As For You

Posted on November 29, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter six.

Opening: I came across another sad notice the other day as a professor in Christ, a beloved Pastor, took his own life. His name was Quinnzhahn Barnes (Selah Fellowship Temple, Houston, Texas), known to many as “Rodney Barnes”. He died from a self inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Rodney was 45 years old.

It is heartbreaking when someone takes their own life, and particularly heartbreaking when it is a Pastor or a leader in a local Church. In 2013 Pastor Teddy Parker, Jr (Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church, Macon, Georgia) was found in the driveway of his home with a self inflicted gunshot wound. When something like this happens, it causes every member of the Church effected to question their faith. This person led people to the Lord, spoke of faith weekly, and then kills themselves. It’s tragedy on a massive scale.

And not just when suicide strikes. I have known of Pastors and Church leaders found guilty of molesting children, or taking advantage of women in their flock. The latter is causing quite a stir among the Southern Baptists. I know of several Pastors who allowed themselves to be drawn into fistfights. Again, this causes all types of problems in the Church. At one Church I knew years ago the Youth Minister’s wife began a sexual affair with a well respected Deacon in the Church. It destroyed the Youth Minister’s effectiveness at that Church, and hurt the Church for years by scandal.

The possibility of these things occurring at any Church is very real. This is why the Apostle Paul addressed the young Pastor Timothy. Read with me:

1 Timothy 6:11-12 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

“But thou”, or literally “as for YOU”. If you are a Christian, there are standards that Jesus not only EXPECTS, but DEMANDS. We are not to follow darkness!

Christians are to walk in the light with Jesus by their sides. And yet from the beginning, too often professors of Christ are those who(se):

“Faith becomes shipwrecked” (1 Timothy 1:19)
“Departed from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Cast off their first faith” (1 Timothy 5:12)
“Erred from the faith” (1 Timothy 6:10)
“Are not standing the test concerning faith” (2 Timothy 3:8)

In our text today Paul gives four actions that every believer in Christ needs to commit to if they want a powerful, victorious faith in Christ:

1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things

#1: FLEE The Love Of The World

Do not play with the evils of this world. So many Christians today are becoming entrapped by Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Parler, et al), and are guilty of dragging the name of Christ through the mud. Jesus expects His followers to use …

1 Timothy 6:3 … wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness

Word Study: That which is translated “wholesome” is the Greek ὑγιαίνω hugiainō, [pronounced hoog-ee-ah’-ee-no], which means “HEALTHY or SOUND” words. Jesus spoke “healthy words”. He did not spend His time tearing people apart, but instead encouraged others to follow the way of life. We as believers are to run away from the word of the world and run toward the Word of God. What God has said is true, though all the world consider it a lie. God in His Word always knows what is best. God’s Word is timeless, and applicable to every generation – even ours! God’s standard for us is that we …

Ephesians 4:14-15 … henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into {Christ} in all things, which is the head, even Christ

The believer’s target is to hear the Word of God, to apply the Word of God, to feed our souls on the Word of God, until we develop a Christlike worldview.

Our target is to, as sons of God, to be like THE Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are to flee the doctrines of man, and embrace the truths of Scripture.

We are to flee the love of money and prosperity. Some preachers today are so called “Prosperity Preachers”. They teach that – since God loves you – God wants you to be wealthy. This is patently untrue. False teachers are guilty of …

1 Timothy 6:5-10 {these are} supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

God does not want every Christian to be rich. In fact, very few Christians can handle being rich. Of the original 12 Disciples, which one fell miserably into sin? It was Judas Iscariot. The Bible says:

John 12:6 (ESV) {Judas Iscariot} was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Judas allowed his love of money to get between himself and the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas had all the benefits that the other eleven disciples had. And yet, loving money above all else, Jesus considered Judas “a devil” (John 6:70). In time, Judas would betray the Master to His death. Going to Jesus’ enemies, Judas asks:

Matthew 25:15 (ESV) “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

The faith of Christ is not meant to be greedy, nor sneaky and conspiring. The faith of Christ is meant to be loving and caring, nurturing and sharing. We are called to “love one another, as Jesus loved us” (John 13:34; 15:12), not to betray one another. Poor Judas ended up hanging himself (Matthew 27:5). Peter said, “falling headlong {Judas} burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out” (ESV – Acts 1:18). What a horrible death!

Flee worldliness! As Joseph ran away when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him (Genesis 39:12), run away from worldly thoughts and practices. Keep viewing your life through the lens of God’s Word.

#2: Follow The Lord Who Loves You

1 Timothy 6:11 .. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

We are to follow after “righteousness”. Righteousness is what God has said is right, not what man has said is right. The Bible says:

Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

It is “the righteous God Who will judge our hearts and emotions” (Psalm 7:9). God knows what is right. From the beginning of our creation, humanity has tried to define what we think is right and wrong. It didn’t work in the Garden of Eden, and won’t work now.

God loves righteousness, and hated wickedness (Psalm 45:7), because of what sin does to people.

Psalm 50:6 … the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

It is sin that is tearing families apart. It is sin that addicts people, and turns people into murderers and rapists. God calls His people to pursue righteousness. Not self righteousness, but God’s righteousness. If you want a great living example of righteousness, seek out and study the life of Christ. The Apostle said:

Philippians 3:8-10 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

We are called to live our lives “in Christ Jesus”, following His “way, truth, and life” (John 14:6).

We are to follow after “godliness”. We are to imitate God.

Ephesians 5:1-4 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

We are called to “walk in the light, as {God} is in the light, {and} have fellowship one with another” (1 John 1:7).

We are to follow after “faith”, not our feelings.

Our feelings cannot be trusted – but God can be trusted! I remember when I first learned to ride a bike. I had no training wheels, but had a daddy that ran behind me telling me to peddle and steer. I trusted that daddy wouldn’t let me fall, though I felt like there was no way that two wheels were going to hold me up. Then daddy let go – and I rode. I soared! Had I listened to my feelings, I would have never rode a bike, or learned to swim, or learned to weld and operate bindery equipment. The Bible says:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

We are to follow after “love”.

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

When you love others as Christ commands, then you are doing the main thing. Jesus emphasized this when He said:

Matthew 22:37-40 … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

We are to follow after “patience”.

Pastor Marshall Segal of Desiring God ministries writes:

“Impatience is a dark and prevalent sin that we love to explain away. We were worn out. We were busy. We were distracted. The kids were being difficult. We were carrying too much at work. Our spouse was short or cold or harsh again. We didn’t sleep well last night. What excuses do you reach for when your patience runs low? … Impatience is a child of our pride and unbelief. It rises out of our frustration that we do not control what happens and when in our lives. ..”

God’s ways are not our ways. We love things quickly – but God, Who is eternal, only answers our prayers when the timing is right. The Stepbrother of Christ, James, writes:

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If we will not be impatient as we go through the valleys, and wait upon the Lord, He will use our patient waiting to make us mature believers in Christ, “entire, wanting nothing”. Along with pursuing patience, we are to:

Follow after “meekness” (πραότης praotēs),
which is humility.

When the valleys come, use them as an opportunity to humble yourselves before God, trusting in His provisions. We would do well to remember that Israel murmured and grumbled herself out of the blessings of the Promised Land. God says:

1 Peter 5:5 …. all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

We are not just to FLEE worldliness and FOLLOW our God, but we are to:

#3: Fight The Fight Of Faith

1 Timothy 6:12 … Fight the good fight of faith

The Apostle Paul taught that salvation is a “free gift” and a “gift by Grace”:

Romans 5:16-17 (ESV) … the free gift is not like the result of {Adam’s} sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Salvation is a free gift from God. It is free in the sense that you cannot earn it nor deserve it. But ..

Salvation, though free, comes with a cost.
Salvation is a LIFE EXCHANGE.

Jesus laid His life down for you. When you receive Him as Lord and Savior, you lay your life down at His feet. Jesus takes our punishment, and we take Jesus’ Lordship. From the point of salvation “we are NOT OUR OWN – we are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23). When you are saved, you are “transferred from Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and into the kingdom of Christ” (Colossians 1:13).

But the devil doesn’t like this. The devil will do anything he can to draw you back into his kingdom. Faith is a fight! Faith is a race, a marathon, not a sprint. The Bible says:

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.

Saving faith is often painful. Jesus said:

Luke 9:23 … If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

To “take up his cross daily” means to be willing, just as Jesus was, to stand up for God even though all the world mock you. The cross is not comfortable. The cross is harsh, painful to bear as Jesus did, heavy. It is much easier to drop the cross and meld into the crowd. But this is not what God has called us to do. We are to fight the devil. We are to cast the talking snake out of Eden. We are to stand should to shoulder with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and stand firm on what God has said. Finally, believers are to:

#4: FIX Our Minds On Eternity

1 Timothy 6:11-12 But thou, O man of God … 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called

Word Study: The words “lay hold” is a long Greek word, ἐπιλαμβάνομαι epilambánomai, [pronounced ep-ee-lam-ban’-om-ahee]. It means “to take possession of, to seize upon and draw something to yourselves”. As believers in Christ we are to always fix our minds on Heaven, remembering that all we are currently experiencing is just temporary duty.

Illustrate: When I was in the Air Force, there were times I had to go TDY, or “On Temporary Duty Assignment”. I had to leave my wife and children, the Church and community I loved, and go to strange places to serve our nation. While on assignment in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Egypt, and Germany I was a “stranger in a strange land”. Where I was was not my home. But I honored the nation that owned me. I did my duty, then returned home. The longest tour of duty I had was fourteen months in Korea. That is a long time to be away from your family and friends. The way I got through that tour was to daily fix my mind on my home. Every day I would pray for my wife and kids, and ask God to protect them and bless them. Every day I focused on getting to my final destination – home!

Christian, this world is not your home. Your home is with Jesus in Heaven. Right now you are on Temporary Duty Assignment for the Lord. Never forget that.

This world is not my home I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home In this world anymore.
Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home Then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home In this world anymore.

Do not be like the world – you are children of the Most High. As for you, live for Jesus! May God touch your hearts through His Word and His blessed Spirit. Amen and Amen!

Posted in 1 Timothy, General, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Testimony Of God

Posted on November 28, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

1 Corinthians 2:1-9 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

The Church at Corinth was one of Paul’s biggest successes. As we studied before, Paul “reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” (Acts 18:4). Paul emphasized to the Jews that “Jesus was Christ”, but they rejected that message (Acts 18:5). At that point, the Apostle focused on the Gentiles. This brought it’s own challenges.

Corinth was a Roman Colony, populated largely by freed slaves . As the city existed because of the benevolence of Rome, the citizens would have participated in banquets honoring the Emperor. To show loyalty to the empire, the citizens were expected to honor the gods of Rome, and in particular the chief god, the Roman Emperor. One commentary notes:

“Corinth is probably the Church of the New Testament that is most like the modern Church.”

Though Corinth had many faults, it was by the Grace of God and the Power of His Spirit that the Church stood at all. As Paul writes Corinth, he reminds them that he relied on the Testimony of God – The Gospel – to found Corinth.

The Testimony Of God Is That We Are Broken,
And Only Christ Can Fix Us

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Corinth was known for it’s philosophers and scholars, for it’s athletic achievement and strength. When Paul came to Corinth, he did not depend on “excellence of speech” (hyperochē logos, elevated or inspiring words). This does not mean that Paul consciously avoided deep truths. Some of the Pauline writings are very deep. The Apostle Peter wrote of Paul’s letters in

2 Peter 3:16 (ESV) … There are some things in {Paul’s writings} that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

The Chief Apostle Peter, himself a ordinary fisherman, found in Paul’s epistles “things .. that are hard to understand”. This was not because Paul sought to be fancy, but because Paul was a very educated man. Paul was educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of Israel (Acts 22:3). Paul had a distinguished background. He told the Church at Philippi:

Philippians 3:5-6 (ESV) … {I was} circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

When Jesus spoke the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Paul could have played the part of the Pharisee, for he was a Pharisee, a “Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee”. When the Pharisee and the Tax Collector went to God to pray, the Pharisee said:

Luke 18:11-12 (ESV) ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

But the poor Tax Collector would not even lift his eyes to Heaven, but said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Jesus said the Tax Collector would have been justified or made right in God’s eyes, but not the Pharisee.

Paul could have been that Pharisee in that parable.

Paul was so certain he was right before God, that he went about attacking Churches, and persecuting Christians.

Paul (then called Saul) was there when the Evangelist Stephen was martyred. (Acts 7:58). As Saul, he led a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem, and scattered believers, running for their lives, throughout Judea and Samaria. The Bible says “Saul was RAVAGING the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women to prison” (Acts 8:3). Saul’s very BREATH – expelled from a self righteous and hate filled heart – stank of “threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1).

Then Saul met Jesus on the Damascus Road.
And Saul became Paul.

Illustrate Self Righteousness: Beloved, self righteousness is no more than self worship, making of yourselves more than you are. I read a wonderful illustration of self righteousness the other day. I read a daily devotional called “Beside Still Waters”, and came across an article written by Brother Winfred Zimmerman (Clayton DE) called “Brownfields of the Heart”:

“Scattered across the U.S. are areas designated by the government as “brownfields”. These are parcels of land that are so contaminated with hazardous chemicals that nobody will use them. On the worst of these, the damage is obvious. The landscape is depressing … the ground is barren and useless.”

I never knew about brownfields, but when I read that article it really struck home. You cannot fix a brownfield by covering it up with good soil, for the bad will eventually creep up through the good, and contaminate the whole. The only way to fix a brownfield is to remove all the pollutant, no matter how deep it goes.

So it is with the human heart. We are all terribly flawed, broken by sin. We all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We can cover over our sin with a shallow covering of good works, but truthfully, unless the heart is changed, the pollutant is still there. Jesus said:

Mark 7:18-23 (ESV) Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus [Jesus] declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Good without God is Bad: It is the heart that needs to be changed, or the brownfields of the heart, the sin within, will eventually bubble to the top. When Jesus was being tried by the High Priest, the one who was supposed to be God’s Representative to Israel, the High Priest knowingly collaborated to bring in liars (a violation of the 9th commandment). Matthew 26:60 notes that “many false witnesses came forward”. The Priest, robed in splendor on the outside, was but a covered brownfield.

Such was Saul before he was Paul. But now Paul operates differently.

1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

Paul said “my focus was not my pedigree, nor my education, nor my status as a Roman citizen”. He said, I declared “unto you the testimony of God”. What is God’s “testimony”?

God’s testimony is that we are all born into this world sinners. We are, as the theologians call it, “Totally Depraved”.

The Prophet Isaiah cried out, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (ESV Isaiah 53:6) “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.” (Isaiah 64:6-7).

We are born wandering away from God. Our “righteousnesses are as filthy rags”. We fall far short of God’s standard, the standard that He set in the Garden. The Psalmist David said:

Psalm 51:5 (ESV) … I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Psalm 58:3 (ESV) … The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

Our first birth brings forth a broken, sinful creature. Those who know not Christ are “dead in trespasses and in sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Those without Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are those who, according to God, “by nature deserve God’s wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

We All Need A Second Spiritual Birth

Preach: The first birth is corrupt. This is why we all need to be born again, born a SECOND time, born SPIRITUALLY into the Kingdom of God. The testimony of God is that we are all broken, born broken into this world. But God’s testimony is also this: God HIMSELF was born into this world, and lived a perfect life, a life without sin. The Bible says “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8). And yet Jesus Christ, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), pleased God. The Father said of Jesus, “THIS is MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I am WELL PLEASED” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). God went on to say “Listen to Jesus!” (Mark 9:7). In the flesh we cannot please God, but the God-Man Jesus pleased God. All that He did pleased God. Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus Christ was perfect Man, sinless Man, holy Man, righteous Man, the Son of Man. And Jesus Christ died for our sins. Jesus WILLINGLY died. Jesus came into this world with one thing in mind.

He wanted to save you. He was willing to die for you. Jesus said:

John 10:11, 15, 17 … I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. … the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

Paul told Corinth,

1 Corinthians 2:2-5 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Paul did not put on airs, or make himself something that he was not. Paul showed the Corinthians that he was but a man. He was with Corinth in “weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling”. Paul was not doubting his calling as an Apostle. But what he relied on was not his own strength, but on the power of God’s Holy Spirit and the Testimony of God. The Cross is the Testimony of God.

  • The Cross testifies as to what God thinks of SIN. SIN is what God says is wrong. There are all kinds of sins. Sometimes called “the works of the flesh”, sin is defined in Scripture like

Galatians 5:19-21 (ESV) … sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV) … do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Sin is horrible. It separates us from God. It is an eternal offense against the righteousness nature of the Creator. Sin is no “mistake” or “accident”, but the outward action of a heart dispossessed from God. Do you want to know what God thinks about sin? Look to the Cross. Look to ..

1 Corinthians 2:2 …. Jesus Christ, and Him crucified

Jesus Christ was crucified for us, for our sins. The Prophet said:

Isaiah 53:3-5 (ESV) He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins in full. Paul did not mince words as her preached to the Corinthians. Any hope that anyone has to be right with God depends on casting yourselves upon Jesus.

Jesus gave Himself for us. When we give ourselves to Him, we gain righteousness in God’s eyes. We gain the status of children of God.

God’s Testimony Is That He Will Change Places With You, If You Will But Believe In Christ

The Apostle writes:

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

When Jesus was crucified on Calvary, the “princes of this world” though nothing of it. To them, an unknown carpenter’s Son had gotten on the wrong side of the law. It was a matter of, wrong place, wrong time. But that wasn’t true. Jesus Christ was, is, and will always be God’s only way to rightness with Him.

We are saved by taking our defective and sin riddled lives to the Cross. We give ourselves to Jesus, and Jesus gives His life to us. The Apostle Paul wrote of his old life as Saul, saying:

Philippians 3:7-11 But whatever gain I had {in my previous life}, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul in effect said, “I exchanged the old, broken down, sin and fame loving me for a life believing on Jesus. And I am not regretting it!”

When you trade your old, flesh driven life for a life bound to Jesus, your life changes for the better. We who are saved by faith in Jesus have a right relationship with God. The Apostle said:

1 John 2:1-6 (ESV) My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the {COVERING} for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Salvation is necessarily a free gift from God. You cannot earn it, nor deserve it. To be saved you give yourself to Jesus as Christ, the Messiah. You give Jesus the broken you, and follow Him. Jesus causes you to be born again, and gives you a Christ following, God loving you.

The only way to be saved is through faith in Jesus. Jesus was clear:

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

There is but one way to have peace with God, and that is by laying your life down at the feet of Jesus. “Our faith does not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God” (vvs 5). Jesus said:

Matthew 16:24 (ESV) If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Before we were saved, the unbeliever selfishly lived for themselves. You see it all the time on television.

“You do you”
“Be yourself”
“Love yourself”

The way of the Cross is different. The way of the Cross is to be like Jesus, to lay your life down for a greater good. You are called to do love. You are called to reject selfishness. You are called to be “lights in the midst of darkness” (Matthew 5:16). The Christian is not as he or she was – you are changed, and will continue to change until you reach eternity. We are no longer bound to the darkness. The Apostle said in:

Colossians 1:12-14 (ESV) {daily be} giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

One thing that every Christian has in common is that we are heavenward bound. The Apostle writes:

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

If you love God, you are headed toward an eternal life that is unimaginable in it’s beauty. We are, dear believers, sons of God headed for home. Until that day comes we are to daily take up the Cross, and follow Jesus. Let us live our lives so as to honor and glorify our Savior and Lord.

Do you know Jesus Christ? Is He your Savior and Lord? If so, glory awaits you. But if not, the pit of hell is your destiny. Please, do not go one more minute without receiving Jesus Christ as He is – your Lord and Savior. May God through His Word and His Spirit draw multitudes into His family this very day. Amen and Amen.

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We All Need This Exercise

Posted on November 22, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to Jeremiah 9:24.

I do not discuss politics in the Lord’s Pulpit. When I stand here, I stand for Jesus, not for Republicans, Democrats, Socialists, or Libertarians. I hope you understand this isn’t a political message.

As I was preparing for this message, the Lord led
me to think about one term Presidents.

There have been 23 one term Presidents in our nation’s history, as of this moment in time. President Joe Biden is our 46th President. This tells us that half of our Presidents have been elected to more than one term of office, and half to just one term.

The longest serving President was Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). He served three terms, and died 2 months and 23 days into his fourth term. Roosevelt, a Democrat, was President during the Great Depression, and led the United States through World War II. Roosevelt died in office April 12, 1945 right after that war ended. Though Roosevelt was crippled and wheelchair bound from a paralytic illness thought to be polio, he was very popular. Roosevelt used radio to speak directly to the American people. He gave 30 “fireside chats” where Roosevelt comforted the nation. One source said that he…

“… spoke with familiarity to millions of Americans about recovery from the Great Depression, the promulgation of the Emergency Banking Act in response to the banking crisis, the 1936 recession, New Deal initiatives, and the course of World War II. On radio, he was able to quell rumors, counter conservative-dominated newspapers and explain his policies directly to the American people. His tone and demeanor communicated self-assurance during times of despair and uncertainty. Roosevelt was regarded as an effective communicator on radio, and the fireside chats kept him in high public regard throughout his presidency.” (Wikipedia)

Presidents can no longer serve four terms. After FDR’s time in office, the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was drafted to limit the Presidency to two terms. That Amendment was approved by Congress March 1947, and ratified into law February 27, 1951). According to Wikipedia, it was FDR’s Presidency that led Republicans to push for term limits for the President. Since 1985, when Ronald Reagan (a very popular Republican, and our 40th President) was in office, there have been attempts to undo the Twenty-second Amendment, but it still stands. Though Roosevelt was a Democrat, and Reagan a Republican, both men had one thing in common:

Roosevelt and Reagan were visiblykind,
even to their enemies.

Jeremiah 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

Our God Is Kind

Kindness matters. Our world is coarse and harsher today, I believe, because there is a lack of kindness among our leaders. The world is starving – and dying – for kindness.

Every creature under the glow of God’s sun is broken. The Scripture is adamant: “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We all mess up. No one has a reason to be holier than thou. No one need pretend they are perfect. We aren’t. We are all broken.

As we look at Jeremiah, not what God says of Himself. This is God speaking. Again, this is GOD SPEAKING. God tells us:

Jeremiah 9:24 I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness

Word Study: God “exercises”. That doesn’t mean He goes to the gym and works out. The word translated “exercise“ is the Hebrew עָשָׂה ʻâsâh, [pronounced aw-saw’], which means “to advance or accomplish, to do“. God doesn’t talk about kindness, He actually does it.

Word Study: Of the three things God “delights” in doing, He enjoys “lovingkindness” first. This word is the Hebrewחֶסֶד cheçed, [pronounced kheh’-sed], which is translated in the King James text mercy (149 times), kindness (40 times), and lovingkindness (30 times).

The heart of kindness is mercy. Mercy shows compassion or forgiveness toward others, even when it is in your power (and even your right) to punish or harm.

God does not just “delights” in lovingkindness, but close on it’s heels we see that God delights in “judgment, and righteousness”. God has a standard that He expects creation to follow. When the world turned so far away from God that:

Genesis 6:5 … the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Then God decided to do a hard reset. He brought a worldwide flood that killed all of humanity but eight (Noah and his family). The judgment and righteousness of God led to the mass destruction of the flood, but the lovingkindness of God caused Him to provide a way that humanity could still exist.

Lovingkindness does not eradicate God’s righteousness and judgment – but it does temper them.

People are fond of saying that “God is love”, and He is indeed “love”. But He is also righteous, the God of judgment. Our God determines right from wrong. If God determines a thing is wrong, it is wrong regardless as to what we think or believe.

In Jeremiah chapter 9 God is foretelling Judah that they will be carried off into captivity. Why is Judah going away into captivity? Because they have drifted away from a right relationship with God our Savior. Judah has allowed itself to compromise with the darkness. God’s people are not to compromise with evil, but to wrestle against it. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 6:12 … we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Preach: When God’s people wander away from their Lord and Savior, there is no “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We as God’s children are to “let our light shine before all, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven”. Those who do not love Jesus are in the grip of “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), that fallen angel we call Lucifer. We who are Christ’s by faith are “delivered from the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13), and called to walk in Christ’s Kingdom of Light. When God’s lights (that’s the believer ion Christ) compromises with the darkness, we do so by becoming less light and more dark. In time, God – Who is the righteous Judge – will move to punish His children (Hebrews 12:7-8). God’s method of punishing Judah was to have that nation overthrown, and taken into captivity for 70 years.

What did God think of what He was being forced to do? We read:

Jeremiah 9:1-3 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.

The lovingkindness of God caused Him to weep over what He must do. Nevertheless, He had no choice but to do it. His people would not repent. They would not return to a right relationship with Him. So God would not only allow Judah’s collapse, God would engineer it. This should not have been a surprise to Israel. Right after God freed Israel from Egypt, God defined His character to Moses by saying:

Exodus 34:6-7 the LORD passed by before {Moses}, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness {KINDNESS, Hebrew cheçed, pronounced kheh’-sed]} and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

God is “abundant in KINDNESS”. The Psalmist praised our God, saying:

Psalm 36:5-7 Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. 6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. 7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

If God Is Kind, And We Are Made In God’s Image,
As His Creation We Should Be Kind

We live in a day where people can go online and, through “social networks”, express the darkness of their hearts without consequence. I think this is why unkindness is reigning in America (and the whole world) today. The devil is doing his best to create disciples of unkindness through the internet. When I was growing up, people tempered their anger or displeasure with patience and kindness – else they might get a punch in the nose! The internet is conditioning America to be unkind – and it is spilling out of the social networks and into the streets.

The lost world will follow its master Lucifer as far as he will take them. But God’s people are called to imitate God. The Scripture says:

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

We are to “walk in love” as Jesus Himself walked in love. When the Bible defines the word “love”, it states:

1 Corinthians 13:4 (ESV) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant…

One of the components of love is kindness. Pastor Don Carson wrote in his book “Showing The Spirit: A Theological Exposition Of 1 Corinthians 12-14”:

“Love is kind – not merely patient or long suffering in the face of injury, but quick to pay back with kindness what it received in hurt” (pg 79).

God expects His children to be kind. Though the Apostle Paul and those who worked with him were often persecuted by “stripes, imprisonment, and confusion” (2 Corinthians 6:5), he and the other Apostles as leaders of God’s Church responded with:

2 Corinthians 6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

They could have been ugly when they were brutalized. In fact, in one instance the Apostle Paul allowed his humanity to outshine his spirituality. When the High Priest Ananias slapped Paul in the mouth, Paul said “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?” Paul quickly recanted what he did, saying, “I didn’t know he was the High Priest. It is written: you shall not speak evil of the ruler of My people” (Acts 23:4-5). The Apostle was quoting Exodus 22:28.

God commands that we be kind.

In another place, the Apostle lists the characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, saying:

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, {KINDNESS, χρηστότης chrēstótēs, khray-stot’-ace} goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…

I do not believe there is anyone in the world who has more enemies than the Lord Jesus Christ had, and has. Jesus was constantly harassed by the religious establishment. The Pharisees and the Scribes sought to find fault with Jesus at every turn. And yet, Jesus was kind, and encouraged we who are His disciples to be kind. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:43-45, 48 … Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. … 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

We are to be like our Heavenly Father. Love the unlovable. Do good to those who do evil to you. In short, be kind, whether they deserve your kindness or not.

What You Do, Or Do Not Do, Matters

God tells Judah that He is going to send them into exile. He says:

Jeremiah 9:13-16 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

The very fact that God is warning Judah of His coming discipline is in itself an act of kindness. God as Savior and Creator of His people has the right to do with them as He wishes. But God is driven by not just righteousness and judgment, but also with kindness. If the people would REPENT, God will not do as He says. But if they hold the course of ignoring His Will, and continue to chase after the false gods of this world, then God will discipline.

And it won’t be pretty!

God tells us as His children to be kind – and to leave vengeance to Him. Rather than responding to hurt with wrath, God tells us:

Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let love prevail. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). Let your kindness delight God. He will bless you for it.

May God the Holy Spirit and His Word draw you closer to Him this very day. Amen and amen!

Posted in Jeremiah, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Glory In The Lord

Posted on November 21, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Last Sunday night we began a journey through the book of 1 Corinthians. Though all of the “Church Letters” (writings like Romans, Colossians, Philippians, Thessalonians – to name just a few) are necessary for the local Church to learn, I believe 1 Corinthians is a particularly timely book for the day we live in. I came across an article submitted to the Gospel Coalition entitled “Self-Worship Is The World’s Fastest Growing Religion”. Author Thaddeus Williams noted:

“In their recent book Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons document that 84 percent of Americans believe that “enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.” … Further, 86 percent believe that to enjoy yourself you must “pursue the things you desire most.” … And 91 percent affirm this statement: “To find yourself, look within yourself.””

You can see this everywhere you look. A commercial came on television the other day for H&M, a Swedish multinational clothing company. A stylish black man comes on screen, and as he walks toward the camera telling us “You do you. The most important thing is to love yourself. I know I do.”

It is this attitude that got us in trouble from the beginning of humanity. When Adam heard the serpent (Satan) say, “The reason God didn’t want you to eat of the tree of knowledge is because He doesn’t want any competition. He’s trying to keep YOU from becoming a god, too! (paraphrase of Genesis 3:5). Who wouldn’t want to be a god? So Adam ate, and we all lost Paradise. We should have learned from that.

When Israel waited for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai, someone suggested “let’s build a god to lead us”. Everyone chipped in a little jewelry, gave it to Aaron the High Priest, and he made them all a golden calf. (Exodus 32:4). When Moses came down off the mountain, he made Israel drink the ashes of that calf (Exodus 32:20). I don’t think it tasted that well, but the point is clear. Any god that we make with our own hands is not only lacking in nutrients, but it’s not fit to drink. And it eventually ends up in the toilet!

In the Medical News Today newsletter we are told that today, “Gender is different than sex. Although genetic factors typically define a person’s sex, gender refers to how they identify on the inside. Only the person themselves can determine what their gender identity is.” Some people say that there are 72 genders, and others 57 genders. This is what happens when people become gods, and reject the true God of the Holy Scripture. The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) – but we are definitely NOT God nor little “g” gods. God tells us:

1 Corinthians 1:19-20 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Said to be unsinkable, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank April 15, 1912. As families gathered at the White Star Line office in Liverpool, England, they waited breathlessly to hear if their loved ones survived or not. Dr. Joe Pettigrew noted:

“”On both sides of the main entrance notices were posted. One {notice} said ‘KNOWN TO BE SAVED’; the other {notice} said, ‘KNOWN TO BE LOST’. From time to time a company official walked out with a piece of paper which contained the name of another passenger. When he held it up, a deathly stillness swept over the crowd as loved ones of the missing waited to see which side he would write the name on.”

In Heaven there is a book called “The Book of Life” (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 20:15). The only ones that will enter into God’s Paradise we call Heaven is “those whose names are written in the Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27). Those in the Book of Life are those ‘KNOWN TO BE SAVED’. How do you get your name in that Book? It is not by human wisdom, or human knowledge and strength. You get in that all important Book by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Only The Cross Will Get You Into God’s Kingdom

1 Corinthians 1:17 …For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

In the Church at Corinth, the believers there had become to believe their salvation was better than another’s salvation because the Apostle Paul, or the Evangelist Apollo, or the Chief Apostle Peter, or the Messiah Jesus baptized them. Paul wanted the Corinthians know that, though Baptism is an important part of our faith (for Jesus commanded water baptism – Matthew 28:19-20), it is only the Gospel and how you respond to it that saves. When Paul says that “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel”, he is emphasizing that it is only your response to the Gospel that saves or damns you. Let me put it this way.

Some Christians are baptized by immersion in water. I believe this is the New Testament standard. But other Christians are baptized by having water poured over them. Yet others are baptized by having a few drops of water sprinkled on them from a chalice or a cup. Each group is baptized by a different method, and they are following their conscience.

But salvation is not brought to a person because of baptism. Salvation only comes by the preaching of the Gospel (Greek εὐαγγελίζω euangelizō). That same phrase “preaching of the Gospel” can also be translated “to bring or declare good news”.

Illustrate: On my keychain are several keys. They are all good keys – I don’t keep old keys – and each key opens a certain door. I can take a perfectly good house key and try to open the doors of this Church building with it. It won’t open. Why? Because it’s the wrong key. Only the right key will open the doors to this sanctuary.

Only the right key will open the door to God’s Kingdom. That key is the Gospel or Good News of the Cross.

1 Corinthians 1:18 … For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Word Study: The word “preaching” is actually the Greek λόγος logos, which means “WORD”. The Apostle doesn’t want the Corinthians nor us to believe that only the preacher can lead a person to salvation. The power of salvation is not in me, nor in any holy person, not even the so called “Pope”. The power of salvation is in the “WORD OF THE CROSS”. The Scripture says:

Psalm 33:6 By the WORD OF THE LORD were the Heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

God and God alone made all that you see around you by speaking it into existence. He made SOMETHING out of NOTHING. When God made mankind, and entered mankind through Jesus Christ His Son, He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for our sins.

Oh, we are broken and sinful creatures.

Two tricks that Satan uses to try and get us all to reject the Word of the Cross is (1) “You can become gods”, and (2) “You can be good enough”.

Hell will be filled with people who felt they were “good enough”. The Bible is quite clear, that,

Romans 5:12, 17-21 … By one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … 17 … by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam brought sin and death into the world. Adam broke fellowship with God, and lost the key to Paradise. But Jesus came, the anti-Adam, and living a perfect and sinless life, went to the Cross to make payment for our sins. John the Baptist famously said of Jesus,

John 1:29 … BEHOLD, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world …

Jesus took away the penalty of sin by taking our punishment for us.

Illustrate: The legendary preacher C.H. Spurgeon was saved at the age of 15 years old. He stumbled upon a small chapel where an unknown and illiterate man shared the Word of the Cross. His text was Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” As the man preached, Spurgeon heard his words:

“Jesus said ‘Look unto Me, I am sweating great drops of blood. Look unto Me, I am hanging on the Cross. Look unto Me, I ascend unto Heaven. Look unto Me, I am sitting at the Father’s right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me!”

Spurgeon testified, “I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. That happy day when I found the Savior and learned to cling to His dear feet was a day never to be forgotten by me. … I listened to the Word of God; and that precious text led me to the Cross of Christ”.

That is how a person is saved. The person hears the Word of the Cross, and believes that Jesus Christ died for them. And not just died, but rose again to lead His people toward glory. So many people today are trying to be gods, or trying to be good, and think they are leaving this life for glory. Yet they are not. Pastor John Piper wrote:

“Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. The people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God.”

God is the Gospel. God the Son gives Himself for our sins. We give ourselves to Him, loving Him, and He promises to bring us to God. Not just later, when we pass from this life and into Heaven, but right now, right where we are. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

1 Corinthians 1:21-22 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

The Bible says “the world by wisdom knew not God”. The Gentiles in rejecting Christ cling instead to human wisdom. “How can one Man – even Jesus – make payment for another man’s sins? It makes no sense”.

It makes better sense than what Progressive Liberal believe!

Pastor (Dr.) W.A. Criswell shared this little poem:

Once I was a tadpole, beginning to begin;
Then I was a frog with my tail tucked in;
Then I was a monkey in a banyon tree;
And now I’m a professor with a PhD!

The world does not understand the Gospel – but God’s wisdom is much greater than ours. “The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom”. Jesus showed the Jews sign after sign when He walked the earth.

Jesus was born of a virgin in Bethlehem.
Jesus walked on water.
Jesus rebuked the wind, and calmed the seas.
Jesus healed the lame so they could walk.
Jesus gave sight to the blind so they could see.
Jesus cured the leper, restoring him to his family.
Jesus cast out demons.
Jesus fed thousands with a child’s meal.
Jesus restored life to the dead.

They always wanted just one more sign. Jesus finally told them:

Matthew 12:39-40 (ESV) An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

God has given us all the signs, and all the reasons He is ever going to give us. Jesus clearly died on Calvary, and laid in a tomb for three days and three nights. Rising from the grave, our Lord taught on the earth 40 days after His resurrection, then ascended into Heaven. He did all this so that you could be a part of His family.

But I’m Not Worthy To Be Saved

As I said before, Satan uses some little tricks to keeps us from the Word of the Cross. He uses, (1) You can be gods, and (2) You can be good. But there’s another ruse Satan uses. I hear this quite a bit. It is, “I’m not worthy to be saved”. Beloved, if your mind is in the place of “I’m not worthy”, my answer to you is “None of us are worthy”. The Apostle writes:

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

When God calls people to salvation, He does not focus on calling the best and brightest according to the world. He calls those who are broken, and know they are broken. Of those who God calls to salvation, the Scripture says “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”. It doesn’t say “not any” but “not many”. God does not go out of His way to exclude people. The Gospel is inclusive. The Gospel of salvation is a “whosoever will” proposition. Jesus said, “He or she that has ears to hear, hear and respond!” But sadly many people disqualify themselves because they place importance on other things, rather than heed the Gospel call.

Jesus was told “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15). When Jesus heard this, He said:

Luke 14:16-24 (ESV) “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

Why is it that “not MANY wise, not MANY might, not MANY noble have been called”? Because those with “superpowers”, the bold and the beautiful, the jocks and the movie stars, they are busy worshiping THEMSELVES. They are out inventing genders, and twisting Scriptures, and ignoring the Word of God. They could have been saved, but always had something better to do. They are those who refuse to assemble with a Church because a football or baseball game is on television.

When Jesus walked the earth, who was most blessed by Him? I seem to remember one Centurion, one Synagogue leader, the wealthy Joseph of Arimathæa, and one member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus. There may have been more Jews or Gentiles of note, but if so, it was a short list. Who were most of the people who were blessed by Jesus? Lepers. Cripples. Blind people. Widows. Fishermen. People who were never named. Common folk. Mary Magdalene. Mary of Bethany. Lazarus. Martha. Just plain folks who realized they needed Jesus. Just plain people willing to break open an alabaster box of ointment to anoint the Master’s feet.

1 Corinthians 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

Word Studies: God called “base things”, the Greek ἀγενής agenḗs, [pronounced ag-en-ace’] meaning “low born, ignoble, people of no class”. Jesus cast demons out of that wild man who lived among dead bodies in the tombs (Mark 5). When the man was healed, and wanted to go be with Jesus, the Lord told him: “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” (NLT – Mark 5:19). The people no one wanted to be around – Jesus called them, and saved them. God the Son came to save “things which are despised ”. The least and the less. Jesus came to call “things which are not”, people that are nothings.

I am one of those nobodies. I am one of those nothings. Jesus called me! Before I met Jesus, I was nothing. Now I am a child of God with Heaven as my home.

1 Corinthians 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

When we get to Heaven (if we get to Heaven), we will not look back on our lives and strut up that street of gold to the Throne of Christ. We won’t be able to brag about how “we made it”. If we get to Heaven, it will be because JESUS made it for us.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him {of God} are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

If you are saved, it is because of God. God sent the message and the messenger to you. God rolled back the fog of sin around your mind, so you could hear that Word of the Cross. Then God through Christ gives us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”. It is all a gift of God, our salvation. So if you want to brag – if you want to be proud of anything – be proud of God. Brag on God.

1 Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Let us brag on the Jesus Who saves us, and keeps on saving us. Let us brag on the Jesus Who loves us so. May God draw you close to Him today and, if you are not saved, into a saving relationship with Him. For His glory. Amen and Amen.

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Our God Reigns

Posted on November 18, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash

Micah 4:9-13 Now why `dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counselor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. 10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

Does God put more on us than we can bear? Many people say that, no, He doesn’t. The text they usually quote is:

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

It’s true that God says “God is faithful, Who will not {allow} you to be tempted above that which you are able”. This text is specifically addressing TEMPTATION to sin. God will not allow temptation to come to you greater than you can bear. When you read the context around 1 Corinthians 10:13 it becomes clearer. God speaks of Israel who fell in the wilderness. Israel “lust(ed) after evil things”. Had they looked to Jesus, they would not have fallen in the wilderness. Instead, Israel looked to her own resources, and “became examples for us, that we not lust after evil things as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).

Does God allow more to come our way than we can bear? Yes. God’s Son cried out on Calvary, “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). In His humanity, the Cross was more than He could, at that moment, bear.

Yes, He sometimes does do this. God doesn’t do this because He enjoys it, but because He wants us to take our burdens to Him.

Trials force us to acknowledge we desperately need our God. Trials force our prodigal hearts to return to the Lord that loves us.

God allowed more stress to fall on to the Apostles than they could bear. The Apostle Paul wrote:

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (ESV) For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

When God puts more stress on us than we can bear, it is to make us look to Him Who can save us. Israel had disobeyed God for some 490 years, so God was going to punish His child. God has told Israel that she would be conquered, and exiled into another strange land. When Israel heard this, the nation mourned.

God Questions Us When We Question Him

Micah 4:9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud?
is thy Counselor perished?
for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

God asks His people a series of questions. Jesus often did this when He walked this earth. Israel is crying out like a woman in labor. God asks Israel,

  • First, “why are you crying out aloud? Is there no King in thee?” Has God the King of Israel abandoned His people? Has someone come along and stolen Yahweh? “Is there no King in thee?”. God is the King of His people. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 47:6-7 (ESV) Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

No matter what comes our way, God is still the King. He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). The God Who is King of His people is faithful. Our God is ever faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13). In the midst of our trials, our God is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God tells Israel:

Micah 4:10 … for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Jerusalem will fall. The people will have to leave the city, and go into exile into Babylon. This is bad news. But still, God knows all about it. God is still in control. Israel will go exactly where God sends them. Israel will stay in captivity exactly as long as God requires. But our God is still King of all. The Scripture says:

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV) The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; {God} turns it wherever he will.

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

The Moody Bible Institute resource, Today in the Word, notes of this section in Micah:

“God is imminently concerned that His people know and love Him, and He will go to great lengths to bring them into right relationship with Him.”

Illustrate: In 1 Samuel 30, David had one of the worst days of his life. He and his men rode to Ziklag, only to find that it had been destroyed by the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 30:3-4 (ESV) … when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

They were in a utterly hopeless situation. They “wept until they had no more strength to weep”. When something this catastrophic happens people look around for someone to blame. Some blame God, but find little satisfaction in that, for God cannot be hurt by us feeble humans. But most find someone nearby to blame. The Amalekites are not accessible and, after all, we cannot hurt them.

Let’s blame David. That’s what the people did. The Bible says:

1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV) … David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul

What can David do to fix this situation? Did he mount a political campaign and try to win the people over to his side? Did David go about mollifying the upset people? No, but David did the best thing anyone of us can do.

“David strengthened himself in the Lord his God”.

David turned his eyes upon Jesus. He sought God, when that which was on him was more than he could bear. He asked God:

1 Samuel 30:8 (ESV) “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” {God} answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

When David received his answer from God, he immediately demanded that his people move to follow God.

1 Samuel 30:9-10 (ESV) David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

David did not focus on placating the stragglers. Those who could not go on, did not go on. David continued moving with those who were focused on serving God, and left the rest behind. Were their “feelings hurt”? Probably. But David focused on doing God’s will until it was done, and pursued the enemy until “God’s will was done, on earth, as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

  • The Second question God asks us: “is thy Counselor perished?” God is our Counselor, the Hebrew יָעַץ yâʻats, {pronounced yaw-ats}, which means “the one you consult for advise or counsel. The one who helps you plan.” The Prophet Isaiah said of God our Savior:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Our God is a Wonderful Counselor. A devotional I often read is called Our Daily Bread . This quote comes from it:

“Long before the Child was born and the Son was given, Isaiah foretold that God was planning to send a Counselor for the brokenhearted people of the world. What is the evidence that Jesus Christ is the Wonderful Counselor? We see it fleshed out in a Person. We read of, reflect on, and appeal for help from the One “who became for us wisdom from God” (1 COR. 1:30). When we take all that we know about Christ, it adds up to a marvelous truth— He is the God who is a “Wonder of a Counselor.”

If we would be “instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12, προσκαρτερέω proskarteréō, [pros-kar-ter-eh’-o]), we would first seek out our God when trials come our way. Daniel often did this. Daniel survived first Babylonian Captivity, and excelled because he trusted in the Lord.

In Daniel chapter 6, the Prophet is still in exile, but now under a Medo-Persian King. Daniel is walking with God, and many enemies have gathered against him. Jesus told us that “the world will hate you, for it hated Me” (John 15:18). This is always true. King Darius appointed 120 princes to rule the Kingdom of Medo-Persia, and 3 Presidents to rule the 120 princes. Daniel was one of the Presidents!

This irritated the whole group! All of the people in power were Persians, but Daniel was a Jew, and up until recently a prisoner of war. How dare the King give Daniel the same blessing he gave to true citizens of the realm! So they began to plot against Daniel.

“King, make it a rule that no one can pray to or petition any god or man but YOU for thirty days. Whoever disobeys, throw them in the lion’s den!”

King Darius thought this was a great idea. He signed the decree (Daniel 6:9) into law. What did Daniel do?

Did he go to King Darius and request he change the rule?
Did he plead an exemption for the Jewish exiles?
Did Daniel keep praying, but hide himself?

No to all three. The Bible says:

Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

You know the story. Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den, and nothing happens to him. Daniel’s explanation is simple.

Daniel 6:22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

Beloved, the Bible says “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Our battle is with Satan and his forces of evil. The best way to handle the evil one is to remember to consult with God. To pray. To keep our eyes on Jesus. God tells Israel:

Micah 4:13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth

Our God reigns! Keep doing what God tells you to do, and trust in the Lord. He will see you through the valley. Gary Miller (2021) wrote this wonderful poem called “The Master Plan”. Let’s end with this.

Life is like a game of chess,
Yet different, you will see.
Pieces moved at the behest
Of God are you and me.

Unlike the chess pieces that we play,
Whose pieces aren’t alive:
They have no will; don’t push their way,
Nor for advantage strive.

We are alive, we are aware,
We struggle to submit.
“Not here”, we cry, “but over there
would be the better fit”.

At times we may not understand
Why He has placed us here,
For we can’t see the Master plan,
Our vision’s not that clear.

We must allow our Lord to move,
And trust the choice He makes.
For He sees all things from above,
And there are no mistakes.

May God draw us all closer to Him every day. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and Amen!

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Is That Really The Church?

Posted on November 15, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Thais Do Rio on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. When we come to the Book of Corinthians, we see the Apostle Paul addressing a dysfunctional Church. Paul was very concerned about Corinth, because God used Paul to establish the Church there. In Acts chapter 18 we find out that Paul first went to the Jews.

Acts 18:4-6 (ESV) {Paul} reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Corinth was a very hard ministry for Paul. God actually came to Paul in a vision one night, saying …

Acts 18:9-11 (ESV) … “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

At one point Paul was taken before the tribunal or or court but the proconsul (think Prosecutor) Gallio refused to prosecute Paul. One convert to our faith that Paul had in Corinth was “Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue” (Acts 18:17), who was beaten for standing up for Christ and for Paul. I believe Sosthenes went on to be an elder or a pastor in the Church at Corinth. In verse 1 we see talking about this same Sosthenes.

Sosthenes came to Paul and told him what had been going on in the Church. It was Sosthenes report that caused the Apostle – as the Spirit led him – to pen this letter.

Now we can read the first three verses:

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Word Study As Paul addresses the Church (and Sosthenes is probably the one who carries this letter back to Corinth), he begins to define what the Church at Corinth (and every place) is supposed to be. The word “Church” is the Greek ἐκκλησία ekklēsía, {pronounced ek-klay-see’-ah}, which means “a people called out from their worldto assembletogether for God”. The word “church” was used for Israel in Acts 7:38 by Stephen as he witnessed Christ to the High Priest of Israel.

The Church exists to glorify God, and to represent
Him on planet earth.

When Jesus prayed for His Church, He said:

John 17:11-15 (ESV) … I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. … 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Jesus expected His Church to be IN the world, but not OF the world. Jesus said:

John 15:19 (ESV) If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The Church is meant to be a lighthouse in the midst of a dark and evil world. The Apostle calls the Church, “the church of God”. It belongs to the God Who said, “Let There Be Light”, and there was light. Jesus said that we are to “Let your light SHINE before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The Church is a group of believers:

vvs 2 … that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints

The Enduring Word Commentarynotes:

“The words sanctified and saints communicate the same idea, of being set apart from the world and unto God. Notice the words to be are inserted by translators. The Corinthians were called saints, not called to be saints.”

We who are part of Christ’s Church are called out of this world to stand up for Jesus Christ. Please note how many times Paul references Jesus in these first three verses.

In verse 1, “Jesus Christ”.
In verse 2, “Christ Jesus” and then “Jesus Christ our Lord”.
In verse 3, “the Lord Jesus Christ”.

The Church does not represent a political party, sexual or sensual permissiveness, or a social justice program.
The Church represents and glorifies Jesus!

1 Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Paul addresses the Church (where ever it might be) he usually includes the phrase we find in verse 3. You’ll see this phrase “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” in his letters to the Churches at

Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica,

And in his pastoral epistles to

Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

Paul always lists Grace before Peace, as peace with God does not come until you have the Grace of God in your life. Grace is only secured when you come to the “Lord Jesus Christ”, repenting of being your own god, and trusting in Him. The same Grace that saves the Christian is the Grace by which we live our lives. Grace is a gift of Jesus.

The Grace Of God Is The Overflowing
Goodness And Glory Of God

1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

Grace is a free gift, given by Jesus to whosoever will believe on Him. Our standing before God as “saints” is not based on our abilities, nor on our personal merit. If a person has a spiritual gift, it is not something that they earned or deserved. It is something that was given by God the Holy Spirit. Even though later in this letter the Apostle will rebuke the Corinthians, he is still thankful that God saved them by Grace.

1 Corinthians 1:5-8 That in every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church at Corinth was “enriched” by Jesus. They knew about Jesus. They had spiritual gifts in the Church. They were rich (πλουτίζω ploutízō, [pronounced ploo-tid’-zo]), wealthy in blessings from the Lord. I have often wondered about well known Christian evangelists and preachers who, doing great works for God, are found to have some horrible flaw or worldliness in them. The truth is, God in His Grace can use a broken or a flawed person or even a Church. To those who do not believe this to be true, consider Jonah!

Jonah fought God.
Jonah ran from God.
But God used him in Nineveh anyway.

The Apostle told his student Titus:

Titus 2:11-13 (ESV) … the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Paul told Titus that the “grace of God” not only brings salvation, but it trains the believer to lead a God honoring life while waiting on Jesus’ return!

The Grace of God is a free gift from God. It blesses us with salvation. But it also leads us to live our lives glorifying God, not ourselves. The Grace of God leads us out of worldliness to walk with Christ Jesus “in the light” (1 John 1:7). Yes, the Grace of God saves us for Heaven. We who are under His Grace shall “be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Grace of God is based on the faithfulness of God. The Free Bible Commentarynotes:

“The Bible has two seemingly paradoxical truths about the believer’s relationship with God. It is covenantal in nature; therefore, it involves an initial and an ongoing faith and repentant response. We must be diligent to maintain our relationship. It is secure in God’s faithfulness (Jude 24). No one can steal our relationship from us (John 6:37, 39; 10:28; Romans 8:38-39). Security and perseverance are both biblical (Ephesians 2:8-9, 10 and Philippians 2:12-13). They are the two necessary aspects of {God’s} “covenant.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our God is faithful in His ministration of Grace. God calls broken creatures into an eternal relationship with Him. The ones that He saves, He will keep. If you are born again as a child of God, the Bible very clearly states two things:

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

But it is also equally true that:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The salvation of the Christian is settled at the Cross and the empty tomb. But once saved, you become God’s product, God’s project, God’s progeny, God’s property, God’s PEOPLE, God’s PRIESTS.
God demands you walk with HIM.

The Tongue That Saved Us By Calling On Jesus
Is The Tongue That Should Speak Grace To Others

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

It is through the tongue that we learn of God’s Grace. It is through the tongue that we are forgiven by God. The Bible says:

Romans 10:10, 13 (ESV) if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. …13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If we are saved by Grace, we got there by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord, and by affirming His resurrection is a historic reality. Jesus Christ loves us, and makes intercession for us every single day. The Bible says, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the One Who died – more than that, Who was raised – Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). There is not a day that goes by where you and I do not fall short of the glory of God. There is not a day that goes by where you and I do not, in some way, sin against God. And yet,

Jesus intercedes for us still. Jesus never gives up on His children. The Corinthian Church is proof of that.

God wants His children to use their tongues productively. God used His tongue to bring light out of darkness, and order out of chaos. “By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made; and all the hosts of them (the stars) by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6).

  • We are to use our tongues to promote the Kingdom of God, to bring others into Christ’s family. We read:

vs 10 I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Christians are “brethren”, we are family. We all share the same blood type: we are under the blood of Jesus Christ. We are family, God’s family. We are called to work together for His glory. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:24-25, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day {of the Lord} drawing near”. We are God’s people together. A flood is coming – a flood not of water, but of evil. Let us bind ourselves together in God’s family. Let us get on the Ark of Jesus’ Cross, and rest in His Presence.

There is no room for infighting in God’s Kingdom. We are to love and care for one another.

Colossians 3:13-15, 17 (ESV) {be} bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. … 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

It is not the RELIGIOUS person who will get to Heaven, but the person in a RELATIONSHIP with God through Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you love Jesus. And if you love Jesus, you will do as He says. “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me” (John 14:21). What are Jesus’ commandments? Primarily, to love Him with your all. Jesus said:

Matthew 22:37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

As well as Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Jesus wants us to love God – and by extension the Son of God – with our all. He also wants us to love others who are our “neighbors”. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”. Jesus even went farther than this. He said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you”. (John 15:12; 13:34). Those who belong to God are to love God and love others. We are to use our tongues in constructive ways.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

  • We serve a risen Savior. He is Lord. One day, Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”.

If you belong to Christ, if you have believed on that old rugged Cross, then you are to be good trees, and not evil. The fruit of your lips should reflect the truth that you are born again, a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 12:33, 35 (ESV) “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. … 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ”

The root of the problem from which all other problems stemmed at Corinth was their use of the mouths. They were not guided by Grace in how they used their mouths.

1 Corinthians 1:11-15 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

The Church at Corinth was meeting in private homes at this time in history. Some had begun to brag about who baptized them, insinuating that they were better saved because a more prominent preacher baptized them. This is foolish! Baptism is a public profession of salvation, but who baptized you does not make your salvation greater or lesser than another’s.

We are all saved by faith in Jesus Christ, by the wondrous Grace of God. The Apostle in another place prescribed how to handle those who fostered division in the Church. He wrote:

Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

The Church of Christ is the Body of Christ. There is no room in it for divisions, sectarianism, secularism, or foolishness. We are called to serve the Lord TOGETHER. There is no spiritual gift of criticism, no calling to be obnoxious. We are to work together to shine for Jesus, to bring the Gospel message to the world around us. Anything that hinders that calling is satanic, not spiritual. May God the Holy Spirit touch your hearts with His Word. Amen and Amen.

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

Four Witnesses For Jesus

Posted on November 14, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 5.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

A few weeks ago we read about Jesus going up to Jerusalem for a ceremonial feast (probably the Passover) and, coming to a pool named Bethesda, healed a crippled man on the Sabbath Day. The Jews had a number of different Sabbaths or Shabbat. Not only did they observe a Saturday Sabbath, but four special Sabbaths, as well as a Sabbatical Year.

The Sabbaths were to be times of rest where no work
was done, but God was celebrated.

When Jesus healed this cripple man on a Sabbath (probably a High Sabbath), the Pharisees were incensed! They started “headhunting” Jesus.

John 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

This is repeated again in:

John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus did not try to be politically correct, and so that current cancel culture decided they would revoke Jesus’ life! They felt they were justified in doing this because the Law of God demanded death for blasphemy. God said:

Leviticus 24:16 (ESV) Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

In order to execute a person for blasphemy there had to be two or more witnesses that the evil was done. Jesus counters the charges leveled against Him (- that He made Himself equal to God, and – that He did something unlawful on the Sabbath). You see, Jesus neither committed blasphemy (for He IS equal to God), neither did He do wrong on the Sabbath.

Jesus calls on four witnesses to stand up
for Him against the Pharisees.

John 5:31-39 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Jesus said in verse 31, “If I bear witness (μαρτυρέω martyréō, [pronounced mar-too-reh’-o]) of myself, my witness (μαρτυρία martyría, [pronounced mar-too-ree’-ah]) is not true”. Jesus is not saying that what He Himself speaks in not true. He is saying that, according to the Law of God, the witness of ONE was not accepted. There had to be two or more witnesses to the truth. Jesus said in verse 32, “There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of Me is true”. There are other witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah sent from God. And if Jesus IS the Christ, the Messiah sent from God, then He is NOT guilty of blasphemy.

John The Baptist Is The First Witness
That Jesus Is The Messiah

John 5:33-35 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

When the Messiah came, it was prophesied that He would come with a Herald appointed by God. We read:

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in …

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

According to the Gospels, John the Baptist came as a fulfillment of these prophesies (John 1:23; Mark 1:2-5; Matthew 3:1-3). When John was still forming as a baby in his mother Elisabeth, when Mary came to visit her cousin. As soon as Mary spoke to Elisabeth, that baby John leaped in her womb (Luke 1:41). Elisabeth told Mary,

Luke 1:44 … as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

John was born about six months before Jesus Christ Himself came into the world. His ministry started about six months before Jesus’ ministry started. John was asked at one time if he was the Messiah. John told that he was NOT the Messiah, but that “the One Who is coming is over me, who’s shoestrings I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:27). When John saw Jesus, he told the crowd:

John 1:29-31 … Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John’s entire mission of baptizing was to make Jesus Christ “manifest to Israel” as the Messiah. John the Baptist told the Pharisees:

Matthew 3:11-12 He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy {Spirit}, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

John foretold that Jesus would be the judge of all – the fan is in His hand to burn up the chaff and gather the wheat (the believer) into the Kingdom of God. John the Baptist is a witness that Jesus is the Christ.

The Miracles Jesus Did Are The Second
Witness That Jesus Calls For His Defense

John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

This is not the first time Jesus referred to the “works” that He as the witness that He is Messiah. In Chapter 10 the Pharisees come to Jesus, and directly challenge Him:

John 10:24-26 … How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

That is very clear. “The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me”. The Messiah – Eternal God become perfect man – did miraculous works, works that only God could do. When later John the Baptist was thrown into prison by Herod, he sent messengers to Jesus asking,

Matthew 11:3 (ESV) … Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

The message that Jesus sent back was consider My works:

Matthew 11:4-6 (ESV) “… Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

When Jesus healed at crippled man at Bethesda, His very action proved that He is the Messiah. God is the Source of life and light. The Bible says of God:

Psalm 104:1-2 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

Jesus Christ is God the Father’s Only Begotten Son. He brings light to those who wander about in darkness. He brings love to those who need it most. Jesus said:

John 8:12 … “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 9:5 … “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus, like God the Father, has “in Him no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Jesus alone is the “the light of the world”. Everywhere Jesus went, He made the broken whole. In the Gospel of John alone Jesus:

Turned water into wine in Cana (2:1-11)
Healed an official’s son in Capernaum (4:46-54)
Healed a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-18)
Fedover 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6:5-14)
Walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21)
Healed a blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7)
Raisedthe dead Lazarus in Bethany (11:1-45)

Jesus angered the Pharisees when He healed people on the Sabbath. But the fact that He could do these miraculous things – even the cast out of devils – proved that God was behind His ministry. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of “casting out demons by the power of the devil” (Luke 11:15), Jesus responded by saying:

Luke 11:20 … if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Jesus worked the works of God. These miracles proved He is Messiah.

God the Father Is The Third Witness
That Jesus Calls To The Stand

John 5:37-38 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

On the day that John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Bible tells us:

Matthew 3:16-17 (ESV) … when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Holy Spirit descended to rest on Jesus “like a dove”, then the Father spoke, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. It has been said that God has many sons by faith in Christ, but only ONE Son “in Whom He is well pleased”.

Later in His ministry, our Lord Jesus will lead Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration where the Father will speak.

The Bible says that Jesus was transfigured before them, and His face shined like the sun, while His clothing was white as light (Matthew 17:2). As Elijah and Moses stood talking with Jesus, Peter spoke up.

“Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three places of worship here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While Peter was speaking, the Father interrupted him, saying (Matthew 17:5):

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to Him.”

Later Peter would write of this witness. We read:

2 Peter 1:16-18 ….we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

Peter said, “We heard the Father endorse the Son”. The Apostle John, who was with Peter at the mount of transfiguration, wrote:

1 John 5:9-12 (ESV) If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Though the Pharisees “have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen God’s shape” (John 5:37), those who believed in Jesus and walked with Him heard the Father’s endorsement. Jesus said in another place:

John 8:18 … I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah! But there is one more witness that Jesus calls to His defense against stoning.

The Fourth Witness Jesus Calls Is The
Scriptures The Pharisees Studied

Jesus said in John 5:39 … Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

When Jesus speaks of the scriptures, He is referring to the Old Testament, the Bible that was written at that time in history. Jesus gets a little more specific toward the end of this chapter. Read with me:

John 5:45-47 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Moses, under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, wrote the first five books of our Bible. Called the Pentateuch or the Books of the Law or The Torah, these books are the foundation on which the rest of the Scripture is laid. The New Testament often quotes the Old Testament to affirm Christ as the Messiah. In Galatians we read:

Galatians 3:7-9 (ESV) Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Paul is quoting the promise that God made to Abram (Abraham) back in Genesis 12 – the writings of Moses. He is saying that when God said:

“in you {Abraham} all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:3)

that God was speaking of the Gospel of Christ. Those who receive Jesus Christ as THE Christ shall be blessed whether they are Jews or Gentiles. “in thee ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed”. Jesus said the Old Testament Scriptures – especially the writings of Moses – spoke of Him and His ministry. Listen:

  • In John 2:17, Jesus drives the money changers out of the Temple. This was prophesied in Psalm 69:9.
  • In John 6, Jesus spoke of the manna that God gave Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:15). Then Jesus said, “The Bread of God is He that comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world”. He made Himself to be the manna of Heaven!
  • In John 6:44-45 Jesus said “no one comes to Me unless the Father that sent Me draws him”, and then quotes Isaiah 54:13, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God”.
  • In John 7:38-39 Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to Living Water. In the Old Testament the Spirit is compared to water a number of times (Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:25-26).

Throughout Jesus’ ministry He often said “it is written”, then quoted Old Testament texts. Jesus told us:

Matthew 5:17-18 (ESV) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a {jot or tittle}, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Our Jesus did not come to erase the Law, but
to be the Fulfiller of the Law.

I could quote many more quotations from the Old Testament texts that Jesus used. The Old Testament – especially the writings of Moses – testify that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. But there is one text I’d like to read that is particularly pertinent.

When Moses got ready to leave Israel (for his time was up), he told that nation:

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (ESV) … “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

God promised through Moses that He would raise up a replacement who would stand in Moses place. Early in John’s Gospel we read:

John 1:17 … the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Jesus is that Prophet Who would come and lead God’s people instead of Moses. Israel looked for the coming of the Messiah. When Philip met Jesus, he ran to tell Nathaniel:

John 1:45 … We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

When Peter spoke of the need to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he said:

Acts 3:18-23 … those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Jesus Christ is THAT Prophet, the Messiah. Moses gave us the Law, but Jesus Christ as Messiah fulfills the Law, giving us Grace and Truth. What does this mean for us today?

If Jesus Is The Christ, The Messiah, There Is
No Other Way To Be Made Right With God

So many people today believe there are “many ways to God”. But based upon the fourfold Witness Jesus gives to us (John the Baptist, Christ’s miraculous works, God from Heaven, and the writings of Moses) there is only ONE way to God – that is, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Pharisees:

John 5:40 … ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.

There is no other Source of Eternal Life but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To be saved from eternal judgment you must receive Jesus Christ as He is, the One and only Savior and Lord. I am going to close by quoting the Apostle John:

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

If you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have life. A better life now, and a blessed and eternal life later. Do you know Jesus? If not, then I beg you, give your life to Him this very day. None of us knows the last day of our life, none but God. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus. For life. May God the Holy Spirit and His precious Word draw you to Jesus this very day. Amen and Amen.

Posted in General, John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Glory Of His Grace

Posted on November 7, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Photoholgic on Unsplash

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians Chapter 1.

When Paul wrote the Book of Ephesians (under the leading of God the Holy Spirit – 2 Peter 1:21), he was in his first Roman imprisonment. Paul was under house arrest, living in his home, but guarded by Roman soldiers. Acts 28:16 tells us that “Paul was {allowed} to dwell by himself with a soldier that {guarded} him.” He was not chained in a prison cell until his second imprisonment, and could still receive visitors. Acts 28:30-31 tells us that “Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” Paul’s imprisonment is a picture of the great Grace of our God. Though we may go into valleys, our Lord will be with us. If we are in a valley, our Lord will adjust the situation so that we can minister to others for Him. Though Paul’s home is invaded by the enemy, Paul is joyous. Why? We read:

Ephesians 1:2-6 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Paul is joyous in prison because of Grace

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the “Grace” of God that brings the “peace” of God into the life. If you are enjoying God’s Grace, then God is your Father, and Jesus is your Lord. No matter what you are going through, you need not fear it. Our God can do all things, and sees all things, and loves you as His child. And Jesus Christ is your Lord. Not the trial you are going through, but Jesus is your Lord.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Our “God and Father” has given us “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”. How did God the Father give us these spiritual blessings?

• God the Son became the perfect Son of Man. Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% Man. We are told in John’s Gospel:

John 1:1-3 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.

Jesus Christ is “The Word” – not a human’s word, but God’s very breath. This Jesus, this wonderful Word of God:

John 1:14 … the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us …

God became Man. He did not become Man through the normal, everyday means. Jesus Christ became flesh through supernatural intervention. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin woman. It was by man (Adam) that sin entered the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12), so God circumvented man when He created the body that Christ would inhabit. God did this by prophecy:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

and fulfilled this in Mary:

Matthew 1:23 … Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

You must believe that Jesus was virgin born, by God’s supernatural intervention, else you cannot be saved. Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1:35, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

If Jesus were born like we are, of sinful parents, then He would be just as sinful as we are. Among humankind the Bible says that

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

All humans who have ever been born through the beautiful union of man and woman in matrimony have been born broken. But Jesus Christ was not born broken. He is without sin. When a woman taken in adultery was cast before Jesus to judge, Jesus said “he that is without sin among you, cast the first stone” (John 8:7). Every accuser left. If any could have cast a stone against the woman that day, it could have been Jesus. Jesus Christ is the High Priest of our faith. The Bible says of Him:

Hebrews 4:15 {Jesus was} … in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus Christ is God become Man, but Who is still fully God. The Father told the Son:

Hebrews 1:8 … Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.

• We have “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” because the perfect Son of Man Who is the Son of God died in our place on the Cross.

Sin separates every human who has ever been or ever will be from a relationship with God. God said through the Prophet:

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

It was sin that caused God to cast Adam and Eve out of Eden. It is sin that keeps us all from entering into God’s Heaven. Thom Mollohan wrote in his article, “A Hunger For More: Sin Separates us From God”:

“the idea of sin, as given to us by the Bible, is simply this: a rejection of the authority of God in our lives and a giving of our ourselves to something less than our Creator. Sin in this way is really about our refusal to be subordinate to God Himself and exalting something to the position of devotion and worship that only God deserves. Sin separates us from God. It is not religious issue. It is a life and death issue. Sin debases us, even when we strive to exalt ourselves, because it diminishes the image of God within us. See, we are created in His image and reflect it much like a mirror reflects our own. So if He is not shining upon us because we’ve turned away to serve ourselves, then the image of God cannot be seen in us. Furthermore, sin is a crime because it robs God of what He alone is worthy of…”

The pandemic that is gripping America today is not the Coronavirus, but full blown paganism masquerading under the title “Progressivism”.

God the Son was once born (only begotten) through a virgin to become the perfect and sinless Son of Man. Only the Son of Man – Jesus – has power on earth to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24). Paganism or as others love to call it, Progressivism seeks to find blessing in more sinful and forbidden ways. There will never be any blessing found in sin. The Bible says:

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

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

Jesus Christ – the perfect Son of Man – died on Calvary to make full payment for our sins. Jesus was very clear that He and He alone would bring in the New Covenant for those who received Him as Lord and Savior. At the last Passover, Jesus told those who believed in and followed Him:

Matthew 26:27-28 … he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

When a cancer patient hears that their cancer is “in remission”, they rejoice, for their life is extended. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to cure a much greater thing than cancer. He died to cover our sins. He died for us who, once we believe in Him, are in remission from sin, but in the Family of God. The Apostle said,

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

Jesus Christ was born supernaturally into this world as a Son of Man, so that we, sons of men, can be supernaturally re-born into the Family of God. Jesus took our place so we can now take His place!

• Just as God the Son – the perfect Son of Man defeated death, we who belong to God will one day defeat death. If you do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, you are NOT a Christian.

The Apostle said in Romans 10:9, “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Two things are required for salvation. First, you declare for all to hear the “Jesus is Lord”. Jesus is not one Lord among many, but is THE Lord. Second, you must “believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead”. The Lordship and resurrection of Christ are non-negotiable for the Christian. When Thomas saw the Risen Savior he declared, “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28). That is exactly what the Christian believes, that Jesus is both Lord and God. Peter preached:

Acts 2:23-24 (ESV) this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Jesus did not “swoon”, nor “Pass out”, but died on that Cross of Calvary. He died for your sins and mine. He died so that we might be saved, if we would believe in Him.

Paul Was Joyous In Prison Because Of Grace’s Effect

Ephesians 1:4 According as He {God the Father} hath chosen us in Him {God the Son} before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

The Apostle now shows us how deep the love of God is. We are “chosen us in Him {God the Son} before the foundation of the world”. Before God created the world, before He called the first light into being, He knew that Adam would fall in Eden. God told Adam:

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

Our God is omniscient – He knows all things before they happen. “God knows everything” (1 John 3:20). God knows the number of the hairs on your head (Matthew 10:29-30). God “declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9-10). Knowing that Adam would fall, the earth would need a Savior, God the Son, “before the foundation of the world”, agreed to pay for our sins. This theme is repeated by the Apostle:

2 Timothy 1:8-9 … Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

God knew Adam would fail, but created him anyway. God knew that you and I will fail, but created us anyway. He saved us with a salvation that was planned in Christ “before the world began”. If you are saved, you are saved by an omniscient God. He knows your weaknesses, but by His power He will save and keep on saving you. You are His Child by faith.

Ephesians 1:4 … that we should be holy and without blame before him in love

The believer is not saved by his works, but once saved is both “holy” and “without blame”. The Christian is – because of God the Spirit Who indwells him – “holy”. This is the Greek ἅγιος hágios, {pronounced hag’-ee-os}, a person set apart to be a son of God. We are to be like our Father. The Lord tells us:

1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV) … but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The Apostle quoted Leviticus 20:7 as he wrote this text. Jesus said, “Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). The Christian is not called to be Republican or Democrat, “Woke”, liberal or conservative. The Christian is called to be like God, to be like Jesus, Who is God manifest.

If you profess to be saved, but walk like a worldling, then you are not saved at all. You are “without blame” because Jesus took your blame on the Cross. You are a son of God heading toward Heaven. You are to act as a son of God.

Grace always has an effect on the believer. If you are saved, you are “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)”

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Each Christian has an appointment with God. During that future appointment in Heaven, we shall be “adopted” into the Family of God because of our faith in Christ.

We Who Belong To God, Glorify God

Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

We are “accepted in the beloved”. God the Father accepts us for God the Son’s sake. We who believe in Christ unto salvation glorify our God. Note the phrase, “To the praise of the glory of his grace”. The Apostle repeats this formula twice more in this text:

Ephesians 1:11-12 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

A Christian has a purpose in life, and that is to glorify God. We are to live “to the praise of his glory”. God should be honored an what we say and do. Again, in

Ephesians 1:13-14 … 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…

God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, the “earnest” or proof of our future inheritance. We are to live our lives not as worldlings, but as those who belong to Jesus. We glorify our God by how we live our lives.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Those under saving Grace will live to the glory of God. We live so as to please and honor the God Who saved us. We read:

Colossians 3:17 … whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We do not follow the crowd. We follow Jesus. We live for God. We know that we are eternal creatures, that will live in glory with the God-Man that saved us. So we praise our Lord, and glorify His Name daily. Listen Beloved:

It is possible to LOOK saved, but to LIVE damned. The first generation of Israel were saved from Egypt, but not from themselves. They created a golden calf, a false god to follow, and lost the Promised Land. God will not share His glory with another. “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8). “For My own sake, for My own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). Those who love the Lord, live for the glory of the Lord. We pursue His pleasure, His will, His command. We love Him, for He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Do you belong to God, or to this world? Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.

Posted in Ephesians, General, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

God Makes Everything Beautiful In His Time

Posted on November 7, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Someone wrote Pastor John Piper and asked:

“… why did God make some people ugly and unattractive? How can I accept the fact that God, though capable of making me beautiful or at least average looking, chose to create in me an unattractive manner? As an unattractive person myself, I can say life is tough for us. Our opinions and ideas are most often sidelined. We have it tough in offices and schools and colleges. I can’t express in words how difficult it is to be confident.”

I can understand where this person is coming from. My earlier years were – in my young mind – a living hell. I nearly failed first grade until the teacher noticed me squinting at the blackboard. A trip to the eye doctor showed I was not unintelligent, but unseeing – I needed glasses. When the teacher wrote on the blackboard, I couldn’t clearly see what she wrote. Mama asked why I never said anything about it to anyone. The truth is, I was painfully shy, an introvert. A shy child doesn’t speak up!

When I was given eyeglasses, this didn’t solve my problems, but added to them. They were large, black rimmed things that stood out on my face. This gave the bullies a target to aim at. I was a “four eyed freak”. Children try to adjust their lives according to peer pressure, but what do you do if your “peers” are all against you? As self esteem plummeted, my weight increased. Add to this that I had to wear my dad’s white socks, and as I grew my dad’s old clothing. Well, the school years were rough. I have yet to have any desire to attend a “High School Reunion”.

There are many others in life who suffer terribly because they are different from the crowd. One who comes to mind is Joseph Merrick (August 5, 1862-April 11, 1890), also known as “The Elephant Man”. Born with a disorder called the Proteus syndrome, his head and body deformed more and more with each passing day. When Merrick accidentally pushes down a little girl one day, an angry mob chases him. He cried out, “I am not an animal! I am a human being. I am a man!”. There are many born into this world deformed, against what many consider the “norm”. In this world little children are sometimes born with terrible diseases. St. Jude’s Hospital ministers to children born with cancer. There are many things that appear ugly to us in this world.

Why would a loving God allow the ugly, the disfigured, the carnival “human freak show”?

It Is Because God Is Loving That We Have That Which Some Consider “Beyond The Norm”

Ecclesiastes 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

Word Study: As Solomon – the wisest man who ever was – looks at the “travail” that is on mankind, he writes “which God hath given”. God ultimately either causes or allows everything that ever happens within the framework of humanity. The word translated “travail” is the Hebrew עִנְיָן ʻinyân, {pronounced in-yawn’}, which means “miserable or evil work”. The word is only used in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon in essence is saying “I have seen how people have struggled at work – toiling slavishly”. God gave to man and woman hard – often horrible – circumstances to go through. But the fact that God gives it does not diminish His love.

God took a perfect Adam, and placed him in a perfect Eden. The Bible says:

Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV) The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

This was an absolute. God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of a man, that He should change His mind (Numbers 23:19). What God has said will always stand. “The day that you eat of it you shall surely die” is the promise of God’s Law. We all know the story. What did Adam do? He disobeyed God. He ate of the forbidden. The promise of the Law was “The day that you eat of it you shall surely die”. The very day you disobey Me, said the Lord, you “shall surely die”. Did this happen? Well, yes and no.

On the day that Adam did what he was not supposed to do, both Adam and Eve’s “eyes … were opened” (Genesis 3:7). Humanity fell under spiritual death. The Bible says:

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

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin”. It was ADAM who brought sin into the world, not Eve but ADAM. When ADAM ate that which was forbidden, both he and Eve his wife died spiritually. But they did not die physically until much later. Why? Because:

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

God is JUST, and does as He promises. But God is also LOVE, and offers redemption to the sinner. Adam physically lived 930 years before he died. God had told Adam, “in THE DAY you eat of it, YOU SHALL SURELY DIE”. If God were purely justice, and purely Law, then Adam and Eve and any progeny would have been destroyed by death on the day Adam sinned. Instead, God kept His Word by allowing Adam to live physically, but cast Adam and Eve out of Eden for they were both spiritually dead. .

The Law demandsimmediate death for sin.
The Love of God demandsgrace to the sinner.

As Solomon speaks of our lives as “travail” {ʻinyân}, the very fact that we are here at all is due to the love of God. God could have destroyed humanity, but Love found a way to give us life. However, the punishment for sin corrupted not just humanity, but nature itself. God told Adam:

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

The Law of God demanded death, but the Law of God gave grace and life. Since Adam’s fall, the Bible tells us that creation itself became warped by sin. The Apostle write of this, saying:

Romans 8:19-23 (ESV) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The whole creation groans in suffering because of Adam’s sin, but still exists because of God’s Love.

Creation groans until the day when the Children of God are fully redeemed, when with glorified bodies we come back to this earth to reign with Jesus. The Apostle said that on that grand day, the “creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”. Man and nature are bound together by God in the Garden, and bound together by sin outside of the Garden. What a glorious day it will be when sin reigns no more! Sin will be no more on God’s earth when Christ rules from His millennial Kingdom. When Jesus returns,

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

There will come a day when sin will be totally eradicated from this earth. But until that time, there will be cancers, sicknesses, deformities, ugliness. There will be the fading strength of old age. On top of this, sometimes God allows these sicknesses so that He might reach yet MORE with His glorious Gospel.

God Turns The Bad To Beautiful In His Time

In John chapter 9, Jesus sees a man who was blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus:

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

The Jews knew – and taught through the Old Testament scriptures, that sin – the sin of Adam – brought sickness and deformity into the world. Was this man blind because of his “parents”, his heritage? Or did this man himself sin, and by his sin bring the sickness upon himself? Jesus tells His disciples:

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

This man was born blind so that we could see Jesus healing him. Our Jesus is “the light of the world”. Light is useless to a blind man. But Jesus is miraculous light, the Light that gives sight to those who cannot see. This man was allowed to be sick to showcase the glorious Gospel of Christ.

Adam’s sin brought sickness and deformity into a perfect world. But there is yet another reason for suffering and deformity. In Luke 13 our Lord Jesus encounters a woman while teaching in the Synagogue:

Luke 13:11 (ESV) behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.

When Lucifer the Arch Angel rebelled against God, he enlisted a third of the angels of Heaven (Revelation 12:4) to follow him. These are creatures we call “demons”. This woman was disfigured for eighteen years because she had a “disabling spirit”. We read:

Luke 13:12-16 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

God makes all things beautiful in His time!

Her deformity was because Satan had afflicted her by sending one of his followers to her life. Jesus banished that demon and that precious woman was healed. But once more we see the Love of God in action. When Lucifer rebelled against God, and led a third of the angels in Heaven to follow him, the love of God allowed that devil and his traitors life for a time. But the day is coming when Satan and his followers will be cast into a lake of fire, to be bound forever more.

If You Are Afflicted Run To The Arms Of Jesus

Ecclesiastes 3:11 {God} hath made every thing beautiful in his time

Earlier I shared my testimony, how I felt “less than” and an ugly duckling in my school years. I was given eyeglasses to correct my sight. But I needed more than eyeglasses – I needed Jesus! Finding Jesus at a Youth Rally just before I entered the Air Force, I found my esteem not in

my peers
my strength
foolish drugs
mind numbing alcohol

but in JESUS. The woman afflicted by the “disabling spirit” is just like many in our America today. People feel “less than”, so they are seeking normalization through that which Scripture calls perversion or abomination. A pair of eyeglasses did not “fix” all of me, but I needed Jesus. A surgeon’s knife will not fix you. No medical science can fix you. Listen Beloved, just as Jesus healed the woman afflicted with the disabling spirit, Jesus can and will heal you. God promises that He will make “every thing beautiful in his time”.

When you give your life to Jesus, God promises to eventually make you beautiful. Jesus will give sight to your eyes, so you can see as He writes on life’s blackboard.

God will give joy to your heart so that you can feel as He feels. To those who love the Lord, Solomon said:

Ecclesiastes 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up…

Word Study: Jesus gives good to those who trust in Him. But to the sinner who rejects Christ, their lives are confusion and travail” {ʻinyân}. When I was young and bullied, every day was travail” {ʻinyân}. But when I found Jesus, He gave sight to my eyes, and joy to my soul. Fearing God, I ceased fearing man, and the bullies vanished. Elizabeth Cheney (1859) wrote:

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so!”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me!”

The God Who has made you, loves you no matter what you think of yourself. Look to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Are you thirsty for joy? Jesus said:

John 7:37 … If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

I am convinced that the cure to our miseries is Jesus. Come to Jesus with your pain, not to a drug dealer. Come to Jesus with your loneliness, not to a bar or a liquor store. Come to Jesus with what you think is ugly, and let Him have your life. Become His possession. Become His bond servant. Jesus will forgive you of your sins, and by His blood adopt you into His family. The Apostle said to the seeker:

Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

To those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there is “no condemnation”. God loves you for Christ’s sake. When you come to God, God comes to you. He brings His Heaven to your heart. The Holy Spirit comes to walk with you:

Romans 8:11 (ESV) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The Holy Spirit comes to bring the life of Heaven into our hearts. Once we receive Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit changes our hearts. We begin to walk with God daily, seeing things as God sees them. We are loved. We are adopted into the Family of God. We are not ugly, but beautiful in God’s eyes. We are Heaven bound! The Apostle said:

Romans 8:14-18 (ESV) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

There is a glorious Heaven waiting for those who are owned by Jesus. But better than that, there is a glorious life awaiting those who belong to Jesus NOW. He has said “I will never LEAVE, nor FORSAKE you”. He will be with you every step of the way, if you will give yourselves to Him. He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Do Not Allow Yourselves To Be Robbed
Of The Beauty Found In Jesus

On this earth, all suffer because of sin. Do not sell yourself to sin. Sin is the “thief who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy”. Jesus Christ came to be your Shepherd. Our Shepherd gives us “life, abundant life” (John 10:10). Jesus knows your aches and pains. He suffered so that you can enjoy the love of God.

You may not know this, but Jesus was not beautiful according to man’s standard.

The Scripture says of Jesus:

Isaiah 53:2 (ESV) … He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

When you get to Heaven, don’t look for Jesus using the pictures that people made, pictures that hang in museums and homes, and even in my office. Jesus had “no beauty that we should desire him”. When you get to Heaven, look for Jesus by looking for the scars on His hands, head, and feet. When you see those scars, you will know this is Jesus. Because He died for you and I, we will inherit the Heavens, and a new earth. God will make everything beautiful in it’s time. That is, if we have received Him as Lord and Savior. There is a better day coming for the child of Christ.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Word Study: The word translated “the world” is the Hebrew עוֹלָם ʻôwlâm, {pronounced o-lawm’}, which would be better here rendered as “eternity”. God has put “eternity” in our hearts. We know that there must be something more than just this life. God has put a hunger for Heaven in each person’s heart. We know that this world is not as it should be. When I read what Solomon wrote, “no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end”, this sounds so much like:

1 Corinthians 2:9 … Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Our limitations only point us to a wonderful future where all things are possible, and all hurts are erased. Augustine wrote:

“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” (Confessions, Book 1, Chapter 1)

This world and this suffering that we are going through is but temporary for the believer in Christ. “Our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). God has prepared a city for us (Hebrews 11:13-16), a place where no suffering shall be. A better day is coming. Look to the Lord Jesus! Rest in the Lord Jesus! May God draw you into His embrace this very day. Amen and Amen!

Posted in Ecclesiastes, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s All About The Bread

Posted on November 5, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Tiago Leonardi on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 6. I love the Gospel of John, for it shows very clearly that Jesus Christ is THE Son of God. It is a book very much focused on His deity. John also has great narratives. Tonight we’re going to read a familiar narrative – the time Jesus fed above 5000 people. We are very familiar with this story, and it might seem to be a re-run with you. But I believe there is more great truth to be found in these texts.

The Feeding Of The Five Thousand Is the ONLY Miracle Found In All Four Gospels (Here, and Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17)

John 6:1-2 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

“After these things”. After Jesus healed the crippled man by the pool of Bethesda (remember the FIVE porches around the pool. FIVE is the number of Grace). After the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus for healing someone on the Sabbath (John 5:16). After Jesus told the Pharisees that He, the Son of God, was both equal to God the Father, as well as a follower of God the Father. After Jesus told the Pharisees that the Scriptures they studied – the Old Testament writings – were all about Him. Jesus said:

John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

John 5:46-47 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

The Bible has no accidental words, but every word is the pure Word of God. It all has meaning. The body of water Jesus crossed was called the “sea of Galilee” by the Jews, but the “sea of Tiberias” by the conquering Roman forces. The two sets of names are given because Jesus did not just come for the Jews – but for all people. The Bible says:

Colossians 3:11 … there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

John 6:3-4 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

The focus of Jesus’ ministry was teaching the Word of God. Jesus did not come to this earth to primarily heal people (though He did). Jesus came to share the Word of God with whosoever would listen. A crowd of people began to follow Jesus because of the miracles He did (verse 2). But

Preach: Jesus did not come to this earth to bring us temporary relief from suffering. He came to this earth to show us the love of God, and to show us how to love others. Jesus came, not to bring us to Heaven, but to bring Heaven to our hearts.

If you love God, you will love others. The two always come together. Jesus said that the protos, or foundational commandment is:

Matthew 22:37-40 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If God is in you (that is, you are saved by faith in Christ, and the Spirit of God indwells you [“now if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His]), then you will love others. Love demands that you treat others the way you would be treated. We read:

John 6:5-6 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

Jesus Knows What He Is Going To Do. Do We?

God the Son had been teaching His disciples. The day is slowly waning. So Jesus asks Philip a simple question, one that God often asks His people. He asks, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”. Love is concerned about the welfare of others. How can we feed this mass of people? The answer is very easy. How do we feed them? Jesus! Jesus will feed them! But it is ingrained into us as humans – fallen creatures from the days of Adam – to say “let ME fix it. I know what to do!” The right answer is, “the same Jesus Who healed the cripple in Bethesda, the same Jesus who rebuked the Pharisees, the same Jesus of Who the Old Testament prophesied – this same Jesus can feed this multitude”. Philip answers just as we would often do:

John 6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

Philip’s suggestion is no suggestion at all. Philip just acknowledges that this is impossible. Looking at it from a human point of view, Philip says “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them”. That is equivalent to about 200 days of labor, as the “penny” (the “dēnarion” or denarius) was about a day’s wage. Philip is looking at the size of the problem and comparing it to human ability. Of course, neither Philip nor any (or all) of the disciples can fix this problem. Love demands that these people be fed – but it is impossible by human standards that it be done. The task is just impossible. Philip is the “business meeting wet blanket”. “It can’t be done – let’s just walk away”.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother (verse 8) speaks up. Andrew was the first disciple to come to Jesus in faith. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. He was there when John said of Jesus:

John 1:36 … Behold the Lamb of God!

Andrew immediately left following John the Baptist, and began to follow Jesus. Andrew, after staying with Jesus for a day, went and found his brother Simon (Peter), and told him:

John 1:41-42 … We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Andrew knew Jesus was the Messiah. But confronted with the problem that Jesus put before them, Andrew followed Philip’s negative lead. He says:

John 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

When that young boy (“lad” is the Greek παιδάριον paidárion, [pronounced pahee-dar’-ee-on] – “little boy”) left home that day to go and see Jesus, his mama, loving him, packed him a lunch. It was just enough for a child to eat. It was “five barley loaves, and two small fishes”. Just a tiny amount – five crackers and two little boy sized fish. I don’t think that Andrew robbed the boy. I think the little boy heard Jesus’ ask “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”. When the little fellow heard it, I believe he walked up to where Andrew was, and tugging on robe, showed him his little lunch. Andrew takes the little lunch, shows it to Jesus, and says “what are they among so many?”.

We as humans have, throughout our history, considered all of our problems through the puniness of our possession. We need to consider our problems with a single focus on God. Jesus said in another place:

Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

The word “single” is the Greek ἁπλοῦς haploûs, (pronounced hap-looce’) which means “simple, whole, sound”.

When we are challenged, we often get flustered, and run around in confusion, looking here and there for a fix. We’re not simple, but often simple minded!

If your eye is focused on the simple fix (which is JESUS), then your whole body will be filled with light. You will be joyous, blessed, overwhelmed with love. But if your eye is focused on the negative, on the impossibility, then your whole body will be filled with darkness, negativity, misery (Luke 11:34).

Philip, who had seen Jesus do miraculous things, is not focused on Jesus, but on the size of the problem before him. “It can’t be done”. Andrew, who was first to follow Jesus as Messiah, is not focused on Jesus, but on the size of the little boy’s meal. “It’s too little – it’s just not enough”. Neither has a suitable answer for the problem because their eye is not single, but wicked. Their eye is looking at the wrong thing.

Then there’s the little boy.
The paidárion, [pronounced pahee-dar’-ee-on].
Just a child.

The little boy hears Jesus’ question, runs to Andrew, and says “give this to Jesus”. The boy’s eye is single. His eye is focused. He’s not looking at the crowd. He’s not looking at the size of his meal. He’s looking at Jesus. He’s looking at Jesus.

The secret to the blessed life is to become like that little child, and simply focus on the Lord

  • When Solomon was given the daunting task of ruling Israel, he went to God in prayer:

1 Kings 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

Lord, Yahweh, I do not know what to do. I’m just a little child – show me. Make me a good King, a King you can be proud of. And God did.

  • When Naaman the leper wanted to be healed, God told him to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times. When he became like a little child in his spirit, and did as God said:

2 Kings 5:14 Then went {Naaman} down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

  • When Jesus our Lord wanted to show us the faith that pleases God, the Bible says:

Matthew 18:2-4 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“A little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). There is nothing that our God cannot do. There is nothing that Jesus cannot fix.

  • In the Book of Zechariah, Zerubbabel led an exiled Israel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, seventy years destroyed by Assyria. When the returnees saw what was before them, they wept. Such a monstrous task was before them – it was impossible to fix! But beloved,

“With men, this is impossible; but with God ALL THINGS are possible” (Matthew 19:26)

There is nothing that God cannot do. There is nothing beyond the scope of the love of God. When Israel wept at the destruction of the Temple, God spoke through the Prophet, saying:

Zechariah 4:7-10 Who art thou, O great mountain? {for the task before them was MOUNTANOUS} before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain {God will do the impossible}: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice…

Who can fix the Temple? God can!
Who can heal Naaman of Leprosy? God can!
Who can give the King wisdom? God can!
Who can feed five thousand? God can!

“Zerubbabel shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it”. God will use Zerubbabel to kill the problem, and the headstone placed on that grave will say “Grace, grace unto it”. DO NOT DESPISE THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS!

Our God Is A Mountain Leveling God!

Take another look at that little boy’s lunch. When his mama packed it that day, what did she put in it? Five barley loaves, and two small fishes. Did you catch that? FIVE barley loaves. FIVE is the number of Grace! Jesus healed a cripple on one of FIVE porches in Bethesda. The little boy’s lunch had FIVE barley loaves.

Let’s read on.

John 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

Jesus said “Make the men sit down”. He doesn’t need anybody’s help to do this. Sit down. You MUST sit down. Wait on the Lord.

Proverbs 20:22 … wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

How many men sat down? FIVE thousand. What is the number of Grace? FIVE. Do you understand now? Sit down – wait on God.

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

Who did the work? The Father. “Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples”. Jesus gave thanks to the Father, for the Father caused the multiplication. Jesus is the visible Member of the Godhead. “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). “I work, and My Father works” (John 5:17). How did Jesus teach us how to pray?

Matthew 6:9-11 … Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread.

The Father is feeding the FIVE thousand with FIVE tiny loaves of bread. The Father is using the Son to do this. There is but ONE MEDIATOR between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). The Son takes the little, and depending on the Grace of God, thanks the Father for what He will do. The Father multiplies the loaves, as Jesus breaks them and passes them out. The disciples take this bounty from the grace of God, and distribute it to those sitting. All eat their fill.

John 6:12-13 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

When they were done, and all had eaten, they gathered the leftovers. Let me ask you: Is the focus on FISH or BREAD?

According to this story, there’s NO FISH left over – at least, not that it’s mentioned. There were FIVE barley loaves, FIVE being the number of Grace. There were “twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves”. Why twelve? Because Jesus was feeding Jews, and there are twelve tribes in Israel.

God’s Grace is more than enough to feed Israel. God fed Israel in the wilderness under Moses. Now God is feeding Israel in the wilderness by Jesus. There is nothing our Jesus cannot do!

No matter what problem you encounter, Beloved, encounter it as a little child. Let your eye be single, simply focused on the Lord Jesus. Give Him the little you have, and let Him bless it, and make it sufficient unto the day. Our God is able. Our Jesus is able. Do not despise the power of Jesus! Let us now go to Him in prayer. Amen and Amen.

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