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The Reason For Suffering

Posted on July 23, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Deepu B Iyer: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lake-surrounded-with-green-leafed-trees-40465/

Hebrews 12:5-11 KJV And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: {6} For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. {7} If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? {8} But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. {9} Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? {10} For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. {11} Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

No one likes to suffer. When we go through suffering, our first response as humans is to seek to avoid or repair the suffering. We all do it. When God took Israel out of Egypt, He took His people through a series of water tests.

At the Red Sea, Israel experienced too much water (Exodus 14:10-12).

At Marah, God led Israel to bitter water (Exodus 15:22-26).

At Rephidim, God led Israel where there was no water (Exodus 17:1-7).

At each encounter, Israel responded exactly the same way. They muttered and moaned and complained and blasphemed God and His servants. Israel did not respond to the tests in faith, paying attention to how God saved her each time. Because Israel repeatedly failed the tests and did not turn to God in the midst of their need, their faith never grew. Since their faith never grew, when Israel got to Kadesh Barnea

Deuteronomy 1:26-28 (Author’s Paraphrase) Israel would not go up into the land, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord our God. They murmured against God, saying that God HATED them and sought to destroy them. They feared the Anakim, the giants in Canaan, but did not fear God

They failed the earlier water tests – the trials that God sent their way to grow their faith – and because of this they were unable to go into the Promised Land. The first generation of Israel was condemned to die in the wilderness. Why? Because God is watching, and said:

Deuteronomy 1:34-40 (KJV) the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers. 36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord. 37 Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

God is in control of all things. There is no trial, no tribulation, no thing that comes your way that is not under God’s purview. God says:

Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV) It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Illustration: The God Who sends the tests and trials is the God Who guides us through the tests and trials. As our Heavenly Parent, God is not a mother Hen, but an Eagle. The Mother Hen makes her nest as comfortable and pleasing as possible to the young chicks. The Mother Hen is overprotective of her brood. As a result her chicks grow up unable to fly very far or very high. The Eagle, however, builds its nest in high places. When Eagles build their nests, they start with thorns and prickly material, then put softer material and even their own feathers over top of this. As their eaglet chicks grow, the Mother Eagle begins to remove the softer parts of the nest. In time, the chicks are bedding on thorns and pricks. In discomfort they leave the nest – and SOAR. That is what God wants of His Children:

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Amnesia Is So Dangerous

Hebrews 12:5 KJV And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Word Study: Here God speaks to His Children AGAIN. He says “ye have forgotten the exhortation”. The word “EXHORTATION” is the Greek paraklēsis. Paraklēsis is a very interesting word in the Bible. It means “to call alongside so as to encourage or uplift, to comfort”. A very close word to paraklēsis is the Greek paraklētos, translated as “Comforter” in our New Testament (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1). The word is used four times to describe God the Holy Spirit and one time to describe Jesus our Savior and Lord. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit is the paraklētos, and the Word He speaks to us is the paraklēsis.

God Himself – the Holy Spirit – has spoken words of encouragement, and consolation, words to uplift all throughout Scripture. He has told us over and over again that God sends trials and tribulations to us as a loving Father, to grow our faith. God spoke to us through Solomon:

Proverbs 3:11-12 (ESV) My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

And the oldest book of Scripture speaks to us in:

Job 5:17-18 (ESV) Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal.

King David wrote in Psalm 94:12, “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law”, and again in Psalm 119:75, “I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me”.

God sends trials our way to grow us, to make us more like Christ. It is very true that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), but love does not coddle. Those of you who are considered “parents”, but who coddle your children, you are not loving them. You are setting them up for failure in life. Children must be disciplined. They must know that there is a higher standard than their wants and desires. They must know that they are held to a greater calling.

Hebrews 12:5-6 KJV And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: {6} For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

When trials come into our lives, we are commanded to “NOT DESPISE” (oligōreō), not to MINIMIZE it or FAIL TO REGARD it. Israel lost the Promised Land because, when the trials came, they paid little attention to how the trial was resolved. They minimized it. But they also “FAINTED” (eklyō), that is, they collapsed into exhaustion, became despondent and accusatory, faint hearted.

When a trial comes to us, we are to regard it as something a Loving Father sent our way. We are not to let the trial become bigger than God, but we are to seek to learn from the trial.

Hebrews 12:6-7 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Two words are used in the King James text to describe God’s discipline to the believer. The first word is chasteneth, the Greek paideuo {pronounced pahee-dyoo’-o}, meaning “to discipline, correct, reproof, admonish as a child”. Paideuo means that God sets limits and then corrects us according to those limits, just as a parent should do with a child. The second word is scourgeth, the Greek mastigoo {pronounced mas-tig-o’-o}, means to strike with a whip or belt. God sends trials to us on two levels:

1. God sends trials to test and grow our faith. These trials are NOT punitive.

2. God sends trials to punish us when we step outside of family boundaries.

These trials, whether to strengthen or to punish, are not sent to us because God hates us or is mad at us. “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”. It is His love that wants us to draw close to Him, and to depart from sin. Old time Pastor Thomas Watson wrote:

“God brings us into the valley of tears, that He may bring us into the valley of humility … When men are grown high, God hath no better way with them, than to brew them a cup of wormwood. … God’s thorns are to prick the bladder of pride .”

Trials teach us to look to God our Father, and to turn away from sin. When Jesus came to the Pool of Bethesda, He went to a man who had been an invalid for 38 years (John 5:3). For 38 years this man had laid in front of this pool, crying out that someone would get him down to the water so he might be healed. Jesus told him, “Get up, take your bed, and walk”. The man was healed. But later that day Jesus told the man:

John 5:14 (ESV) … you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you …

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin can bring sickness to us. But when we sin and refuse to repent, God Himself punishes us with chastisement because He loves us. As His Children under the New Covenant, God wants us living in step with Him, not in sin.

Here is a test as to whether you are saved or not. If you can sin, and the Father not punish you if you will not repent, then you are Unsaved!

That’s what our text tells us:

Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Word Study: The word translated BASTARDS is the Greek nothos, which means “one not born in the family, one born of a concubine or a female slave”. This was the case of Ishmael, the son of Abraham born of Hagar, not of Sarah. Though Abraham was willing for Ishmael to be considered his son, God told him “through ISAAC your descendants shall be named” (Genesis 21:12). Who is the “Child of the Promise”?

Romans 9:7-9 KJV – Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. [8] That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. [9] For this [is] the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

The Child of God is not the person who “keeps the Law”. The Child of God is the person who came to Jesus on bended knee:

Ephesians 3:14-15 (KJV) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named

You do not enter the family of God by your works, but based on faith in the finished Work of Christ. Jesus said:

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. {14} But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus Christ is the “Door of the Sheep” (John 10:7). Faith in Jesus Christ is “THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. No one comes to the Father but by Him” (John 14:6). Oh Beloved, we have repeatedly stated:

Galatians 2:16 (KJV) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

You cannot work your way into the Family of God. Entrance comes by faith in Him, the Savior Who died for our sins and rose again for our sanctification. It is true that salvation is by faith in Him, not by works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation comes only when we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead … this is what brings eternal life (Romans 10:9- 10). Salvation is a wondrous, supernatural event that comes to us as a free gift of God. But once saved, God begins to shape us, to mold us. God is making us who are His more like His Son Jesus.

It Is The Nature Of A Good Father
To Mold His Children

The next words we read are foreign to our current “let the child rule” culture. We read:

Hebrews 12:9-10 (KJV) Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

In America today many young men and women grew up without “fathers of our flesh which corrected us”, much to the detriment of our society. God bestowed upon fathers the requirement to raise up children to be good citizens of this earth. When children raise themselves, and are NOT disciplined, they grow up to consider civil laws to be optional. They grow up believing that anarchy and self pleasure to be king. Past civilizations that have done this have fallen forever. Civilization requires law abiding citizens who respect the lives of others.

Word Study: God uses trials – CHASTENING – to make us better citizens of HIS Kingdom. When you were saved by faith in Christ, God imputed His Holiness to your spiritual account. But once we are saved by faith, God works in our lives “we might be partakers of his holiness”. The word rendered “PARTAKERS” is the Greek metalambanō, which means “to RECEIVE so as to ENJOY”. This speaks of practical righteous.

God wants you to be not just “saved” by Jesus,
but to BE LIKE JESUS, a citizen of His Kingdom.

Hebrews 12:11 (KJV) Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Trials teach us to rely on God.

There’s an interesting story in Acts chapter 12. We are told:

Acts 12:1-5 (ESV) Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Now here’s a question. Who put Peter in prison? The simple answer is Herod. But couldn’t God have kept Herod from imprisoning Peter in the first place? Beloved, God allowed Herod to do as he did, imprisoning Peter. Why? We see in verse 5:

earnest prayer for {PETER} was made
to God by the church

The Church did not murmur, nor curse God for the trials. The Church drew near to God and prayed for Peter. James, the brother of John was martyred. James was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem, and suddenly the Church was without a human leader. It was like when Moses went up into Sinai to receive the Law – but in this case no golden calf was made.

The Church cried out to God.
The trials of Herod brought those who loved God closer to God.

Acts 12:6-17 (ESV) … when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.

What amuses me when I read this is that – though the Church was EARNESTLY PRAYING for Peter – they didn’t believe it when God answered their prayers. This is why God uses chastisement and scourging to grow our faith. There are times we are thick as stumps, and about as lively.

Pray That The Trial Will Glorify God

When trials come, we want them to end quickly. But rather than this, let us pray that God will use the trials to grow His Kingdom and glorify His name. The stepbrother of Jesus wrote:

James 1:2-4 (ESV) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Peter was not the only Apostle imprisoned and released, but in Acts chapter 16 we read about Paul and Silas. Beloved, the God Who allowed Peter to escape from prison could have kept him from prison in the first place if He had so desired. The God Who allowed Paul to be imprisoned with Silas expected these dear believers to focus, not on the prison, but on the Lord Who saved them. Rather than groan and grumble, as they were imprisoned Paul and Silas focused on glorifying God while in the midst of suffering. We read:

Acts 16:25-26 (KJV) And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Paul and Silas didn’t murmur. They looked beyond the trial, and realized that God is in control. Paul and Silas PRAYED to God. In between prayers, they PRAISED God. And as they did this, the PRISONERS in the jail with them heard it. When the doors were opened, and the bonds that held them were loosed, they did not run away. God was glorified even more when neither Paul nor Silas attempted to escape, but remained in that broken jail. Why do such a thing? They were faithfully focusing on God and not focusing on their trials. God rewarded their efforts by bringing the Philippian jailer to salvation, he and his whole house. The Kingdom of God grew.

Trials from God test our mettle.
Are we HIS, or are we still OURS?

If we belong to God, then we know that …

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I want to end with these words from the great C.H. Spurgeon:

“Faith sees that in her worst sorrow there is nothing penal; there is not a drop of God’s wrath in it; it is all sent in love. Faith sees love in the heart of an angry God. Faith says of her grief, “Why this is a badge of honor, for it is the child that must have the rod, ” and she sings of the sweet result of her sorrows, because they work her lasting good. Nay more, says Faith, “These light afflictions which are but for a moment do work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” So Faith sits down on the black throne, out of which she has expelled reason and carnal sense, and she begins to the praise of divine wisdom, to lift up her voice in a joyous song.”

If you are not saved and are being tried, I pray that the trial will drive you into the arms of Christ. But if you are saved, know that the trial has a purpose. God is making you more like Jesus, a better citizen of His Kingdom. Trust Him as you go through the storm. The God Who sent the storm is the God Who is your Father.

May the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts today. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Hebrews, Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, God Is Faithful, gospel, salvation, testing, trials, Tribulation | Leave a comment

No More Golden Calves

Posted on July 23, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Stefany Fernanda Parada: https://www.pexels.com/photo/golden-ornamented-buddha-figurine-26926707/

This past Friday thousands of flights with American, Delta, and United Airlines were canceled or delayed. Emergency services reliant on 911 calls were disrupted, and court trials delayed. The U.S. Customs service was delayed. Hospitals were unable to do diagnostic tests like X-Ray, CAT Scan, or MRIs. Some surgeries had to be rescheduled. United Parcel Service and FEDEX reported issues, and Wall Street as well as banking services across the nation were effected. What happened? A routine update to Microsoft Windows customers contained a defect that crashed computers nationwide.

Sometimes it seems as if the world has gone crazy. Yet in the midst of all this craziness (including what they call AI – which I think is very dangerous … have you never seen the Terminator movies?) our God is still in control. Sometimes we forget this, and start to make golden calves. We have a lot of golden calves in America today, things we rely on instead of God.

Computers
Health Care
Man Made Religion
Human Sexuality
Money
Political or National Alliances
Family
Businesses

Anything we put in front of God in our affections, anything we rely on more than God is a “golden calf”. And God will not bless that.

God Hates The Golden Calf

Tonight we’re going to see how God blesses or curses a nation. We’re going to go back to the Old Testament, to the Book of 2 Chronicles, to the reign of King Asa of Judah. At this time in history Israel has gone through a Civil War, and the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel have split off from Judah and Benjamin. Though God decreed that the ruling Tribe of Israel would always be Judah, the Ten Northern Tribes rejected the rule of King Rehoboam the son of King Solomon, and set up their own kingdom and place of worship in Samaria. Read with me:

2 Chronicles 16:7-9 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

“Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah”. A “SEER” (Hebrew rā’â, pronounced raw-aw’) means “someone who looks, sees, perceives, a watcher who is caused to see”. This is another word for a “preacher”, someone who studies and ministers the Word of God. Asa, the rightful King of Israel, of the Tribe of Judah, has gotten off course of God. What has happened?

2 Chronicles 16:1 (KJV) … Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Baasha the King of Israel (the Ten Northern Tribes) – of the Tribe of Issachar, has decided to attack Judah or Southern Israel. My commentary notes:

“Baasha gained the upper hand in the days of Asa because he effectively blocked a major route into Judah at the city of Ramah. He hoped this military and economic pressure on Judah would force Asa into significant concessions. … “Baasha’s aim in fortifying Ramah was probably to prevent access to Jerusalem for religious or trade reasons. Ramah is usually identified with er-Ram, on the main road just five miles north of Jerusalem.” (Selman)”

The “enemy is at the gate”, so to speak. King Asa, the rightful ruler of Israel, panicked. Rather than turn to God in prayer and seek Him, Asa turned to Ben-Hadad king of Syria. At this point in history Syria was a powerful world leader who lived in Damascus. We are told:

2 Chronicles 16:2 … {King} Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Benhadad king of Syria

King Asa went “TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD”, the Temple of God, and took treasures out of God’s Temple to give to a pagan king. In his panic and fear he robbed God to build a golden calf, an alliance with Syria. When Asa proposed the alliance – with God’s property – we are told:

2 Chronicles 16:4-5 … Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel … 5 when {Northern Israel’s King} Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.

It worked! The alliance between Judah and Syria frightened King Baasha away from Ramah. He stopped building his fortress in Ramah. What is the significance of Ramah? One of the greatest Prophets who ever lived, Samuel, was born, lived, and died in Ramah. When King David fled the wrath of Saul, he met Samuel at Ramah. The only female Judge Israel ever had, Deborah, was based in Ramah. Ramah (which means “a high place”) was also about five miles from Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ would be born (Matthew 2:18).

Once King Baasha of Israel abandoned his fortress at Ramah, we read:

2 Chronicles 16:6 … Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

It appears that King Asa’s trust in a pagan king worked. Asa now orders Judah to tear down the fortress at Ramah, and take the materials to build up two other fortifications in Geba and Mizpah. Geba guards the north-east approach to Jerusalem, and Mizpah the northern approach. Asa has done a great thing in banding together with this pagan king.

Or has he?

Pastor C.H. Spurgeon, “Now, many people in the world judge actions by their immediate results. If a Christian does a wrong thing, and it prospers, then at once they conclude he was justified in doing it; but, ah! Brethren, this is a poor, blind way of judging the actions of men and the providence of God. Do you not know that there are devil’s Providences as well as God’s Providences?”

Even if a “golden calf” seems to make things better, anything that dishonors God in the life of the Christian is a false good. When the Bible says “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), this standard does not just apply to the unbeliever, but to all people. Anything that dishonors God and robs Him of glory will not, in the long run, prosper. God says:

Isaiah 42:8 (ESV) I am the Lord; that is My name; My glory I give to no other, nor My praise to carved idols.

Did Asa Act In Ignorance?

Sometimes God’s people turn to a golden calf because of ignorance. When Moses delayed coming down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1), the people in ignorance turned to a golden calf. Is that what happened with Asa?

Absolutely not!

Asa’s daddy was King Abijah of Judah. In 2 Chronicles 13 (turn with me if you will) King Jeroboam of Israel (the Ten Tribes in revolt) came to attack Judah and Abijah. Before the battle began Abijah stood on Mount Ephraim and quoted the Word of God to Jeroboam and his men:

2 Chronicles 13:4-10 … Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 5 Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. 7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. 8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with your golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

King Abijah – Asa’s daddy – stood his ground. He called out the Word and the Promise of God, and declared that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was “children of Belial” who rejected “the kingdom of the Lord”, and who worshiped “golden calves”. King Abijah did what every Christian should do when confronted by evil and godless culture. We are to “STAND FAST IN THE FAITH, and ACT LIKE GROWN MEN” (1 Corinthians 16:13). We are to “STAND FAST IN THE LIBERTY WHEREWITH CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). We are to “STAND FAST IN THE LORD” (Philippians 4:1), to “STAND FAST AND HOLD THE BIBLICAL TRADITIONS YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT” (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Oh, that God would give us spines like Abijah! He stood fast on the Word and Promises of God.

Abijah said (2 Chronicles 13:12) “God Himself is with us for our Captain, and His Priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.”

Did Abijah win the battle that day?

2 Chronicles 13:16-18 … God delivered them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.

Judah prevailed “because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers”. Not because they had superior numbers, or because their men were better trained. Because they trusted the Word and Promise of God.

When King Abijah died, his son King Asa took over the throne. We read:

2 Chronicles 14:2-6 (KJV) And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: 4 And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest.

King Asa had watched his father, King Abijah, reign. He saw that Godly man trust in the Lord and defeat all the enemies of God. But if you serve the Lord, it won’t be long before the devil will rear his ugly head. Asa has an army of 580,000 “mighty men of valor” (2 Chronicles 14:8). But we read:

2 Chronicles 14:9 … there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

King Zerah brings the vastly superior army of Ethiopia – one million troops with 300 chariots – against Judah. They are nearly outnumbered two to one! Does King Asa seek out a treaty with a neighboring nation? No! We read that he goes to God in prayer:

2 Chronicles 14:11-12 … Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against Thee. 12 So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

After this great battle, a Seer by the name of Azariah the son of Oded (2 Chronicles 15:1) went to King Asa. He told him:

2 Chronicles 15:2-4 Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

Though “Israel” or the Northern Kingdom had been without true worship of God (for they would not go to Judah and the Temple to worship), when the Northern Kingdom called upon God in their troubles, “and sought him, he was found of them”. The Bible tells us that:

2 Peter 3:9 {God} … is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God blessed the Northern Kingdom when they turned from their golden calves and turned to Him. God’s policy is very simple. It is “if ye seek Me, I will be found of you; but if ye forsake Me, I will forsake you”. Put away the golden calves!

Asa listened – and obeyed!

2 Chronicles 15:8-13 … when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

There was a national revival throughout Judah, so much so that many of those who broke away to the north returned to worshiping in Judah and at the Temple. The golden calves were destroyed. In fact, King Asa’s mother Maachah was removed as queen of Judah because she worshiped a golden calf in a grove (2 Chronicles 15:16).

But Asa didn’t go far enough.

When God gave His law to Israel, He said:

Exodus 22:20 (ESV) Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

Though King Asa removed his mother Maachah as Queen of Judah, he failed to do as God said. According to the Law of Israel, the idolator was to be taken outside the gates of the city and “stoned to death with stones” (Deuteronomy 17:2-5). Harsh? Yes, it is. But God hates golden calves. They rob Him of His glory, and divide the faith of His people. Since King Asa failed to follow God’s Word – making a golden calf of his mother – we read:

2 Chronicles 15:17 … the high places were not taken away out of Israel

Since King Asa made an exception in the case of his mother, this opened the door to more golden calves. This is why in chapter 16 Asa compromises and reaches out, not to God but to King Ben-Hadad of Syria.

God Calls Out King Asa For His Compromise

2 Chronicles 16:7-8 … at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.

God reminded King Asa that when he was vastly outnumbered by the “Ethiopians and the Lubims” (the Lubims or Libyans are an African nation mentioned in Nahum 3:9 and Acts 2:10), that He intervened and Judah destroyed this multitude. God said “because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand”. When King Asa made a covenant with Syria, his action actually robbed Judah of future blessing. God told him:

vs 7 the host of the king of Syria escaped
out of thine hand

God would not only have defeated Northern Israel for King Asa had he called out to Him, but God would have defeated Syria as well. But Asa made a deal with the devil. When we make golden calves, we rob ourselves of the blessings that God wants to give us. Think about it. Because the Methodist Church made a deal with the golden calf of wokeness, that Church is splitting and dissolving. Beloved, we need to rely on God and His Word.

Hanani the Seer goes on to say:

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

The phrase “eyes of the Lord” occurs 92 times in the Old Testament. The phrase is used to describe the omniscience of God, the fact that nothing is hid from our Lord:

Proverbs 15:3 (ESV) The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

God watches what we do. Speaking of another King of Israel, we read:

2 Chronicles 34:2 … [Josiah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

God watches over His children.

Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.

God was watching over King Asa when Northern Israel tried to build a fortress at Ramah. He should have called out to God.

Pastor John Piper put it this way:

“I love this verse. … it put the sovereignty of God in the service of His eagerness, like you said — the eagerness of God to help me if I simply trust him. Not to help me if I work for Him, but if I trust Him, He’s going to work for me. He’s going to be strong on my behalf if I look away from myself and look to my heavenly Father — His broad shoulders, His huge biceps, His strong back, and those bright eyes just full of eagerness to show Himself powerful on behalf of those who simply trust in Him.”

The peace that King Asa should have had to the end of his life was gone. Hanani the Seer told him, “from henceforth thou shalt have wars”. How did King Asa respond?

2 Chronicles 16:10 Then Asa was wroth with the Seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

Rather than repent, King Asa fired the preacher! He imprisoned Hanani, and anyone else who disagreed with his decision. How did King Asa’s life end? In misery. We read:

2 Chronicles 16:12-13 Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 13 And Asa slept with his fathers

King Asa refused to repent, so God brought disease – a painful, lingering disease – into his life. And Asa died in misery. Why? Because he compromised with the golden calves. And even suffering, he refused to repent and call upon the name of the Lord.

Beloved, I pray that God will speak to your hearts this very day. We must live our lives reliant upon the Word and promise of God. We must trust Him no matter what enemy may come our way. And we must repent, and turn from any golden calf. If you want to finish well, reject the golden calves.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Posted in 2 Chronicles | Tagged glorify God, God Is Faithful, Jesus Christ, obey God, salvation, trust God, Trusting God | Leave a comment

Blessed or Cursed Of God

Posted on July 19, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Proverbs 10:6-12 (KJV) Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. 8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. 9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. 11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Those who are “righteous”, that is, those saved by faith in Jesus, born again children of God, are generally blessed if life. However those who follow their own path, who reject the Word of God in order to be their own gods, in time these people are cursed.

Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) Blessings are upon the head of the just…

God told Israel before they went into the Promised Land,

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

The way to blessing is to heed the Word of God, and to DO what He has said. In the ancient world, blessings were always passed on from father to sons by placing his hand upon the head of the child. As Jacob – now called Israel – prepared to die, he called for his sons. Joseph came, bringing his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The Bible says:

Genesis 48:14-19 (ESV) Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

Jacob (Israel) led of God, crossed his arms so that he put his right hand of blessing on Ephraim, and not Manasseh. He did this knowingly. Ephraim would be the largest leading tribe of Northern Israel. While Ephraim followed God, it was blessed in this life. The second part of this proverb states:

Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) … but VIOLENCE covereth the mouth of the wicked.

God puts His blessings on those who are “JUST”, that is, they are “justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). But those who reject the Word of God, the fruit of their lives is “VIOLENCE”.

Word Study: What is very interesting about this verse is that the word translated “VIOLENCE” is the Hebrew ḥāmās, which is eerily like the spelling of the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas is an acronym of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, a Palestinian Sunni Islamist terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of Israel. The wicked are characterized by God as those who “cover their mouths with ḥāmās (pronounced khaw-mawce’)”, which means “cruelty, injustice, oppression, wrongness, unrighteousness”. Life is sacred, because “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). All human life is made in God’s image, and God despises the shedding of innocent blood. It was an evil gunman that climbed on a roof just the other day in an attempt to assassinate President Trump. It is evil newscasters and pundits that mocked the attempt, crying out that it was a shame that the man missed.

Such people are purely evil!

Regardless as to your political leaning, the way of righteousness is the way of Christ, the way of peace. The “god of this world (Satan) blinds the minds of those who will not believe in Christ, lest His Gospel, the Gospel of Christ, the Image of God, shine into their hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:4, AP).

Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

Those who are evil will get their just reward. The “name of the wicked shall rot”. The man who evilly attempted to kill President Trump, twenty year old Thomas Matthew Crooks, did kill firefighter Corey Comperatore (pronounced com-PER-tore). Mr Comperatore, on hearing the gunshots, threw himself over his family to protect them. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated in a press release:

“Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Most especially, Corey loved his family.” His wife Helen said, “He’s my hero. He just said, ‘Get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”

Though everyone knows the name of Crooks, he has departed this life to a place of everlasting torment, a place where those who hate the Lord of Life go. But Corey Comperatore departed this life protecting life and love. By all indications he is in glory with the Jesus that he loved enough to worship on Sundays. But the man who with murderous intent killed a righteous man, this fellow named Crooks, in time his name will rot and be forgotten. People remember the names of the righteous, like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. But the murderous and evil are assigned to hell, and their names are retired.

Has anybody named their child “Adolf”?

The Fruit Of The Tree Proves It’s Salvation

Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

Those who are “WISE IN HEART” are those who are “just”, that is “justified” by God through faith. Justification before God does not come by keeping His Commandments, His Law. The Bible says:

Romans 3:20 (ESV) For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Law of God is like a spiritual CAT Scan or an MRI. The Law is diagnostic, proving we are sinners in need of the Savior. We are:

Romans 3:24, 28 (ESV) … JUSTIFIED BY GOD’S GRACE, through the redemption that is IN CHRIST JESUS … 28 JUSTIFIED BY FAITH apart from the works of the Law …

We are JUSTIFIED by God Himself, once we repent and call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus. Once JUSTIFIED, we become children of God, willing to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.

Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a PRATING fool shall fall.

The “WISE IN HEART”, those who are born again by faith in Christ, will “RECEIVE COMMANDMENTS”. We who are saved will heed what God says. We do this out of love for the God Who saved us. Our Lord Jesus said:

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

John 15:10 (ESV) If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

The willingness to receive God’s Words and DO them is the fruit of the Christian life. In incomparable C.H. Spurgeon preached:

“The man whose spirit is selfish has not the spirit of Christ and, “if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of His. The man whose spirit is that of envy and contention is evidently no follower of the lowly and loving Jesus—and those who do not follow Jesus are none of His. They that are Christ’s are filled with His love. “Everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is Love.” God is the center of the Believer’s love. The saints are an inner circle specially beloved and all mankind are embraced within the circumference of the ring of love.”

Those who are saved, the “JUSTIFIED” or “WISE IN HEART” receive the commandments of God because we know them to be life. We are told in Proverbs 19:16 (AP), “Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises {God’s} ways will die.” The justified of Christ heed God’s Word. But …

BUT a PRATING {śāp̄â} FOOL shall fall.

Word Study: The word translated “PRATING” is the Hebrew śāp̄â (pronounced saw-faw’), which means “the one who mouths foolishness, who speaks godlessness”. There are many in our world today who mock God and His Word, who reject His Commands and His Wisdom. God says that these shall ultimately “FALL”. God knows what is best – ALWAYS. God’s commands bring life.

In the Old Testament King Nebuchadnezzar, the second King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, let the sin of pride lift him up. God let madness come on Nebuchadnezzar, and the Prophet Daniel told him:

Daniel 4:25 (ESV) … you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

Psychiatry calls this state Boanthropy, a psychological disorder where the sufferer believes they are a cow or an ox. God caused Nebuchadnezzar to graze in the fields like an ox for seven years, after which the King repented and honored God. The King said:

Daniel 4:34-35 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Sadly, the King that followed Nebuchadnezzar was not as repentant. This “PRATING FOOL” was known as King Belshazzar, the last King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. God sent a hand to write on the wall, and Belshazzar called for Daniel to interpret the words that were written. Daniel reminded the King that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God for his pride, and warned Belshazzar to repent and turn from the false gods that he served. Rather than repent, Belshazzar had a drunken party, though he celebrated Daniel for interpreting the words on the wall. The Bible says:

Daniel 5:30-31 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

The “PRATING FOOL” will always, in time, fall. But those who receive God’s Commandments will live!

Proverbs 10:9-10 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

These verses could be summarized as “Honesty is the best policy”. To “WALK UPRIGHT” is the Hebrew tōm (pronounced tome), which means “to live your life in integrity and simplicity”. We who are saved are to live what we believe. We are to be

Ephesians 4:15 …. speaking the truth in love …

Those who “PERVERT THEIR WAYS”, that is, say they believe one thing, but twist and do the opposite, in time they will be found out. Our Lord Jesus tolerated the Scribes and Pharisees hypocrisy only so long before He lowered the boom on them, exposing them for what they actually are. In Matthew 23 Jesus called out the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy.

“WINKING WITH THE EYE” is a clue to insincere speech or behavior. It is always best to say what you mean, to be sincere and truthful. There is coming a judgment day for all. Jesus tells us not to be fearful of the hypocrite, but to trust that God will bring all to light. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:26 (ESV) have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Proverbs 10:11-12 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Believers are to speak the Word of God, to be wells of living water. Jesus said:

John 4:14 … whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Our words are not to corrupt, but to lead others to Christ. When King Saul sought to kill God’s man, David, David went to Nob to Ahimelech the Priest. Seeking help and provision, David got Ahimelech to give him and his men the Show Bread and the Sword of Goliath.

Doeg the Edomite saw the priest help David, and reported this to King Saul. When Saul ordered the death of the priests for helping David, none of his soldiers would do so, as they were priests of the Lord. But

1 Samuel 22:18-19 (ESV) Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

The evil that Doeg did was written of in:

Psalm 52:1-7 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. 5 But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

God watches what we do. Thus we are to speak life, not hatred and strife. Believers are to be wells of grace, ministering the Gospel through our lives to others.

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

The Apostle Peter quoted the last line of this proverbs when he wrote:

1 Peter 4:7-10 (ESV) The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…

May God bless and keep you as you serve Him Who saved you by His Blood. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, God Is Faithful, Jesus Christ, love, salvation | Leave a comment

Will All Jews Go To Heaven Without Jesus?

Posted on July 16, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Romans 11:22-29 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

We’ll come back to this verse in a bit.

Israel, and the battle that nation is having with Hamas (a terrorist organization) and the Palestinians is in the news. Around 1139 people were killed when Palestinian armed forces went from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of Southern Israel. One source noted:

“One of Hamas’s goals was simply to kill Israelis—many of them. The Washington Post reported that instructions found on dead Hamas fighters included, “Kill as many people and take as many hostages as possible.” Among other weapons, Hamas also equipped its fighters with thermobaric grenades, which can quickly cause massive fires in a home. The fighters also had enough ammunition and food to keep going into Israel if they were able to do so, as well as maps, suggesting an even higher death toll was possible.”

This is not the only time in history that the nation of Israel has been attacked. Israel has been bullied and attacked throughout history. And yet God has promised “ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED”.

Why Has Israel Been So Often Attacked By Other Nations? Because Israel Has Not Honored God.

Davidic Covenant: When God made His Covenant with King David (Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7:8-29; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 2 Chronicles 6:16), He established Judah as the ruling tribe of Israel, and David’s line as the line where the kings of Israel would be chosen. Speaking of the king of Israel God said:

2 Samuel 7:14-15 (ESV) I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him…

When the King of Israel led his people to love and cherish the Lord, they enjoyed the blessings of God and relative peace in the land. But when the King and Israel departed from honoring God, the Lord “DISCIPLINED WITH THE ROD OF MEN, WITH THE STRIPES OF THE SONS OF MEN”. Beginning with Pharaoh and Egypt, God allowed Israel to be enslaved in Egypt around 400 years (Genesis 15:13; Acts 7:6). When Israel cried out to God in faith, He raised up a redeemer (Moses) who led them out of Egypt. When Israel refused to give God glory, God allowed Babylon to rise up and conquer Israel:

Jeremiah 29:4, 10-13 (NKJV) Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon … 10-13 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

God caused Assyria, then Medo-Persia to attack Northern Israel because of their idolatry. God prophesied:

Hosea 11:5 (ESV) They {Israel} shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.

Northern Israel thought that they could make an alliance with Egypt, and escape Assyrian dominance. But God gave Assyria power over them because Northern Israel refused to worship in Jerusalem, and created their own system of worship and nation-state in Samaria. God prophesied of His people:

Isaiah 10:5-6 (NKJV) Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 6 I will send him against an ungodly nation {Northern Israel}, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Though God would raise up and use Assyria against Israel, He foretold that He would also punish Assyria for the same arrogance Israel had. God said:

Isaiah 10:10-13 (NKJV) As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ” 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.” 13 For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it…

Every time Israel walked away from God, in time God raised up nations to punish her until she repented and returned by faith to the Lord Who saved her. I believe it is Biblically correct to say,

Every time Israel departs from the God Who saved her, He raises up nations to punish her and bring her to a state of repentance. God, in turn, punishes the nations that He used when they arrogantly believe it was their strength that caused them to overcome Israel. Israel is God’s nation!

Israel The Nation Is Special To God
Because God Is Faithful

When God called Abraham to follow Him, God made certain promises to him, unconditional promises. God promised Abraham:

Genesis 12:2-3 (NKJV) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham’s descendants were given the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7), the land that Israel claims as her own today. Though Canaanites lived in the land, God owns the earth. He gave it to Israel. It was through the nation of Israel that God promised, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.

Because of this promise God made to Abraham, an unconditional promise, the nation of Israel were God’s Chosen people. God told Israel that when they went into Canaan to take it, that they would destroy false gods, idols, and pillars. Israel was not to intermingle with the pagan world, but was to consider themselves a people who belonged to God. God said:

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (NKJV) For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

The nation Israel had been chosen by God as “a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth”. Over and over again, Israel was told that they were unique as a nation. When King Solomon dedicated the Temple at Jerusalem to God, he prayed for Israel, telling the Lord:

1 Kings 8:53 (NKJV) For You {O Lord} separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Israel belongs to God. When Israel wandered from the God Who loved it, God punished them severely. He said in

Amos 3:1-2 (ESV) Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: 2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Why Is Israel So Important To God?
Because “Salvation Is Of The Jews”

When our Lord Jesus walked the earth, He traveled through Samaria and met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. As Jesus talked with this woman, she said:

John 4:20-22 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

In these 5 words “SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS”, Jesus explains why Israel is so important to God. Only TWO books of the Bible were written by non-Jews: the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. These books were written by the Physician Luke, and he wrote these books as they were dictated by the Jews. The Pentateuch, also called the Torah or the first five foundational books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) were written by Moses, a Levite, a Jew. Without the Jews we would have no Bible whatsoever.

“SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS”. When Adam sinned and brought the whole world under the mastery of sin, God foretold that He would bring the Messiah into the world to save it. Called the Protoevangelium or the“First Gospel”, God promised the serpent (Satan, Revelation 12:9) that:

Genesis 3:15 (KJV) I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The Messiah would come as “THE SEED OF THE WOMAN”, which foretold the Virgin Birth of the Messiah. Women do not have “seed”, but eggs. But the Messiah would come supernaturally through the woman, without the intervention of fallen man. The Jewish Prophet Isaiah wrote of this miraculous birth:

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) … the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:23 tells us that “IMMANUEL” means “God with us”. God would come into humanity through a virgin woman. When God came, He would come as a Jew, of the Tribe of Judah, of the lineage of King David, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The Bible tells us of the Messiah Jesus:

Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV) … when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

The Messiah would be “BORN UNDER THE LAW” of Moses, born a Jew. Israel is special unto God because of her relationship to the promises of God and the Savior, the Messiah Jesus.

My commentary notes:

“Jesus Christ is the ultimate reason why God chose Israel to be His special people. God did not need to have a chosen people, but He decided to do it that way. Jesus had to come from some nation of people, and God chose Israel.

However, God’s reason for choosing the nation of Israel was not solely for the purpose of producing the Messiah. God’s desire for Israel was that they would go and teach others about Him. Israel was to be a nation of priests, prophets, and missionaries to the world. God’s intent was for Israel to be a distinct people, a nation who pointed others towards God and His promised provision of a Redeemer, Messiah, and Savior. For the most part, Israel failed in this task. However, God’s ultimate purpose for Israel—that of bringing the Messiah into the world—was fulfilled perfectly in the Person of Jesus Christ.”

What Did God Mean By “all Israel shall be saved”?
Do Jews Automatically Upon Death Go To Heaven?

When Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion Of The Christ came out, the Jewish communities in America were upset by it. Some Jewish communities consider any attempt to share the Gospel of Christ with them as an act of anti-Semitism, for the Jews are “God’s People”. Some within the Jewish community believe that they will automatically go to Heaven upon death because “ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED”. What does the Bible say?

In John chapter 8 Jesus is debating with the Pharisees, a strictly religious sect of Jews. Jesus told the Pharisees that “the FATHER SENT ME” (John 8:16). To this, the Pharisees asked:

John 8:19 (KJV) … Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

Jesus was very clear. In order to know the Father (God), you must know the Son (the Messiah). Jesus told these religious, Jewish Pharisees …

John 8:21 … (AP) {you} SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS. Where I am going, you cannot come.

Jesus is going back to the Father, back to Heaven. These Pharisees and Scribes, Jews well schooled in the Law of God, cannot come to Heaven with Jesus. Why? Because they do not know Jesus. The Pharisees then argue that they are of the lineage of Abraham. Jesus replies,

John 8:39 (KJV) … If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Then Jesus makes it even plainer.

John 8:42-45 … If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Do Jews get an automatic pass to Heaven? Absolutely not. Salvation is of the Jews, yes, and the Messiah came to us through Israel. But unless a person receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that person is NOT SAVED.

Ephesians 2:13 (ESV) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Romans 10:12 (ESV) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

Salvation comes to everyone, regardless as to whether they are Jew or Gentile, the exact same way. We must receive Jesus Christ as the Messiah, our Savior and Lord. The Gospel of Christ is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV). You must believe in Jesus to be saved. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. Though Israel is God’s chosen nation, only those who have believed on Jesus have salvation. No one will come to the Father “but by the Son” (John 14:6). Idolatrous Jews will be sent to eternal damnation alongside of Idolatrous Gentiles. There is no automatic ticket to Heaven because of nationality, bloodline, or denomination. You must receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.

God Has A Future Plan For Israel:
All Israel Will Be Saved

When we started this discussion today I quoted:

Romans 11:22-29 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulLness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

As God spoke to the Gentile Church at Rome, He warned the Church not to become arrogant against Israel. It was always God’s intention to save both Jew as well as Gentile through Christ. God tells the Church:

vs 22 if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off

Israel throughout its history has been “CUT OFF” from the blessings of God because they turned from God to idols and worldliness. They rejected the Grace of God for the titillation of sin. God’s standard has always been “Follow Me” (Matthew 16:24-26; 10:38; John 8:12; 1 Chronicles 16:11; Romans 12:1-2; Proverbs 3:5-6). Noah followed God. Abraham followed God. Moses followed God. Salvation entails that we follow God. God says of Israel:

vs 23 if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again

Salvation is of the Jews. God grafted the “wild olive tree”, the Gentiles, into the promises of God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We were grafted into the promises because we received the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jew who receives Christ, the “olive tree”, can be grafted back in. The reason that the nation of Israel is largely blind to Christ is for the Gentiles sake.

Vs 25 blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in

When the early Church started, it was largely comprised of Jews. But as the Church grew and reached out, Gentiles began to come into the Kingdom of God. This was according to the eternal plan of God. God still has a plan and a purpose for Israel, and it is all related to the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Vs 26-27 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Who is this “DELIVERER” Who will come out of Zion? We are told in

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV) {we} wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

The Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, will one day come from Zion (the Heavenly Jerusalem) to banish ungodliness from Jacob. He will save Israel from the wrath which is to come. As Pastor John Piper stated:

“… let the point be made clearly and soberly today: Salvation comes to Israel and to Gentiles in the same way — through faith in the Deliverer, Jesus the Christ, or it doesn’t come at all.”

vs 28-29 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Though at the time of the writing of this text, Israel as a nation was attacking the Church, the Lord wanted the Church to understand that God still has a purpose for Israel. God promised that at the end of time Christ Jesus will return to this earth, and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over Israel and over the whole world. When Jesus returns and reigns from Israel, He will bring unprecedented peace on the earth. The Scripture says:

Isaiah 2:3-4 … For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 42:1-4 (NKJV) Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

The reign of Christ on the earth – called the Millenniumof the Millennial Kingdom – will be 1000 years of peace on the earth (Isaiah 11:6-9; 32:18). Satan will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3). People will worship Jesus, the King of Creation (Isaiah 2:2-3), and as God promised “all Israel shall be saved”. God is not done with Israel. He has a plan for His nation, and we would be wise to pray for Israel, to evangelize Israel, and to get out of God’s way.

But Beloved, the Jew is not automatically saved just because they are Jews, no more than the Baptist is automatically saved because we are Baptists. Who are the true sons of Abraham, the children of God?

Galatians 3:6-9 (KJV) Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Children of Abraham love Jesus. Children of Abraham receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. “They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham”. May God the Holy Spirit lead you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior this very day. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, God Is Faithful, gospel, Israel, Jesus Christ, Jew, salvation | Leave a comment

Don’t Quit Running, Christian!

Posted on July 14, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

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

In chapter 11 God defined faith for us. Faith must be in the proper OBJECT, as faith in the wrong thing or wrong person will not save your soul. We read:

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please {God}: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Faith must come to GOD, believing that He is. Faith must come to Jesus, believing that He is the Messiah. Faith must come to the Bible, believing it is the Word of God. Faith must be in the proper PERSON, the proper OBJECT.

But faith – true faith – is PERSISTENT. We learned that “God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”. When we believed on Jesus Christ and called upon Him as Savior and Lord, we had all that we needed to enter God’s Heaven. But God left us on this earth to be Ambassadors for Christ. “We are AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are “MINISTERS OF A NEW COVENANT” (2 Corinthians 3:6). We are “WORKERS TOGETHER WITH GOD” (2 Corinthians 6:1).

We Who Are Saved Run The Race Set Before Us

The best way to lose a race is to focus on the crowd, and not on the goal. We who are saved by faith in Christ were left on this earth to live out our lives for and with Jesus. The Bible says:

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses …

All around us are “witnesses”. They are watching how we are living our lives for Jesus. Who are these witnesses? God is watching us. He watches us when we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You O God are with me”. God has promised “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). God watches us. Jesus watches us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. “If ANYONE DOES NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, you are NONE OF HIS” (Romans 8:9). God is with us. God watches us.

Furthermore, the angels of God watch us. The Bible speaks of “Angels, ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). We are told in the next chapter of Hebrews that angels walk among us (Hebrews 13:2). The angels watch us, and so do the fallen angels.

But also, others around us watch how we live out our faith in Christ. Your children are watching you, your grand children. Your spouse, your friends. Your work acquaintances all watch how we live out our lives. The Bible speaks of the “MIGHTY CLOUD OF WITNESSES”. How you live out your life for and with Jesus will effect whether others hear the Gospel of salvation. If your children hear of Christ on Sunday, but see you living without Christ Monday through Saturday, they realize that this is no more than a ruse, a cloak, and an unreal faith.

Those who are saved by faith RUN THE RACE SET BEFORE THEM. A faith that evidences no relationship with Christ is no faith at all.

James, the stepbrother of Jesus Christ wrote about the “no faith faith” that the cultural Christians of his day had. He very plainly stated under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

James 2:17-20 (ESV) faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

A faith that has no fruit is like a dead tree – it is no good whatsoever. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 7:17-20 (KJV) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. [20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

You are not saved by good works – but once saved, you are born again, a child of God, and you are going to bring forth good works. If you don’t, you AIN’T!

The demons at least tremble at the name of Jesus. You must run if you are saved!

We Who Are Saved Put Off Anything That
Hinders Our Race

As we run the race for Jesus, we are to put off or put away anything that hinders us from running.

We Run Our Race With “US”: We are told “Let US lay aside every weight”. You see that little word there? The word “US”. US who? Us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We run the race set before us with Jesus, and with other believers.

If the devil cannot keep you from being saved, he will do his best to hinder your race. One of his favorite tricks is to try and get you running the race with or for unbelievers. We are to witness to unbelievers. We are to love unbelievers. But we are not to band together with unbelievers and ask them to run the race with us. Unbelievers are dead in trespasses and sins. We are warned in:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (ESV) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Illustrate: Several years ago Rick Warren came out with his book The Purpose Driven Church. In that book he encouraged churches to be seeker sensitive, to cater to the lost in their midst in hopes of bringing them into the Kingdom of God. We should certainly be loving to the unbeliever in our midst – but Beloved, the lost walk in darkness, apart from the light of God’s Word and His Spirit. You cannot invite unbelievers to become a part of the race.

I run a site called bibleteacher.org, where I post sermons and teachings every week. At present I have around 11,000 visitors every month. I very rarely read comments made on my site. Why? Because I am frequently attacked by unbelievers who come across the site. Why burden my mind with the negativity. I also post to Facebook, Next Door, Linked in and Twitter. Hoo boy the remarks I’ve received for what I’ve shared. Beloved, we cannot run the race with the lost. The lost cannot bind with the Church. They cannot be put on membership rolls, nor be given jobs in the Church.

People are lost, undone, until they meet Jesus as Lord and Savior. And like the world hated Jesus (John 15:18), lost people will hate YOU for loving the Word of God. You cannot run your race to please the lost.

We Run Our Race TOGETHER With BELIEVERS: Another favorite trick of Satan is to bring disharmony in the Church, to get believers fighting over stupid stuff. Believers are commanded to run their race TOGETHER WITH OTHER BELIEVERS. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV) … walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

I can’t tell you how many times someone comes to me and says “So and so hurt my feelings, and I’m mad at them”. My response is always, “Did you go and talk with them? Did you privately meet with them, and explain why you were hurt?” Inevitably I’ll be told, “Well no, I didn’t talk with them”.

Well why are you talking to me?

Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV) … if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

You cannot run your race while you are carrying a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Seek to run together as “US”. Christianity is a team effort. “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:25). Why kills a Church? Divisive Christians. Sectarianism. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 1:10 (ESV) I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Our standard must always be “what saith the Lord? What does the Scripture tell us?” We bind together as “US” and run together, lifting one another up, helping each other over the finish line.

Illustrate: If you want a Biblical illustration, look to Exodus 17. Israel had been murmuring against Moses because the way was hard, and when they camped at Rephidim there was no water for the people to drink. This set the people even more against Moses. God told Moses to strike the Rock at Horeb (the mountain of God) and water will come out (Exodus 17:5-6). Moses did as God said – and Israel satisfied their thirst.

Then the Amalekites, a warrior people, attacked Israel!

Moses chose Joshua to lead Israel into battle. When Moses held up his staff, Israel prevailed. But when Moses lowered his staff, the Amalekites prevailed. Moses couldn’t do it alone, so Aaron and Hur stood on either side of Moses, and held his hands up. Only by unifying together was God’s people able to defeat the enemy. Beloved, the Church in America is losing the battle because we are not “US”. We need to work together WITH JESUS AND HIS WORD to run the race set before us.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily BESET us

When we run our race for Jesus we are commanded to “LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT” and “put away BESETTING SIN”. Let’s talk about “LAYING ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT”. What are some of the weights that drag us down?

We Are To Remember We Are Not Who We Were, But Who We Are

If you are saved – born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – then you are no longer dead in sin, a child of this world. You belong to Jesus. You are a child of God. At this point, I’m going to let the Bible preach:

Ephesians 4:17-32 (ESV) …. you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

The Christian is not a lost person, but a child of God. Our Old Man is incompatible with our New Nature. We belong to God. So we put away anything that hinders our race, and heed the Word of God. We are to be:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

Keep your eyes on Jesus, and your mind filled with Scripture. Remember that the race only matters if you finish well. The race that God put before His Son ended only when He was nailed to the Cross of Calvary.

Hebrews 12:2-4 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

As Jesus ran His race, as He came toward the end, He did not relish what was coming. Jesus asked His disciples to pray with Him. Jesus said,

Matthew 26:38-39 My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

The race set before us may be hard, but it is no where near as hard as it was for Christ. No one stood with Him. The disciples fell asleep, and the Master prayed alone. Three times He prayed:

Matthew 26:42, 44 O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.

The Son of God Who had never done sin, never failed His Father, would go to Calvary for us. He Who had no sin would know sin in our behalf. The Father would literally make Christ sin for us:

2 Corinthians 5:21 {The Father} hath made {Jesus} to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus became US on Calvary. As US, every sin we ever committed was poured out on Him and judged. And as He hung on that Cross, it was not the nails that made Him cry out, but our sins and our judgment. At the height of judgment Jesus cried out:

Mark 15:34 …. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And Heaven wept.
The Saints of God witnessed, but the Angels wept.

Had Jesus ran part of the race and quit, we would still be damned, children of darkness. But because Jesus ran the whole race, ran till the finish line, He…

endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

No one suffered like Jesus did for us. Let us remember that He did so “for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM”. He saw our salvation. We read in the first part of this wondrous Book:

Hebrews 2:9-10 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren …

Jesus saw the Kingdom of God filled with brothers and sisters in Him, believers all, saved by His precious shed Blood. So we look unto Him. We do not get down, but we run with patience. We’ll end with this:

Hebrews 12:12-14 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Let us live for Him – if we are His. May God the Holy Spirit lead you to Christ Jesus this very day. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Hebrews, Sermons Preached | Tagged Bible, christianity, Faith, Following Christ, God, God Is Faithful, gospel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love God, salvation | Leave a comment

Beware Of Idols

Posted on July 11, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Proverbs 10:1-4 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. 2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. 3 The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. 4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

In the first 9 chapters on Proverbs, God made the case that it is better to heed the Word of God (Wisdom) than the whims of man (Woke Foolishness & Cultural Kowtowing). Now we actually come to the Proverbs of Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. The Bible says:

1 Kings 4:29-34 (ESV) And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Now Solomon did not create 3000 proverbs, but “HE SPOKE” 3000 proverbs. Some of the proverbs of Solomon may have been contributed by others, and he repeated them. But as the wisest man who ever lived, what Solomon said was wise was – because of the inspiration of God – wise. The first of the proverbs is:

Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A WISE son maketh a GLAD father: but a FOOLISH son is the HEAVINESS of his mother.

As we go through these proverbs, we will see them presented as two sides of a coin. On the one side you have blessing, but on the other side you have cursing.

The first proverb warns us against the danger
of idolizing our children.

A WISE son maketh a GLAD father

Word Study: The son who is WISE (Hebrew ḥāḵām, pronounced khaw-kawm’) is the son who has been taught the Word of God and how to apply it. When Joseph was elevated to the right hand of Pharaoh because of his relationship with God (Genesis 41:33), the Pharaoh told Joseph:

Genesis 41:39 … Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and WISE (ḥāḵām) as thou art…

Wisdom comes from God, from God’s Word. And wisdom must be passed down. The fact that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived is not an accident. Solomon was taught to love God and His Word by his father King David. Though David was certainly not perfect, and made many terrible mistakes in his life (for which God punished him), David always repented and returned to the God he so loved. David wrote:

Psalm 17:7-9 Wondrously show your steadfast love {my God}, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, 9 from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.

David loved God with all his heart, and cherished the relationship he had with Christ. He asked that God guard him as “the apple of your eye”, as a person would guard the pupil of their eyes from damage. My commentary notes:

“The apple was the ancients’ way of referring to the pupil. It was seen as the most precious part of the body that was to be protected above all else. David suggests that God protects his children like the body protects the pupil. High cheek-bones shelter it from incoming blows. Bushy eyebrows keep sweat from the brow from getting in. Eyelashes act like fences, keeping all unwanted intruders out, and eyelids can shut to provide rest and quiet.

God treats his children like that. He is like a mother bird standing, with his mighty wings outstretched, sheltering us chicks from harm (verse 8b). He has already proved this to us by allowing his Son to stretch out his arms on the cross to protect us from the harm of our sin and rebellion.”

David taught Solomon to love God with all his heart, and perhaps chastised his son when he failed to do so. Children who are not idolized, but are taught to love God’s Word and cherish the Lord above all else will grow up to be both good citizens and good Christians. Children are never to be idolized, to be petted and served. Children are not to run the household, but the parents do so under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me

and again in Luke 14:26 (ESV) If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

People say “How can I love God more than I love my child?” My question is, how can you NOT? God gave you that child. You will not lead your child to Christ as David did Solomon if you have a wishy-washy faith. The first and primary commandment is:

Matthew 22:37-40 … Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment…

The very first of the Ten Commandments is “You shall have NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME” (Exodus 20:3). When you idolize your children you hurt your children. But when you put God first, it will draw your children to Christ.

a FOOLISH son is the HEAVINESS of his mother.

God uses the word FOOL or FOOLISH in Scripture to describe the person who has no relationship with Him.

Psalm 14:1 (ESV) The FOOL says in his heart, “THERE IS NO GOD.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

Psalm 53:1 (ESV) The FOOL says in his heart, “THERE IS NO GOD.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

Word Study: A child raised without a concept of God and His greater good, the child raised to be self serving and self absorbed, will in time bring HEAVINESS to his mother. The word translated HEAVINESS is the Hebrew tûḡâ (pronounced too-gaw’), which means “deepest sorrow, inconsolable grief, depression”. The parent who idolizes his or her child will one day reap the fruit of the seed they sowed. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen children stand in front of a judge and receive a stiff sentence, while their mother wails and begs that the boy get another chance. Nothing good comes of idolizing a child. Teach them to love God and His Word.

Illustrate: Esau, who was spoiled by his daddy Isaac, disobeyed God when he came of age. He went outside of the faith and married two Hittite women (Genesis 26:34-35), shaming both Isaac and his mother Rebekah. Esau was greedy, disrespectful to both God and his parents, and idolatrous. He lost his birthright and his blessings because he rejected God’s Word. And Beloved, Isaac and Rebekah were much to blame.

Do Not Idolize Money

Proverbs 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but RIGHTEOUSNESS DELIVERETH FROM DEATH.

It may seem that TREASURES OF WICKNESS are a great blessing, but in time that which is evil brings death. People may live comfortable lives with bulging bank accounts – but in the end their riches do not bless them in God is not in it. The Prophets frequently wrote:

Zephaniah 1:18 (ESV) Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Ezekiel 7:19 (ESV) They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

In many ways, those who are rich are to be pitied. Their riches become their gods. Many of the rich get ahead by trodding on the backs of the poor. One of my favorite books of Scripture is the Book of Esther. In that book, the rich man Haman plotted against the Jews, seeking to destroy them as a nation. But Mordecai, a righteous and God fearing man, did his duty and guarded King Ahasuerus from harm. In the end the wicked Haman died, but Mordecai lived on to serve both God and King. “RIGHTEOUSNESS DELIVERETH FROM DEATH”.

Another example? Who can forget that it was “Noah who found grace in the eyes of God” (Genesis 6:8). His righteousness – that is, his willingness to walk with God – saved him and his family from harm, whereas the rest of the world drowned.

Proverbs 10:3 The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but He casteth away the substance of the wicked.

God takes care of His children. King David, in looking back over his life, wrote:

Psalm 37:23-29 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. 28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

Follow the Lord Who saved you, and you will have abundant life. Jesus said:

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

The THIEF, the devil and his world system, comes and offers us golden calves and silly idols that cannot truly bless us. But if we cling to God’s Word and do as He directs, we can expect to be blessed. Not just now, but into eternity. We close with:

Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Whether or not you are idolizing money is shown by how you treat it. Those who are stingy with their funds, hoarding and hiding money from righteous use, are idolizing money. As Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Money is a means to an end. Do not be enslaved by it, but use it for the glory of God.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Posted in General | Tagged Bible, God, Jesus, Proverbs, wisdom | Leave a comment

So What’s The Difference Between Catholic And Baptist?

Posted on July 10, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Nearly everyone who doesn’t live under a rock has heard of the Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, many believe there is little difference between Catholicism and other Christian Churches. This is contrary to what the Roman Catholic Church actually teaches. The Vatican, through its leaders and through the assertion of the Pope, that:

“Orthodox Churches are defective for not recognizing the primacy of the Pope, and that Protestant “ecclesial communities … cannot be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense.” The reason given for the latter assertion was that “these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element [the Eucharist] of the Church.”

The Catholic Church teaches that the Apostle Peter was the first Christ given leader of the “Church”, and that he was it’s first “Pope”. “According to the Annuario Pontificio, the papal annual, there have been more than 260 Popes since St. Peter.” Since the “Pope” is associated with the one and only Catholic Church, and “Protestants”, that is, those who are not Catholic will not affirm the Pope as the one and only leader of the Church, then non-Catholic bodies of believers are not considered a part of the Church.

if you’re not Catholic, You’re not in the “Church”

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 846-48) we are told:

“Outside the Church there is no Salvation”: How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

“Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it”.

The Vatican does make an exception on this point, saying:

“This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation”

So if you’re ignorant of the fact that the only Church on earth is the Roman Catholic Church, and come to God in faith, then God can save you even though you were ignorant of the truth. But once you know the truth, you are to join the Church, the Catholic Church.

Well, what does the BIBLE say? We’ve seen what the Pope says, but frankly I’d rather see what the Bible says. A person becomes a Christian by placing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in His Church. The Bible says:

Acts 16:31 (ESV) Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Romans 3:28 (ESV) … we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 5:1 (ESV) … since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:12-14 (KJV) we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Salvation is a Divine Act, whereby when one receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, God the Holy Spirit comes to that believer and changes them, making them “born again” into the Kingdom of God.

Furthermore, the Bible teaches that God Himself joins us to Christ’s Church at the point of salvation. Speaking of the Church of Christ, the Apostle wrote:

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (KJV) as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

When the Apostle wrote these words there was no Roman Catholic Church. The Church at the time that these words were written was under persecution by both Roman Authorities as well as Jewish Authorities. Christians were martyred for their faith, and considered heretics by the pagan religions around them. Christians suffered gruesome deaths for what they believed.

Though you may be of a particular “denomination”, may be Catholic or Protestant, if you are a genuine Christian you are bound to the Church of Christ by the Spirit of God. All believers, saved by faith in Christ, are part of this worldwide body. Believers meet together in various types of local churches, but every believer in Christ is a part of Christ’s Church. Jesus affirmed this when He said:

Matthew 18:20 (NASB) For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

It does not matter how large the Body of believers, if those believers are “gathered together in the Name of Christ – for His glory – then Jesus is in attendance”. One of the early Pastors called Clement of Alexandria wrote (Stromata, 7.5, AD 220):

“For it is not now the place, but the assemblage of the elect, that I call the Church.”

The Bible defines “The Church” as a gathering of “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” (1 Corinthians 1:2). As a Pastor I can tell you that there are gatherings of every denomination of Christianity on many Sundays who are not actually the Church of Christ. The Church is the gathering together of those who are born again by faith in Christ, and we gather not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify the God Who so graciously saved us in Christ.

Word Study: The word we translate “Church” is the Greek ekklesia. This word is found over 100 times in our New Testament. Ekklesia means “those who are called out of the world”. The early Church or the Ekklesia met in private homes (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2) and in city wide assemblies (Romans 16:23; Acts 14:27; 8:1; 13:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). The Bible speaks of …

Acts 9:31 … the Church (Ekklesia) throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria

You are a part of Christ’s Spiritual Body, the Ekklesia, if you “Hold fast to the Head (that’s Jesus), from Whom the entire Body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God” (Colossians 2:19).

The Church is not built on Peter (who was not a Pope), but is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22). An early Pastor named Ignatius of Antioch wrote in 105 AD:

“where Christ is, there is the … Church”

Formation Of The Roman Catholic Church

As I mentioned before, Christianity and the Church did not start out as “Roman Catholic”. Christians were vilified and persecuted as heretics until the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 AD).

Constantine’s father Constantius was a member of the Tetrarchy, the ruling class established by Roman Emperor Diocletian. Constantius was a persecutor and killer of Christians. When his father died, Constantine moved to destroy the Tetrarchy and take over the Roman Empire. Prior to a decisive victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge (October 28, 312 AD), Church Historian Eusebius said that when Constantine was praying:

“A remarkable sign appeared in the heavens above the sun, the trophy of a cross of light with the message, ‘by this conquer.’”.

Constantine had the Cross painted on his soldiers shields. After the victory at Milvian Bridge against the armies of Maxentius, Constantine moved to remove persecution from Christians. In February 313 AD, Western Roman Emperor Constantine I and Emperor Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in modern-day Milan and, among other things, agreed to change Roman policies towards Christians.

Called the Edict of Milan, Christianity was given legal status and reprieved from persecution throughout the Roman Empire. This prepared the way for the Edict of Thessalonica (AD 380) which made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Though this appeared to be a good thing, it was actually the worst thing that could happen to Christianity. The Apostle wrote:

2 Timothy 3:11-12 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Our Lord Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24). The CROSS was the Roman method of capital punishment against traitors, thieves, murderers, and heretics. Jesus told us as believers that we would be “hated of all men for My sake” (Mark 13:13). He said:

John 15:18-21 (NIV) If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

Christianity was never meant to blend with culture or with the darkness or with the government. Christianity is built on the application of the Word of God. Once Christianity was bound to the state of Rome, as Rome conquered areas it demanded that those conquered adhere to “Christianity”, often at the point of the sword. People cannot be converted to Christianity by crusade or force. The faith of Christianity is based on “whosoever will”. Many of the errors found in the Roman Catholic Church are a result of forcing unbelievers into the “flock”. When they came, they came with their false gods and goddesses, their unbiblical ideas.

Roman Catholicism And Scripture

Christians believe in the sufficiency and authority of the Scripture above any human document. When believers began to stand up against Roman Catholic excesses (the Protestant Reformation that began in 1517 AD with Martin Luther), one of the key doctrines was Sola Scriptura, which is Latin for “Scripture Alone”. The Christian affirms that Scripture – the Holy Bible – is the sole source of Divine Revelation, the only inspired, infallible, final, and authoritative norm of faith and practice”. We as believers quote the Apostle:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be {mature}, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

It is “THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES that we have hope” (Romans 15:4), and the “PROPHETIC WORD that is our lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19-21). Our Lord Jesus chastised the Pharisees, saying “You are WRONG, because you KNOW NEITHER THE SCRIPTURES nor the POWER OF GOD” (Mark 12:24). It is the Word of God that “guards our way” (Psalm 119:9). Catholics do not believe in Scripture alone, but believe in:

Roman Catholic Traditions, &
Papal Authority (Decrees of the Pope)

Many of the Catholic doctrines like purgatory, praying to the saints, praying the Rosary, seeking Christ through His mother Mary, the Queen of Heaven, Holy Water, Baptism of Infants, the priest’s power to forgive sin, the Infallibility of the Pope as the “Vicar of Christ”, and so on, are based on Catholic tradition and not Scripture. In fact, the Catholic Church teaches that only the Church and it’s priests can properly interpret the Bible. This is contrary to what Jesus promised:

John 14:16-17, 26 (KJV) … I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth … 26 …. the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 16:13-14, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

When the believer receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit of Promise comes to us. He “ABIDES IN US, and we in Him. He teaches us ALL THINGS” (AP, 1 John 2:27).

Roman Catholicism And Salvation

The Protestant Reformation not only taught Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), but also taught Sola Fide (by Faith Alone). Believers in Christ hold that it is faith alone in Christ alone that saves the soul. It is not works that saves us, but Christ Who saves us. Jesus said:

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

John 10:9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

1 John 5:11-12 (ESV) And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Once saved by faith in Christ, our Lord sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us, and to sanctify us or to make us more like Christ. Genuine faith in Christ, the Scripture tells us, will produce a changed life and result in good or Godly works (James 2:20–26). Justification is not by faith plus works, but a person who is truly justified by faith will show the fruit of the Spirit in their lives (Galatians 5:16-26). Christlike works are an outward show of genuine faith in Christ (James 2:14, 17, 20, 26). The Bible says that:

Titus 2:14 (ESV) {the Lord 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.

The person who professes Christ as Lord and Savior but who is not interested in living for Him is actually a deluded unbeliever. “We are Christ’s workmanship, created to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10, AP).

Christians believe that baptism is an ORDINANCE – a command of Christ – that every believer will willingly seek out. Catholicism believes that BAPTISM is a SACRAMENT – something necessary for salvation. For this reason Catholics baptize babies, whereas Protestants will not do so. If baptism is necessary for salvation, reasons the Catholic, it is best to baptize the baby as soon as possible lest it undergo sudden infant death syndrome and end up in hell. Baptism of babies is no where endorsed in the Scriptures, but it is taught as a sacrament by Catholics. For this reason they sprinkle the baby.

Catholics teach the sacrament of CONFIRMATION. They teach that when children are trained to be good Catholics, that they are “confirmed” into the Church. The priest lays hands on the child, and at that point the child receives the Holy Spirit of God. It is only the priest who can confer the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands – the Catholic priest. However, the Scripture teaches:

1 Peter 2:9 … (ESV) you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Every believer in Christ is a priest before God. Since we are “JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST” (Romans 8:17), and since Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is “a King and a Priest unto God”:

Revelation 1:5-6 … (KJV) Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Then every believer is a King and a Priest unto God according to the Scripture. The Holy Spirit is not imparted to us by the laying on of hands of a Catholic Priest. The Holy Spirit is sent to us by Christ Jesus at the point of our salvation.

The Catholic Church teaches the sacrament of Penance. When a sin is committed, the Catholic is to go to their priest, and confess that sin to the priest. The priest then “absolves” you of your sin, and gives the Catholic acts that they must do to right themselves spiritually with God. This is contrary to the Scripture teaches:

1 John 1:7-9 (KJV) 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. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession of sins is not made to any man on this earth, but to God the Son, Whose Blood cleanses us from all sin. Sin is an offense against God, and so only God can forgive sin. The only human being who has ever had the power to forgive sin on the earth is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew Chapter 9 a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, Who said:

Matthew 9:2 … Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

This upset the Pharisees who knew that only God could forgive sins. Jesus looked at them and, using His Messianic Title (Son of Man) said:

Matthew 9:6-7 (KJV) that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house.

Only God has the power to forgive sins. “The Father judges no man, but HAS COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT TO THE SON” (John 5:22). Only God can forgive sin. The Bible does not teach PENANCE, but REPENTANCE. When you sin, confess that sin to God the Son and He will cleanse you of all.

The Catholic Church teaches prayer to the saints, and to Mary the Mother of Christ. A document from Saint Paul Seminary entitled “Explaining Why Catholics Pray To Saints” notes:

“… the idea of the communion of saints. This is a fundamental belief in Catholic theology that recognizes the interconnectedness of all members of the Church, whether they are living on Earth, in purgatory, or in heaven. Catholics believe that canonized saints, who are individuals recognized by the Church for their exceptional holiness, continue to be a part of this communion even after death. When Catholics pray to saints, they are reaching out to these holy individuals, seeking their intercession and guidance in their relationship with God. … Catholics believe that saints can intercede on their behalf with God due to their closeness to Him.”

This is, once more, contrary to the Scripture. The Bible says:

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (KJV) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

The Bible tells us that “Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). It is Christ and Christ alone that stands between us and God. We have assurance of salvation because:

Hebrews 7:25 (ESV) … {Jesus} is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

There is no one who stands between us and God but Jesus Christ. To teach that Mary or some Saint intercedes for us is Biblically incorrect. Further, there is no purgatory taught in the Scripture. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.”

The Catholics get the concept of purgatory from the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 12:45) and the teaching of the popes. The thought is that when we leave this life, we are imperfect. So we must go through an intermediary area where God tunes us up for Heaven. But this is nonsense. Our sins are covered by the Blood of Christ. It is His work that saves us, not our works. Further, the Bible does NOT teach that a Christian goes through an intermediary area upon leaving this life. The Apostle wrote to the Philippian Church:

Philippians 1:21-23 (ESV) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Paul did not say “I desire to depart this life, and head toward purgatory”. He spoke of departing this life an BEING WITH CHRIST. There is no “tune up garage” before you get to Heaven. When you leave this life, God eradicates you of all sin, and brings you into His presence – if you are IN CHRIST. Another text is

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (ESV) So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

When you leave this life, dear believer, you are “at home with the Lord”.

In Conclusion or Summary

That which is called “The Catholic Church” is as imperfect and blemished as every other Church on the earth is. Can you be saved and be a Catholic? I’ll answer that with a question: Can you be saved and be a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Church of Christ, a Methodist? Absolutely. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and are fully reliant upon Him for salvation, then yes, you can be saved. It is not the denomination that saves you, but your faith in Christ Jesus. Having said that, I would not recommend the Catholic Church to any Christian. It is Christ’s death alone that can satisfy or propitiate God’s wrath against sinners (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). No man on this earth is your priest, dear believer. Every believer is a king and a priest unto God, and Jesus Christ our High Priest. No man dressed in black, or red, or in white so called the “Vicar of Christ” forgives sin nor makes you right before God. As the Scripture says:

Titus 3:5-7 (ESV) {God} saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Find yourselves a Bible believing Church and immerse yourself in the Scriptures, not in what a human institution teaches. May God lead you in the right path. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Sermons Preached | Tagged Bible, Catholicism, christianity, Faith, Following Christ, Jesus, love God, salvation | 1 Comment

Faith, Faith

Posted on July 7, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Please turn with me in your Bibles to:

Hebrews 11:1-3 NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For BY it the elders obtained a good report. 3 THROUGH faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

One of the most important things in all the Bible is this thing we call FAITH. A person is saved from the darkness of sin and brought into the Kingdom of God by Grace, THROUGH faith. Salvation is a gift of God, not a work that you accomplish. We have often read:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For BY GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any {person} should boast.

No one enters the Kingdom of God by their works. When we get to glory, we will not look back and go “didn’t I do good in getting here”. Salvation is a free gift of God, offered to whosoever will. But salvation is not imposed or forced on anyone. It is received THROUGH FAITH. If your definition of “FAITH” is not the same as God’s definition of “FAITH”, then you’re in trouble. Words matter. Truth matters.

Why did God give us an OLD COVENANT before He gave us a NEW COVENANT? Why did God give us a Law of animal sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, circumcisions, and ceremonial restrictions before He unveiled the New Covenant in Christ? It was to show us our utter inability to make ourselves right before God without the blood of Christ.

God gave us the Old Covenant to teach us that faith must be put in the RIGHT OBJECT. Faith in works, sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, ceremonies will not save. Faith must be placed in God!

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Galatians 3:24-25 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

God gave the Law to teach us where to put our faith. He gave us the incessant animal sacrifices to teach us that we cannot save ourselves, but “God is our Savior” (1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; Titus 1:3; Isaiah 43:3; 2 Samuel 22:3). No one has ever been saved by the Law of God. The Apostle said

Galatians 2:16 know that a person is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, but BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST …. by the works of the Law no one will be justified

The Old Covenant was only given to Israel after God’s people continued to reject salvation by faith in God. The Old Covenant was diagnostic. It proved us sinners. But it had no real means to save us from our sins.

Salvation is by God’s Grace THROUGH FAITH.

What Is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Word Study: As God begins to define faith to us (NOW FAITH) we read that “faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for”. What does that mean? Let’s look at the word translated “SUBSTANCE”. This is the Greek hupŏstasis, {pronounced hoop-os’-tas-is}, which means “the foundation, the structure, the assured confidence”. The word was used in the earlier text of Hebrews, in:

Hebrews 3:14 For we are made {partners with} Christ, if we hold the beginning of our CONFIDENCE {hupŏstasis} steadfast unto the end;

Faith is not just an “I believe”. Faith is an
“I surrender” or an “I cling”.

Faith is an “I don’t understand, but because GOD said so, because His Bible declares it, I BELIEVE”. Saving faith does not have to understand all things. Saving faith looks at God and says, “Lord, what ever YOU have declared, I BELIEVE because YOU ARE GOD”.

The Atheist puts faith in himself and in man. He looks at the world around us and says “All that is seen – regardless as to its complexity and order – is just a happy accident. We are all creatures of evolution. Everything started with a big bang, and randomly evolved into the life that you see now”. God has no place in the created order. There is no Master Architect, because the fool has said that “there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

The Christian looks at the order and the grandeur of the world around us and says, “I do not understand it, but I know that God created this world, this universe, this galaxy, and all that we see. He is the Grand Architect, and His fingerprints are on all of creation.”

Whether you are an Atheist, an Agnostic, or a Christian depends on where you invest your faith.

Word Study: We are also told “faith is …. the EVIDENCE of things not seen”. The word “EVIDENCE” is the Greek élenchos, {pronounced el’-eng-khos}, which means “the EVIDENCE or PROOF of, the CONVICTION”. Faith is a submission of this will to God. An unbeliever comes to a believer and asks, “How do you know that God is real, and that Jesus is the only Way to God?” The believer’s response is simply, “Because God said so”. Faith does not quibble with God.

Illustrate: Consider the Garden of Eden (yes, I believe in the Biblical creation). God tells Adam, “You can eat of anything in the Garden except the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The day you eat of it, you will surely die.” Why this Tree? Why was Adam forbidden that particular fruit? Because God alone establishes what is GOOD and EVIL. We who are created do not make up the rules. God does. God says what is right and wrong, and faith – the surrender of the will to God – obediently trusts and does as God says. When Adam partook of the forbidden tree it was not his action that destroyed his life. Adam’s sin was to approach life apart from absolute faith in God. When the serpent tempted Adam to eat that which was forbidden, Adam’s proper response – the response of faith – was to say “Because God said NO, it must be NO. Period.”

Faith Is What Pleases God

Hebrews 11:2 For BY IT the elders obtained a good report.

It is faith that has always pleased God. The Old Testament believers – many of whom will be mentioned in this chapter – believed on God, but died before “The Promise” came. We are told:

Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an Heavenly: WHEREFORE God is not ashamed to be called their God: for HE hath prepared for them a city.

The Elders, those who lived before and during the Old Covenant, heard of the promises of God by faith. They lived to follow God, to glorify God, considering themselves “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”. The Elders lived before the Cross, before the completed canon of the Scripture. They had no printed Bibles, but lived by shared truths and stories passed down from generation to generation. Without the modern conveniences of technology, these Elders believed God, and believed what God said. They clung to Him as their only hope in existence. And God was faithful.

The Father of Faith is Abraham. The Bible often returns to this ancient believer, for he is the pattern of the faith that pleases God.

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Abraham stepped outside of his “comfort zone” and went where God told him. This pleased God. Compare that attitude to today’s “Christian”.

When God called Abraham He gave Abraham a simple directive. “Follow Me”.

Genesis 12:1-4 (ESV) “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him …

This is the same thing Jesus did in the New Testament: “Follow Me”. That’s how God operates. Follow Me. Submit to My Will. Do what I say, as best as you can. Abraham didn’t question God. God said “Go”, and Abraham went. God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a “GREAT NATION”. So Abraham left. He left the safety and security of his home town, of his family, and went out into a godless wilderness. Abraham stepped out in faith. In time, God would give Abraham a son – Isaac – but Abraham would never see the “GREAT NATION” that God promised him. Nonetheless, Abraham gave his sole allegiance to God. He did as God’s Word directed. He followed God to Canaan, and trusted God beyond that.

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Though Sarah was well past child bearing years, she trusted the God Who made all of creation. She believed that He was able to do as He promised. When the time was right, God gave Sarah her child Isaac. Why? Because she was able? No, but because God is faithful.

Faith trusts in the faithfulness of God. The visible fruit of good faith is obedience and glory to God.

I Wasn’t There, But I Believe It. Do You?

Hebrews 11:3 THROUGH FAITH we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Word Study: The word translated as “WORLDS” is the Greek aiṓn, {pronounced ahee-ohn’} which means “the ages, the eternity, the universe, the worlds”. It is the “WORD OF GOD” that made all things. God spoke this world into existence. God created the order and patterns that we see. God spoke, and the universe became a reality. God created the stars and the planets without end by His Word. When we are told,

the worlds were framed by the word of God

It is God’s Word that made all things. Now, what does this mean? It has two distinct meanings. First, God spoke, and it was. Therefore God’s Word, His Bible, is His very creative power. It is faith in what this great Book says that gives us life. We believe it, because God said it. We believe it, because God wrote it. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

God spoke, and it was. He declared, and it came into being. God did not roll up His sleeves and make all things. He decreed it. He spoke it. And it was. What does this teach us?

God’s Word is trustworthy – it will create life.

The Apostle wrote of the lost, saying:

2 Peter 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God

But there is another application of this. The Bible says:

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

The Word of God, Jesus Christ, made all things. The Word of God, Jesus Christ “became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). When Jesus came, He brought the Word of God, the Bible, with Him. Throughout His ministry Jesus appealed to the Scripture, saying “It is written”. We are to believe in God’s Word, His Only Begotten Son. We are to acknowledge Him alone as worthy.

Revelation 4:11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.

What God has promised, God will do. If you have faith in God, you will cling to His promises no matter what He asks you to do. We are now given another wonderful illustration in Abraham.

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

This is a reference to the time that God came to Abraham and said,

Genesis 22:1-2 (ESV) After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

By most accounts Abraham was at least 113 years old, and maybe 125 years old. Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah bore Isaac, and his son would have been in his teens. Abraham has enjoyed his son, and watched him grow. God had told Abraham “in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (see Genesis 21:12), and Abraham clung to that promise of God. Out of Isaac would come a mighty nation (Israel) that would bring blessing to the whole world (the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah). God had also told Abraham long before Isaac was born:

Genesis 17:19 (ESV) … Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

God promised that He would establish an “EVERLASTING COVENANT” with Isaac. That is, God would put Himself and Isaac in a non-revocable, eternal Covenant of Grace. And God does not lie. God does not lie.

Then, one day out of the blue, God says “Go sacrifice Isaac”. Here is a test of Abraham’s faith. Why did God test Abraham this way? God already knows Abraham’s heart. “God looks on the heart of man” (1 Samuel 16:7). God knows what Abraham is going to do. Abraham knows what Abraham is going to do. So why test Abraham.

So we can see what type of faith pleases God.
Abraham is our pattern.

God said to Abraham, “I’m going to bless the world THROUGH ISAAC”. God said, “I’m going to create a nation OUT OF ISAAC”. And God doesn’t lie. Now God says “Go kill your son”. And without hesitation, Abraham steps way out of his comfort zone, and goes to comply with God. He arises early in the morning and goes where God tells him. When he gets to Moriah, he leaves his servants at the wagon, telling them,

Genesis 22:5 (ESV) “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

Abraham fully intended to sacrifice Isaac. But in his mind, both he and Isaac would be back at the wagon in just a little while. Why? Because God is faithful. God cannot lie. God has promised a nation out of Isaac, and Isaac isn’t even married yet. We are told in Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

What was Abraham’s mindset? God promised. God can’t lie. Even if I kill Isaac, God will raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham wasn’t worried. Abraham had faith.

Only Genuine Faith Pleases God

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

What pleases God? Faith. Trust in Him. Faith “come(s) to God … believ(ing) that He is”. God is God. Evangelist Vance Havner said, “Salvation is not a cafeteria where you take what you want and leave the rest. You cannot take Christ as Savior and refuse Him as Lord and be saved.” Saving faith brings you into the Presence of God. You believe God is – and want to be in His presence. But the faith that pleases God “diligently seeks Him”. God only blesses – rewards – those who “DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM”. God is not an afterthought, but in your Forethoughts.

If you are saved your life will reflect that salvation. Those who are saved will diligently seek after God. We who believe seek after God in prayer, in study of the Word of God, and in Christian fellowship or the meeting of the local Church. A Christian is never whole unless he or she routinely and habitually speaks to the Living Word of God (Prayer), studies the written Word of God (the Bible), and then puts the Word of God into action through fellowship in the local Church. I have heard people say, “I can worship God in the woods just as well as I can in the local Church meeting.” What does God say about that?

1 John 3:10-11 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, NEITHER HE THAT LOVETH NOT HIS BROTHER. (11) For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

1 John 2:4-5 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (5) But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

God demands of the Christian that we put the Word in prayer, the Word in study, and the Word in action.

Do you know Him? Do you know Jesus Christ by faith? If not, today is the day to give your life to Him. Dr. Voddie Baucham said “Grace means that we deserved death, but received life.” This only comes by faith in God, in God’s Son, in Jesus. Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4). Is your faith in God, or in something else? Today is the day to ask yourself, “Am I saved by Grace, through faith in Christ Jesus?” If not, today is the day to be saved.

May God the Holy Spirit lead you to His bleeding side. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Hebrews, Sermons Preached | Tagged Abraham, Bible, Faith, faith in God, faithful God, Faithfulness of God, Following Christ, Genesis, Jesus, love God, salvation | Leave a comment

The Mountaintop of God

Posted on July 6, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Proverbs 9:1-6 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: 2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. 6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Opening: When God gave His Law to Israel through Moses, why did He give it from a mountaintop and not from a valley? Why didn’t God give His Law next to a beautiful stream? Why not in a green pasture? Why on a mountaintop? Pastor Russell H. Conwell wrote in his sermon “Above The Snake Line”:

“In one of his letters the great poet, William Cullen Bryant, who so loved the Berkshire hills {of Massachusetts}, mentioned the fact that when the hills were first occupied by settlers, they found that down in the valleys were very dangerous serpents. The rattlesnake was there, the poisonous adder was there, the copperhead was there. In order to escape these serpents, they built their residences upon the hills. Ancient tradition related that there was a “snake line” above which no poisonous snake ever crept. If a person builded above an elevation of about twelve hundred feet above the sea, no poisonous serpents ever bit his children, or destroyed his property, or endangered his life. But if he built in the valley, he was subject to these deathly dangers. In the old times when the country was settled, every person who approached was advised to build his house “above the snake line.” Above the snake line the early settlers dwelt—those pioneer New Englanders whose emigrants formed the foundation of the middle and western states. The farms were small, the ground stony and difficult to clear for agriculture. The mountains were covered with the primitive forest. The valley soil was richer and more easily worked, but those wise and pious Pilgrim fathers endeavored to build their homes safely “above the snake line.” ”

God offered His Word to Moses “above the snake line”. In order to receive God’s Word, Moses had to submit to God, climb the mountain, and rest on the mountaintop. The Word of God will always lead us to the mountain top, above the snake line.

Consider the first 9 chapters of Proverbs to be like a trip up the Mountain of God. We have seen the value and beauty of God’s Word.

God gave us free will, the ability to choose His Word or the cultural human word. We can either …follow God’s Word (Wisdom) or follow man’s word (Cultural Folly). Chapter 9 is the top of the mountain. Wisdom, God’s Word, speaks to those willing to climb this mountain. But at the same time Folly will call out in verses 13-18, trying to lead you into cultural wokeness and stupidity rather than the way of righteousness. If you decide to stay with Wisdom (God’s Word), the following chapters will give us practical applications for life.

Building The House Of Wisdom –
What Is It’s Foundation?

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

Wisdom – the Word of God – builds a stable house, a stable home, a stable Church. What is the FOUNDATION that these SEVEN PILLARS stand on?

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

The foundation of Wisdom’s building is “fear of the Lord”. People – especially poor theologians – are constantly trying to downplay these types of scripture. Since “God is LOVE” (1 John 4:8, 16), the Lord doesn’t want us to fear Him, does He? These storefront theologians will tell you that “this just means to see how awesome God is, much like the awe I felt when I stood near Niagara Falls” This is ____. Let’s interpret the “fear of the Lord” using not our opinion, but what the Bible says is the fear of the Lord. When you look up the phrase “the fear of the Lord”, the first place you find it is in 1 Samuel chapter 11. In that passage, the Ammonites threatened to destroy the Israelites. Rather than rally behind their God given King Saul, the people allowed fear to take over, and became an effeminate, weeping nation of crybabies. The Bible says:

1 Samuel 11:6-7 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. [7] And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent [them] throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.

Did you get that? God used FEAR to drive the people. Saul promised THAT GOD would destroy their OXEN, which is the same as destroying their means of livelihood … and did so at God’s behest.

When we as a nation have no fear of the Lord,
we can lose our economic prosperity!

Fear of the Lord is necessary for stability. It is the “fear of the Lord” that routes the enemy and drives the Israelites (2 Chronicles 14:14; 17:10). It is the “fear of the Lord” that leads God’s people to be faithful to Him (2 Chronicles 19:9), and the “fear of the Lord” that leads us away from doing evil (Job 28:28). King David was successful as a monarch because he knew “the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (Psalm 19:9), and he taught his children the “fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11). We have previously seen that “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil” (Proverbs 8:13), and will be told in the next chapter that:

Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Why are people dying from sexually transmitted diseases and suicide? Because they have no fear of the Lord. If you have no fear of the Lord, you do not care what God’s Word prescribes. You live life according to your whims and wants, rather than in the grip of God. Those who are on again, off again Christians have no fear of the Lord. They fear death and disease, public ridicule and financial loss, hair loss and aging – but have no fear of Him Who gave them life in the first place.

When you fear God, you walk according to His directives knowing that HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

Proverbs 14:26-27 In the fear of the LORD [is] strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. [27] The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

If you have “fear of the Lord”, then you respect and honor Him, and put Him first in your life. There are no blessings to the person who will not fear the Lord. God is not a spare tire: He is KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.

The Foundation Laid, What Are The Seven Pillars?

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars

The Bible is linear, written by One Author, God Almighty. To interpret the Bible we must use the Bible. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom’s House are given to us in …

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first PURE, then PEACEABLE, GENTLE, and EASY TO BE ENTREATED, full of MERCY AND GOOD FRUITS, WITHOUT PARTIALITY, and WITHOUT HYPOCRISY.

By the numbers, the 7 Pillars are:

Purity
Peaceable-ness
Gentleness
Reasonableness
Merciful To Others
Impartiality
Sincerity

Purity: Let’s look at these Pillars. We’ll start with PURITY. The first Pillar in the life that God builds is purity, the Greek men hagnos, which means “truly chaste, apart from the world, consecrated to God”. God saves us to be His children, and commands that we NOT be like the world. God does not save us IN our sins, but FROM our sins. God tells us:

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Yes, as humans we will sin. But we should not revel in it, wallowing in sin like a pig in the mud. We are God’s possession, not the devil’s. We belong to Jesus. God warns us in:

Psalm 24:3–4 (ESV) Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

Peaceable-ness:Jesus wants His people to live together in harmony, for it is in unity that we are empowered by God. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:9 (ESV) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

A peacemaker never compromises the truth of God’s Word in order to mollify someone. But like Jesus, He is never warlike and purposefully divisive.

The Scripture encourages us in Romans 12:18 (NIV) If it is POSSIBLE, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Gentleness: As believers in God, we are to stand firm on His Word, but not become violent or “shouting” when someone does not agree with us. Anger and rage that are dumped on others is of the flesh, not of God. The Scripture says that the:

Galatians 5:22-23 … the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, GENTLENESS, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance…

We do not steam roll others, but are patient with them, knowing that God is in control. Along with gentleness, the next pillar is:

Reasonableness: People should be able to talk to us. It is possible to have different points of view without shouting and demanding. We should be able to have a discussion. But in the end, it is what God’s Word says that matters. The Bible says:

Philippians 4:5 (ESV) Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

Illustrate:Note how Jesus interacted with the Samaritan Woman at the Well. Though Jesus was clearly a Jew by His skin tone, and the Samaritan was used to Jewish racism, Jesus asked her for some water. Though the woman was argumentative and resistant, Jesus never took the bait. He stayed on point, constantly showing to her that He is the Messiah sent of God through Israel. When she moved into deception, trying to hide the fact that she was currently in an adulterous living arrangement, Jesus called her out and demanded she repent. Jesus ended the encounter by the great Biblical truth:

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

Many who worship God today – professing “Christianity” – are actually worshiping like the Samaritans did. Rather than worship God “in Spirit and in truth” they divorce their worship of God from the Scriptures. I saw a news video where the President, Vice President, and several other high political elites were “worshiping” together, singing praises to God. In the midst of the group stood a black man with a long flowing beard … dressed in a long, woman’s cocktail dress …. worshiping along with them. God must be worshiped in “Spirit and in truth”, and God is the Arbiter of Truth. Our leadership is worshiping a golden calf .. not God!

Merciful To Others: Being merciful to others does not mean justifying the evidence of sin in their lives. Statements like “I hate homosexuals” is incompatible with the House of God. We are not to hate anyone, but to understand that, without Christ, they are blind to their sin. Our God is merciful, but does not overlook sin. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

It is the MERCY of God that led us to salvation – not His judgment. God’s mercy did not condone our sins, but commanded us to repent and come to Christ. God made us alive in Christ BY GRACE, and raised us up from the darkness and into the light of God.

Impartiality: This is the Greek adiákritos {pronounced ad-ee-ak’-ree-tos}, which means “without dubiousness, ambiguity, or uncertainty”. The God that saved me by Grace can save ANYONE by Grace. We are not to make assumptions on what God will or will not do. Our job as Ambassadors for Christ is to present His Gospel to all, regardless as to their place in life. We are not to judge the hearts of others – merely the fruit. The seventh pillar is:

Sincerity: The Greek anypókritos {pronounced an-oo-pok’-ree-tos}, which means “unfeigned, without hypocrisy, undisguised”.

God’s Word Calls Us Out Of The World/ Culture

Proverbs 9:2-6 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. 6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

There is no want in the House of God, for Wisdom, having built her house, invites others to come. “She hath killed her beasts”. Wisdom has prepared a feast for her inhabitants. Her table is furnished, and the proper drink is at hand. Jesus said:

John 6:35 … I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.

The world by hunger gets into sin and deprivation. But those who indwell the House of Christ, who trust the Word of God, will find their needs met. God does not starve His Children! To enter Wisdom’s House – the Kingdom of God – you must first REPENT. Though God calls us, He demands of us:

Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding

We are to live by the Word of God, to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:1, 4). You cannot follow God and follow the darkness. The saved walk with God. It is like that old hymn:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obey!
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way;
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!

Proverbs 9:7-9 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. 8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

There are those who the Bible calls “SCORNERS” (lûṣ, pro. Loots) which means “those who mock, scoff, will not listen”. As believers we are to present God’s Word to all who will hear, but not waste time arguing with foolish argumentative people. At a certain point Jesus stopped trying to convince the Pharisees, and just spoke the brutal truth. You cannot argue anyone into Heaven. They must be willing to REPENT, to LISTEN, and to APPLY the Word of God to their lives.

Jesus never begged anyone to repent.
He just told them to do so.

God’s Word makes one final appeal to all who will hear:

Proverbs 9:11-12 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. 12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

Those who follow God’s Word to the mountaintop will find that their lives are better for it. But the choice is yours. God will not make you come to Him – He just says:

Revelation 22:17 … the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

It’s your choice. Follow God’s Word and live, or follow the culture and die.

A Final Word From The Valley

Proverbs 9:13-18 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing. 14 For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, 15 To call passengers who go right on their ways: 16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

God’s Word, Wisdom, calls out from the mountain top. Step out of the valley, out of the darkness, and go to Him Who loves you. But many refuse that path, and instead of listening to Wisdom (God’s Word) they heed the woman of the valley, of culture, of man’s traditions, of the golden calves, of the bearded black men in evening gowns dancing next to the vacuous politicians. Who are in this house. We are told in the last verse:

the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell

It looks like a party, looks like fun and happiness, but it is the habitation of those who are spiritually dead, separated from God by their sins and sinful ways. They are in hell now, and are headed to hell for all eternity. Why? Because they would not go up the mountain to God. They would not say “no” to this lost world and “YES” to Jesus. Oh, that God the Holy Spirit would touch your hearts and draw you to Him today. A day of reckoning is coming, dear friends. The fruit that your life produces now shows the state of your heart. The golden calf will not get you to Heaven. Only Jesus can. Repent without delay, and come to Him Who loves you so much that He died for you. Holy Spirit, make it so today.

Amen and Amen!

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged Bible, Bible is God's Word, Faith, Following Christ, God, Jesus, salvation, wisdom, Word of God | Leave a comment

If Anyone Draw Back

Posted on June 29, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any {one} draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto PERDITION; but of them that BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL.

“God is Love” is a favorite sermon in the United States. The sermon is largely preached by Evangelists and Pastors that are more concerned about numbers and noses than they are your eternal soul. As long as the churches are packed and the coffers overflowing, these churches prosper materially while being terribly spiritually deficient.

“God is LOVE” is Biblical (1 John 4:8). But God is not just love.

“God is HOLY” (Psalm 99:9; 1 Corinthians 3:17). God is not just love and holy, but “God is JUST”, that is, He is righteous (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21). Further, God is the AVENGER. “Vengeance is MINE, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). What else? “God is JUDGE” (Psalm 50:6; 75:7). And further, “God is TO BE FEARED” (Psalm 89:7; 111:10).

God is LOVE
God is HOLY
God is the JUST
God is the AVENGER
God is THE JUDGE
and God is to BE FEARED

The Bible tells us to “work out YOUR OWN SALVATION with FEAR and TREMBLING” (Philippians 2:12). Ensure that you are saved. Are you what our text today calls “The JUST”. Let’s get into the text:

Who Are “The Just”?

This phrase “the just shall live by faith” is one of the most important teachings in the Bible. It is not just in the New Testament under the New Covenant, but is found as a principle of salvation throughout the entire Bible.

Who are “THE JUST”? One of the things we just learned about God is that “God is JUST” (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21). Man is a sinner. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I have told you many times that because Adam sinned, he brought sin into the world on us all (Romans 5:12). All are natural born sinners. It is in our hearts to do the wrong thing, to be contrary to the Just and Holy God Who loves us. Can we fix ourselves? The Bible tells us that, no, we cannot. The Prophet said:

Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

We can’t. This is why we need the salvation of God. God is not only JUST, but God is the SAVIOR:

Isaiah 45:21 … there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me.

God says “Yes, I am JUST, I am HOLY and RIGHTEOUS, and you are all fallen far from Me and My standard. But because I LOVE YOU I MADE A WAY for you to be JUST as I am JUST. That way is Christ.

“THE JUST” is a reference to someone who is right in the eyes of our Holy God. “THE JUST” is the person who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and has received Him as Savior. “THE JUST” once saved walks in the light of God, not in the darkness of this world. “THE JUST” fears God, and loves God, and obeys God.

The Bible says “the WICKED plots against the JUST” (Psalm 37:12). It says “the PATH OF THE JUST is as a SHINING LIGHT” (Proverbs 4:18). Why? Because “GOD IS LIGHT, and in Him THERE IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 John 1:5). The person who is saved, “THE JUST” walks not in the darkness but in the power of the Spirit of God (1 John 1:7). “THE JUST” person knows that “the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them” (Hosea 14:9).

In short, “THE JUST” is every person who has called upon the name of the Lord to be saved, and obediently SURRENDERED their lives to Him. “THE JUST” are not so because they have kept the Law of God perfectly, but because they have surrendered to Jesus and have become God’s possession.

The Prophet wrote:

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: BUT the just shall live by his faith.

The lost person’s SOUL is not upright, not looking god-ward. The lost person’s soul is LIFTED UP in pride and arrogance. “God made me this way” is their justification for the evil they do – yet they do not believe in God. If they believed in God, they would believe in His Word. The lost make excuses, and blame God, or try to elevate themselves to the position of God. But the Prophet said,

BUT the JUST shall live BY HIS FAITH

The righteous person is not saved by their own efforts, but by trusting in God. They LIVE BY THEIR FAITH. Faith is not a set of socks or stockings that they put on and take off, but it is a way of life. People have NEVER been saved by their denomination, nor any man-made institution, or any written law. The Apostle wrote:

Galatians 3:10-12 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

The Law said you had to be circumcised. The Law said you had to keep the feasts. The Law gave Israel dietary restrictions. The Law gave Israel animal sacrifices. These ceremonial things could not bring salvation. This is what we’ve discovered as we’ve studied the Old and New Covenants. The Bible says:

Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

No one was EVER saved by the Law. The Law showed us to be sinners in need of the Savior. Listen Beloved, anything an unbeliever can do can not save you.

The Pharisees – who kept the Law perfectly – rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus told them “If you CONTINUE IN MY WORD, YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES. And you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus then went on to tell the Pharisees that they were children of the devil, not of God or Abraham (John 8:37-45).

An unbeliever can sacrifice animals.
An unbeliever can be circumcised.
An unbeliever can join a Church.
An unbeliever can be baptized.
An unbeliever can keep feasts.
An unbeliever can follow s special diet.

What is the ONE THING the unbeliever cannot do? They can not – will not BELIEVE IN JESUS.

Anything an unbeliever can do is not that which saves. What is the ONE thing the unbeliever cannot do. They cannot believe in God nor His Word. They cannot exercise saving faith. “The JUST shall live by faith”. This has always been true. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

“THE JUST” is the one who heard the Grace of God, and received it by faith.

“The JUST” Do Not Draw Back

The JUST are saved by and live by their faith. The JUST are saved BY GOD and spiritually BORN AGAIN. Are you born again?

Read with me:

Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: BUT if any man DRAW BACK, my SOUL shall have NO PLEASURE in him.

Word Study: Let’s break this out. God says “if you DRAW BACK, My SOUL finds NO PLEASURE in you”. The word translated “SOUL” is the Greek psychḗ, (pronounced psoo-khay’), which is a reference to the life essence of God, His eternality. God says to those who DRAW BACKfrom faith that in His innermost being GOD IS NOT PLEASED.

Word Study: The phrase translated “DRAW BACK” is the Greek hupŏstĕllō, {pronounced hoop-os-tel’-lo}, which means “to cower or shrink away from, to withdraw or shun, to be unwilling to utter from fear, to shrink from declaring, to conceal, dissemble”. To DRAW BACK is to compromise your faith, to hide it or be unwilling to share it out of fear of others, to put your fear of man ABOVE the fear of God. We’re told in the next verse:

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Word Study: What is “PERDITION”? The Greek apṓleia, {pronounced ap-o’-li-a}, the word means “damnation, destruction, eternal ruin or loss”. The word is used frequently by Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus said,

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the {narrow} gate {that’s Jesus}: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to DESTRUCTION (apṓleia) and many there be which go in there at:

The NARROW GATE that leads to eternal life is to believe on and receive Jesus Christ. The WISE GATE that leads to eternal punishment – PERDITION – is to ignore Him and do it your way. Our Lord Jesus called Judas Iscariot “The SON OF PERDITION (apṓleia)” (John 17:12), a child of hell, because he rejected the way of the Master. The Apostle spoke of those who rejected faith in Christ in order to please themselves, saying:

Philippians 3:19 Whose end is DESTRUCTION, (apṓleia) whose god is their BELLY {the flesh}, and whose glory is in their shame {let’s have a PRIDE month}, who mind EARTHLY {Greek epígeios, that which is of this world, worldly} things.

The unbeliever is enamored with anything that pleases their flesh. They are not seeking to glorify God, but to glorify self, to make themselves gods and goddesses. They may assume the guise of the believer for a while, like a worker at Disneyland puts on a Mickey Mouse suit. But when something extreme happens this false believer “draw(s) back unto perdition”.

Here is the proof of your salvation: when tried, do you move TOWARD Jesus or AWAY from Jesus?

As believers in Christ go through the trials of life, the trials do not draw them away from God, but draw them closer to God. No trial the believer faces:

The death of parents,
The death of child,
A diagnosis of a fatal disease,
The loss of all that property

There is NOTHING that can make the believer in Christ, renounce the Savior and Lord. I am reminded of the Prophet Job who, having everything, but lost everything in such a short time. Did he DRAW BACK on his faith? No. The Bible says:

Job 1:20-21 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped {God}, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

And even in the midst of terrible suffering, The Bible says that Job declared to his shrewish wife:

Job 2:10 … What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?

Here is the problem that I perceive with the Prosperity Gospel, the Social Gospel, the Liberation Gospel, and all the other fake gospels being spewed out as truth in America today. These fake gospels teach that God wants to save you so that He can heal you and give you large bank accounts, or that He might bring a utopia on earth. These false gospels have deceived many, and do not save a person. In time every person on the face of this planet will be touched by the hand of suffering and injustice. Bad things happen to everyone, not just one or another groups. When the bad thing comes, you who have believed the Gospel of Salvation, who have received Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior, will not shrink away or hide or “deconstruct” your faith. No, the saved always overcome. Always. Look at the Book of Revelation, as God speaks to the Churches. What does He say?

Revelation 2:7 … To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life…

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

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life …

Why do the JUST always OVERCOME? Why is it that the JUST do not DRAW BACK TO DAMNATION? It is because God’s Spirit indwells the believer.

1 John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”

You do not draw back, dear Christian, because God keeps His own:

Psalm 37:23-24 If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; {24} though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. {21} Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, {22} set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy– {25} to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Those whom God saves, He keeps on saving. He Who is in us is greater than anything we might encounter on this earth. God has promised to keep us close, and He promises never to leave or forsake us. If a person can DRAW BACK from Christ, that person was never saved in the first place!

God Now Gives Us Examples Of Saving Faith

The last verse in chapter 10 is:

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

What are some examples of those who “BELIEVED TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL”? We need only turn to the next chapter of Scripture:

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

The very first murder ever committed in humanity was when Cain killed his brother Abel. God told Abel what type of sacrifice He wanted him to do, and without question Abel complied. But Cain told God what type of sacrifice HE was willing to give. When God wouldn’t budge, and demanded that Cain give an acceptable sacrifice, Cain murdered Abel. Abel stood his ground, and would not compromise with what God said though Cain threatened him — and paid with his life.

Abel would not draw back.

I know pastors who have drawn back from Bible truth because they had a son or a daughter “come out of the closet”. Beloved, God’s Word is not negotiable. Again I say, God’s Word is not negotiable. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 10:35-38 (NKJV) For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; [36] “and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his [own] household.’ [37] “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. [38] “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

You cannot change Bible truth because your family members are offended. What Jesus has said, He has said. Jesus declared that faith in Him would bring division between you and your lost relatives. I will not DRAW BACK regardless as to what my family says.

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

We know very little about Enoch in the Bible. We are told in

Genesis 5:21-24 (ESV) When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

For 365 years Enoch (ḥănôḵ, pronounced khan-oke’ which means “dedicated”) “WALKED WITH GOD”. God was not an afterthought, but Enoch’s Father and Friend. Every day he sought to “PLEASE GOD”. Then one day God told Enoch, “Friend, just walk on into Heaven with Me”. I will live to honor my Heavenly Father, else I am DRAWING BACK.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith NOAH, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

In Genesis 6:13 God comes to Noah (nōaḥ, pronounced no’-akh, meaning “he who rests”) and told him that the world was going to be destroyed – and he needed to build a boat. Noah did not question God, though Noah had never seen a flood. Noah went against the cultural demands of his day, and began to build as God directed fearing God, until the project was finished.

Noah did not DRAW BACK. He stayed the course, and finished the race. Why? Because, saved by Grace, he was a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Noah was not perfect – we none are. But Beloved, if you are saved then you WILL NOT DRAW BACK UNTO DAMNATION …

BUT BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL.

If you are not truly born again, I pray that today – without hesitation – that you will give your life to the Lord Jesus. “The JUST are SAVED BY FAITH”. I can’t get you to Heaven. You can’t get you to Heaven. There is but one way to have a faith that saves your soul.

Total surrender to Jesus. May God touch your heart with His Word!

Posted in Hebrews, Sermons Preached | Tagged Bible, Christ, christianity, Faith, Following Christ, God, God Is Faithful, gospel, Jesus, love God, salvation | Leave a comment

Today The Day of Salvation
February 2026

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Amnesia Is So Dangerous

When a trial comes to us, we are to regard it as something a Loving Father sent our way. We are not to let the trial become bigger than God, but we are to seek to learn from the trial.

Here is a test as to whether you are saved or not. If you can sin, and the Father not punish you if you will not repent, then you are Unsaved!

It Is The Nature Of A Good FatherTo Mold His Children

God wants you to be not just “saved” by Jesus,but to BE LIKE JESUS, a citizen of His Kingdom.

Pray That The Trial Will Glorify God

Trials from God test our mettle.Are we HIS, or are we still OURS?

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God Hates The Golden Calf

Did Asa Act In Ignorance?

God Calls Out King Asa For His Compromise

God was watching over King Asa when Northern Israel tried to build a fortress at Ramah. He should have called out to God.

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The Fruit Of The Tree Proves It’s Salvation

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Why Has Israel Been So Often Attacked By Other Nations? Because Israel Has Not Honored God.

Israel The Nation Is Special To GodBecause God Is Faithful

Why Is Israel So Important To God?Because “Salvation Is Of The Jews”

The Messiah would be “BORN UNDER THE LAW” of Moses, born a Jew. Israel is special unto God because of her relationship to the promises of God and the Savior, the Messiah Jesus.

What Did God Mean By “all Israel shall be saved”?Do Jews Automatically Upon Death Go To Heaven?

God Has A Future Plan For Israel:All Israel Will Be Saved

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We Who Are Saved Run The Race Set Before Us

Those who are saved by faith RUN THE RACE SET BEFORE THEM. A faith that evidences no relationship with Christ is no faith at all.

We Who Are Saved Put Off Anything ThatHinders Our Race

We Are To Remember We Are Not Who We Were, But Who We Are

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Do Not Idolize Money

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if you’re not Catholic, You’re not in the “Church”

Salvation is a Divine Act, whereby when one receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, God the Holy Spirit comes to that believer and changes them, making them “born again” into the Kingdom of God.

Formation Of The Roman Catholic Church

Called the Edict of Milan, Christianity was given legal status and reprieved from persecution throughout the Roman Empire. This prepared the way for the Edict of Thessalonica (AD 380) which made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Roman Catholicism And Scripture

Roman Catholic Traditions, &Papal Authority (Decrees of the Pope)

Roman Catholicism And Salvation

In Conclusion or Summary

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God gave us the Old Covenant to teach us that faith must be put in the RIGHT OBJECT. Faith in works, sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, ceremonies will not save. Faith must be placed in God!

What Is Faith?

Faith is not just an “I believe”. Faith is an“I surrender” or an “I cling”.

Whether you are an Atheist, an Agnostic, or a Christian depends on where you invest your faith.

Faith Is What Pleases God

Abraham stepped outside of his “comfort zone” and went where God told him. This pleased God. Compare that attitude to today’s “Christian”.

I Wasn’t There, But I Believe It. Do You?

God’s Word is trustworthy – it will create life.

So we can see what type of faith pleases God.Abraham is our pattern.

Only Genuine Faith Pleases God

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Building The House Of Wisdom –What Is It’s Foundation?

When we as a nation have no fear of the Lord, we can lose our economic prosperity!

When you fear God, you walk according to His directives knowing that HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

The Foundation Laid, What Are The Seven Pillars?

A peacemaker never compromises the truth of God’s Word in order to mollify someone. But like Jesus, He is never warlike and purposefully divisive.

God’s Word Calls Us Out Of The World/ Culture

A Final Word From The Valley

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Who Are “The Just”?

What is the ONE THING the unbeliever cannot do? They can not – will not BELIEVE IN JESUS.

“The JUST” Do Not Draw Back

Here is the proof of your salvation: when tried, do you move TOWARD Jesus or AWAY from Jesus?

God Now Gives Us Examples Of Saving Faith

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David Buffaloe

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Today The Day of Salvation

It Is The Nature Of A Good Father
To Mold His Children

God wants you to be not just “saved” by Jesus,
but to BE LIKE JESUS, a citizen of His Kingdom.

Trials from God test our mettle.
Are we HIS, or are we still OURS?

Israel The Nation Is Special To God
Because God Is Faithful

Why Is Israel So Important To God?
Because “Salvation Is Of The Jews”

What Did God Mean By “all Israel shall be saved”?
Do Jews Automatically Upon Death Go To Heaven?

God Has A Future Plan For Israel:
All Israel Will Be Saved

We Who Are Saved Put Off Anything That
Hinders Our Race

Roman Catholic Traditions, &
Papal Authority (Decrees of the Pope)

Faith is not just an “I believe”. Faith is an
“I surrender” or an “I cling”.

So we can see what type of faith pleases God.
Abraham is our pattern.

Building The House Of Wisdom –
What Is It’s Foundation?

When we as a nation have no fear of the Lord,
we can lose our economic prosperity!