The Eyes Of The Lord

Posted on April 15, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

Isaiah_57_15_In_God_We_Trust.jpeg

Isaiah 57:15 (KJV) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

2 Chronicles 16:9 (KJV) For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. …

Purpose Of Sermon: To Make Us Aware That God Is Watching Us, And Blesses Those Who Live In Him Through Christ.

The 84th Congress of the United States passed a joint resolution declaring “In God We Trust” is the national motto of the United States. The resolution passed both House and Senate unanimously and without debate. Then President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Law on July 30th, 1956. That was about a year and a half before I was born.

“In God We Trust” became our national motto in 1956, and since then has been displayed on American currency and coins. Yet “In God We Trust” predated 1956 according to the Department Of The Treasury. Our Congress passed the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It said that the Secretary of the Treasury “may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto”.

Florida state legislators met on February of this year (2018) to pass a measure related to schools. HB 839 would require every public school in Florida to prominently display the STATE motto of “In God We Trust”. House members passed the bill 97-10. Democrat Representative Kimberly Daniels said the bill is “so simple, just saying put a poster up to remind our children of the foundation of this country”. The bill must still be approved by the Florida Senate.

March 2018 a bill requiring Tennessee schools to prominently display the national motto “In God We Trust” has been sent to our Governor for his signature. The legislation – sponsored by Republican Representative Susan Lynn – passed the State House 81-99. Like-minded legislation is coming in Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wyoming even as we speak. Why? Because we are reaching a critical junction in our nation.

In the wake of school shootings there are numerous marches that address gun control,
but gun control without heart control will do no good.

When I grew up in Garner North Carolina many young people carried knives and some even guns, but no one shot or cut anyone that I can remember. No one went into a school and held it hostage. Oh, we had fist fights at times, wrestling matches, and yes, bullying. But no one considered cutting or harming another. Do you know why?

We knew that God was watching us.
Most of us were drug to Church every Sunday.
And we had parents that not only LOVED us,
But PADDLED us when we were bad.
Ma Ma read us Bible stories as we went to bed.
We prayed to God, knowing He was watching us.

We need to get back to God. We need to get our children and youth back to God. It’s not too late, but we need to do it.

Verse 1: Who Is This God In Whom We Trust?

Putting “In God We Trust” in the schools – on the blackboards or the walls – is a start. But Who is this God? Why should we trust Him? The Bible tells us:

Isaiah 57:15 (KJV) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place …

God is HIGH above us. His thoughts are perfect and pure. What He has said is right establishes what is right. The Scripture says:

Psalm 113:4 (KJV) The Lord is HIGH above all nations, and His glory is ABOVE the Heavens.

In the United States the HIGHEST Court that determines laws is the Supreme Court. Yet God is above that. God is the Maker of Heaven and earth, and the Ultimate Arbitrator of what is right and wrong. His Name is Holy. He is far above all evil, pure and righteous. God made all that we see. God made us in His image and after His likeness. But God did not make us to be gods.

Job 36:26 (KJV)  Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

Some people make themselves to be gods, but they are not. We cannot be God. God is greater than you can imagine. The Apostle said that God is everywhere:

Acts 17:24-31 (KJV)  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;  [25]  Neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;  [26]  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;  [27]  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  [28]  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.  [29]  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.  [30]  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  [31]  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

God made us, and God loves us.
God is everywhere.
He is here in this place today.

He is in the Methodist Church down the street, the Catholic Church on Cayce Lane, the Lutheran Church, the Pentecostal Outreach and the Church of God of Prophecy and the Church Of God In Christ. He is in every Church of every denomination and business and temple and synagogue watching what is going on among humankind. He made every person – man, woman and child – regardless of color in His image. We were all made to walk with God, but because God is HOLY many do not.

So God sent His Son Jesus to bring us to Him.

1 Peter 3:18 (KJV)  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Jesus died for our sins to bring us to God. God wants to walk with us, to guide us, to be our God. But we must come to Him willing to be saved. Jesus died for the sins of all. He died for the sins of the world. But sadly, few will know Christ because they themselves want to be their own god. You cannot be god and walk with God. We read in Isaiah:

Isaiah 57:15 (KJV) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, WITH HIM ALSO THAT IS OF A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE SPIRIT, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

God is HIGH and HOLY. But He only keeps company with the one who is “of a CONTRITE and HUMBLE spirit”. What does that mean? The word “CONTRITE” is the Greek DAKKA which means “CRUSHED” or “CAST DOWN”. To those who are broken – not arrogant or prideful but broken and needy – God says “I can help you”. God will help those who come to Him with empty but needy hands, to those who humble themselves before Him. The Psalmist said:

Psalms 34:18 (KJV)  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Many of you wonder why a God Who is good would allow bad to come to His creation. The truth is that the bad is often good, for it draws us close to the Lord. The Lord has placed the image of Christ by the Pool of Siloam. It was near that Pool that Jesus met a man blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus:

John 9:2 (KJV) Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

(Jesus told them) John 9:3-5 (KJV) … Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  [4]  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  [5]  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Jesus knelt down, spat on the ground, and from that made a little mud that He put on the man’s eyes. He told the man “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” – and the man did so. When he did as Jesus said God gave him his sight. Later on that day the man went home, and his family and friends all wondered why his eyesight was restored. The Pharisees began to ask the man what happened. They said “Jesus is but a sinner – we know He could not have done this!” But the man who had been blind said:

John 9:25 (KJV) … Whether {Jesus} be a sinner or no, I know not:
one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

Jesus Christ came to this earth at the direction of God the Father to give light to those who are bound in darkness. We are all sinners in need of the Savior. Jesus said:

Luke 19:10 (KJV)  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

John 10:10 (KJV)  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

God will bless those who humble themselves before Him. He is with those who trust Him as God, believing on His Son for eternal life.

Verse 2: God Is Looking For The Broken & Dependent

2 Chronicles 16:9 (KJV) For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. …

God is looking over the earth to see who loves Him. The “perfect” heart is the devoted heart, the heart focused on Him. There is no Bible verse that stands by itself. Every verse has a background and a context. What is the background of this verse?

These words were written to one of the good Kings of Israel. His name was Asa. Asa became King of Israel when his father King Abijah passed away. The Bible tells us that when Asa came to power:

2 Chronicles 14:2-3 (KJV)2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

Asa stood firm against all idolatry. He obeyed his Lord God. He was given the power to bring law into the land, and he did everything he could to turn people from following the false gods of the world around them. Asa ..

2 Chronicles 14:4-5 (KJV) … commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

Asa did what he could to serve the Lord. God doesn’t ask his people to do what they can’t, but to do what they can. We are told in Galatians 6:10 …

“..as we have opportunity, let us do GOOD to all people ..”

We are to do God’s good His way. We are not to be people pleasers, but God pleasers. As Asa sought to obey the Lord the Heavenly Father saw what he did, and saw what Judah did.

There was a ten year peace in the land.

“Asa had NO war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest”
2 Chronicles 14:6

There was prosperity in the land.

“Asa said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls,
and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us;
because we have sought the LORD our God,
we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side.
So they built and prospered. ”
2 Chronicles 14:7

This reminds me of the words of Jesus, Who said:

Matthew 6:33 (KJV) …. seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Asa put God first, and lived as if he put God first. After ten years a war lord called Zerah the Ethiopian led a million armed troops against Asa and his kingdom. Asa was outnumbered two to one. He was up against impossible odds according to human standards. But Beloved, when God walks with you and you with God NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Asa prayed.

2 Chronicles 14:11 (KJV) … LORD … help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

What happened? God empowered Judah to defeat the enemy. Not only that, but Judah conquered the cities of the enemy.

Our God is able.
Our God is able!
Our God is ABLE!

Following this great victory God sent word to Asa, saying:

2 Chronicles 15:2-7 (KJV … The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. … 7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

This reminds me of a text in …

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (KJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD …

Oh how God loves us! Oh how He wants the best for us. God is watching. Each time there is a killing at school I believe God weeps. I believe each time a mother kills her child through abortion God grieves. I believe God was incensed when that father and mother colluded together to beat their 5 year old son to death and bury him in an unmarked grave. I believe God hurts when He sees us rise up – black against white, white against black – knowing He made us all in His image and after His likeness. I believe God despises the hurtful things we do to one another.

We need to find God. We need to know God is watching.

God encouraged Asa. He told Asa to keep on doing the good that he knew to do. God tells us who are His:

Galatians 6:7-9 (KJV) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

When Asa heard these words he responded to them. He took courage and continued to cast down idolatry. He dealt even with family sin.

2 Chronicles 15:16-17 (KJV) … concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

For 35 years Asa followed the Lord. But as he aged and as time passed his heart began to drift. He stopped being faithful to the Lord. He stopped reading His Word. He stopped doing the good he should do. He stopped praying. It is like those who have ceased attending the worship of the Church. There were some who were faithful members, then they skipped a Sunday. Then they skipped two. Now they languish at home on Sundays because it is too hard to “dress up” or to “comb their hair”. These are but excuses, though.

A preacher visited the home of a Christian who had ceased to assemble with his brothers on Sundays. The man made many excuses as to why he wasn’t active in the Church. Too many aches and pains. Not enough good clothes. So tired after working all week, he just needed that day off. As the member spoke the preacher quietly listened while the fire crackled in the fireplace. Finally the preacher stopped the excusing member and said “Watch this”. He took the fireplace poker and reached into the flame, and pulled a burning ember out onto the hearth. They quietly watched it as it glowed ever dimmer, then died. The preacher picked it up and held it in his hand. “While this was in the fire it was too hot for me to handle. I couldn’t put my hand on it. But it left the fire, and now is cold. So it is with the Christian. Together we draw close to our God, and He ignites a fire within us that Satan cannot touch. But when we walk away we grow cold.”

Asa drifted from God, then grew cold. He put his hope in humans, not in the Lord. That is why the Lord sent word to him:

2 Chronicles 16:9 (KJV) For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

When we walk away from God we will have wars. We will have uncertainty. We will have kids killing kids. We all need to get our lives back to God. The Bible says:

1 Peter 3:12-13 (KJV) For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

If we follow the Lord and do the good as His Family no one can harm us. On fire for Him we will prevail. Let us live our lives in Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus. For the glory of God forever. Amen!

Posted in gospel, Isaiah, Jesus, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Serve God Not Syncretism

Posted on April 12, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

When the Church was first formed the Devil attacked it with martyrdom. Christian after Christian was led to the Coliseum to die gruesome deaths. But a strange thing happened. As Christians met their deaths with bravery and faith the watching crowds began to believe in this Jesus Christ that they died for. The martyrdoms had the opposite effect – they drew people to Christ. So the devil went back to his old tactics, tactics he had used even in the Old Testament days of Israel.

He went back to SYNCRETISM.
What is SYNCRETISM?
It is the blending of different faiths.
The merging of different truths.

By around 300 AD the visible Church had become bound to the Roman Empire and Christianity was considered the state religion. Rather than exist to glorify God and magnify Christ the visible Church began to worship humans and pray to “saints”. The bones of dead people were cherished. The preachers dressed up in special garb and mimicked many of the Old Testament shadow rituals. God had a remnant that still worshiped Him, and many of those were martyred at the hands of the so called visible Church.

This was not the first time the devil used Syncretism.
He used it on Israel in the Old Testament.

Syncretism is subtle. It sneaks in. It begins by glorifying man rather than God. And it spreads like cancer throughout society. When God’s Church begins to absorb worldliness the nation itself becomes endangered.William Penn, the first great hero of American liberty, and founder of Pennsylvania, said “Men must be governed by God or ruled by tyrants”.

We must choose Who we will glorify, Who we will obey. Elijah called Israel to make a choice.

Proverbs 14:34 (KJV) Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

Righteousnessaloneexalts a nation, a people, a family, a person. When a person stands right with God though trials may come, in the end all things will be right. When a person stands wrong with God nothing they do will ever turn out right. The Ten Commandments are not the Ten Suggestions. God calls us to stand with Him if we expect to be empowered.

To Do Nothing Is To Compromise

When Elijah asked the people to make a choice I want you to notice their response:

And the people answered him not a word.

This is the problem of every age. People know right from wrong, but rather than speak up they say nothing. “I don’t want to get involved”.When Elijah was led of God to go and see the evil King Ahab he met Obadiah, the governor of Ahab’s house. Obadiah was like the Butler in Charge. And Obadiah was a righteous person. The Bible tells us that:

1 Kings 18:3-4 (KJV) … Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.

That was a wonderful thing to do. Obadiah secretly served the Lord. But he did not do so openly. When Elijah comes to see Ahab he tells Obadiah“Go and tell Ahab I am here”.Obadiah’s responsewas:

1 Kings 18:12-14 (KJV) And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

Obadiah served the Lord – but only in his comfort zone. He was willing to sneak about and hide the prophets of God from death. But he was not willing to openly do anything to support Elijah or the Word of God. He allowed FEAR to drive him. We manufactured darkness in his mind.

What if I go and Elijah is not here when Ahab comes?
What if Ahab is in a bad mood?
What if – What if – What if!

We let doubts and fears stand between us and God and we lose the blessedness of life. The Bible says:

1 John 4:18-19 (KJV) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Faith – genuine faith – is to step outside of your comfort zone in your love for Christ. To trust God no matter what may come. Fear should not dictate our lives, but love of God.

Elijah refused to let Obadiah off the hook. Elijah told Obadiah …

1 Kings 18:15-16 (KJV) … As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

Elijah spoke up, and this made Obadiah look up.
If we would each look up and speak up, the courage of Christ
Would rub off on others as well.
Cowardice iscontagious, but so is Courage!

Was Elijah a superman among Christians?I hear people speak of Billy Graham as if he were a god among men. Don’t get me wrong – I loved Billy Graham. But Billy Graham was a man just like we are men. Billy Graham was a sinner – not a Protestant Pope as some have arrogantly tried to preach. Billy was a simple man who chose to serve the Lord without apology. God blessed his efforts, and used him as God will use any of us who live the same way. The Bible says of Elijah:

James 5:17-18 (KJV) {Elijah} was a man subject to like passions as we are, and HE PRAYED EARNESTLYthat it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Elijah was serious about God. Though a man of like passions– with all the failures we all have – he trusted in an extraordinary God.

Elijah was a world changer because he chose to follow God and God alone. He didn’t have a divided heart!

James 1:6-8 (KJV)… ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.

Elijah was not double minded – he was focused on God. It was this man who came before a fallen nation. The Bible says that Elijah came unto all the people and said ….

1 Kings 18:21 … How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. …

Each person is asked to make a choice. “If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him”.Do not ride the fence. Now is the time to take sides. Now, not tomorrow. There is no middle ground. The Lord Jesus demands all or nothing. Jesus Christ said:

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

It Is Not Faith When It’s Comfortable

Faith is never comfortable.
Faith is not an armchair.
Faith is not a full bank account.
Faith is not good health.
How does the Bible define Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things HOPED FOR, the evidence of things NOT SEEN.

The New American Standard Version translates this text as:

Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for,
the conviction of THINGS NOT SEEN.

Faith is to look up and trust the God you know when you’re walking into the unknown. Faith is to believe the promises of God toward you though outwardly it looks as if God is no where to be seen. Faith trusts God. Faith believes Christ. Faith says, as tried and troubled Job said:

Job 13:15-16 (KJV) Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. 16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

Oh how God despises the hypocrite! As Elijah went before Ahab he had no idea if he would live or die, but he did not fear Ahab. We read:

1 Kings 18:17-18 (KJV)… when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel?18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

Elijah did not mince words, but stood in the presence of Ahab armed with the Word of God. When Ahab tried to blame the nation’s woes on him Elijah said, “I’m not the one troubling this nation. It is you, for YOU are not following God’s Word. Not only this, YOU are following Baal, the false god of the Canaanites”.

Listen to me, Beloved. God not only wants you to get off the fence, but He demands you get out of your comfort zone and do what He said do.

The proof of faith is in the COMMITMENT not in the CREED.Jesus said “Follow ME”. We are to follow Him! “If the Lord be God, FOLLOW Him. If Baal, THEN FOLLOW him“.

Elijah told Ahab to gather Israel Israel on Mount Carmel. There was going to be a showdown.

1 Kings 18:19-20 (KJV) Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

There are 450 prophets of Baal there – but there are also 400 prophets of the groves. I’ve preached this text many times but have never noticed the “prophets of the groves”. These were the devotees of the female goddess Astarte. The 400 “prophets of the groves”are never challenged by Elijah, only the 450prophets of Baal. Some commentaries suggest that the prophets of the grove never came to the meeting, but I find it hard to believe that these people who ate at Jezebel’s tablewould refuse the command of the King. What I suspect is the “prophets of the groves”were much like the people themselves. They followed a religion of convenience and comfort. They were wishy washy in their faith, whatever it might have been. The prophets of Baal however were committed to what they believed, and were therefore worthy opponents of Elijah.

That’s just my opinion, and I may be wrong – but it seems right to my spirit.

Faith Is Not Afraid To Call On God

Elijah stood before the assembled people and showed us what faith is. He said:

1 Kings 18:23-24 (KJV)… give us two bulls; and let {the 450 priests of Baal}choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

Elijah let the 450 priests of Baal go first. They killed their animal, and laid the pieces on the altar. They danced around that altar, singing and pleading to an idol that is nothing. An idol is but …

Psalms 115:4-7 (KJV)… the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

An idol is a thing of the imagination and no god.
A lifeless lucky rabbit’s footthat was not even lucky when it was on the rabbit.

The Priests of Baal screamed and hollered and cut themselves with knives, slinging blood and doing no good at all. Why would their antics make any difference? An idol is nothing – a foolishness – an invention of man’s imagination. Elijah got into the game and began to cry out:

1 Kings 18:27 (KJV)… mock(ing)them, {saying}Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Elijah mocked them all day long until they were hoarse and exhausted, and lying all about the sacrifice. Idolatry and the worship of gods is the religion of fools. The Bible says that the unbeliever becomes

Romans 1:21-25 … vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. {22} Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, {23} And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. {24} Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: {25} Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

They change the truth of God into a lie, an idol, a thing of imagination. Elijah believed in God. The Bible tells us that:

1 Kings 18:30-35 (KJV)… Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid [him] on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do [it] the second time. And they did [it] the second time. And he said, Do [it] the third time. And they did [it] the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

Elijah did three things beforehe ever went to God in prayer, and wants us to do the same things.

a Elijah glorified God.The Scripture says that Elijah “repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down”. Elijah did not make his own altar, but honored God by repairing His altar.

b Elijah recognized God as the Nation’s Founder. It is He that made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. God founded Israel, so Elijah had the bull laid out on the altar and twelve barrels of waterpoured over it. Each barrel represented a tribe of Israel.

c Elijah obeyed God’s Word. We read:

1 Kings 18:36(KJV)And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel, and [that] I [am] thy servant, and [that] I HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS AT THY WORD.

It was only AFTER Elijah glorified the Lord and obeyed His Word that we read:

1 Kings 18:38 THEN the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

We want God to actthough we do nothing. God says, “Act, and I will act. Obey, and I will bless. Do what I have saidand I will provide!”

Jesus Christ said:

Matthew 9:29 (KJV)… According to your faith be it unto you.

Only when we’re led by God will we lead the world. People in America today are open to genuine spirituality, and are open to the Great Commission of Christ. We need in America today committed men and women who will stand up for what they believe. We need people who – if saved – will live like they are saved. We need Christians who are not ashamed to stand with Christ and say with Him:

John 14:6(KJV)… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

You cannot be saved sitting on the fence. Choose! Choose God and choose blessing. Choose Christ and receive salvation. Choose Baal and go to hell! The choice is yours!

Posted in 1 Kings, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Serving Christ In Sardis

Posted on April 8, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

Revelation 3:1-6 (KJV) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (2) Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. (3) Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (4) Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (5) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (6) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

That which is alive … lives.
Those who are alive in Jesus live for Jesus.
It is not the crowd that defines the Church,
But he HEART of its members.
Where is YOUR heart?

Tonight we’ll be looking at Christ’s words to an end time Church called “Sardis”. The name “Sardis” literally means “Prince of Joy”. The Church in Sardis – in fact every Church – should have been a place of joy. Joy is the heritage of the Christ Follower. The Bible says that

Galatians 5:22-23 …. the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance ….

Romans 15:13 (ESV) May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Proverbs 10:28 (NIV) The prospect of the righteous is JOY, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

A Church should be a joyful place filled with joyful people. But Sardis was not joyful. Sardis had a good reputation. But Sardis had stalled – they had a bad heart problem!

The Lord Sees The Heart

Revelation 3:1 … unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

This is highly symbolic, so bear with me. Jesus says that He has “the seven Spirits of God”. This is a reference to the sevenfold manifestation of the Spirit of God. The Prophet Isaiah foresaw the First Advent of Jesus Christ, and wrote of Him:

Isaiah 11:1-2 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

The “Seven Spirits of God” that are on Christ – the Rod out of the Stem of Jesse – are:

Eternity (the Spirit of the LORD)
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Power or Might
Knowledge
Fear of the Lord

When Jesus looks at His Church – His people – He is not fooled by outward appearances. The busy and bustling Church that looks successful to our eyes is not the same thing the Lord sees. The Bible says:

“God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7)

He looks on the heart of every person, and knows the motivation behind everything that we do.

A Church was having a picnic, and invited the community to come. Someone brought a bushel of fresh picked apples. On the basket was a note:

“Take only one apple please – God is watching”

On the other end of the table was a plate of cookie. A child put a hand written note on the plate:

“Take all the cookies you want – God is watching the apples”

This is what children think, and we often think. We forget that God is watching us. But He is not just watching what we do, but He is watching our HEARTS. Jesus said of the Pharisees:

Matthew 6:2-5 (KJV) Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

We are to do what we do for God, because we love Him. We are to serve Him from the heart.

The rest of the world is just existing. The Christian is to LIVE! God has given us life so we can live. He has given us light so that we can SHINE for Him.

Sardis worked … but not for God.
Judas Iscariot was busy, walking with Christ
and the other Disciples.
But His heart was not directed toward glorifying God.
His works were for HIMSELF, not for others.
Sardis had the NAME that they were a great Church, but the Master knew.
Jesus always knows.

Sardis Was Dead Because It Lived For The Wrong Audience

Revelation 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works PERFECT BEFORE GOD.

Circle the word “PERFECT” in your text. This is the Greek πληρόω PLEROO (play-roh’-o), which means “Complete, Finished”. There are two words for “perfect” in the Bible. There is PLEROO and teleios. Jesus used a form of TELEIOS (TELEO) when He said on the Cross:

“It is FINISHED”

He used TELEIOS when He said to His disciples that we are to love our enemies, and do good to them that despitefully use us (Matthew 5:44-47). Jesus said that love even to our enemies is the mark of PERFECTION – the goal that God would have us follow. When Jesus commanded us to ….

Matthew 5:48 (KJV)  Be ye therefore PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is PERFECT.

we are commanded to love as He loved, to do as He did, even on that horrible Cross of Calvary. As He spoke through bruised and bloodied lips, as blood flowed from His side and head, blinding Him, Jesus did not stop. When He said:

“It is FINISHED”

He showed us what the goal of the Christian life is. It is to love even the unlovable. And when Jesus said to Sardis …

“I have not found your works PERFECT before God”

He was also speaking of love. Not love MANWARD, but love GODWARD.

Teleios is love toward GOD
Pleroo is love toward MAN

Sardis’ works were not being done for the right reason. They were running a race as are all Christians, but they were running for the wrong audience.

 I remember watching a 440 relay race one time. The man who was winning the race was well out in front of his opponents. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to win the race that day. Then the crowd started cheering him on, and as he focused on their cheering he stopped running the race for the judges and the finish line and started running for the cheers. When he did this his closest opponent came up behind him and, as he was distracted, the opponent won the race. He was so close to winning, but stopped running the race for the right audience.

The Church at Sardis started well, but in time stopped running for Christ and for the glory of God and began to run for the watching world. There are many great believers who have done the same thing.

Moses – a great man of God – let anger take him.
Instead of obeying the Lord, he struck the Rock and took to himself
The glory that belongs only to God.
He brought and early death and lost the Promised Land because he forgot God.

King David stopped serving God and served himself to Bathsheba.
He brought the sword on his house because of it.

We as Christians are called to “Be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect” by loving our enemies as well as our friends. But we must love God first and foremost. We are to live for Him, in Him, and through Him. The Apostle says in another place:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

You are running a race for God. You were left on this earth to shine for Him, so that others might see Christ in us. Run! Run the race and keep on running. Keep running, though the race seems hard. Run though it may seem as if the Devil and Darkness might be winning. Run and keep on running. The Scripture tells us:

Hebrews 12:1-3 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

All eyes on Jesus.
Run, and keep running.
Never give up.
Never quit.
All glory to God in the highest!

People are watching. God is watching. The angels are watching. There are so many Churches and so many Christians today that look good on the outside, but they are dead for they are not running the race for Jesus. I’ve seen a lot of STARTERS in my ministry as a Pastor, but many are not FINISHERS. Sadly this is true even of those in full time ministry. Do you know that only 1 in 10 Pastors run the race until the day Jesus calls them home? Trained and ordained, they quit too soon. If you have life keep on running, keep on going, keep on doing for Jesus. There will come a day when your body can lay down and quit, and that is the day that you are DEAD INDEED and put in a casket. Run until Jesus calls you home!

Jesus Christ kept running His Race even though their pinned His Hands and Feet to the Cross. He kept running His Race though they jammed vinegar in His mouth to quench His thirst. He kept running His Race though they mocked and spit on Him. Why? Why? IT WAS FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM! God wins. Grace saves. The Family is born. Jesus walks out of that Tomb, and so do we who are His!

Finish what you start. YOUR FAITH IS YOUR FAITH. Live it! God is watching how we do. We must never be Sardis. There will be a harvest if we continue to follow Him in the race.

John Egglen had never preached a sermon in his life. Never! A member of a small Church in Colchester, England, it never occurred to this poor man to preach. He loved the Lord, loved His Church, and ever Sunday walked six miles to Church because this was what God called him to do. One Sunday morning he woke up and there was several feet of snow on the ground. At first John thought about staying home – after all, they would probably cancel Church anyway. But he reconsidered. As a Deacon in the Church he had a responsibility to be a good example. So John dressed warm and walked the six miles to Church. When he got to Church there was only thirteen people there counting him. Even the Pastor stayed home that day. Twelve members, and a thirteen year old boy who was a visitor was all that was there. Someone said, “Why don’t we just go home?” John was the only Deacon there. He saw the visitor, and thought “I’ve just got to share the Gospel!” So he stood up read from …

Isaiah 45:21-22 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

John didn’t know how to preach, and so what he said lasted only about ten minutes. But as he spoke and spread the wings of his faith the Holy Spirit became the wind beneath his wings. He lifted his eyes and looked at the thirteen year old boy, challenging him. “Young man, look unto Jesus. Look! Look! Look at Him and Him alone”. That young man would be saved through this preaching, and would later preach what this man preached to him in one of his own sermons:

“It was about twenty-six years ago,—twenty-six years exactly last Thursday,—that I looked unto the Lord, and found salvation, through this text. You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher … stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” … I remember how he said, “It is Christ that speaks. ‘I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto me! Look unto me!’ That is all you have to do. A child can look. One who is almost an idiot can look. However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.” Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, “That young man there looks very miserable.” I expect I did, for that is how I felt. Then he said, “There is no hope for you, young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by looking to Jesus;” and he shouted …. “Look! Look, young man! Look now!” And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;” and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus Christ.”

The young man that was saved was C.H. Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers. Because John was faithful to the finish THOUSANDS were saved. God will not bless that which is started – however fervently – but not finished. We serve a Risen Savior, and we are called to serve Him until the day He calls us home. Jesus said to Sardis – and to every Christian:

Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

What God gives us – what we have received and heard – we are to hold fast, to keep on doing. We are not called to be half hearted but whole hearted in serving our Lord. Jesus said “I will come on thee as a Thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee”.

Jesus used the “thief in the night” metaphor throughout the Scripture to refer to Judgment Day. We read:

1 Thessalonians 5:2-5 (KJV) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Do what you’re supposed to do while you have life, for we do not know when the Lord will come and take us home.

2 Peter 3:10-12 (KJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

We as well as Sardis are to live every day as if it were a gift from God (and it is), never knowing when our last day will be. Live for Him today and every day. Jesus says, “Tomorrow might not come. The finish line can be any day, any moment, any second.” Jesus can call us home anytime. Run the race until the Master says “Well done, My Child …welcome home!”

It Is The Overcomers Who Will See The Prize

Revelation 3:4-5 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (5) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Those who are genuinely saved are in the Family of God. Those who are saved keep on living for God. Jesus says “there are a few in Sardis who have not soiled their garments – they shall walk with Me in white”. A saved person may sin, but a saved person does not live in sin. A saved person who sins is convicted of sin by the Spirit that indwells them, and that saved person confesses their sin to God:

1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Lord says to His people “he that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment, and I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE”. Those who run the race for Jesus – loving Him – will overcome. They will keep on keeping on. Those who do not may not be saved.

Finish well.

The first Missionary from America overseas was a young man named Adoniram Judson. He was a brilliant young man. The son of a Pastor, he learned to read in one week at his mother’s knee when he was only three years old. He entered college when he was only 16 years old, and graduated at the top of his class just three years later. Judson’s parents thought that he was a Christian, and he knew the words and the ways. But he just never gave his heart to Christ. When he was in college he met a man named Jacob Eames, and fully turned from God. Judson said that he lived “a reckless, vagabond life, finding lodgings when he could, and bilking the landlord where he found opportunity”. Eames went his way and Judson his, with neither living for the Lord.

One night Judson took a room in a small village inn. The innkeeper told him “I apologize, but in the next room there’s a man critically ill. He may keep you awake tonight, but I have no other rooms.” All night long Judson heard people coming and going, and the horrible moans and cries of the man in the room next door. Judson began to think about his own life and how it might be if he ended in such a state. Early in the morning the moans ceased. When Judson got ready to leave he asked the innkeeper, “Is that man better? The moans stopped during the night.” The innkeeper said “He is dead”. Judson asked, “Do you know who he was?” The innkeeper replied, “Oh yes. He was a young man from the college in Providence. His name was EAMES, JACOB EAMES.”

The man that led Judson from Christ died a terrible death. It wasn’t long after that that Adoniram Judson gave his life to Christ. He met and married Ann Hasseltine, and he and his wife ended up as missionaries to Burma. They both ran their race in Burma, dying for the Lord in that country, leading many to Christ.

As Pastor John Piper said, “God does not call us to ease, but to faithful joy”. Run the race. Never give up. Trust the Lord, for He runs with us. Finish what you start for HIM.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Posted in Revelation, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Take Hold Of God’s Covenant

Posted on April 8, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

 

Isaiah 56:3-8 (KJV) Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Goal of this sermon: To Share the Covenant of Grace so Others will follow Jesus.

Twice God tells His people that He is looking for those who will:

Take Hold Of My Covenant

God speaks …

To The Broken: Take Hold Of My Covenant

In verse 4 the Lord speaks to the eunuchs, to those who were broken by life, unable to bring forth children because of mutilation or disease. Most people are broken in one way or another. God says to those poor souls:

vvs 3 …. neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree

Do not think that you are not good enough, not wanted, not desired. God wants you who are broken. He calls out to you, blessed Child, saying …

vvs 4 … keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me,
and take hold of my covenant

In Israel the Priest – the one who had access to God – could not be mutilated nor disfigured. The Lord told Israel:

Leviticus 21:18-21 (KJV) For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach {Me as Priest}: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20 Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

The priest was to be without defect. I myself could not be a priest under the Old Covenant of works. My eyesight is bad, as was the Apostle Paul’s (though I am in no way close to where Paul was in faith). I am broken footed. The eunuch had his stones broken and could not be a priest. But God had a reason as to why the priest was to be physically unblemished, and that reason is

the Old Testament Priest was a picture of the New Testament Christ

The Christ Who has access to God is God Himself, the Son of God, perfect and without sin. He makes intercession for us because He is without sin.

Hebrews 4:14-15 (KJV) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus never sinned. He is the sinless and without blemish Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So the Old Testament priest was without blemish. That was a picture of Christ.

But the Priest’s lack of blemish did not mean that God did not call to those who were broken. The Pharisees misinterpreted the Old Covenant that way, but God wants all to come to Him. We see this in Christ.

Right after Jesus called Matthew to follow Him He went home with Matthew. We read:

Mark 2:15-17 (KJV) And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in {Matthew’s} 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.

God has never rejected the broken. He called Israel to salvation when she was broken, enslaved in Egypt. God calls the broken to Him. He calls the eunuch to His side, to His covenant of Grace. God calls the sinner to repentance. He says:

keep my sabbaths
Rest in Me!

Rest in God. Rest in Christ. The sabbaths of Israel were many. They not only had 52 weekly sabbaths or days of rest, but:

The Passover Sabbath
The Shavout, or Pentecost Sabbath
The Sabbath of Trumpets
The Sabbath of Atonement
The Sabbath of Tabernacles
and The sabbath of the 8th Day of Assembly
All in all Israel had 70 Sabbaths each year.
A Sabbath is a rest when you focus on God.

These Sabbath or Holy Convocations were times when God’s people rested and reflected in their Covenant Relationship with God. They ceased to labor, and LISTENED to God. I was reading an article the other day that said our problem (mine and yours) is that too often we talk TO God but do not rest IN God. We do not listen. God wants you to listen to Him, to reflect on Him, to follow Him.

Listen to me, all who are broken. God loves you. He cries out to you keep My sabbaths. Rest in Me. Bring your burdens to Me. Trust Me. Jesus says to the broken:

Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) Come unto me, all ye that labor 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.

Oh, take hold of the Covenant of Grace. If you are broken, a eunuch in life, come to Him. Receive Him. Trust Him.

II find it interesting that one of the first Evangelists in the Church was Phillip. Phillip was in prayer one day and the Holy Spirit told him “Go into the desert on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza”. Phillip obeyed, and in that very area found a high ranking Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53:7-8:

Isaiah 53:7-8 (KJV) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Phillip asked “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch – a well off but broken man – said “Will you explain it?” And Phillip began to tell the eunuch about Jesus, how Christ came to be the Lamb of God, how He stood in our placed on Calvary, then rose from the grave after three days and nights. As the eunuch heard these words his heart began to sing. He had been broken by life, emasculated, left without hope.

Christ came for the hopeless,
the broken,
the lonely,
the depressed,
the sinner trapped in iniquity.

Jesus came for them, for us, for us all. For we are all broken in one way or the other. The eunuch reached out, and grabbed the Covenant of Grace. He rested in Christ. God cries out to the broken:

keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me…

Choose the things that please ME. As they rode alone – Phillip and that eunuch – he saw WATER enough to be baptized in. “Here is water – why can’t I be baptized now?” The preacher didn’t have to beg him to be baptized. Jesus commanded baptism. Baptism pleases the Father. Jesus said:

Matthew 28:19 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

He didn’t say “Drag them to the water and make them be baptized”. No. If you are broken the Covenant of Grace commands that you come follow Him. If Christ commands baptism, you are baptized. We rest our souls in Him. We are obedient to Him. Jesus said:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15)

Baptism is a commandment – perhaps the easiest that He has given us. He has also commanded that we:

Love one another.
Love our neighbor.
Forgive, and love our enemy.
Love God above all else.
Follow Him in love.

There are many more commands that our Lord has given us. If you love Him you will obey Him. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word” (John 14:23). Obedience is not optional. The eunuch understood this, and sought baptism. Phillip told the eunuch:

“If you believe with all your heart you may be baptized.” To which he replied:

“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37)

To take hold of His Covenant is to come to Him as Savior and Lord.
To be Christ’s disciple.
To be all in with God!

The Lord promises to the broken who take hold of His covenant:

Isaiah 56:4-5 (KJV) For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

God offers to the broken everlasting life. Though the broken may not be able to bear children God says “If you come to Me I will give you a better place and a better name, and everlasting name. This name will never be cut off … it will live on forever.” Those who come to God by Christ are give the power to become Sons of God:

John 1:12-13 (KJV) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

As a Son of God you have eternity before you, eternal life within you, and Almighty God as your Father. Heaven is your destination, and victory your promise.

God also speaks to the “stranger”.

Israel was to reach out to the “stranger”, the one who was NOT an Israelite. Sadly Israel failed to do so. When Christ told His disciples to go into “Jerusakem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world” the early Church stayed in Jerusalem until God raised up Saul to run them out of there. God changed Saul to Paul to reach the stranger. Oh that God would raise up those to reach out to the “strangers” today, for sadly, many Churches are social clubs that just reach out to their own families. This is not what God wants of us. We are to reach out to the STRANGER, the odd ones, the people we do not know. That is how the Church grows!

To The Stranger, Take Hold Of His Covenant

Isaiah 56:3, 6 (KJV) Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people … 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

In the Old Testament Israel had ceased to offer the Gospel of Grace to the Gentile. To those who were of Israel, the Children of Abraham, they invited to the Temple, to the Synagogs, to the sacrifices. But the Gentiles were excluded from the Covenant. They were considered “Strangers” or “Sons of Strangers”. Yet God never wanted this to be. Christ was to be:

Luke 2:32 (KJV) A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Christ came to bring light to both Gentile and Jew. Yet when Christ came Israel as a nation rejected Him. Though many Jews came to Him and followed Him, the nation itself rejected Him. Some of the saddest words in Scripture are:

John 1:11 (KJV) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Jesus came for all. He brought the Covenant of Grace for all. Not just for the Jew, but for the Gentile. Jesus reaches out to people we know, and people we do not know. Jesus reaches out to all.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (KJV) For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that {Jesus} died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

God is not pleased when we make Christ about ourselves and not about God’s Covenant. Jesus came bringing His Covenant to Israel FIRST, but then He turned to us who were strangers, the Gentiles. Our culture is very different from the Jewish culture, yet God loves us as He loves them. The stranger should not say ,,,

The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people

For that’s not true. God wants the stranger. He wants more than “we four and no more”. He wants everyone who will come to Him to come to Him, for Christ gave Himself for all. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 10:16-21 (KJV)16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For {Isaiah} saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But {Isaiah} is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Sadly, Israel – the oreiginal possessors of the Gospel – did not follow the Lord when He came. So the Lord reached out to the stranger, offering salvation to all who would follow Him. God reaches out to you today. God asks that you …

love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant

Love God. Fall in love with Him Who loves you aqnd wants the best for you.
Serve God. Live for Him Who loves you and gave Himself for you.
Rest in Christ. He has paid your admission into the Family. Receive Him.
Take hold of His Covenant.
Become one of the whosoever will.

When you take hold of His Covenant God has promised:

Isaiah 56:7 (KJV) Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

May God lead you to Christ’s side this very day! He loves you. He wants to bring you JOY. He wants you in relationship with Him. He came for all people.

Posted in Isaiah, Jesus, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Finally, Farewell

Posted on April 4, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

 

2 Corinthians 13:5, 11-12 (KJV) [5]   Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? … [11] Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.  [12]  Greet one another with an holy kiss. 

Many years ago I read an article – I forget who wrote it – that stated there are five different types of Christians. I found that interesting because I thought there was only ONE type of Christian. Anyway, the article said that the five types were:

Active
Professing
Liturgical
Private
Cultural

The “Active” Christian is self explanatory. This is the believer who ACTS like a believer, following Jesus daily in prayer and application of the Scripture. The other four “types” do not have a daily faith.

The “Professing” claims to be a Christian but lives like the rest of the world. The “Liturgical” ties their Christian faith to some Church and some ritual. They may go to Mass frequently or count beads but believe their affiliation with a Church – whatever type it may be – is what saves them. The “Private” claims to love Jesus but rejects the Scripture and its teachings as man made. The “Cultural” claims to be a Christian because they do not want to be a Muslim, Buddhist, or some other faith. Of all the “religions” they like the one called “Christian” the best.

When I read that article I said then to my congregation “This will not last”. It didn’t. Those who are not Active Christians dissolved over time and have become today those who are called “Nones”. The false Christian does not endure. The Bible tells us:

2 Corinthians 13:5 (KJV)  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Are you in “THE Faith”?

How do we know that we are in “THE Faith”, the genuine faith, the Christ authored blood bought Spirit empowered never to depart faith?

We walk with Jesus. We love our Jesus. We do His Word.

What did Christ repeatedly tell the Churches in Revelation?

Revelation 2:7 … To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:11 … He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 2:17 … To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

What did Christ tell us through the Apostle?

1 John 5:4-5 (KJV)  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  [5]  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

I am not speaking of a works based salvation, and neither is God.
The Christian who is the Christian indeed IS ACTIVE.
God has come to that person.
The Holy Spirit indwells that person.
That person sees and wants to do the will of Him Who saved us.

A little boy was visiting his grandma one day when he said, “Grandma, do you know how you and God are the same?” The grandmother beamed, internally polishing her halo. “No, how are we the same?” The little boy said “You’re both old”!

We should be more than “old” in our likeness to God.
We are to be a living people following a living Christ.

The Christian who is a Christian indeed is indwelt of Christ, endued of Christ, and cannot help but follow Christ. Do we get off course? Of course! I do not pun. We are all born of Adam, and have within us a sin nature that draws toward the wrong. Yet God will not allow us to wander off too far. As David said:

Psalms 37:24 (KJV)  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

We who have received Him as Lord and Savior are firmly in His hand. Jesus has said:

John 10:27-30 (KJV)  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  [28]  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  [29]  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  [30]  I and my Father are one.

Those who claim to be Christian who are Christian will live in the reality of their faith.

The hand of Christ embraces us.
The hand of Christ is wrapped around us.
The territory we occupy is His hand.
When we seek to squeeze out of His hand He grabs us, draws us back.
We are His and He is ours.

I have no choice but to serve Christ, and neither do you.
I need no beads to count, nor Pope to serve.
I serve a risen Savior, and so do you.
It is a privilege to serve, and a duty I must do.
For I love Him, and He loves me.

Know ye not your own selves, how that JESUS CHRIST IS IN YOU,
except ye be REPROBATES?

There are only two states that you can be in. The ACTIVE state – “Jesus Christ is IN YOU” or the DEAD state – “Ye be REPROBATES”. What is a “Reprobate”? This is the Greek ἀδόκιμος ADOKIMOS which literally means “not standing the test, not approved, unfit, worthless or a failure, that which is cast away as counterfeit”. If “Jesus Christ is in you” – you are born again and indwelt of His Spirit – then you are genuine. You are not false gold.

How Do Children Of God Act?

The $20 has value because of who backs it, and because of who made it. It is backed by the U.S. Government because it is made by the U.S. Government. So it is with the Christian. We are backed by Christ because we are made by Christ. He is in us, through us, around us. Thus we will be driven to behave as His people.

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect,

WHOA Preacher. There’s no way I can be PERFECT. You can only understand this word in the context of Scripture. Jesus said …

Matthew 5:48 (KJV)  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

What is “perfection” to God? Is it sinlessness? No. Jesus tells us what “perfection” is. He said:

Matthew 5:43-48 (KJV)  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.  [44]  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  [45]  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  [46]  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?  [47]  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?  [48]  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

A young couple invited their pastor for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having. “Old Goat” the little boy replied. “Old Goat?” replied the Pastor, “Are you sure about that?” The child said “I heard Daddy say to Momma, ‘We might as well have the old goat for dinner today as any other day’.”

The mark of perfection is to LOVE, to love everyone just as our Father loves everyone. Love is not so much an emotion as it is a DOING. The Father does not love sin, yet allows the good sun and rain to fall on even those who despise Him. One day God will judge and punish the wicked. But daily He shows love to them by giving them life though they have done nothing to deserve life. He gives them bodies to use for good or evil, and often prospers the wicked by His kindness. We love because – as Children of God – we have been loved.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NKJV) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Love is the bond or mark of perfection. Love. Love controls the actions, guides the tongue. As the Apostle closes his letter to us and the Corinthians he writes

Finally, brethren …. BE perfect

BE love.
Let love BE in your hands and feet, in your tongues.
If tongues were knives some “Christians” would slash their own throats.
Don’t BE that way.
BE Love.
BE like your Heavenly Father.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;  [2]  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

Walk in love. Walk sacrificially. Take up your Cross and follow Him. The Cross is hard love. But this is our pattern of perfection. Love as Christ loves.

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort

“Be of Good Comfort” is παρακαλέω PARAKALEŌ which means “to call alongside”. Call one another alongside. Lift up one another. Call one another to the Christ, our Great Shepherd.

Quit asking me “Who was that masked man who attended service … sitting just in front of me this Sunday?” I want to reply “He was the Lone Stranger and his sidekick Tonto”. REACH OUT to those around you. Call them alongside you and us. Love them. Find out their names. They may become your relative in Christ.

Quit asking me “Whatever happened to ____”? Pick up the phone. Call them. Love them. Call them alongside you and us.

We each are to encourage one another to walk together with Christ, to do the things He wants us to do. It is not the responsibility of the pastor to call and beg people to Church. It is, however, each of our responsibilities to call out to the other sheep and encourage them to obedience in following Christ. It takes a Church to make a Church. If God puts someone on your heart call them, visit them, encourage them. Call them alongside of us, the flock of Christ. Relationships matter. The Pastor cannot be the only one reaching out … it takes the whole Church.

2 Corinthians 13:11 … Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind,

The Bible says:

Let this MIND be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus … (Philippians 2:5)

and

We have the MIND of Christ … (1 Corinthians 2:16)

The MIND that should be in every Christian is the MIND of CHRIST. That is the ONE MIND we must have. How did Christ MIND? Though Eternal God the Son He lowered Himself for us. He became a servant so that we could be saved. This is the MIND we must have. Jesus did not do what He did for acclamation, fame, or fortune. He did not seek to enrich Himself. He sought to enrich US. This is the MIND we are to have. Not selfish, but selfless. The MIND of CHRIST.

2 Corinthians 13:11 … Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace;

Some people are always wandering around looking for trouble. Do me a favor. I don’t think it’s you, but if it is, GO FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO BE. I’d rather pay the electric bill of this Church out of my own pocket than be around a troublemaker. The Bible says:

Romans 16:17 (ESV) “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

Proverbs 6:16-19 (ESV) There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

When we live in peace then God responds. We read:

2 Corinthians 13:11(KJV) … live in peace;
and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

God comes where love and peace are. Let us love one another, and let it be shown in how we live out our lives.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Belong To God, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Greatest Sermon

Posted on April 1, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

 

Matthew 28:1-8 (KJV) In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the {Tomb}. [2] And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. [3] His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: [4] And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. [5] And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. [6] He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. [7] And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. [8] And they departed quickly from the {Tomb} with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

We have all heard sermons that are memorial, but too often we hear sermons that are forgettable. On the day that Mary Magdalene and Mary Cleopas went to the Tomb of Christ they heard one of the greatest – and shortest – sermons ever preached. That sermon was preached by an angel. The Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven. He rolled back the stone that stood in the door of Christ’s tomb. He sat upon it, much as Christ sat on the Mount when He preached His Beatitudes. And from this rocky pulpit the Angel preached.

[5] …. Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified

Jesus was crucified. He was beaten with the scourge, with the hands of the guards. Can you see Him? The Bible tells us that sin separates us from God. We are told in Isaiah:

Isaiah 59:2 (KJV) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Sin separates us from our God. All are sinners. You sin, I sin. Sin is no trifle. So Christ came. He was crucified for us, for you, for me.

1 Peter 3:18 (KJV) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Christ suffered for our sins that He might bring us to God. He was crucified. See Him crucified. There was no sin in Him that He should have been crucified.

Matthew 27:21-23 (KJV) {Pilate the Governor} … said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

Barabbas was released, but Christ was crucified. He died in Barabbas’ place. He died in my place! They platted a crown of thorns to place on His head, and jammed it down, the blood running into His eyes. They spat upon Him, mocking Him. “Hail, King of the Jews!” They beat Him with their fists and ropes, and gave Him vinegar mixed with bloody animal entrails. Then they crucified Him, parting His garments among themselves. Naked and dying He was crucified.

And He died.
His side was pierced with a spear.
Out ran blood and water.
He was dead.
The Angel said “He was crucified”. Jesus was dead.
He was laid in a place where the dead lay.

But then the Angel said:

[6] He is not here:

Jesus is not here. When Jesus died, He yielded up His spirit to God. His Body became an empty shell, just as it is with all who are human. The Bible says “absent from the Body, we are present with the Lord”. When we leave this life and this body we travel to God’s embrace or to a place where God is not. But when Christ died the Bible says that …

Hebrews 10:12-18 …. when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For BY A SINGLE OFFERING HE HAS PERFECTED FOR ALL TIME THOSE WHO ARE BEING SANCTIFIED. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

But Christ did not leave His body in the grave. He is not in the grave anymore. He was crucified, but now has risen.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.

Jesus came to pay for our sins, and also came to fulfill the Law of God. He told His disciples:

Matthew 5:17-18 (KJV) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. [18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law of God. Being perfect and sinless, God in the flesh, He laid down His life for His friends (John 15:13). Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas (see John 19:25) stood by the cross of Christ with His mother Mary, watching Jesus die.

Jesus died as our Passover Lamb, the Lamb without spot or blemish. Jesus came to this earth to be “the Savior of His people” (Luke 2:11). He died at the end of the Passover as our Passover

1 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT) … CHRIST, OUR PASSOVER LAMB, has been sacrificed for us.

When the Angel of the Lord rolled the stone away, He broke the seal of the Law on that tomb. Christ Jesus paid for our sins. Jesus died for me. And those who receive His Promise:

John 3:14-18 (KJV) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: [15] That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. [16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus is no longer dead, but has fulfilled all that the Father wants of Him. He died for our sins, but rose again to show that IN HIM IS LIFE.

Matthew 28:7-8 (KJV) He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. [7] And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead

Jesus is alive. He is alive forever more. He died for us and rose again so that He can live in us. As the Angel closed his sermon he said:

Matthew 28:7 (KJV) … behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

Jesus goes before you. Go to Him. Jesus leads you. Follow Him. Love Him. He is Lord. Practice His presence no matter where you may go. He is alive. Jesus is not amid dead things. He is alive. His people are not dead things. We are alive. Follow Him. Follow Him.

Posted in Matthew, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Problem Of Pain

Posted on March 29, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

2 Corinthians 11:23-30 (KJV) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

If God loves me, why am I in pain?
If God is in control of all things, then why do His Children suffer?

These are questions that all Christians eventually ask themselves. The Bible teaches that God loves us. One of the most memorized Scriptures in the Bible is:

John 3:16 (KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God loved us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son.
What did God in love give to us? He gave us Christ suffering on the Cross.

If God is God, then couldn’t God have loved us without sacrificing His Son? If God can do anything then why couldn’t God have saved us apart from the Cross.

The answer is simple, and it is found in the Scripture.

God Cannot Deny Himself

We are told in 2 Timothy 2:13:

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (KJV) It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

God is faithful to His Word. God is faithful to His Nature. Can CANNOT sin, nor can He lie. God can do anything BUT sin. The Bible teaches that God is immutable, unchangeable:

James 1:17 (KJV)17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God is LIGHT, not darkness. And He cannot change Himself. He is the Great and Eternal I AM. He is the …

Revelation 1:8 (KJV) …. Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

He is ALL MIGHTY because there is nothing that He cannot do EXCEPT SIN. He is absolutely holy – HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. He is …

Habakkuk 1:13 (KJV) … of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Since God cannot look on iniquity the Prophet asked “why are You silent when the wicked devours the man more righteous than he?” Even Habakkuk asked the question of WHY.

The answer is in the character of God and in the character of man.

God is holy, righteous, and just. He is eternally good, and unable to do sin. God placed man in a perfect Paradise, a Holy Eden, a place without death or sickness or pain. Man I am sure had hunger pains at times, but these pains were quickly satisfied by the fruit of the trees of that beautiful Beulah Land. What a gorgeous place it must be! How wonderful Heaven will be one day where all sin is banished! God gave Adam and Eve all that they wanted or needed. But God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) …. Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Why did God give ONE RESTRICTION in Paradise? Because Man was given free will. He was made in God’s image, and after His likeness. “Male and female created He them – and they were in God’s image” (see Genesis 1:26-27). Jesus declared:

Matthew 19:4-6 (KJV) … Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

God cannot change. He made man and woman, put them in the Garden, and declared to Adam “In the day that you eat of the forbidden fruit THOU SHALT SURELY DIE”. The very day that Adam ate he died – not physically, but spiritually. His sin separated him from Paradise, and from God Himself. Sin separates us from God. God cannot change, but as Adam’s children we inherit sin sin nature. This is why the Bible says:

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

There was no sin in the world until Adam chose NOT GOD. When he chose to follow the serpent’s word rather than God’s Word sin came into all of creation. God told Eve:

Genesis 3:16 (KJV) …. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

God does not change. Women suffer in childbirth even now. Though medicine can provide drugs to ease the suffering, there is still suffering. This suffering comes to the Christian woman or the witch, the godly or the Atheist. It doesn’t matter. God placed on woman a physical reminder of sin’s taint, and that is the labor of childbirth – as well as having to raise little free will sinning children. God told Adam:

Genesis 3:17-19 (KJV) …. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Eve’s labor before Adam sinned was much easier. She was to multiply and fill the world, and prior to sin labor was not that bad. Afterward there was pain and suffering. Adam’s labor before he sinned was easy. Though he had sweat glands he never really sweated in paradise. After sin entered into the world it brought with it THORNS and THISTLES and SWEAT and SORROW. This falls on every person, whether Christian or Buddhist, disciple of Christ or follower of satan. It does not matter. Sin brings the pain with it. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). God is unchangeable, immutable. What He decrees continues.

This is why Christ had to suffer and die. Since God cannot change, God must do as He said He would do. So Christ took our place.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV)22 For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

God makes no exemptions, no exceptions. He sent a perfect Christ into an imperfect world to stand in for us. Christ – the Light of the world – came into a world filled with sin and darkness.

Why did He come? The scripture says:

1 Peter 3:18 (KJV) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Jesus took our place on the Cross. So when we receive Him as both Lord and Savior then He promises to those who receive Him:

John 11:25-26 (KJV)25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Whosoever LIVETH in Me shall never die ……….…….. He is LORD.
Whosoever BELIEVETH in Me shall never die …………. He is SAVIOR.

Though our sins are forgiven, and though we have a place in Heaven, this world is yet in the grip of evil. Man was made with a free will to choose, to decide. Man (and woman – I do not leave you out) can choose to follow Christ and let Him reign in our lives, or choose to follow the flesh. It is a matter of choice.

If Paul was doing God’s work, Why was he suffering?

1 Paul Was Suffering Because Even Christians Are Sinners. The Apostle wrote this section of Scripture as he was led of the Holy Spirit. He wrote this section because he was hurt. The Apostle founded the Church at Corinth. He suffered to share the Gospel in that godless area. Then when he left that area other false ministers came into that area and taught the opposite of what Paul had been teaching. The Corinthians LOVED it. They turned from the Pauline teachings in order to follow error. The Apostle wrote:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (KJV) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Those who come in and teach:

Well the Bible spoke to a different time.
That was THEN and this is NOW.
God loves everybody and all are going to Heaven.

Do not understand the immutability of God. God does not change.

What was “marriage” in the Garden is “marriage” now.
What was “sin” in the Old Testament is “sin” in the New.
What leads to God’s wrath THEN leads to His wrath NOW.
What Dr. Spock said about raising children does not change what Dr. God says.

Paul told the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 11:23 (KJV) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

Paul uses not his success, but his SUFFERING to prove his apostleship. The world is a fallen place. When Jesus came into this world He told His disciples:

John 12:46 (KJV) I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

The world is in darkness, in sin, in the flesh, in satan. Jesus came to transform those in darkness into light. The Bible says:

Colossians 1:13-14 (KJV) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Christians are not supposed to be in darkness, but sadly we sometimes revert to our old sin nature. We do things we ought not to do. We say things we ought not to say. We do not “imitate God as dear children”. We forget the Word:

Ephesians 5:1-6 (KJV) Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whore monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

If you belong to God you belong in the Light of Christ – walk in His Light. Do not compartmentalize God. God is there at all times – and we are His at all times.

2 Paul was suffering because unbelievers are sinners. He wrote:

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (KJV) Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

The darkness does not like the light, and it never will. Paul was beaten by the Jews because they refused to believe that Christ was the Messiah. The Pharisees had Christ beaten and crucified … they will also beat and crucify those who follow Christ. Jesus told His disciples:

John 15:18-20 (KJV) If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Muslim terrorists can strap on bombs and kill people and yet it is still declared a “religion of peace” by the world. Yet a Christian owned company can be attacked for not endorsing abortion or sexual sin. Why? Because anything Christian is of Christ, and Christ calls us out of the world. We are to be IN the world but not OF the world. Christ is our Lord, Heaven our home, and Love our target. The world despises the things of Christ.

He was in the world, and though the world was made by Him the world did not know Him. (John 1:10)

You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? If you would choose to be a friend of the world you become an enemy of God (James 4:4).

Father, My prayer is not that You should take them out of the world but that You would protect them from the Evil One (John 17:15).

The Apostle was under attack not only by robbers and heathen, but also by his own countrymen and family. How bad was it? We are told:

2 Corinthians 11:32-33 (KJV) In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

It was right after Paul’s conversion to Christ that he went to Damascus to speak of his conversion. We are told in:

Acts 9:22-27 (KJV) But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. 23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: 24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Saul … who now preached under the name of Paul … was even rejected initially by the other Christians because of his past history. Had it not been for Barnabas, a faithful Christian missionary, it is possible that Paul would have been rejected by all. But God always provides an escape when suffering comes. God will always triumph!

3 Paul Was Suffering Because HE Is A Sinner. In the next chapter the Apostle begins to speak as to how God blessed him to see into Heaven. He said:

2 Corinthians 12:1-4 (KJV)1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Though Paul speaks in the third person most commentaries say that the Apostle is speaking of himself. Why? Because he states:

2 Corinthians 12:7-8 (KJV) And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

God let Paul look into Heaven proper, to see the glories of which we can only imagine today but will one day enjoy. With the privilege of the revelations that he received, along with his apostleship, the Lord sent “a messenger of Satan to beat him, lest he should be exalted above measure”. Why?

Because Paul is a sinner like we are sinners.

If he had received the joy of looking into Heaven without the beating from this “messenger of Satan” then Paul could have become puffed up with pride. Three times Paul asked God to remove this suffering. What was God’s answer?

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (KJV) And {God} said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

We are strong when we are fully relying on God. Suffering brings us low so that we can surrender to God, to be His conduit of Grace. Understanding that the Apostle began to stop GRUMBLING about his trials and began GLORYING in them. He said because of this I TAKE PLEASURE in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, knowing that WHEN I am weak, THEN I am strong.

The best place to be is surrendered to the hands of Christ.

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Belong To God, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Married To Jesus

Posted on March 27, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 (KJV) But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. {3} But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. {4} For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

The SIMPLICITY Of Christ

The faith that God gives to us is not complex or confusing. It is simple. God has never been difficult with us. He has always asked us to follow Him simply. Jesus illustrated this when He called a little child to His side. Jesus said:

Matthew 18:2-6 (KJV) … Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

That is very simple. There is a simplicity in Christ. How is a person saved? It is very simple. Jesus illustrated it with a child. He illustrated it with His disciples.

Matthew 4:19 (KJV) … Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Come. Follow Jesus. What God does for us is complex, but what He expects of us is simple. “Follow Me”. God made us simply.

We are not Gods, but we are God’s (G O D APOSTROPHE S).
We belong to God.
But we are not GODS.
We are NOT GODS but we ARE GOD’S.
And we are most like GOD when we imitate Him.

We cannot be gods, though we were made in the image of God. Sunday we studied these words:

Isaiah 55:6-11 (KJV) Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

God’s ways are NOT our ways. Our ways are often confused, foolish. But God’s ways are HIGHER than our ways. God is God. We are not. God’s Word is always true. The Spirit of this age – which was the spirit that entered and destroyed Eden – says:

Has God REALLY Said?

God gave Adam a very simple rule. You can have everything, but ONE thing you will not touch. That ONE thing is mine, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:17 (KJV) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Very simple. Easy to understand.
You can trim the tree.
You can rake up it’s leaves.
You can till the ground around it.
You can polish its leaves if you want to.
You can water it.
You can string a hammock between it and the Tree of Life.
You can lay in the hammock, and snooze between the two trees
like a squirrel in its nest.
But YOU SHALL NOT EAT IT.

I’m going to give you a woman, Adam. She will be the most beautiful woman in the world. She won’t interrupt you while you’re watching TV because there won’t be any TV. You and her are to multiply and fill the earth. You’re a man, she’s a woman. She is to follow you as you love her. She can eat anything she wants. But YOU, Adam, are NOT TO EAT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

So what does Adam do? God has given him very clear instructions. Don’t eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s very clear. But the spirit of evil creeps into the Garden. Here is Satan. He doesn’t go to Adam but to Eve, the wife. He says to Eve:

“Has God REALLY SAID that you shall not eat of EVERY TREE in the Garden?”

Notice how subtle the devil is. He doesn’t come right out and contradict God, but he opens the door to contradiction. His implication is that God is STINGY. God is keeping ONE THING from Adam and Eve – after all, don’t they work hard? Haven’t they worked hard enough to deserve EVERYTHING? Opening the door with the wife, the Bride of Adam says:

Genesis 3:2-3 (KJV) … the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Now God never said that. His orders were specific. You could TOUCH the tree all you wanted, but were not to eat of it. So Eve did what people have done from the beginning of time.

SHE ADDED TO THE WORD OF GOD.

When I was in school I was taught that 1+1=2, not 1+1=3.
When you add to the Word of God you turn it into a half truth.
When you take away from the Word of God you turn it into a half truth.

When the Word of God is simply read and simply applied you have the whole truth. For instance, the Scripture says:

Colossians 3:18-24 (KJV) Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. 22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

That is very clear. Wives, SUBMIT to your OWN husbands
AS IS FIT in the Lord.

You don’t have to submit to sinful things that he asks you to do, but if he is following Christ and leading in Christ you are to follow him as he follows Jesus. The same principle is found in:

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Paul said “Follow me as I follow Christ”. If the husband is following Christ, the wife is to follow the husband as he follows Christ. That’s simple.

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter against them.

Again, a very clear statement.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Everything is very simple. Where we go wrong is when we add to or remove from what God has said.

When Eve added to what God said the devil came back and said:

Genesis 3:4-5 (KJV) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Here the devil’s plan is revealed. He opened the door. Eve added to the Word of God. Then the devil goes “Well, God is just trying to DEPRIVE you, to HOLD YOU DOWN, to keep you from your FULL POTENTIAL and ROB YOU OF HAPPINESS.” Once Eve heard this she began to look at things with her own intellect and feeling.

Genesis 3:6 (KJV) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

When Adam ate the world fell into sin.

As the devil did with Eve, he tries to do with the Church today. Look at the Apostle’s words:

2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

The Church is the Bride of Christ. Each member in the Church is married to Christ by faith. When people are added to the Church they are ESPOUSED to Christ. The Bible teaches us elsewhere that:

Ephesians 5:22-24 (KJV) Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

The Church is Christ’s Bride, His Wife. As the wife is to obey her husband in the Lord, we are to obey Christ. We are to follow Him. We are to love Him. We are to do as He does. In the Great Commission Christ said:

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV) …. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

We follow Jesus as Jesus follows His Father. This is salvation. This is the Church. We are to heed His Word and do it, not adding to or subtracting from it. When we add to His Word what happens? CONFUSION.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

How is a person saved? By faith in Christ. Faith follows. Faith does. Faith imitates.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Christianity is quite simply a love story. The simplicity of our faith means that we who believe do what we do because God loves us – and we have been led to fall in love with Him. Simplicity means a sincere and pure devotion to the One Who saved you. The Christian exists to glorify God! To love God!

If I am following Jesus, I will do what my Jesus says. What has He said? WE MUST LOVE.

We are told in:

1 John 4:20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

I must love you, and you must love me. I do not love you if I add or subtract from God’s Word, nor condone you in doing so. This is not love. We are to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Love as Christ loved. Love as Christ said.

Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. {44} But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; {45} That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Gospel is to follow Christ. The Gospel is to give Him the preeminence. The Gospel is to glorify God. A person is not saved if that person is not routinely and as a matter of course following Jesus. The Apostle warned:

Galatians 1:8-10 (KJV)8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

The Gospel is to live following the Lord, pleasing Him, doing as He has said we must do. Jesus Christ died for our sins. The Bible declares

1 Peter 2:24 {Jesus} his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Jesus died for us to bring us to righteousness, and righteousness is defined as that which “is RIGHT with GOD”. I am not saved by my works, but by Christ’s. But once saved I am wed to Christ on the spiritual level. I am to follow Him, to love Him, to do as He has said do, simply, just like a child, an obedient child.

This is what our Lord would have us to do – to follow Him as He follows the Father. Here then is power. Here is the way of Christ. Let’s be like Jesus.

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Sermons Preached | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Decisions Matter

Posted on March 26, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

1

Please stand with me – if you are able – to honor our God and the reading of His Word. Will you read responsively with me …

 John 12:9-19 (KJV) Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. 12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. 14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. 16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. 17 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. 18 For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

I’ve been prayerfully thinking a lot lately about responsibility and the decisions we make. The two things go hand in hand. In America today I see many who shirk responsibility in favor of “let’s let the government handle it”. The government can’t fix what ails us. We need to be responsible for our lives. We need to understand that every decision we make TODAY always affects our TOMORROW. Conversely the decisions we DO NOT make have an impact on our future selves. The decisions you make are very important.

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem He was making a decision to be responsible. Not long before He entered Jerusalem our Lord caused Lazarus – a dear friend of His – to rise from the grave. Before Lazarus died his sisters Mary and Martha asked Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. Jesus waited four days before going to the aid of His friend. He had something He wanted to show Mary and Martha, something He wanted to show us all.

Jesus Christ has power over death.

Before Jesus Rode Into Jerusalem He Walked Into Bethany

If you have your Bibles you only need look at the previous chapter – John 11 – to see this story. When Jesus went to see Lazarus He knew he was already dead (John 11:14). Jesus planned it that way. He wanted us all to see that He conquers death. When Jesus went to Bethany – about 2 miles from Jerusalem – He was met by first Martha then Mary. Both ladies grieved the passing of their dear brother. Jesus told Martha:

John 11:25-26 (KJV) … I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  [26]  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

You cannot understand why Jesus rode into Jerusalem unless you understand what happened with Lazarus. Jesus clearly told Martha – and us – that He came to defeat death. He told her that the ones who believe in Him would never be conquered by death. The name of Lazarus is mentioned as a main subject in what we read today.

Jesus went to Lazarus tomb. He had the stone rolled away from that tomb. Then Jesus prayed:

John 11:41-42 (KJV) … Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.  [42]  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

In His prayer Jesus prayed:
“Father”.

No one addressed God as “Father” but Christ. No Jew had ever dared do so. “Father” is a term of love, of family, of endearment. To Jesus the Almighty was “Father”. The term is gender specific, male, not female. “Father”.

“I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me”.

Jesus is not asking the Father to hear Him, but thanking the Father that He already heard Him. When Jesus spoke the Father heard. The Father sent the Son to this earth for a reason, and Jesus lived in union with His Father. “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. Jesus went to Bethany when He did because the Father spoke to Him, and He to the Father.

“I knew that Thou hearest Me ALWAYS,
But because the people that are standing here I said this.
I wanted them to know and believe You sent Me and Me alone.”

Then Jesus did it. He stood in front of that tomb and

John 11:43 (KJV) …. cried with a LOUD voice, Lazarus, come forth.

Why did Jesus SHOUT this? Jesus was not foolish. To a dead man a whisper is as good as a shout. I have noticed when two people with different languages try to communicate both will speak LOUDER and SLOWER in their native language to try and be understood. This is foolish. If I don’t understand what “amigo” means in English shouting it will not make it more understandable. Jesus didn’t shout so that Lazarus could hear Him. HE SHOUTED SO THAT THE PEOPLE STANDING BY COULD HEAR HIM. He wanted people to hear and perhaps understand by faith that He has power over death. After Jesus shouted “Lazarus come forth” the Bible says:

John 11:44 (KJV)  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

The dead was brought back to life. Lazarus left that dark cave, and hopped out into the light. The other living gathered around Lazarus helped take off his old clothes. “Loose him and let him go”. The one who was dead is now alive because of Jesus. God intervened. This is a beautiful picture of the Church. Lazarus’ family and friends celebrated his resurrection. Everyone was happy …

…. but the Priests and the Pharisees.

They had a big meeting the day that Lazarus rose from the grave. You would think that they would flock to Jesus and love Him, for He was clearly sent of God to defeat death. But they didn’t. They said:

John 11:47-48 (KJV) … What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.  [48]  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

Confronted with truth, rather than believe these men chose to plot and ponder how they could keep their power. They had a good thing going before Jesus came along. If they left Jesus alone – they said – “all men will believe on Him, and the Romans shall come and take away OUR PLACE and NATION.” They did not see Jesus as the King of Life, but to them Jesus would be the reason that they would lose their power. The Bible says:

John 1:4-5 (KJV)  In {Jesus} was life; and the life was the light of men.  [5]  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 3:19 (KJV)  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The priests and Pharisees made a decision that day. They did not want to lose their power, so they decided to kill Jesus.

John 11:53 (KJV)  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

They decided to kill Jesus. In fact, they knew that Jesus would go to Jerusalem for the Passover, so they plotted to kill Him then (John 11:56-57).

The Priests and Pharisees Made A Decision, But Their Decision Did Not Change Jesus’ Decision. Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

Jesus Rode Into Jerusalem To Lay Down His Life

Jesus knew that the Priests and Pharisees would plot His death, but He made a decision to ride into Jerusalem anyway. Why? Because Jesus our King came to conquer sin and death. He did not come to conquer the Romans, but to conquer evil and darkness.

Most of the commentaries I have read call this the “Triumphal Entry of Christ”. The entry of Christ into Jerusalem is also in Mark 11:1-11; Matthew 21:1-11; and Luke 19:28-44. By entering Jerusalem Jesus would not only make Himself vulnerable to His enemies, but He would so irritate the Pharisees and the Ruling Counsel of the Jews that they would deliver Him over to the Roman Authorities to be executed on the Cross.

But Jesus went anyway.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem He laid His life down for us all. Jesus knew what He was doing. He willingly laid His life down. Before going to Jerusalem Jesus said:

John 10:11 (KJV) I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Jesus is the Shepherd of His people. The Shepherd leads the way. The Shepherd stands between the sheep and their enemy.

Our enemy is sin and death. The Bible declares:

Romans 6:23 (KJV)  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

On the one hand is sin which leads to death. If you decide to follow sin you will be paid off in death. BUT if you choose to follow Christ the pay off is LIFE. A better life NOW, and eternal life THEN. Jesus chose to lay His life down for us. He declared:

John 10:17-18 (KJV) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Jesus laid down His life. Her chose the nails. He chose the whip, the scourge. He chose to stand in the place of judgment for us.

1 John 3:16 (KJV) Hereby perceive we the love of God, because HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US: …

Jesus made a decision. The decision He made effected His tomorrow, and effected our today. Look how Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The Bible says that:

John 12:14-15 (KJV) … Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

The prophet Zechariah foretold that when the Messiah came into Jerusalem He would come sitting on a donkey:

Zechariah 9:9 (KJV) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and UPON A COLT THE FOAL OF AN ASS.

When a conquering King entered into a city He rode on a white stallion, perhaps pulled by a Chariot. In the Old Testament when God wanted to overthrow the evil King Ahab and his queen Jezebel He had Jehu anointed King (see 2 Kings 9). When Jehu rode into Jerusalem he rode in a chariot pulled by a white stallion. He came to conquer by killing the evil King and Queen. But when a King came on a mission of peace he always rode on a donkey, a beautiful beast. Jehu rode into Jerusalem to kill. Jesus rode into Jerusalem to be killed, to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem there were TWO GROUPS of people waiting for Him. We read:

John 12:9-11 (KJV) Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

Illustrate One group wanted to see both Jesus AND LAZARUS. Lazarus rose from the grave. He was a side show, a carnival attraction. He is much like the scientists who developed three green glow in the dark pigs. They injected fluorescent green protein into embryonic pigs, and these pigs grow up green and glow in the dark. Why? Who knows? Man does silly things in the name of science. Lazarus was a curiosity, but to the Priests and Pharisees Lazarus was a threat. Their eyes were on Lazarus. Some believed on Jesus, but did not understand WHY He came.

They thought Jesus was the King Who would conquer Rome.

John 12:12-13 (KJV) when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

As Jesus rode through the city He was received as if He were a conquering King. The people tossed palm leaves and outer clothing before Him, cheering Him. Jesus will come and overthrow the evil Romans – or so many thought. They wanted a temporary fix to their problems.

A temporary fix does not last.

Israel was in bondage to Rome THEN because of a sin problem.
America is in a mess TODAY because of a sin problem.
If we come to Christ and follow Him there is blessing.
But if we reject Christ and follow sin there is cursing.

God called His people to follow Him. He gave His people a law by which to live. He asked His people to love Him, to abstain from idolatry, to care for Him as He cared for them. But the people made a decision to do as they wanted to do. Instead of following God and loving God they followed their own hearts and their own sin nature. God was the least in their lives. And as the nation and its leaders drew away from God, the decisions they made led God to turn away. God will not condone sin. God will not wink at sin. God despises sin and wickedness and lovelessness. God told His people:

Deuteronomy 6:4-10 (KJV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

God loved Israel, and loved them still. When Jesus entered Jerusalem He saw the people laying down palm leaves and outer clothing before Him and His donkey. He heard the people shout:

Luke 19:37-38 (KJV) And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; 38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

As they shouted they quoted Psalm 118 from the Hebrew hymnbook, singing and praising God. The Pharisees made a decision to harden their hearts to this. They said “Master, REBUKE Your disciples!”. The Pharisees knew that Jesus caused Lazarus to rise from the dead. They knew it so much that they plotted to kill Lazarus again, for this was a miracle they could not explain away. They hardened their hearts. They would not praise God for Jesus, nor could they tolerate it when others did. Make them be quiet. But Jesus said …

Luke 19:40 (KJV) …. I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

John 12:19 (KJV) The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

They felt as if they couldn’t stop Christ. He threatened their franchise over religion, and their power over the people. They refused to hear Jesus, rejecting Him as Messiah. They plotted to kill Him.

Jesus Wept Over Lazarus And Wept Over Jerusalem

Luke 19:41-44 (KJV)41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

When Jesus stood before Lazarus’ tomb He wept. I don’t believe He wept because His friend had died. Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the grave. Weeping over something that He was going to fix makes no sense. I believe Jesus wept over not Lazarus, but over the lost who would not hear. The Pharisees who – seeing the reversal of death – plot to kill Jesus so they can retain power. I believe Jesus wept because He looked around and saw people that He would lay His life down for, but these people would not repent nor come to Him. They would rather stay in the darkness of the tomb, rather than come to the light that is Christ.

I believe Jesus wept over Jerusalem and weeps over America today. I believe He weeps over the hard hearted who turn from Him and remain in their sin. In just a few days from now Jesus will be executed as a criminal of the state. He will be beaten, betrayed, bruised, and bound to a Cross. He will die on a hill called Calvary.

But like Lazarus, He will rise again. And unlike Lazarus, He will rise again to never die. Jesus will do this to show you and I that He is the Only Way, the Only Truth, and the Only Life. That no one comes to the Father but through Him.

Jesus decided to give Himself for you. His decision changes your tomorrow.
Jesus calls you to walk with Him, to lay your life down in Him.
He wants more than your palm leaves.
He wants YOU.
What will you decide.
Will you stand with the Pharisees and Priests, rejecting Him to stay in darkness?
Or will you choose to walk with Him?
The decision you make today will affect your tomorrow.
Choose wisely.
Choose Christ!

Posted in John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

God’s Masterpiece

Posted on March 23, 2018 by bibleteacherorg

excellent post from a great Christian

JC's avatarThe Ministry of JC

masterpiece1

When you look at the canvas of your life, what do you see?

Maybe you see it riddled with mistakes. The lines might not be straight. Parts of the drawing have gone outside of the lines. The paper is torn, dirty. Stains splattered across the painting serve as a constant reminder of past mistakes [1]. People in the painting are blurry, once good friends have become un-recognisable.

No form of eraser or glue can fix the mess which you’ve created.

What would you give to start again? How much money would you pay to have your messy, torn up canvas turned into a masterpiece?

‘For we are God’s masterpiece.’ – Ephesians 2:9

We don’t become God’s masterpiece after we have fixed up the canvas of our life. Not God’s masterpiece once we’ve sorted out those messy lines and torn edges.  We are God’s masterpiece. Not in a few weeks, months or…

View original post 1,366 more words

Posted in General | Leave a comment