drawn out appeals.
It is time for You to work LORD for Church and State and individuals have made Your law void. We pray that you will regenerate many in our nation and churches and write your laws in their hearts and put them in their minds. We pray for a true revival in our nation; and we pray in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between us and a thrice Holy God. Amen.
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