Choose Carefully Your Way

Posted on January 3, 2025 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Iva Rajović on Unsplash

Proverbs 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

Believers Follow His Way

Every commentary I looked at had, in my opinion, a poor understanding of this particular proverb. Let’s break this down into its two parts and go a little deeper:

The WISDOM of the prudent is to understand his way

Word Study: As we have learned before, there is a difference between KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM. The first, KNOWLEDGE, is based on raw data or facts. The Scribes and Pharisees had knowledge of the Law. They were legal experts, trying to follow the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law, as well as the thousands of Rabbinical Pronouncements (Mishnah & Gemara) as to what these Laws actually meant. Jesus chastised the Scribes and Pharisees. Like many religious people, they had the raw data (KNOWLEDGE), but lacked the WISDOM to apply that knowledge.

WISDOM or the ability to properly apply learned data comes not from man, but from God.

Proverbs 2:6 (ESV) For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

James 1:5 (ESV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Psalm 119:98 (ESV) Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

Word Study: The “PRUDENT” (Hebrew ʿārûm) is the one who is wise, shrewd, or sensible. This is a reference to the believer in Christ who heeds the Word of God. The “PRUDENT” asks God for wisdom so that we can “UNDERSTAND” not “his way”, as in the prudent person’s way. We ask God for wisdom so that we can understand “His way”, God’s Way.

When we follow our path, our desires, we are not prudent but foolish. When mankind walked away from God, and forsook His way, the Bible says:

Genesis 6:12 (KJV) God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

It was then that God decided to destroy the earth by flood. Not because man was following his way, but because mankind had forsaken righteousness and was therefore forsaking His – God’s way. God blesses us when we follow His way, for God’s way is always right.

Psalm 18:30 (KJV) As for God, his way is perfect: the Word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

When we humble ourselves before the Lord and seek His way, He promises us:

Psalm 25:9 (KJV) The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

When the Word of God “became flesh and dwelt among us”, God clearly revealed to us the way we were to go. Jesus is called,

John 14:6 … THE WAY, the Truth, and the Life …

However, the lost walk a different way.

Proverbs 14:8 … but the folly of fools is deceit.

The “Fool” or godless person (Psalm 14:1; 53:1) rejects the Word and Wisdom of God. They cheat themselves out of the blessings that they could receive from God, if they would but repent. They deceive others and themselves. Jesus warned His children:

Matthew 10:16 (ESV) Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Walk carefully among the lost of this world. They will attempt to deceive you, as they have been deceived. The wages of sin will ALWAYS be DEATH (Romans 6:23). The road to death and destruction is wide. The road to glory is narrow.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Fools Play With Death

Proverbs 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor.

Again we are contrasting the lost (FOOLS) with the saved (the RIGHTEOUS). The foolish and godless person mocks and minimizes the dangers of sin. As one commentary notes:

“Sin is the transgression of the law; doing what God forbids, or omitting to do what He commands.”

Illustrate: Some mock sin because of sensual appetite. They wish to indulge their desires, so they minimize what they do. On one episode of the television show Frasier the father Martin was having an affair with a supposed Churched Christian. When she expressed discomfort at what they were doing, his reply was “We’re both adults – what’s the harm?” The harm is that fornication and other forms of sexual sin – physical intimate gratification outside of marriage – is considered sinful and destructive. In the United States there are more than 20 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases every year – many of them deadly or life altering.

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fool does not want to hear the truth. I often see them rolling their eyes when I preach, or whispering to one another justification for their foolishness. Their “consciences are seared” (1 Timothy 4:2), and they have hardened their hearts to the truths of God’s Word. However, we are told that …

among the righteous there is favor

Those who are saved are open to the will and the Word of God. When the Christ follower steps out of the Spirit and into sin, they do not mock it, but repent of it. The Bible says:

Psalm 51:17 (ESV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God “knows that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14), that though we who are saved by Grace are saved, that we do at times err. But when we err, we do not mock nor make light of our sin. We REPENT. In the Theology of Work we read:

“Knowing our weakness and dustiness, God is tender and compassionate. God’s love for us means that he does not abandon us in our limitations and sins. Rather, he looks upon us like a father with his own children. And, indeed, the Father loves us so much that he sent his only Son to bear our sin and open us up to the way of wholeness. … So, even as we acknowledge our limitations, our frailty, and our sin, we celebrate the fact that God understands who we are, and that He has come in Christ to do what we could never do on our own.”

God wants us to serve Him lovingly, but does not expect our perfection. We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). The Bible tells us that – saved by Grace – we have the favor of God. We are told to:

Philippians 2:12-13 … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

It is inconceivable that a genuine Christian would make light of sin. We know what sin cost our Jesus. We know what our sin caused Christ to go through.

We Cannot Judge The Heart Of A Person

Proverbs 14:10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

We cannot judge the heart of another. As believers, we are to judge the fruit of a life, the works that a person does. Jesus justified this type of judging. He said:

Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

We know if a “fruit” or a work of the life is right or wrong based upon the scale of God’s Word. God decrees right and wrong. If an action departs from God’s Word, then it is wrong.

We can judge the fruit of a life, but cannot judge anyone’s heart. As a pastor I have had to preach funeral for people who were faithful to the Church and apparently faithful to the Lord in their profession. Such people are easy to preach a funeral for, because the fruit or expressed work of their lives looked like “good fruit” from a “good tree”. But then there have been other funerals I have had to preach for people who did not exhibit “good fruit” in their lives, but were selfish, petty, mean spirited, argumentative, judgmental, and generally just a mess to be around. Some of these people, however, became afflicted, and went through what can be called a “deathbed confession”.

Were they saved? I cannot tell. I cannot judge the heart. Neither can you.

When the Prophet Job went through terrible affliction, his “friends” came to him and accused him of all sorts of evil. C.H. Spurgeon stated:

“We may not judge our brethren as though we understood them, and were competent to give a verdict upon them. Do not sit down, like Job’s friends, and condemn the innocent.”

The heart knows its own bitterness. Only I may know my heart. When God sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint a new King over Israel, Samuel thought it would be one of Jesse’s stronger sons. God told Samuel:

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV) … Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Only God can see our hearts. Only God knows the heart – and the person whose heart it is knows it. 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?”

Again, we can judge the works that we can see as righteous or unrighteous, but not the heart. In the early Church the bulk of the Church was Jewish, with a Jewish background. As Gentiles began to enter the Church, they brought with them their own customs that were not necessarily sinful. So the Lord directed the Church:

Romans 14:2-4 (NKJV) … one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

Proverbs 14:10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

Just as no one but you can know your own heart, no one but you can know the joy of your salvation. To know that joy, you must not be a stranger to it. You must call upon the Lord yourself. No one can be saved for you. But once saved, you will share in the sevenfold joy of salvation:

  1. The JOY of pardoned sin.
  2. The JOY of freedom from sin’s enslavement.
  3. The JOY of unity and reconciliation with God your Father.
  4. The JOY of accepted service.
  5. The JOY of heard and answered prayer.
  6. The JOY of peace even in the midst of storm.
  7. The JOY of daily, hourly, minute by minute communion with God.

Eventually That Which Is Darkness Shall Die

Proverbs 14:11-12 The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. 12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Word Study: In verse 11 there is a contrast between a “HOUSE” and a “TABERNACLE”. The “HOUSE” is the Hebrew bayiṯ (pronounced bah’-yith) which refers to a “home, household, dwelling habitation or shelter that is permanent”. The “TABERNACLE” is the Hebrew ōhel is a less temporary shelter like a tent.

The wicked or godless people build permanent structures meant to last, houses, monuments. But these permanent structures will not stand, for they “shall be overthrown”. A house built on evil is very weak. A life built on that which God has decreed is wrong will become dissipated. I saw a picture of Ellen Degeneres the other day with her “wife” Portia de Rossi. Two sadder people I have never seen. When Ellen first aired on television, she was a beautiful person. Now she looks worn out, and worn down. God has said:

Ezekiel 18:4 (ESV) … the soul who sins SHALL DIE

Romans 6:23 (ESV) … the wages of sin is DEATH

Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is THE WAY TO DEATH

Ezekiel 18:20 (ESV) The soul who sins SHALL DIE

God will use a broken person who repents and turns to Him. But God will eventually either destroy, or allow the wicked to be destroyed, for evil and darkness cannot stand in permanence. Over the last four years when people began to push DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), transgenderism on children, Drag Queen Story Hour at the Library, LGBTQ+ policies and celebratory months, same sex marriages, willful murder of children in the womb, far left or far right agendas I knew that the house of cards would collapse. Why? Because anything divorced from God and His Word and Truth will die.

Beloved, it doesn’t matter if it is a country, a community, or a Church – the house of the wicked WILL NOT STAND. God will not let it.

but the TABERNACLE (Tent) of the UPRIGHT shall FLOURISH

Word Study: The word “FLOURISH” is the Hebrew pāraḥ (pronounced paw-rakh’), which means “to blossom, to spring forth, to bud or send out shoots”. The righteous, though their home might be temporary, will produce abundant fruit because they follow the Lord. Jesus emphasized this in His parable:

John 15:1-7 (ESV) I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

The Christ follower must remember not to “drive your tent stakes too deeply”. This world is not our permanent home. We are headed toward God, toward Heaven. Jesus tells those who are His children by faith,

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

King David wrote “I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3). He spoke truly, How often have we, have I, looked at the riches that the godless have, and thought what good I could do with those millions. Nancy Pelosi has robbed near half a billion dollars from American citizens during her political career. The Obamas have three of four multi-million dollar mansions they have purchased by making merchandise of the poor. The wicked women of The View make millions mocking sin and minimizing the God of the Bible. “They say, ‘How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?’” (Psalm 73:11). David said,

Psalm 73:16-17 (ESV) But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

God has allowed the wicked to prosper for but a time. In time,

King Ahab will die a bloody death.
Queen Jezebel will be eaten by dogs.
Judas Iscariot will hang himself.
Samson will be blinded, and kill many Philistines.
King Herod Agrippa will be eaten by skin worms.
King Jehoram will die of a bowel disease.
Absalom, pretty Prince Absalom, will be hung by his hair.
General Sisera will fall asleep,
and have a tent peg driven in his head.
Fat King Eglon will be stabbed by a hidden dagger.
And the rich man will burn in hell,
while Lazarus is comforted.

There is a judgment day coming, and God will make right all that is wrong. Those who mocked God will stand before a Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15) and try and run away. In the end, every thing of permanence that the wicked sought to establish shall be torn down. The righteous shall flourish, though we have but tents. The house of the wicked shall not last.

I hope you’re on the right side.

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

Dead To The Law And Married To Christ

Posted on January 1, 2025 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Romans 7:1-4 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

This Chapter Addresses The Legalists

In Romans Chapter 7 the Lord through the Apostle Paul begins to explain to the Pharisees and Scribes among us why the Law of God does not change us. We know that this is the case because he says:

(for I speak to them that know the law,)

Word Study: The word translated “KNOW” is the Greek ginōskō, which means “to perceive, understand, have been intimately aware of”. The word is often used in the New Testament for the intimate relationship between married men and women, as in “Joseph did not KNOW (ginōskō) Mary until she brought forth her firstborn Son … Jesus” (Matthew 1:25). The Pharisees and Scribes knew the Law of Moses. They were intimately acquainted with it, as was the Apostle Paul. Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees (Acts 23:6; Philippians 3:5). Saul the Pharisee knew the Law intimately. And yet, the Law does not change a person.

Saul knew the Law, and helped murder Christians. Paul treasured life. No Law ever changes us. Whether the Law of God or the Law of Man, the Law is an external decree that people may choose to follow.

We think that – by passing more and more laws – we can cure the problems of society. The United States alone has more than 30,000 statutes, with Congress enacting from 200-600 statutes every two years. There are Federal Laws and State Laws and Local Laws. Laws do not correct the human condition.

Illustrate: On December 23rd, 2024, I read:

“MAGDEBURG, Germany, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A man suspected of ploughing {sic} a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores(over 200)faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday. Friday evening’s attack in the central city of Magdeburg shocked the country and stirred up tensions over the charged issue of immigration. The suspect, who was in custody, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the attack remained unclear.”

Of the five killed, one was a nine year old child. There were 200 people injured by the attack. I noticed after this horrific event no one called for the banning of automobiles, or psychiatric testing of those who want to drive automobiles before they are allowed to buy an automobile. This is what usually happens when there is a school shooting, like the Wisconsin 15 year old girl who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student at the Abundant Life Christian School on December 16th of this year. The shooter brought two guns to school. This young murderer shot herself at the school and died at a Madison hospital.

Laws regulate the action of sin if we adhere to them, but Laws do not remove the desire to sin. We need to die to our old self. This is what God offers us through Jesus Christ.

The Old Covenant Addressed, But Did Not
Change The Old Man With Us

Under the Old Covenant, God gave the Law of Moses and told us “live by it”. Why? To prove to us that we could not live by it. Israel violated the Law of God before it was ever even presented, creating an idol to lead them rather than trust in God. To explain to those intimately acquainted with the Law, the Scribes and Pharisees, the Apostle quotes to them from the Law of Moses:

Romans 7:1-3 … the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Under the Mosaic Law the WOMAN could not give a bill of divorce to her husband; only a husband could initiate a divorce. Though many in our modern society will squirm at this and say it is misogyny, this was the plain sense of the Old Covenant Law.

Under the Old Covenant a man could end the marriage, but the woman was bound to her husband forever if he did not initiate the divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

The man was not supposed to initiate divorce proceedings unless “the man found uncleanness in her”, that is, unless she was sexually promiscuous or guilty of adultery. Knowing the Law, the Pharisees and Scribes did not adhere to the letter of the Law, but twisted the word “UNCLEANNESS” so that they could divorce their wives if they became old, or infirm because of disease. The Law did not make for good marriage, because the human heart is evil.

How could a woman divorce her husband? Under the Law, “the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth”. There was no provision for divorce for the woman, even if misused or abused. The man is to love his wife, and care for her – but sin in the heart caused man to twist the Law. In an abusive relationship, how could a woman be separated from her husband under the Law?

Only if he died.

if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband

If the woman left her husband, and went to another man, she was guilty of adultery, a crime punishable by death. But if her husband died, she was free to marry another – to be in an intimate (ginōskō) state with that man.

A Parenthetical Clarification On Divorce

Though I do not want to be off subject, I do want to point out that what the Scribes and Pharisees did with the Law and Divorce is not in accordance with God’s will. God did not design man and woman to be easily divorced, or to take marriage lightly. God said:

Malachi 2:16 (NKJV) For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce

Our Lord Jesus said “whoever divorces his wife, EXCEPT FOR SEXUAL IMMORALITY, makes her the victim of adultery” (Matthew 5:31). And again, the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, “A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife”

God is not for divorce. Let’s be clear on this. God is not for abuse of women. This is what unregenerate man did when he twisted the clear teaching of the Law. Now let’s return to Paul’s illustration.

Returning To Paul’s Illustration

Paul is using this Law from the Old Covenant to describe the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Like the woman under the Old Covenant, we are all bound to the Law until we die. But once we die, we are free to wed another. Who kills us?

God does.
At Salvation, God causes our “new birth”.
At salvation, the old man dies.
The Old Covenant dies.
And God weds us to Jesus Christ as LORD and SAVIOR.

Romans 7:4 (KJV) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Like the Old Covenant woman, we are “become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead”. The Apostle is not speaking semantics here, but realities. When Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He satisfied the Law of God. He fulfilled the Law. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He fulfilled all 613 of the Old Covenant commands.

Jesus taught the untwisted truth of the Old Covenant Law, showing the Law’s significance and value. Then Jesus, an innocent and holy Person, went to a criminal’s Cross to pay for our sins against the Law of God. Believing on and receiving Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior, we have “become dead to the law by the body of Christ”. Not by our efforts, but by God’s efforts. Not by our strengths, but by God’s strengths.

Word Study: The phrase “become dead” is the Greek thanatoō, which means “put to death, killed”. When the Christ follower calls on the name of Jesus, God kills the old woman that you used to be, so you can be wed to another.

that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God

The Scribe and Pharisee under the Law did not bring forth fruit unto God, but were constantly searching for loopholes and twisting the Word of Truth so that they could sin without regret. Those under the Old Covenant were given exterior laws, but the interior HEART was never changed. Under the New Covenant the heart is changed, just as God promised it would be. God foretold this in:

Jeremiah 31:31-33 (NKJV) Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Under the Old Covenant, everything was exterior. Under the New Covenant, everything is INTERIOR, in the heart. GOD PUTS THE LAW IN OUR MINDS, and WRITES IT ON OUR HEARTS.

The Christ follower must be bringing forth fruit unto God – or else you might not be saved!

Application: The intent of salvation is that you as Christians BRING FORTH FRUIT UNTO GOD. Let me ask you – are you bringing forth fruit? Is your fruit unto God? Or is it like the Pharisee fruit, where they just wanted to be seen of men? How are you shining in the world today? What are you DOING for Jesus? Sitting in the pew and being fed and waited on is NOT fruit unto God. Fruit is to be eaten and enjoyed. Is God blessed by YOUR lives?

When Lost We Brought Forth Sin,
Which Bears Fruit Unto Death.
Now We Bring Forth Fruit UNTO LIFE.

Romans 7:5-6 (KJV) For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

When we were “IN THE FLESH”, children of this world, we brought forth “FRUIT UNTO DEATH”. But now, being freed from the EXTERNAL Old Covenant, God has written His Law on our hearts. Now we seek to bring for “FRUIT UNTO GOD”, serving Him in “NEWNESS OF SPIRIT”. We who are Christ followers do what we do because we are wed to Him. We love Jesus.

What is the “fruit” the Christian brings forth? It is TWOFOLD. Jesus said:

Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV) … You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

And the Apostle tells us in another place:

Romans 13:8-10 (ESV) Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The heart of the Old Covenant was that God was to be loved above all else, and you were to love others as you love yourself. Only psychotic people hate themselves. We know what it means to love ourselves.

The Old Man loves self before God, self before others, self above all else. The New Man, created by God the Holy Spirit, LOVES God first, and others the way that YOU want to be loved.

Can We Blame The Law For Our Obstinacy?

Romans 7:7-10 (KJV) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

God never intended the Law of Moses to be salvific, to “have the power to redeem or save”. The Law of God is diagnostic, much like a human thermometer is.

We may think that we have a fever, but don’t know for sure until we “check our temperature”. The Law “checks our spiritual temperature”. The Law points out what is sin, and what is righteous. But, as I said before, people could twist the Law to make it say what it did not say in order to sin by a hardened conscience. The Apostle writes:

sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence

Word Study: That word “concupiscence” is the Greek epithymia, which means “lusts, desires, cravings for that which is forbidden”. The Law pointed out what God considered sinful, the thing that should be avoided. But once we saw what was sinful, sin within us made us lust for the thing that we were supposed to avoid. It was not that the Law of God was flawed. It is that WE ARE FLAWED. When confronted by the Law, “when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died”. We were, of our own accord, unable to save ourselves.

Romans 7:11-12 (KJV) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Some would point to the Law of Divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and say “It is unfair that only the man can give the bill of divorcement”. But “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good”. There is nothing wrong with the Law. If the man does as should do, and “loves his wife as Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25) then the wife would have no cause to give a bill of divorcement. If the man did as God decreed through Adam, according to Jesus:

Mark 10:6-8 (ESV) … ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

It is not the Law, the Old Covenant that is to blame. The Law is HOLY, and the Commandment of God HOLY, and JUST, and GOOD. We are defiled. What the Law described as sin in the Old Testament is still sin today. Nothing is changed. Murder was wrong in the Old Covenant – Murder is wrong today. Adultery and fornication were wrong under the Old Covenant. Adultery and fornication are wrong today. Theft, homosexuality, effeminacy … I could go on. These things are defined as wrong by God’s Holy Law, and they are wrong today.

Just as the Scribes and Pharisees twisted and contorted the Law to suit their sinful, hardened consciences, we do the same today.

Romans 7:13-17 (KJV) Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

God’s Law is spiritual, but we are born into this world carnal. “the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin”. The Law makes us understand what is wrong in God’s eyes, and for that reason we should study the Old Covenant Law. But knowing something is wrong and stopping it is another matter.

We all need the Lord.
We all need to surrender to Jesus.
We need to let God kill us,
And wed us to Jesus,
So that then we can truly live!

Are you in Jesus, or are you a Pharisee living by the Old Covenant as a Christian in the modern Church? Living by the Law will not bless you. You cannot be perfect, nor keep the Law perfectly. Those who see the “keep the Law” in order to be saved will ultimately be damned. The Bible is very clear:

Galatians 2:16 (ESV) …. a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Abraham was not justified by the works of the Law. Abraham believed God, and He counted it to him as righteousness. David was not justified by the works of the Law. He believed in the Lord. Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Esther, Salome, John the Baptist, every person who has ever been saved have been saved by faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. They have cast themselves on Him, and counted on God to change them – and He has. How about you? Are you saved? Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, surrendering your life to Him? Are you now producing fruit unto God, glorifying Him Who saved you. Are you wed to Christ? Oh, how I pray you are.

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

And It Came To Pass: A Christmas Sermon

Posted on December 23, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Dan Kiefer on Unsplash

Luke 2:1-5 (KJV) And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

I Love Those Words, “It Came To Pass”

“it came to pass”. The greatest event in human history begins with these four words, “it came to pass”. That phrase “it came to pass” is in the Bible (the King James Version) 2,204 times in 457 verses of the Holy Scriptures.

“it came to pass” is found in front of the most horrific things in the Bible. Mankind, created in the image of God, has the ability to design and make fantastic things. We have creative power, and free will to do with it as we will. God gave us dominion over the planet, granting to us what He did not give the angels nor the animals. In a perfect environment we were given all things, and forbidden the one thing that could hurt us.

And Adam chose the hurtful thing.

Sin entered the world when Adam did the forbidden. Sin chained us, enslaved us. We had no idea how bad sin was until “it came to pass”.

“IT CAME TO PASS”. Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. Both sons had been taught what God decreed was acceptable.

Hebrews 9:22 … without shedding of blood is no remission {of sin}..

The Blood of the Lamb must be shed. Both Cain and Abel knew this. In fact, as the elder child, Cain would be taught this truth first.

Genesis 4:3-4 (AP) “IT CAME TO PASS” that Cain brought of the FRUIT OF THE GROUND an offering {for sin}… and Abel brought of the FIRSTLINGS OF HIS FLOCK {of lambs}..

God will only REMIT sin, forgive sin, when the BLOOD OF THE LAMB is shed. Cain refused to shed the Blood, rather choosing his human good works. Like so many today, he thought that he could do good and please God apart from the Blood of the Lamb. God refused Cain’s offering. Without Blood is NO REMISSION of sin!

So Cain killed Abel. Rather than spill the Blood of the Lamb, he spilled his brother’s blood. Abel’s blood cried out to God, and Cain was marked by sin forever.

“IT CAME TO PASS”. This was just the beginning. God called man to salvation from sin. We have creative ability. We have free will. But we are bound to sin unless God intervenes. Though some sought God, most turned away to darkness and selfishness. The few who were righteous compromised their faith. Though light and darkness cannot mix, and though God warned against mixture,

Genesis 6:1-2 “IT CAME TO PASS that men multiplied on the face of the earth … and the sons of God took the daughters of men as wives”.

The only way light can blend with darkness is by compromise, by lowering itself. As righteous sons of God, children saved by the Blood of the Lamb, became intimate with the lost … Cain killed Abel all over again. Wickedness increased in the earth.

But Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). God offered Grace to the world. For 120 years Noah built an Ark, and preached the Grace of God and the Blood of the Lamb.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!

You stand before God clean and pure, but only if you have “washed your robes and made them WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB” (Revelation 7:14). Noah found Grace. As he built the Ark, he told the world about Grace. But in the end, only eight souls were saved by water (1 Peter 3:20). those who believed on Him and submitted to His Word.

“IT CAME TO PASS”. God reached out to a broken man named Abram, and renamed him Abraham. Abraham believed the Word of God, and trusted in the Blood of the Lamb. The Bible says:

Genesis 15:6 (KJV) {Abraham} believed in the LORD; and {the LORD} counted it to him for righteousness.

That’s how a person has always been saved, brought into the Kingdom of God. You must believe in God’s Word. You must trust the Blood of the Lamb. You must not doubt the promises that our Lord has given us.

Through Abraham God promised a Messiah would come one day Who would change everything. But it would take years. God would have to raise up Jacob and plant the nation of Israel in Egypt. God would have to raise up Moses to lead Israel from Egypt.

The Blood of the Lamb has never lost it’s power!

How would Israel be released from Egypt? Only by the Blood of the Lamb. God told Israel to kill the Lamb, and to put its Blood on the doorway where faith lived. God told Israel:

Exodus 12:5-7 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

The Lamb would be without blemish, symbolizing sinlessness. The Lamb would live with the family that killed it. The Lamb, once killed, would have its Blood placed on the home where the believer lived. And they shall eat the Lamb. It shall become a part of their lives, of their life force.

Where there was no Blood, God was going to avenge.

As God promised,

Exodus 12:29 “IT CAME TO PASS” that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive

Where God did not see the Blood of the Lamb, judgment fell. But where the Blood was – where the innocent Lamb died – punishment passed by. The family was saved, freed from Egypt.

“IT CAME TO PASS”. We need God. We need to be saved from our sins. We are self destructive, headed toward oblivion. We need the Lamb. We need to surrender to the Will of God.

Our Goodness Is Not Good Enough To Cover Our Sins

We need the Blood of the Lamb. We thought that we could reach God with our good works, but God proved that is not possible. The Bible says that Israel stood at the base of Mount Sinai, the Mountain of God:

Exodus 19:16 … it came to pass … that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

The Bible says “The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10). Our God is awesome. We do not approach Him as if He is a man like us. He is pure, holy, righteous, despising sin.

Psalm 5:5 (ESV) The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Psalm 11:5 (ESV) The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

The Holy God of Scripture cannot tolerate sin. We need a Savior. We need the Lord. But we think we can be “just good enough” to get by with God, but that isn’t true. We need to be changed. God gave us the Law through Moses, who wrote:

Deuteronomy 9:11 it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

Did Israel keep the Law? No. Why? Because sin is ingrained in us. From the womb, to the grave, we need God to intervene.

Romans 8:3-5 (ESV) God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

We could not save ourselves, so God reached out to save us. God did a NEW THING, just as He promised in the prophecies.

Isaiah 43:19, 21 (KJV) Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

Christmas Was The Target Of “It Came To Pass”

We could not get better on our own. We need the Blood of the Lamb. Go back to our starting place:

Luke 2:1 … it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

A tyrant decrees a census. An unknown man named Joseph and an obscure virgin named Mary are forced to travel to Bethlehem. Is the trip useless, cruel, and unnecessary. No. For God stoops LOW to save us. God reaches out to save Himself a people. He could have destroyed the earth, but He loved us so much that He stooped low. Look how low He stooped! Mary and Joseph are headed toward Bethlehem. A woman, nine months pregnant with the Son of God, suffering, hurting, heads toward Bethlehem.

The Crain Law Group writing in Nashville Christian Family (December 2024) wrote:

“…in 2 AD, there was no court challenge available to a ‘decree’ from Augustus Caesar. There were no religious exemptions. There were no medical accommodations due to pregnancy. There were no constitutional arguments. When Caesar said to go register for the census – you went. The penalty for non-compliance was not losing your job; it was death. Caesar Augustus’ mandate declaring the entire Empire must register at designated locations was centered less on taxation and more on identification. Concerning the word “taxed” in verse 1 of Luke’s account, W.E. Vine in An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, explains that it is translated from the Greek word apographo, meaning ‘to write out, enroll, inscribe in register’.”

Both Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem, the “City of David”, because both were descendants of King David. Mary couldn’t stay behind, or she would have been killed. Roman soldiers had often murdered pregnant women and children at the behest of the Empire. Mary had to go. Period.

Mary and Joseph were chosen by God to bring forth His Son onto this earth specifically because they were descendants of David. The Blood of the Lamb was coming.

The Messiah was prophesied to come from David’s lineage (2 Samuel 7:13). Mary and Joseph were descendants of David.

The Messiah was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Mary and Joseph were forced to go to Bethlehem by the census, but God is in control.

God prophesied in Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”. That was Caesar’s Empire. Everyone lingered under the shadow of death and destruction. Caesar appointed a murderer named Herod to oversee Jerusalem and Israel. Herod had the full support of Caesar – even unto mass genocide of the Jews – to eliminate anyone who would diminish his glory.

God is in control. He could have stopped Caesar, but did not. God could have made sure that Mary did not travel pregnant. God knows the end from the beginning. Had Mary been blessed by the Holy Spirit 9 months earlier, she would be traveling with a child to Bethlehem. God could have done anything He wanted to do. He could have provided a nice room for His Son to enter the world in. God could have provided mid-wives.

Luke 2:6-7 (KJV) And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

God the Father sent His Eternal Son to this earth. The Blood of the Lamb is now with us. Why was there “no room for them in the inn”? The order of Caesar caused a mass movement of people, all seeking a place to be during the census. But God is in control. The Bible says:

Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

God could have made room for the baby Jesus. He could have made sure Mary had her baby in a more sanitary place. But the Bible says:

2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV) … you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

The Creator of the universe was incarnated, became flesh, through His own creation. God, rich beyond our wildest imagination, Ruler of the Eons, became a helpless Baby, a Lamb without spot or blemish.

A little Lamb belongs in a manger.

Here is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). He came to reach the lowest, and the least. There was no admission to see Jesus, no admission fee to a manger. Anyone can walk in, if they will. The world has no time for Mary or Joseph, nor for the little Jesus. This again is a fulfillment of prophecy. The Bible said that when the Messiah came,

Isaiah 53:2-6 (ESV) He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as One from whom men hide their faces – He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Who Would Be Interested In Seeing A Lamb, But Shepherds?

Luke 2:8-11 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Christmas is “good tidings of great joy”. Though “IT CAME TO PASS” that we brought sin into the world, God had a plan. His plan was to reach beyond our sin, beyond our imagination, and to send His Son to this earth for us. For Who? We are told,

good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people

All are sinners, and Christ came for all. He came for whosoever will. Some WHOSOEVERS choose to follow their own path. Jesus said,

Mark 8:35 … whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Others prefer to choose popularity and oneness with the world, rather than boldly standing with the shepherds. Jesus said:

Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Yet others are too INTELLECTUAL, too educated to receive Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. Jesus said:

Mark 10:15 … Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

God came to His creation as a little Child. We must receive Him as a little child. The Angel told the Shepherds:

unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord

That little Baby in the Manger, the Lamb of God, is A SAVIOR. He is the only Means by which we can be saved. He is THE LORD. When the Shepherds heard this, they did what any sane person would do. They dropped everything and went to the Lamb:

Luke 2:15-17 … the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

They left their sheep, and went to the Lamb. They went “with haste”. They didn’t hesitate, for hearing that God was with us, they put aside all else. Nothing is more important than surrendering to Jesus, to embracing the Lamb. And after they saw the Lamb of God, they didn’t head back to their sheep right away. No,

when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child

They told others about Jesus. They were

Luke 2:20 … glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Closing Plea

“IT CAME TO PASS”. If you live your life without Jesus, one day you will regret it. A young 16 year old girl killed a student and a teacher at a Christian School in Wisconsin before killing herself. The world blames guns. The problem is not guns. In January of this year, 2024 a man stabbed seven people, killing four. In April 2024 a person killed six people with a knife before police shot and killed him.

Cain didn’t use a gun to kill Abel – and probably not a knife. What kills? Sin. The Bible tells us that,

Romans 6:23 … the wages of sin is DEATH

You need Jesus. It is only Jesus that will “SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:21). Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? If not, today would be a great day to receive the gift of Christmas, the little Lamb of God, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Do so without delay, I beg you.

Amen.

Posted in Christmas, General, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Faithful Witnesses Speak God’s Truth

Posted on December 20, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Proverbs 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a ROD of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

Your Tongue Will Bless Or Whip You

God calls His children to be faithful witnesses. A faithful witness speaks the truth of God’s Word in love.

Word Study: Here God speaks of the tongue of the prideful being a ROD. What does He mean? In the ancient world the “ROD” was used for both self defense as well as punishment. In the 23rd Psalm David wrote:

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Word Study: The Shepherd carried a “STAFF” (Hebrew mašʿēnâ) with a crook in its end by which he could pull errant sheep out of the mud, out of ditches and briers. He also carried the “ROD” (Hebrew šēḇeṭ, pronounced shay’-bet) to strike at poisonous snakes and other creatures that might harm the sheep.

Word Study: The same word used for the “ROD” of fighting or punishment is also used for the “SCEPTER” that the King held in his hand.

Genesis 49:10 The SCEPTER (šēḇeṭ) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

The King of a nation has within his authority to punish the evil doer and the miscreant. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, was prophesied as the “Star out of Jacob, and a SCEPTER (šēḇeṭ) shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). God sometimes referred to groups of people as “RODS” (šēḇeṭ), or “tribes”. God used Israel as if the nation was a “ROD” to move into Canaan, to chase out the idolaters, and to spread the Light of The Lord. When God spoke the Davidic Covenant to King David He said of the Kings of Israel:

2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his {the King’s} father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod (šēḇeṭ) of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

Proverbs 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod (šēḇeṭ) of pride

The ROD was used to attack, to punish, to inflict harm or death. The Prideful have in their mouths A ROD. They use that ROD to hurt others, to slander, to belittle. In time, that which they arrogantly speak apart from the Word of God will come back to them, and punish them. A person who carelessly and pridefully speaks will eventually face the consequence of their arrogance. The stepbrother of Christ wrote:

James 3:5-6 (ESV) … the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary:

“The proud man with his tongue lays about him and deals blows at pleasure, but it will in the end be a rod to himself; the proud man shall come under an ignominious correction by the words of his own mouth, not cut as a soldier, but caned as a servant; and herein he will be beaten with his own rod.”

In contrast, God tells us that the Child of God, motivated and instructed by Scripture, are preserved by their tongues:

Proverbs 14:3 … but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

The Wise person monitors their tongue, and speaks to truth in love. The Christ Follower loves the Word of God, and lives by His Word. When attacked by the prideful the Wise do as Jesus did – they control their tongues. When Jesus was slandered:

1 Peter 2:23 (KJV) {Jesus}, when He was reviled, REVILED NOT AGAIN; when He suffered, HE THREATENED NOT; but committed Himself to Him {our Heavenly Father} that judgeth righteously

Attacks do not surprise the Children of God. We expect them. Jesus told us that they were coming. The Puritan Preacher Jonathan Edwards wrote in his book, Charity and Its Fruits:

“Men that have their spirits heated and enraged and rising in bitter resentment when they are injured act as if they thought some strange thing had happened to them. Whereas they are very foolish in so thinking for it is no strange thing at all but only what was to be expected in a world like this. They therefore do not act wisely that allow their spirits to be ruffled by the injuries they suffer”.

Pastor R.C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries wrote that we are to bear all things with joy, patience, love and gentleness. He writes:

“This kind of response is required of all of us because the Christian life is about the imitation of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). We are being molded into His image, so we are to strive to live as He lived. Our Lord was slandered and falsely accused of all kinds of offenses, but He opened not His mouth in protest (Isaiah 53:7). Like a lamb, He accepted these vitriolic attacks, and, in the very moment of His passion, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were attacking Him (Luke 23:34). This is how we are called to react to our enemies (1 Peter 4:13). Therefore, every false accusation, every slander, every ill word spoken about me is an opportunity for me to grow in my sanctification.”

There Is No Blessing Without A Little Mess

I love this parable, because it speaks so loudly to our age:

Proverbs 14:4 (KJV) Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

In America today we are drifting toward SOCIALISM and away from CAPITALISM. Socialism attempts to give everyone an equal share, regardless as to their personal input into the process. Socialism says “give everyone healthcare, everyone a guaranteed paycheck, everyone “equity”. This is contrary to the CAPITALIST doctrine of the Scripture,

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NKJV) … If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

Many humans want our blessings to come to us wrapped up, pretty, and full of joy and happiness. But we know that, in life, for progress to come, there must be inconvenience and some suffering. There must be work. There must be suffering.

Illustrate: We have had several in our congregation who had hip surgery because they broke a hip. To replace the hip, the skin must be cut. The old must be taken out, and the new installed. The flesh must be sewed up, and healing must take place. There is suffering in the aftermath of surgery, and more suffering when you go through rehabilitation. You may not want to get up and walk. It may be easier to lay about, and watch television all day – to hide out from your responsibilities. But there’s an old saying:

No pain, no gain!

If you want a crop, and want to enjoy a harvest of corn, you must plow the field, and weed the rows. You cannot procrastinate or put off the hard so that you can coast. Many a person has coasted their way to the grave.

Proverbs14:4 (KJV) Where no oxen are, the crib is clean…

You never need to worry about cleaning up or “mucking out” the stalls if you have no oxen. In the ancient world, oxen were used to both till the ground as well as grind the corn. If you have no oxen, you need not plant nor gather hay for the creatures. You do not need to carry water to them, or take them down to the river. Without oxen you do not need to inspect them for parasites, nor clean up their excrement. The stall is nice and neat …

…. but you have no blessing for your table,
nor money in your bank account.

If you lay about in your chair, day after day, complaining about what you do not have, hiding from the pain, you’ll never get any blessing. Get up and go – or else they will throw dirt on you!

Control your tongue. Stop murmuring, whining, and complaining. A negative attitude blames others and tends to procrastination. Get up, and seek an oxen and a blessing. Once you get the oxen, tend to it. Work the field. Some inherit oxen, but shy from doing what is necessary to keep the oxen healthy and alive. In time the stall is empty, and clean – but so is your table and your belly empty and clean.

Proverbs 14:4 … but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Yes, it is inconvenient to do the hard work of tending to the oxen. But the ox has something you do not have – strength to pull that plow, power to grind that meal or pull that stump. You say, “But we don’t use oxen today”. No, we use tractors, and cars, and trucks. Vehicles require maintenance. You have to put gas in them, even if its cold and rainy outside. You have to change their oil, and pay a mechanic to tune them up, and fix them when they are not what they should be. You have to pay taxes on your vehicles, buy tags. You need insurance. You have to wash them, clean them out, maintain them.

A lazy person has nothing. What about the lazy Church? A lazy Church will lose all it has in time. You have to get up, work, and do the difficult so that the greater can be achieved. The Enduring Word Commentary notes:

“This is an important principle when it comes to church life and Christian community. There are some who, out of good intentions, are obsessed with making sure there is never any kind of “mess” to address among believers. Each and every expression of spiritual life must be hyper-regulated and suspiciously watched with the expectation of grave error. Not only is this an offense against Christian liberty, but it also creates an environment where, spiritually speaking, there is little increase – because no one will tolerate any mess in the trough”.

Growth requires discomfort, moving out of your comfort zone in following the Lord Jesus. We cannot hire it done. We must be willing to do the labor.

Faithful Witnesses Speak The Truth In Love

Proverbs 14:5 (KJV) A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

Jesus called His disciples – those who are saved by faith in Him – to be “My witnesses”:

Acts 1:8 (ESV) … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth

What type of “WITNESS” are we to be? We are to be “FAITHFUL WITNESSES”. The Bible uses the phrase “FAITHFUL WITNESS” not just here in Proverbs, but in other Scriptures to describe that state. We are told in:

Psalm 89:37 (ESV) Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.

Go Deep: God refers to the “MOON” as “A FAITHFUL WITNESS” in the skies. The Moon does not have its own light, but reflects the light of the sun (S-U-N) back to the earth. The Christ follower as a faithful witness does not possess his own light. We reflect the light of the Son (S-O-N), the Son of God, to the world around us. We cling to the Word of God as God presented it. We do not add to, nor take away, ever conscious of the Biblical warning:

Revelation 22:7, 18-19 (ESV) And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. …. 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

The “FAITHFUL WITNESS” cherishes and hears the Word of God. We receive that Word, and present it as it is given without twisting or turning it. It is God’s Word. Our God is a Faithful Witness:

Jeremiah 42:5 (KJV) … The LORD be a TRUE AND FAITHFUL WITNESS between us …

His Word is Truth (John 17:17). When our Lord Jesus came to this earth, He told His disciples:

John 14:10 (KJV) … the words that I speak unto you I SPEAK NOT OF MYSELF: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, HE DOETH THE WORKS.

Jesus did not come to this earth, making up a new Word from God. He spoke the Words that the Father gave Him (John 12:49-50). Jesus is called “THE FAITHFUL WITNESS”:

Revelation 1:5 (KJV) … Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness …

You will be tested: What do you do if someone comes up to you and asks belligerently, “Do you really think that anyone who doesn’t believe the way you believe is going to hell?” The faithful witness explains, just as Jesus did, that “the words I speak do not come from my opinion. I believe the Bible. I believe in Jesus. And I believe what Jesus said:

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

When I speak to people like this, I am not trying to win an argument. I am not trying to not hurt their feelings, nor do I want to hurt their feelings. I do not take their attack personally, but cling to the Scripture knowing that:

Proverbs 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

The false witness does not respect life, nor the person that they are talking to. If we believe the Bible is true, and believe that there is a hell and a lake of fire for those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we must speak this truth in love. We want to “preserve them”. We want to lead people from eternal damnation and toward genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 14:5 (KJV) A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

Be Biblically Based: Another objection (and there are many by the world) to Christianity is “I am as good as any Christian”. The faithful witness will respond, “You’re absolutely right. The Bible tells us that, without Christ, all of mankind is corrupt and filthy in God’s eyes”. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 14:3 … there is NONE WHO DOES GOOD, no, not one …

Our best good is not good enough. This is why Jesus said, “There is NONE GOOD BUT GOD” (Matthew 19:17; Mark 10:18). Human good falls short of the glory of God. We all need to receive Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior. I have had people say, “How do you explain the atrocities that the Church committed over the years, like the Great Crusades or turning a blind eye to the extermination of the Jews in Nazi Germany”? My response is that the Church during those times was a false witness who uttered lies.

The State organized Church with its Catholic State Endorsed Bishops, Arch Bishops and Popes departed from the Word of God and Jesus Christ in order to satisfy self pride and the flesh.

The Protestant Church of England, in order to justify the King’s selfish divorces, became a false witness. Many Churches today are false witnesses because of wolves in sheep clothing leading the flock.

Some preachers today tell people that you can be saved by Jesus, and yet live like a child of hell. They are false witnesses who speak lies. When you receive Jesus Christ, you receive Him as He is: both Savior and LORD. Jesus came to save us from SIN (Matthew 1:21).

God has always had a remnant who have cherished His Word and stood by it. When the Prophet Elijah, discouraged by the incessant attacks of Jezebel against his ministry, ran away from Mount Carmel to die in the wilderness – God told him:

1 Kings 19:18 (KJV) Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Beloved, God has a remnant that are faithful witnesses to Him. You do not stand alone. Do not compromise the Word of God in order to drift in the cesspool of Satan’s world. Stay true to God’s Word. Read it, study it, and hide in it.

Stand Firm In The Gospel Truth, Even If It Costs Friends and Family

Proverbs 14:6-7 A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. 7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

You cannot please the scorner. They will not hear the truth of God’s Word. Speak the Word of God in love, prayerfully, in hope that all who hear will come to the Lord and be saved. The Scorner, the mocker will never find wisdom, for they will not seek it where it can be found.

Wisdom is found in God’s Word. Wisdom is found through the revelation of God’s Holy Spirit.

Jesus told us:

Matthew 7:7 (ESV) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you

Ask Who? If you ask the world, you will not find the truth, for the world clings to whatever feels good at the time. God withholds nothing from those who will come to Him in faith. The Bible says:

Psalm 84:11 (KJV) For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

God loves to give Grace. He loves to save souls. He loves to bless His children. God is not a Heavenly Miser, a spiritual Ebeneezer Scrooge. He wants to bless us. But we must come surrendered to Him. We must receive what He gives us in His Word. And that’s not popular in our world today.

Speak the truth in love. But if they will not receive it, we are told:

Proverbs 14:7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

Jesus told us in Luke 9:5 (KJV) … whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

I’ve heard preachers say that they weep over the lost. I’m sorry, but I don’t. I speak the truth as clear and as poignantly simple to the Scripture as possible. I pray over the lost. But no, I don’t weep. Maybe that’s wrong. But it’s your choice. If you choose hell over Heaven, even after I plainly tell you the Way to Heaven is surrendered faith in Christ Jesus, then that’s your choice. I hate that you chose that way – its not on me, but on you.

If you are a Christian, be a faithful witness. Pilate sought to wash the Blood of Christ from his hands (Matthew 27:24) rather than standing on what he knew was true. In time, Pilate lost his governorship, and Rome its empire, because the judge who should have known better sarcastically compromised truth (“What is truth?”, John 18:38).

Our nation will fall if we do not raise up the standard of truth, if we as Christians do not speak God’s Word without flinching. I close with these warning words:

Isaiah 59:13-15 (ESV) … transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. 14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. 15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice …

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

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

Foolish vs Wise

Posted on December 18, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

Proverbs 14:1 (KJV) Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Near And Far Application Of Scripture

Why did Solomon start out this chapter with the “wise woman” versus the “FOOLISH”. Though Proverbs was written by God through Solomon to give the child of God guidance, it was also written by the father Solomon to his son:

Proverbs 1:8 (KJV) My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

As with most Scripture, the Book of Proverbs has a near application as well as a far application. In the near application, Solomon – who had 700 wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3) – wanted his son to avoid the errors he made in his life. Though with this many wives and concubines (1000), we are certain that Solomon had many children, but only one son mentioned in the Scripture – Rehoboam. Rehoboam would assume the Throne of David on Solomon’s death, and Solomon knew that if he married the wrong woman, he would suffer the consequences. The Bible says of Solomon:

1 Kings 11:1-2, 4 (ESV) Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. … 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Solomon married outside of the faith of our Lord Jesus. When a man marries a woman who does not love the Lord Jesus, in time that woman will draw the man away from God. The

wise woman buildeth her house

She cherishes the Lord. She teaches her children about the Lord, and encourages her husband to cling to the articles of faith that the Father has given us.

The Wise Woman builds her house by encouraging, supporting, and helping her husband to be the best Christ follower he can be. God often speaks to men through their wives. The Bible tells us that before Pilate unjustly condemned Jesus to a criminal’s death on the Cross that his wife reached out to him:

Matthew 27:19 (ESV) … while {Pilate} was sitting on the judgment seat {judging Jesus}, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”

Pilate ignored his wife, and submitted to the “chief priests and elders of the Sanhedrin” (Matthew 27:20) to release the murderer Barabbas and crucify the innocent Jesus (Matthew 27:23). What happened to the House of Pilate? Appointed as the sixth governor or procurator of Judea by Sejanus, a favorite of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, Pilate promoted Emperor Worship throughout Jerusalem. He was on a fast track to political power in Rome. Yet after crucifying Jesus, his mentor Sejanus was murdered. There was an uprising against Rome in Samaria, and Pilate had it suppressed, killing many. According to Roman-Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus:

“the Samaritan senate sent an embassy to {previous Roman Emperor} Vitellius, a man that had been consul {the highest elected official in the Roman Republic, Head of State}, and who was now president of Syria, and accused Pilate of the murder of those that were killed … Vitellius sent Marcellus, a friend of his, to take care of the affairs of Judea, and ordered Pilate to go to Rome, to answer before the emperor to the accusation of the Jews.”

Church Historian Eusebius Pamphilius of Caesarea (he was Greek Syro-Palestinian) reported:

“It is worthy of note that Pilate himself, who was governor in the time of our Savior, is reported to have fallen into such misfortunes under Caius, whose times we are recording, that he was forced to become his own murderer and executioner; and thus divine vengeance, as it seems, was not long in overtaking him. This is stated by those Greek historians who have recorded the Olympiads…”

Had Pilate listened to the wisdom of his wife, he may well have avoided this fate. He didn’t listen to her, and in time suffered the consequences of divine justice.

the foolish {woman} plucketh it down with her hands

King Solomon heeded the bad advise of his 700 wives and 300 concubines. He bound his life together with the lost and undone. The Bible tells us:

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

Choose wisely the wife you will spend your life with.

Your Walk Proves Your Talk: Walk In God’s Light

Proverbs 14:2 (KJV) He that WALKETH IN HIS UPRIGHTNESS feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth Him.

When the Bible describes the life of the believer and the life of the unbeliever, it always speaks to the “WALK”. The Christian WALKS in the light with God, but the non-Christian WALKS with the darkness. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 56:13 (KJV) For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

The Bible tells us that “God is LIGHT, and in Him is NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 John 1:5). If you are walking WITH God, you must be walking in the Light, not in the darkness. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance” (Psalm 89:15).

Just as we walk one step at a time, stepping out in faith, the Christian walks one step at a time, one day at a time, following Jesus.

The unbeliever has no use for God, unless as a parachute or a spare tire or even an ambulance. Their thoughts are not with God, but with SELF, with what they want and believer. The Apostle Paul described the Christian “Walk” in:

Romans 14:6-9 (NKJV) He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Three Spheres Of The Christian Walk

The Christian is defined in this life as he or she walks. We follow three Scriptural directives as we “walk” daily with the Lord:

1. We walk according to God’s Word, the Scripture.

Truth is not just IN us, but we WALK IN THE TRUTH. The Apostle rejoiced when he heard the report of the Church:

3 John 3 (NKJV) … I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.

God promises us success in our endeavors if we walk in God’s Truth, in His Word (John 17:17). King David told his son Solomon before he went to glory:

1 Kings 2:2-4 (ESV) I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

Herod ended up on the Throne of David because Israel failed to walk in obedience to the Word of God. God’s Word is not difficult to understand, but very clear. God will not walk with us when we depart from His Word. Again the Apostle said:

1 John 1:6 (KJV) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

2. We walk according to God’s Holy Spirit, while following Scripture.

The Apostle tells us in:

Galatians 5:16-18 (ESV) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The Holy Spirit of God will never lead you in a pathway that the Scripture has not already shined on.

The early Church, though heavily persecuted, walked according to God’s Word and His Spirit. We who “walk not according to the FLESH, but according to the SPIRIT” (Romans 8:4, ESV) will find growth, just as the early Church did:

Acts 9:31 (ESV) … the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

3. We also walk BY FAITH, not by sight.

Just as when you step out to travel, you have no guarantee that the ground will hold you, you nonetheless step out by faith. The unbeliever places faith in one of the gods of this world, be it money, fame, or power. But we who believe in Jesus:

2 Corinthians 5:7 … we walk by faith, not by sight.

Proverbs 14:2 (KJV) He that walketh in His uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth Him.

Those who are “perverse in his ways” show that they despise God rather than glorify Him. Jesus said:

John 14:15 (ESV) If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.

And again, John 14:21 (ESV) Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

Those who say they love Jesus but hate what He has said prove their lostness by the fruit of their lives. “The good tree will bear good fruit, the corrupt tree corrupt fruit” (Luke 6:43-44). If you are saved, you will love to obey Jesus. If not, you will follow PERVERSE WAYS. By the fruit of your life you prove that you despise God.

The Christian is encouraged to “look carefully how you walk, not as unwise or foolish, but as wise believers. Make the best use of your life, for evil is all around you. Do not be foolish, but understand the will of the Lord” (Ephesians 5:15-17, AP).

As Christians we do not walk as unbelievers do, but as believers do. We

“walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4)
“walk in a manner worthy of your calling”
(Ephesians 4:1)
“walk properly, as in the daytime” (Romans 13:13)
“walk in good works, as God created us to do”
(Ephesians 2:10)

May God guide us as His Church and as His Children to walk in the light, ever pleasing to Him. Amen!

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wonderful Article

Posted on December 9, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Giving Thanks with Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Posted in General | 1 Comment

Take Out The Trash, Son

Posted on December 8, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by the blowup on Unsplash

Romans 6:9-12 (KJV) Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Review With Purpose

The last few weeks we have studied three doctrines that are extremely important to understand, if you will understand the Gospel. We looked at the Doctrine of Imputation, which teaches that Jesus died for our sins on Calvary, and rose again from the grave for our justification. When we receive Jesus as both Lord and Savior His righteousness is imputed to us, and our sins are laid on His finished work. Because of Imputation the Father looks at us as His sons and daughters.

We are saved by faith in Christ, not by works. We are saved because of Imputation.

Because of Imputation, God gives us the Holy Spirit. We spoke of His work in our lives as we studied the Doctrine of Baptisms. We learned that water Baptism is an outward symbolic ordinance that the believer willingly submits to after salvation. Water Baptism symbolizes what the Holy Spirit does to the believer, causing the old man to die, and the new creature to be born. The Holy Spirit causes us to be born again, made alive spiritually. The Holy Spirit baptizes us in Christ Jesus. We are united with Christ in His death and in His resurrection. We are raised to walk in newness of life.

We also studied the Doctrine of Original Sin. In this we learned that Adam, created perfect and without sin by God, willingly and willfully disobeyed the Word of God, bringing spiritual death on all his progeny. The first Adam failed in his stewardship, so God sent a second Adam, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from all sin. Here is the point:

The “Christian” Walks With Christ Daily

IF Adam sinned, and brought the world under the slavery of sin, and IF God sent His Son as the Second Adam to pay the penalty for sin for whosoever believes on Him, and IF God the Holy Spirit works in the life of the believer to free us from sin ….

… then sin is no longer the Christ follower’s master.
Jesus is our Master.
Sin and Satan has no real hold on the believer.
We are freed from sin to serve the Living God!

Paul goes back to the Cross to explain this. He says:

Romans 6:9 (KJV) … Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Jesus very literally died on the Cross. He conquered death. Some liberals have advanced the argument that Jesus just swooned, and pretended to die, and that His disciples covered this up. If this is true then there is NO Gospel. The Gospel is that:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV) … Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

Jesus died a horrible death to free us from death and sin.

Crucifixion was considered “the most cruel & hideous of tortures” (Cicero). Author Dr Alexander Metherell wrote, “The pain was absolutely unbearable. In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe it; they had to invent a new word: “excruciating”. Literally excruciating means ‘out of the Cross’”.

Before Jesus was removed from the Cross for burial a Roman guard, well versed in crucifixion, ensured that Christ was dead. The Bible says:

John 19:34 (ESV) … one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

This was a clear forensic sign that our Lord had passed into glory. Jesus’ body was embalmed by washing and wrapping Him in myrrh and aloe – about 75 pounds in weight (John 19:39, ESV). He was then sealed into a tomb for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40). Jesus died to sin. He died for your sin and mine. Our sins were paid for in full. The Bible says:

Acts 2:24 (ESV) God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Jesus died for our sins, and will never die again. His death was sufficient to pay for our sins. God raised Christ from the grave, showing that His work was sufficient. We read:

Romans 6:10 (KJV) For in that He died, he died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.

Jesus DIED ONCE TO SIN. Now HE LIVES UNTO GOD. Some say, “Jesus died so that we can freely sin”. This is a lie from the pit of hell.

His death was sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Being resurrected by God, Jesus now “LIVES UNTO GOD”. The Bible tells us that:

Mark 16:19 (KJV) {Jesus} was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Why does Jesus sit on the “RIGHT HAND OF GOD”? We are told:

Romans 8:34 … It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

And again,

Hebrews 10:12 … after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Now the Bible ties what Jesus did into our salvation with the word “LIKEWISE”

Romans 6:11 LIKEWISE {in the same manner} reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD we are freed from the mastery of sin. God the Holy Spirit lives in us. We are not what we were, but are children of the “Dayspring from on High” (Luke 1:78). We who are saved are not what we were. We are to walk in victory because of Jesus.

The Christ Follower Has Power Over Sin

Romans 6:12-14 (KJV) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 BEITHER YIELD ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Christians are called to live in the light with God. We are not the servants of sin, but are sons and daughters of God. We are not to yield our body parts to sin, but to Christ’s control. We may desire to sin, but sin is not our master. We have ultimate authority over sin through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The new convert to Christ will find sin easy, for he will – like the toddler – often stumble as he takes his first steps. But as the convert studies the Word of God, and practices the Christian disciplines of prayer, fasting, and Biblical meditation, the stumbles will be less and less.

The mature believer, instead of running to SIN, runs toward the SAVIOR. We rest in Christ.

John 7:37-39 (ESV) … “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive …

Jesus did not die on the Cross for our sins so that we can continue to wallow in sin. Jesus died on the Cross so that the Holy Spirit could enter our lives and give us control over sin. We are called to choose to “yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God”

Let’s put this simply. If you are a Christian, you don’t belong to Satan nor to this world. You belong to God, to Light, to Jesus. Do that which Christ has called you to do. “sin shall not have dominion over you”. Grace has dominion over you. You are freed from sin.

But I Just Can’t Help Myself. Hogwash!
Christian, Take The Trash Out

If you are a Christian, yes, you can. We are told:

Romans 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye WERE the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

If someone comes to me and says,

I’m a Christian Homosexual, or
I’m a Christian Adulterer, or
I’m a Christian Murderer, or
I’m a Christian Gossip, or
I’m a Christian Racist, or
I’m a Christian Whiner & Complainer ….

I could go on and on. When they say this, my immediate appeal is the Scripture we are studying now. If you routinely surrender your members – your body parts – to sin, then you are servants of sin. And as we are told in verse 16 and elsewhere, “SIN is UNTO DEATH”. Sin leads to death, to darkness, to destruction. But if you are a Christ follower, you are “MADE FREE FROM SIN TO BECOME SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”. You want to serve God, not the flesh. You choose Who you will walk with.

Choose wisely.
Sin kills.
Darkness causing Stumbling.
The Spirit of Christ gives LIGHT.

Galatians 5:16-26 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Is it a struggle at times? Absolutely. Anything worth doing in this life is a struggle. When we were lost in our sins, we “walked according to the ways of this world, following the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). But NOW we FOLLOW JESUS. We do not chase the darkness – we chase it away! We know that sin must not remain in our lives.

Illustrate: I remember years ago when I lived in Georgia, I needed to take the trash out – but I put it off. It was hot outside, and warm inside. I went to bed that night, and woke up the next morning. When I went in the kitchen I found tiny little critters crawling out of the garbage, and all over my kitchen. YUK! I took the trash outside, dumped it, and washed the can out. Then I went back in the house and with paper towels carefully gathered all the little critters and got them out of my home.

The Christian must daily do a negative thing and a positive thing. Daily we “take the trash out”. We eradicate sin from our lives. We toss it as unsuitable for a child of God. But we also encourage ourselves to do those things which glorify Christ and our Father. We are obedient children, doing the good for God’s glory.

Romans 6:19-20 … for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

God calls His Children to be as He is. He said:

1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” …

We are not “holy” to retain our salvation, nor to gain our salvation. We are “holy” because we know that the do otherwise is to open the door to death and suffering. We are as Adam was. We are free to choose. Knowing this, we freely choose righteousness and Godly living over the way of darkness. That way leads only to death!

Romans 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

There is no good “FRUIT” that comes from walking in the darkness of sin. Sin always leads unto death, sickness, and disease. God has opened the door to a better way.

Romans 6:22 (KJV) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Christians do not normally walk in darkness. We walk with Christ in the Light of God. We love His Word, His Commandment, His Law. We choose to do the good, and walk with Jesus.

Closing Plea

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

The final sentence of this chapter is divided by a “BUT”. On the left side of the “BUT” is sin and dearth, darkness and pain. On the right side of the “BUT” is the gift of God, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Those who love the Lord and submit to the Lord have the wonderful gift of salvation. It is a gift, but in order to receive it you must put down death and darkness. You must turn away from all other lords and gods, and turn fully to Jesus. You must move from the left side of the “BUT”, and run into Christ’s arms.

I pray you will. With. Delay. Today. Amen.

Posted in General, Romans, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plain Truth About Righteousness

Posted on December 7, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Yihan Wang on Unsplash

Proverbs 13:22 (KJV) A GOOD man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the SINNER is laid up for the just.

Leave Your Children A Godly Example

The Bible uses the word “GOOD” in a relative way. When humans are compared in the eyes of God, there are:

“Children of God” (Matthew 5:9) or
“Children of the Devil” (John 8:44)

Fruit bearing “Wheat” or
Poison bearing “Tares” (Matthew 13:24-30)

“Children of the Kingdom” or
“Children of the Wicked One” (Matthew 13:38)

“Children of Light” or
“Children of Darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5)

“Sinners” or
“Righteous” (Luke 5:32)

“Good” or
“Evil” (Matthew 5:45)

Jesus told us “there are NONE GOOD but God” (Matthew 19:17). In relation to God, none of us are truly “good”. But among mankind there are “GOOD” people, those saved by the Grace of God through the Blood of Christ, and there are “SINNERS” or people who are unsaved, who seek only separation from God. We are told:

A GOOD man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children

This is not a reference to money or property. One of my favorite western movies has John Wayne in it, a movie called “McLintock!”. At one point in the movie the wealthy G.W. McLintock tells his daughter Becky:

“I own everything in this country from here to there. {People will} think you’re gonna inherit it. Well, you’re not. I’m gonna leave most of it to … the nation … for a park where no lumbermen will cut down all the trees for houses with leaky roofs. … What I’m gonna give you is a 500-cow spread on the Upper Green River. Now that may not seem like much, but it’s more than we had, your mother and I. … I want you and some young man to have what I had, ’cause all the gold in the United States Treasury and all the harp music in Heaven can’t equal what happens between a man and a woman with all that growing together.”

A “good” or saved person doesn’t give his family wealth. Our Lord Jesus spoke of the the evils of unearned money. He said that free wealth would lead people away from the Word of God:

Mark 4:19 … the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES, and the desires for other things entering in CHOKE THE WORD {of God}, and it becomes unfruitful.

Unearned money is not a blessing to your “CHILDREN’S CHILDREN”, but can become a curse. When people inherit monetary riches it becomes their crutch, their God, rather than the God of the Universe. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 37:11 … the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Those who are humble unto God, who seek His face and not riches, will one day inherit all things. The Apostle said:

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

The Gospel is not heard by those who have wealth, but by those who have little or nothing. Jesus said “the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM” (Matthew 11:5). What the “GOOD MAN” leaves as an inheritance to his children’s children is an honorable reputation and a good example. There are few Christians who are wealthy according to the standards of the world. Jesus tells us:

Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV) Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

In contrast to the believer in Christ is the wicked person:

the wealth of the SINNER is laid up for the JUST

Eventually God will take away all the wealth of those who love sin and hate Him, and give it to His children in Christ.

The fool rejects God and eventually will lose everything. “In the pride of his face THE WICKED does not seek God; all his thoughts are, THERE IS NO GOD.” (Psalm 10:4). The righteous, however, love God and seek Him above all else. Money is not the god of the Christian, but is a stewardship to be used for God’s glory. The believer in Christ knows that you cannot out-give God.

Proverbs 11:25 (ESV) Whoever brings blessing WILL BE ENRICHED, and one who waters will HIMSELF BE WATERED.

Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) Whoever is GENEROUS TO THE POOR LENDS TO THE LORD, and He will repay him for his deed.

Illustrate: The wicked King of Judah, Coniah the son of Jehoiakim lost all of his riches when God sent the King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar to conquer him. God told Coniah:

Jeremiah 22:30 (NKJV) Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.

God Wants No One Hungry. He Will Punish The Evil Who Hurt The Weak.

Proverbs 13:23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

My commentary notes:

“This verse emphasizes the potential for prosperity even among those who seem to have little. It illustrates how hard work in agriculture can yield abundant food, reminding us that effort, regardless of one’s difficult circumstances, can result in a fruitful outcome. The verse also serves as a cautionary note about the dangers of mismanagement and lack of discernment; even those with wealth and resources can experience loss or ruin due to foolish decisions.”

When God made us in His image and placed us on this earth, He made us stewards of the planet. We are to be wise with the resources that God has given us. Evil people mismanage God’s resources, and enrich themselves while robbing those around them adding to their suffering. In America today the illegal immigrant is often exploited by farmers and politicians in order to increase their riches. In Georgia and North Carolina I know of farmers who paid poor immigrants under the table rather than give them a living wage. The stepbrother of Christ writes:

James 5:1-6 (ESV) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

As James chastises those who tear down rather than support the poor, he reminds the believer that “the Coming of the Lord is at hand”. There is coming a judgment day for those who manipulated and hurt people in order to build their bank accounts.

Illustration:Wicked Queen Jezebel stole Naboth’s vineyard when he would not sell it to her husband King Ahab (1 Kings 21). When Naboth refused the sale, Ahab – like a 6 year old child – came home and sulked, refusing to eat. Jezebel did with Naboth as the Chief Priests and Pharisees did with our Lord Jesus (Matthew 26:59-63). Jezebel hired two false witnesses, saying …

1 Kings 21:10 (ESV) …. set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.

She manipulated the Law of God to steal poor Naboth’s land. Why? So spoiled Ahab could have a vegetable garden. God sent word to Ahab and Jezebel:

1 Kings 21:19 (ESV) Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you {Elijah} shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”

During a battle in the very next chapter of Scripture, Ahab is on the battlefield when an archer fires an arrow into the air – and God caused the arrow to strike “between the scale armor and the breastplate” (1 Kings 22:34), a very small target. Ahab died that evening, “his blood flowing into the bottom of the chariot” (1 Kings 22:35).

1 Kings 22:38 (ESV) And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.

What of Jezebel and her evil? She lived a little longer than Ahab. But we are told in 2 Kings 9 that Jezebel was thrown from the walls of Jezreel. The Bible tells us:

2 Kings 9:33, 35-37 (ESV) … some of {Jezebel’s} blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. … 35 when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.

God will eventually balance the scales. Let us trust in Him.

How Do People Become Ahabs And Jezebels?

Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The Bible teaches corporeal punishment in relation to child rearing. In God’s Kingdom true love requires discipline. The best thing a parent can do is to raise the child righteously. The Apostle decreed:

Ephesians 6:4 … (KJV) fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The parents are to set achievable standards, and then enforce them with appropriate physical discipline. The Scripture says:

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Children do not need parents to be their “friends”. Children need guidance.

The act of discipline does not hurt a child – but failure to discipline sets up poor attitudes in the child that he or she will carry into adulthood. Just as a righteous parent will leave a good reputation and a good example to his children’s children, that righteous parent will instill the Word of God and the heart of a good citizen in his children.

The intent of discipline is to teach the child “the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7). Our God disciplines us as His children when we step out of bounds and will not repent. The Lord told Israel:

Deuteronomy 8:5 (ESV) Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

Jesus told the Church at Laodicea:

Revelation 3:19 (NKJV) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

And we are told in

Hebrews 12:5-8 (NKJV) “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

It is a poor parent that does not punish their children. To allow the child to run wild while they are young, when they grow older they will be like Ahab or Jezebel. My commentary notes:

“Discipline, when done appropriately and rooted in love, is meant to safeguard children from potentially harmful behaviors. Therefore, engaging in loving correction is fundamental to nurturing responsible and wise individuals, defining the dynamic that love connects with the responsible exercise of parental authority.”

Considering that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), it is a unloving, uncaring, and cowardly parent who will not discipline their child. The High Priest Eli failed to restrain his sons when they blasphemed God. Because of his failure God told Eli:

1 Samuel 3:12-14 (NIV) … I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.

God Will Meet Our Needs

Proverbs 13:25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

The belly of the wicked is never satisfied. But the righteous are satisfied, even with little. Notice it says:

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his SOUL

It doesn’t speak of satisfying the BODY, but the SOUL. The righteous may hunger, and may suffer want. There are many times in my life that I suffered want in order to keep my family fed. Yet I was satisfied, blessed by my relationship with God.

I’ve seen rich people go to fancy restaurants, and get a little bit of food on a mostly empty plate. They eat it, and pay hundreds of dollars just so they can say they ate at a fancy, arrogant place. The righteous are satisfied with what God gives them. The Lord tells us:

Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.

As believers in Christ, we don’t need fancy. We just need Jesus! What God has given us, we accept as God’s will for us. As the Apostle said:

Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV) Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The unrighteous, however, are never satisfied. I remember when the far left told us in America, “All we want is to be able to marry as we want”. So in 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court Case Obergefell v. Hodges ruled that all state are to license same sex marriages, and recognize same sex marriages performed out of state. All they wanted was to be married, like heterosexuals were married. But before the dust settled, they were demanding that businesses cater to their “marriage” regardless as to the religious conviction of the business owners. Rather than just seek marriage, sexual sinners {for God has decreed in His Word that their actions are sinful} pushed their beliefs on television, in movies, in libraries, and in public schools.

There are ungodly forces that seek to destroy Biblical marriage and Biblical families. These forces have been on earth since Eden, Sodom and Gomorrah and the Great Noahic Flood.

Abortions are hidden from the parents. Children are surgically and sexually altered without parental consent. Wokeness is paraded and parodied to our children in classrooms.

the belly of the wicked shall want

The wicked are never satisfied, never satiated. This is why the light must shine, and stand up for Biblical truth. Our children must be taught the Word of God. We need to be loving, but firmly truthful with all opponents to the Way of Christ. If we do not, Christianity will become criminalized in America, as it is in much of the world today.

May God touch your hearts!

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

Doctrine of Baptisms

Posted on December 4, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

Romans 6:1-6 (KJV) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Children Need To Be Shown

Our Lord Jesus knows that we are children, and knows that children understand spiritual truths better when there is a physical picture or demonstration we can see.

Jesus wanted us to understand the importance of His willing sacrifice and death, so He gave us the ordinance of the Lord’s Table (Matthew 26:19; Mark 14:16; Luke 22:13). The Bible also calls this Table:

The Breaking of Bread (Acts 2:42; 20:7)
Communion (1 Corinthians 10:16), and
The Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20)

The Lord’s Table came at the end of the Feast of the Passover. At the Table, Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it saying “Take, eat, this is My Body broken for you”. The unleavened bread represented the reality of the Sinless Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; 1 Peter 2:22). Jesus is God become Man, Perfect Man. He is unleavened with sin. He was willingly broken on the Cross for our sins. Jesus took the Cup of the Passover, saying:

Matthew 26:27-28 (ESV) … Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The Bread symbolized the coming reality of the broken Body of Christ. The Cup symbolized the spilled Blood of the Savior, the covering for our sins. The fact that we eat and drink this Table symbolizes saving faith, available to whosoever will – that all are able to eat and drink. The Table reminds us that because of what Jesus did, our sins are covered and forgiven, and we are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Lord’s Table is a symbol reminding us of the real spiritual blessing that God gives us through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Also Gave Us The Ordinance Of Water Baptism

Jesus not only gave us the Ordinance of the Lord’s Table, but He gave us the Ordinance of Water Baptism. Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 28:19 (ESV) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …

Baptism, like the Lord’s Table, is symbolic of a real spiritual truth – one that few people talk about.

Water Baptism is symbolic of the action of God the Holy Spirit on the life of the believer.

When a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, when that person surrenders their life to Jesus as Abraham did, then God the Holy Spirit comes to that believer and does very real, very spiritual works.

The Holy Spirit:

1 – Causes the believer to be “BORN AGAIN”. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God … you MUST be BORN AGAIN” (John 3:3-8).

2 – Moves on the believer, Spiritually Baptizing that believer. When John the Baptist spoke of the coming of our Lord Jesus, he declared:

Mark 1:8 (ESV) I have baptized you with water, but He {Jesus Christ} will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not available to the Church until after Christ ascended to Heaven. Jesus told His disciples that He had to go to glory before the Spirit could come to us. He said:

John 16:7-14 (ESV) I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The day that Jesus ascended to Heaven, He told His disciples:

Acts 1:5 (ESV) John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is defined as:

“that work whereby the Spirit of God places the believer into union with Christ and into union with other believers in the body of Christ at the moment of salvation”

The Apostle Paul spoke of the Baptism, saying:

1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The spiritual and real Baptism of the Spirit unites the Christian with Christ, and every Christian with every other true Christian. The Baptism of the Spirit happens to ALL CHRISTIANS. The Apostle said, “by one Spirit we were all baptized INTO ONE BODY”, and “have all been made to drink into one Spirit”.

Jesus gave us water baptism to show us what God does to us at the point of salvation. The text that we are studying today is one that I read from every time we do a water baptism. Water Baptism is an ordinance, not a sacrament. It is a command of Christ that shows us, just as the Lord’s Table shows us, a deeper truth few understand.

If You Are Saved, You Are Not What You Were

Romans 6:1-2 (KJV) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Some people believe that they were saved just to go to Heaven, that their salvation is just for a future event. That’s not Biblical. That is humanistic thinking, godless thinking, fleshly thinking. This is not the Way of the Master.

God saved us so that He could break us free from enslavement to sin. He redeemed us from the power of the flesh to walk in the Power of the Holy Spirit!

This was the prophecy of the Coming of Christ. “He shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:21). The Apostle John said:

1 John 3:5 (ESV) You know that {Jesus} appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

And again in Titus 2:14 (ESV) {Jesus} gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.

From the very beginning Satan sent agents into the Church, attempting to corrupt the Gospel of Salvation. These agents said, “Jesus died on the Cross so that you who believe on Him can freely sin without fear of retribution or punishment from God”. The Prophet Jude spoke of these devils, saying:

Jude 4 … (KJV) … there are certain men CREPT IN UNAWARES … UNGODLY MEN, TURNING THE GRACE OF OUR GOD INTO LASCIVIOUSNESS {works of the flesh}, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ …

It is these people whom Paul is addressing in our text.

Romans 6:1-2 (KJV) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid …

The Christian – born again and Baptized by the Holy Spirit – does not find sin satisfying. The Christian is dead to sin. We are told:

Romans 6:2 … How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Water Baptism reminds the believer that we are in union with Christ. Though the Christian can and does sin, we are “DEAD TO SIN”. Sin has no hold on us. It is part of the old, dead way of life we had before we came to Jesus.

Romans 6:3 (KJV) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Word Study: The day you are saved, you are “BAPTIZED INTO JESUS”. The Holy Spirit spiritually and eternally links your soul to Christ. You are IMMERSED {baptizō}, you are SUBMERGED, you are WASHED, you are CLEANSED by the Spirit in Jesus. When the Apostle addresses the Church at Corinth, he writes:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Word Study: The unbeliever is covered with sin. In contrast, the believer is apolouō, washed off, fully cleansed. The Baptism of the Spirit BAPTIZES US INTO JESUS CHRIST, fully identifying us with Jesus.

Water Baptism symbolizes the Baptism of the Spirit.

Romans 6:4 (KJV) Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Before we were saved we …

Ephesians 2:2 (KJV) WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, according to the prince of the power of the air, the SPIRIT THAT NOW WORKETH IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE …

Before salvation, we walked with the darkness, and with the prince of darkness. Before salvation we focused on fulfilling the desires of our flesh. Now saved, we walk according to the Spirit of God.

We died with Jesus. We rise again with Jesus. We live for Jesus. We belong to Jesus.

Romans 6:5-6 (KJV) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

We are no longer servants of sin, but servants of the Living God.

If You Are Saved, Your Father Is Different

The Scripture does not teach the humanistic doctrine that there is a “General Fatherhood of God”. Our Lord Jesus was very specific when He addressed the unbeliever. He told the religious but unsaved Pharisee:

You are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL (John 8:44).

Our Lord taught that all of mankind is divided into two groups, the tares and the good seed:

Matthew 13:38-42 (KJV) The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (39) The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. (40) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. (41) The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; (42) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The Christian is someone who was a child of wrath.

That was your state before you came to Calvary. On the day you saw yourselves as sinners in the hands of an angry God, sinners labeled by God as “Children of Wrath”, sinners in need of the Savior, you came to God on bended knee. Like the Philippian jailer you heard the Gospel of salvation and asked (Acts 16:30) “what must I do to be saved”? You heard the answer (Acts 16:31) “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” – and you believed in Him Who died for you on Calvary. Oh blessed Blood of Christ, how You cleansed me from all sin. Oh Precious Head now wounded, how you have washed us whiter than snow! On the day you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ your life changed, dear Christian. Before you were saved you were dead in trespasses and in sins:

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

yet afterward you were made alive by the ever living and ever reigning Savior. By Grace ye have been saved. This is no symbolic salvation, no ritual, no pretend. Sin is no imaginary bogey man, but it is a real killing thing. The ancient Israelite sacrificed animal after animal, spilling blood that could only be a temporary covering for sin. Every shadow of the Old Covenant foretold of the day when Jesus Christ would come and, in a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20) Jesus would make offering for our sins. Unlike the shedding of animal blood the shedding of Christ’s Blood would be a permanent covering, a blotting out of the handwriting of ordinances against us. A real solution to our real monster would be given to all who believe in Him.

Saved by faith in the Gospel, Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. We are changed from children of this world to His people, purchased and prized possessions. Jesus said:

John 10:27-28 (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.

Jesus calls His people “My sheep”. Break that down. First He said “My”. If you are saved, you belong to Jesus. As the Scripture says, “You are NOT your own – You are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You don’t belong to you. You belong to Jesus. Second, Jesus says that we are His “sheep”. He is the Shepherd, the Boss of us if we are saved. We follow the Shepherd.

And the Shepherd does not wallow in sin!

Romans 6:6-8 … knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him

If you are Christ’s possession, if you have given yourself to Him as Lord and Savior, neither sin nor death has any hold over you. Praise God! Heaven is the destination of the believer in Christ. Heaven in glory, and Heaven on this earth walking with Jesus.

Do you know Him? Oh Beloved, if you do not, may the Holy Spirit touch your hearts, and bring you from death to life this very day. Do not leave this place without Jesus. May God so secure your souls. Call upon the name of Jesus, surrendering to Him, and you shall be saved. Amen and Amen.

Posted in General, Romans, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Doctrine Of Original Sin

Posted on November 24, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra on Unsplash

Romans 5:12-17 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Last week we looked at the Doctrine of Imputation. This is the Biblical teaching that shows us how Christ switched places with us by willingly going to the Cross of Calvary. The Apostle summarized this in:

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NKJV) … we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Father allowed His Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, a Person Perfect and Holy, only one of two people who have been without sin (Hebrews 4:15; 9:28), to BECOME SIN so that He could be punished in our place.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, resting fully on Him, God imputes righteousness, HIS righteousness, to our spiritual account. Abraham – the Father of Faith – met the pre-incarnate Jesus in Ur of the Chaldees (John 8:58), and the Bible tells us:

Romans 4:20-25 (NKJV) {Abraham} did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted {imputed} to him for righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

When we believe the Father sent the Son to die to pay the penalty for our sins, and raised Jesus from the dead to lead and justify us, then God IMPUTES righteousness to us. This is fully a work of God. God looks at you differently once you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior because of Imputation.

  • Because of Imputation, the Holy Spirit can come to us and make us born again (John 3:3).
  • Because of Imputation, the Holy Spirit can indwell us permanently (John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
  • Because of Imputation, we are changed in the Father’s eyes from sinners to Saints (1 Corinthians 6:11)
  • Because of Imputation, our destination in this life is changed from glory of self to glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
  • Because of Imputation, our eternal destination is changed from eternal condemnation and hell fire to eternal glory with God in a Heavenly Mansion (John 14:3).

The Evangelist Billy Graham wrote:

“The moment we receive Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit and are given a new nature that contends with our old nature. By the old birth we are children of the flesh; by the new birth we are children of God.”

Today we’re going to look at the Doctrine that makes the Doctrine of Imputation necessary,

The Doctrine of Original Sin

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin

Only two people in all of human history were born perfect – and no, you’re not one of them! Jesus Christ was born into this world perfect. The Angel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 (ESV) The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

And the Angels told the Shepherds who watched their sheep in the field the night that Christ was born of the virgin:

Luke 2:11 (ESV) … unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Jesus was born of a virgin in fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). He was born perfect, without sin, as to be the Savior He must be without sin. The other perfect man was born not of a virgin, but of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). He was made perfect by God. We know this, because …

Our God Who is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) looked at creation, complete with Man and Woman, and said “All that I have made is VERY GOOD” (Genesis 1:31).

God made man perfect, just as He made angels perfect and without sin. But God gave both angels and mankind the ability to choose. We were created with a freedom of will. When God made Adam and Eve, He gave mankind stewardship of the earth. God told the first couple:

Genesis 1:28 (ESV) … Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over {creation} …

Adam was given direction from God’s Word. God told him what He expected. God also told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV) … You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die …

Adam and Eve were created “VERY GOOD”, without sin, holy. Adam was given a specific, clear set of commands – and one negative command. What does the Bible tell us that Adam did?

Genesis 3:6 (NKJV) … {Eve} took of {the forbidden} fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

This is the “Original Sin” that brought sin and death into the world. Though Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the Bible tells us that:

Romans 5:12 … by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin …

God did not create sin. Man created sin. God did not create darkness. The Bible says, “God is LIGHT, and IN HIM is NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 John 1:5). When God came to the malformed mess that was to become our world, the very first command God gave was “LET THERE BE LIGHT” (Genesis 1:3) “AND THERE WAS LIGHT”. God made Light before He ever made the Sun or moon or the stars. God is the Source of Light. Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is the Source of Light. Jesus said:

John 8:12 (KJV) … I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life …

Man is the Source of darkness, of sin, of separation from God. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:45 (ESV) …it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The first Perfect Man sinned against God. He didn’t commit murder. He didn’t commit adultery. Adam didn’t lie, or steal. But Adam disobeyed the clearly presented Word of God. God told Adam “in the day you eat of it, YOU SHALL SURELY DIE”. This is what happened:

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The First Adam brought spiritual death on himself and on his wife and children. But not only this, Adam brought physical death on all of creation.

Because Adam transgressed the Word of God (do not eat the forbidden), he brought sin and death on the world. Next we are told:

Romans 5:13-14 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses …

The Bible tells us that “The wages of SIN is DEATH” (Romans 6:23). The God Who created all things did not “IMPUTE SIN” to people prior to the giving of the Law. Our God is fair. The people who died from “ADAM TO MOSES” died physical deaths because Adam brought physical death on all of his progeny. But where there is no Law, God does not take life. Sin created a ticking time bomb in everyone, but God allowed man freedom of choice. Humanity became worse and worse until God established Law through Noah, and later through Moses. Where God’s Word is spoken, this becomes Law by which sin is imputed. The Matthew Henry commentary notes:

“In proof of our union with Adam, and our part in his first transgression, observe, that sin prevailed in the world, for many ages before the giving of the law by Moses. And death reigned in that long time, not only over adults who wilfully sinned, but also over multitudes of infants, which shows that they had fallen in Adam under condemnation, and that the sin of Adam extended to all his posterity.”

Because Adam sinned, physical death comes to all. Because of Adam’s original sin, we are all born in trespasses and sin. As I have repeatedly told you for years now:

“all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We all need a Savior. We all need a Savior to save us from what Adam did, and to save us from ourselves! The First Adam in selfishness killed us all. But God sent a second Adam, without sin as Adam was once without sin, to be our Savior.

The Second Adam – Jesus Christ – Saves Us From Original Sin

Romans 5:15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

The “OFFENSE” brought universal sin and death to everyone. But the “FREE GIFT” that the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, brings is different. “through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God”. Adam’s sin brings automatic, involuntary, universal spiritual and physical death to all.

Word Study: On the other hand, the Second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, brings not death but “abound(ing) unto many”. The word translated “ABOUNDED” is the Greek perisseuō which means “to exceed in abundance, to overflow a measure, to excel above all else”. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you as Christians understand the application of this word. Jesus told us on the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:20 (KJV) I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall EXCEED (perisseuō) the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees followed the Law of God perfectly. But Jesus said “You need a righteousness MUCH GREATER than that which the Pharisees have. As pure and perfect as they appear, their righteousness just doesn’t cut it with God”. What do you need to enter God’s Heaven, to be a part of God’s family?

You need the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. You need to believe in Jesus as both Lord and Savior. There is no “man made” righteousness that will get you to God. You need Jesus!

Romans 5:16-17 (KJV) And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

What God offers us through Jesus is called a “Gift” because it is something you cannot earn, something you cannot deserve, something you are not worthy to receive. The First Adam brought sin into the world, and DEATH REIGNED because of him. But Jesus, the second Adam, came into the world to free us from sin. We who have received Jesus have been given “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”. God sees you differently. You are no longer bound to Original Sin, but you are bound to God.

The lost are carbon based life forms bound to the flesh. They one day will be placed in a Lake of Fire that will trap them in their selfishness forever. The saved are Eternal Souls bound to God by Christ. We one day will leave our bodies to the earth, and soar in eternity with our Heavenly Father. We who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are Children of Light, not darkness. We are Ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom, telling others to repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Romans 5:18-21 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The First Adam’s sin made people slaves to sin and death. The work of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, freed us from sin and death so that we might follow God in this life, and in the life to come.

Dear friend, if you claim to be saved by Grace, but are not following the Light of God and doing His Word, then you are deceiving yourself. Your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.

Word Study: We are told that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. This is a fantastic statement. Whereas sin abounded, overflowed unto sin and death, the Grace of God “did much more abound”. This is the Greek hyperperisseuō, which means “to ABOUND BEYOND MEASURE” or “superabound”. The Apostle uses this word in only one other place in the Scripture, when he tells the Corinthian Church:

2 Corinthians 7:4 … I am EXCEEDINGLY {hyperperisseuō} joyful in ALL our TRIBULATION …

Knowing that trials and tribulation only prepared him for his future appointment with God in glory, the Apostle did not despair. His joy RAN OVER, was IMMEASURABLE, because he understood his place in the plan of God.

Do you? Is your hope in Jesus? Is your life in Christ? Do you live your life following the Master? In His is light, not darkness. My prayer is that every person, every professor of religion, everyone under the sound of my voice repent, turn from your dark way of life. Commit your life to Jesus, calling on Him to save you. Then live your life daily, reliant on Him. May God lead you to do so without delay.

Amen.

Posted in General, Romans, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment