Treating Others

Posted on October 31, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

How We Should Treat The Poor

Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

Those who are born of God (quickened by the Spirit) are born of GRACE. People born of GRACE are GRACIOUS. God’s people are not stingy nor greedy. The eighth commandment, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) and the tenth commandment “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17) address greed and stinginess. God equated stinginess to theft. He told Israel,

Malachi 3:8-10 (NKJV) “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, [Even] this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, THAT THERE MAY BE FOOD IN MY HOUSE, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you [such] blessing That [there will] not [be room] enough [to receive it].

When a people like Israel – born of the Grace of God – becomes greedy and will not give, then it brings a curse on that people. God wanted His people to give “THAT THERE MAY BE FOOD IN MY HOUSE”. Was God Himself hungry? No. But giving to God’s house gives to those in need. The money that comes into this Church supports missionaries, who carry the Gospel where we cannot go. Our Operation Christmas Child boxes that we fill each year go to poor and needy children who otherwise would not have a Christmas. Through Samaritan’s Purse the Gospel is shared with these children. The food we carry out to the homeless feeds them, and as we distribute food we pray with them.

If God has blessed you, then you should bless others!

Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a BOUNTIFUL EYE {ṭôḇ ʿayin} shall be blessed…

Word Study: The words “BOUNTIFUL EYE” is the Hebrew ṭôḇ ʿayin, which means “a good, pleasant, or agreeable eye”. What we do, that is, what drives our hands, enters in through the eye. The Bible says before Adam and Eve sinned, that “the woman SAW that the tree was good for food” (Genesis 3:6). When Adam SAW Eve eat the fruit without effect, then He ate. What does the Bible say next? “The EYES of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7). The devil works through the EYES first, then he leads us into disobedience.

When we LOOK at someone in need, we are to have “GOOD EYES”. Some people do not give to those in need because they LOOK at them and make judgments. Thank God that Jesus didn’t look at what messes we were and make judgments. Thank God that “WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, Christ DIED FOR US” (Romans 5:8). God looked at us, and saw our impoverished states, and yet gave an infinite price for us. Let us LOOK at the poor with good eyes, with eyes toward grace, not worth.

Proverbs 22:9 for he GIVETH OF HIS BREAD to the poor.

When Jesus preached about the Rich man and Lazarus, WHY DID THE RICH MAN GO TO HELL? Because his heart was not filled with grace toward the poor.

Jesus preached, in Luke 16:19-21 (ESV) There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who DESIRED TO BE FED with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Word Study: The rich man had bread a plenty. Yet what of Lazarus? He “DESIRED TO BE FED”. The word “DESIRED” is the Greek epithymeō, which means “he LONGED TO BE FED”. Lazarus was hungry, and the rich man would not even give him the crumbs from his table. He let the dogs eat, but not Lazarus. The Christ follower, the person who is “quickened” or made alive by the Word of God (Psalm 119:50; 119:93; Ephesians 2:1) and by the Spirit of God looks on the poor with a generous eye. Consider this:

God didn’t even care to know the name of the rich man
– but He knew Lazarus!

Proverbs 22:16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, SHALL SURELY COME TO WANT.

Some who are rich only give to the rich, to those who may benefit them, but not to those in need. God promises that they “SHALL SURELY COME TO WANT”. The stepbrother of Christ wrote:

James 5:1-6 (NKJV) Come now, [you] rich, weep and howl for YOUR MISERIES THAT ARE COMING UPON YOU! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed THE WAGES OF THE LABORERS WHO MOWED YOUR FIELD, WHICH YOU KEPT BACK BY FRAUD, CRY OUT; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

The rich hoard wealth while others suffer in poverty. The rich often cheat workers of their right wages, while living in luxury. Several years ago I worked for a man who paid slave wages, but gave his children lavish gifts for their birthdays and on Christmas. God watched. God says that not the workers, but “THE WAGES OF THE LABORERS WHO MOWED YOUR FIELD, WHICH YOU KEPT BACK BY FRAUD, CRY OUT”. The wages that were hoard cry out to God. God will judge. God did judge this man. He died of pancreatic cancer, and his business is no more. A payday comes someday. Who knows if this man’s life was shortened by his greed? His estate still owes me two week’s wages, which I forgave – but those wages cried out! I often wonder if, when this man died, if he were like the rich man of Luke 16. If so, it was brought on himself!

Proverbs 22:22-23 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted IN THE GATE: 23 For the Lord will plead their cause, and SPOIL THE SOUL OF THOSE THAT SPOILED THEM.

Word Study: “THE GATE”. In the ancient world there was widespread lawlessness. Traveling bands of thieves and mercenaries would come on unprotected cities, and rob inhabitants. Because of this the larger cities would be walled around, protected. The gates of the city were only opened during daylight hours, and here people would enter the city to do business.Parents would take their rebellious children to the gate to be judged:

Deuteronomy 21:18-19 (ESV) If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city AT THE GATE OF THE PLACE WHERE HE LIVES

At the “GATE” was where justice and fair business was to be transacted. If the “GATE” was corrupted, the city was usually corrupted. The poor and disadvantaged were to be treated with respect at the “GATE”.

The Bible warns that “God will SPOIL THE SOUL OF THOSE THAT SPOILED THEM”. What does it mean to “SPOIL THE SOUL”? The greedy have no peace within. God will rob the rich who do so, and they will find no pleasure in what the took wrongly.

How We Should Treat Troublemakers

Proverbs 22:10 CAST OUT THE SCORNER, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

Word Study: The Bible does not tell us to put up with troublemakers. It tells us to “CAST OUT THE SCORNER”. The sentence “CAST OUT THE SCORNER” is but two words in the Hebrew, gāraš lûṣ. Gāraš literally means “to drive away or drive out” (Piel Imperative, this is a COMMAND). Lûṣ means “the mocker or one who belittles others”. God places a premium on unity within a family, a community, a Church, or a country. God tells us to “love our enemies” by “doing good toward them who do bad toward us” …

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV) But I say to you, love your enemies, BLESS those who curse you, DO GOOD to those who hate you, and PRAY for those who spitefully use you and persecute you …

However, in our midst we are to have zero tolerance for troublemakers. Troublemakers are magnets for other troublemakers. For instance, let’s consider the recent “No Kings Marches”. The BBC tells us that “Millions turned out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protests across US”. They estimate that 7 million people turned out for the event. The media has blown this up, inflating it. But let’s put it in perspective:

Population of U.S. = 342,034,432 million
No Kings marchers = 7 million
Percent of U.S. = 2% marched

Let me say a few BIBLICAL things about the “No Kings Marches”. First of all, they are foolish. If President Trump – regardless as to what you think of him – was a King, you wouldn’t be allowed to march and protest. If we were under an authoritarian leadership, like Kings used to be, then it would be like the movie “Braveheart”. Kings had absolute authority, and could ruin your family, or kill you with impunity. Oh, how I wanted to like the movie Braveheart, but I hated it! It portrayed the 13th Century wars of Scottish Independence, led by Scottish Noble William Wallace. Wallace fought against the English occupiers under King Edward I. I didn’t like the movie because William Wallace (portrayed by Mel Gibson) died horribly at the end.

If President Trump were a King, there would have been no protest. 2% of America would not have pranced around and danced like fools, instead of doing something CONSTRUCTIVE. What should they have been doing? Well, if you are a CHRISTIAN, you are told:

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NKJV) Therefore I exhort first of all that SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSIONS, AND GIVING OF THANKS BE MADE FOR ALL MEN, 2 FOR KINGS AND ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For THIS IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD OUR SAVIOR, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if 2% of our population had come out to PRAY FOR the President? But no, they came out to dance and show off silly signs. I had the same problem during the Obama and Biden administrations. Professing Christians were going around saying “That’s not MY President”. Though you might not have agreed with their policies, the Bible says:

Romans 13:1-3 (NKJV) Let EVERY SOUL BE SUBJECT TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES. For there is NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD, and the AUTHORITIES THAT EXIST ARE APPOINTED BY GOD. 2 Therefore WHOEVER RESISTS THE AUTHORITY RESISTS THE ORDINANCE OF GOD, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

We may not agree with whoever is President, but God has established our government with checks and balances. Troublemakers do nothing to help anyone. No one! When the Apostle wrote Romans 13 under the inspiration of God’s Spirit, he was imprisoned by Rome. Paul would eventually be beheaded as a traitor to Rome. Yet he encouraged the believer in Christ to obey the authorities as God ordained – insofar as they do not blatantly go against the clearly revealed Word of God.

What is revealing about troublemakers and the “No Kings” movement is that they have no real idea why they are doing what they do.

I saw numerous reporters go out into the crowds of the 2% of marchers, and ask “Why do you say the President is acting like a King? Why do you say, specifically, that he and his administration is ‘fascist’?” No one could say. Most responded with “He’s acting like a King”, but when asked specifics they could not answer. Troublemakers do not know WHY they are doing what they are doing.

Proverbs 22:10 CAST OUT THE SCORNER, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

God’s solution is this: We are to DO GOOD toward our enemies, toward people we do not agree with. We are to PRAY FOR our leadership. And we are to DRIVE OUT those who are troublemakers. Beloved, I say this with all my heart and love …. especially troublemakers in the Church. God’s Word tells us:

Ephesians 4:1-4 (NKJV) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, 3 endeavoring to KEEP THE UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 [There is] one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling

Avoid The Lazy (And Don’t Be Lazy)

Proverbs 22:13 The slothful man saith, THERE IS A LION WITHOUT, I shall be slain in the streets.

This is very humorous, but well put (of course, for God wrote it). A lazy person is useless. What good comes of saying, “THERE IS A LION WITHOUT”? This is what the network news does today. It reports things that are frightening, or so they think, but offers no solutions. Listen to me, Beloved. If “THERE IS A LION WITHOUT”, what good does hand wringing do? What do we DO to fix the lion situation? Cry about it? If you believe “I shall be slain in the streets”, then the least you can do is stay inside. The lion can’t reach you inside. But after a while, you need to come out to get food and water. So here’s the question:

What do YOU DO?
What can YOU DO to fix the lion situation?

When I was in the military I was taught by my commanders to not bring them a problem without bringing a suggested solution.

What do we DO about the lion? What do I DO about the lion? I have to do better than hide in my house. Here’s a few solutions. (1) Only go outside during the daylight hours, as lions are ambush predators. If you can see it coming, you can avoid it. (2) Once outside, head to a gun store, and get the biggest most powerful gun I can afford. Get plenty of ammo in case I miss the first time. Then shoot the lion when I see it. (3) If guns are illegal in my city, move to a city that is run by people with common sense. Leave California and New York City. Get to Tennessee where it is legal to carry. “Tennessee law allows for permitless handgun carry (openly or concealed) for eligible individuals 21 and older as of July 1, 2021, though there are still restrictions on where firearms can be carried. The state prohibits carrying firearms in certain locations like schools, courthouses, and polling places.” (4) Learn to shoot your gun, or make friends with someone who knows how to shoot a gun and carries one. (5) Buy extra food so you can feed the lion daily. Well fed lions don’t eat humans. (6) If you feel that it is immoral to kill a wandering and murderous lion, make friends with some you can outrun. Lions usually get the slower prey. Do you get the point?

Quit complaining, and ask yourself, “what can I DO about the lion situation to make the lion situation go away”

Proverbs 22:29 Seest thou a man DILIGENT {māhîr} in his business? he shall stand before KINGS; he shall not stand before MEAN {ḥāšōḵ} men.

Word Study: Interesting that we are coming back to “KINGS” once more. The word rendered “DILIGENT” is the Hebrew māhîr, which means “skilled, ready, prompt, quick”. When 2% of America marched in the middle of the day the thought came to my mind, “Don’t they have jobs?” I have a job. I have something I do every day. I stay busy at what my job is. You stay out of trouble if you stay busy. The word translated “MEAN” is the Hebrew ḥāšōḵ, which means “obscure, insignificant, low or trashy people”.

God has made you with a talent. He has gifted you with abilities. You need to keep honing your abilities, and keep seeking what God has made you for. When you stay diligent in doing and minding YOUR OWN BUSINESS and YOUR OWN LIFE rather than run about trying to please others who cannot be pleased, then God will help you reach your potential. Lazy people never fix anything, but make everything worse. Lazy people never reach their God given life. Lazy people settle, like garbage, into the bottom of the pot. But those who focus on EXCELLENCE, who focus on BEING LIKE GOD CALLED US TO BE, these people never find themselves in a crowd of obscure, insignificant people.

Treat Loose People Like A Dangerous Pit

Proverbs 22:14 The MOUTH OF A STRANGE WOMAN IS A DEEP PIT: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

I received a text (not the first time) where someone sent, “Who is this?” Though I don’t usually text, I sent back “This is David B”. Here’s what I got back:

“Hi David (smiley face), nice to meet you! I’m Elena – I’m from Lithuania but I live in New York now. How about you? Where are you from? Maybe I’ve been to your city before”.

I did NOT reply except with one word, “STOP”. Be careful who you make friends with. Be careful on Facebook, X, or one of the Social Media outlets. The devil is trolling. The devil disguises some of his finest demons with lipstick and short dresses, with muscular arms and a he man outlook. Be careful. The “MOUTH OF A STRANGE WOMAN IS A DEEP PIT”. The ancient Mariners warned of a Siren, a dangerous half bird half woman who would lure sailors to their deaths with enchanted songs. Open up your Bibles and listen to God’s Word. Solomon learned that the prettiest women can contain, like a snake, the most venom. The best advise is what I end with:

Proverbs 22:17-21 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. 18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. 19 That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. 20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

Avoid the pits. Follow the Lord Jesus and His Word. Amen!

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Be Careful

Posted on October 31, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Josh Frenette on Unsplash

Be Careful When Among The Powerful

Proverbs 23:1-3 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Jesus often used exaggeration (also called hyperbole or overstatement) to shock or wake up His listeners to a Biblical truth. For instance, in:

Matthew 5:29-30 (ESV) If your RIGHT EYE CAUSES YOU TO SIN, TEAR IT OUT and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into HELL. 30 And if your RIGHT HAND CAUSES YOU TO SIN, CUT IT OFF and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into HELL.

Does Jesus actually expect you to rip out your eye, or cut off your hand? No. But Jesus was imparting to the crowd the horror that is sin, and the horror that unconfessed and unrepented sin can bring us to. Sin is not a small thing, but a big barrier. The “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). It would be horrible to rip out an eye, or cut off a hand. As horrendous as the pain is – or even the thought of doing it – the ripped out eye or cut off hand is but temporary pain. You can get over it. BUT HELL IS FOREVER TORMENT, forever separation from God. My commentary notes:

“Jesus uses vivid imagery to convey the gravity of sin, urging His followers to take drastic measures to avoid temptation and sin. The disciples hang on his every word, grappling with the radical nature of his teachings and the call to live a life of holiness and purity. The scene is a powerful reminder of the transformative impact of Jesus’ words and the profound depth of His love and grace.”

In another case Jesus told His followers:

John 6:53-58 (HCSB) Jesus said to them, I assure you: UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, YOU DO NOT HAVE LIFE IN YOURSELVES. 54 Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, 55 because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your fathers ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.

Did Jesus expect His disciples to cannibalize Him? No. But what He was saying was being saved is more than mere acknowledgment of Jesus – He must be an intimate part of your life.

As Israel ate manna, and the manna became part of their daily lives, we have in intimate daily relationship with Jesus. We cannot go without Him even ONE DAY without hungering for Him – IF we are saved.

It is hyperbole. Solomon uses hyperbole in this verse.

Proverbs 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently WHAT is before thee

Word Study: How do people get to be “RULERS”? They watch those around them, and figure out ways that they can manipulate people in order to gain power or riches. The word translated “WHAT” is the Hebrew ăšer (pro. ash-er’), which is a primitive relative pronoun. Though it can mean “WHAT”, the primary use of the word is “WHO”. Consider who invited you to eat. The fact that great delicacies are set before you may not be because the ruler likes you, but he may be trying to sway you or bribe you away from the right path.

When Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah (Daniel 1:6) were taken into Babylonian captivity, the first thing the rulers did was give them new names:

Daniel 1:7 (ESV) And the chief of the eunuchs GAVE THEM NAMES: Daniel he called BELTESHAZZAR, Hananiah he called SHADRACH, Mishael he called MESHACH, and Azariah he called ABEDNEGO.

To manipulate someone, change their identities. They were given names at birth, by loving and godly parents. “DANIEL” means “God is my Judge”. He was renamed “BELTESAZZAR”, which means “Lord of the exiles treasures”. Those riches that were taken from those who were in Babylonian exile were put in a treasury, and Daniel was the watcher of that treasury. “Hananiah” which means “God has favored” was renamed “SHADRACH” which means “A Great Scribe”. “Mishael” which means “who is what God is” was renamed “MESHACH”, meaning “Guest of the King”. And “Azariah” which means “Yahweh has helped me” was renamed “ABEDNEGO”, which means “The Servant of Nebo” who was a Babylonian god. Their names or identities were all changed from Godly to ungodly, from Heavenly to worldly. But we read:

Daniel 1:8-9 (ESV) But Daniel resolved that he would NOT DEFILE HIMSELF WITH THE KING’S FOOD, OR WITH THE WINE THAT HE DRANK. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs

Daniel and his friends could not control the change of their names, but they could control what they ate. They requested that they not be given the rich foods that the King offered them, but they stayed with the simple food and drink. Daniel and his friends realized that they were not being honored, but manipulated, and that their captors were trying to subvert their faith in God.

Proverbs 23:1-3 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently WHO is before thee: 2 And PUT A KNIFE TO THY THROAT, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for THEY ARE DECEITFUL MEAT.

The rich rulers became rich by manipulation and coercion. Do not fall into their trap. What they offer, and what they have, is fleeting.

Riches Are Fleeting

Proverbs 23:4-5 Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Riches and fame come and go. Sherry and I have been watching the old show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, which ran 14 seasons from 1952-1966. It began on the radio first, and is considered one of the longest running family sitcoms in U.S. television history. Though immensely popular, every member of the cast has passed away. Ozzie died of liver cancer (1975), Harriet of heart failure (1994). David from colon cancer (2011), and Ricky in a plane crash (1985). The riches and fame are gone. They “fly away as an eagle toward heaven”. I noticed on their show – unlike the Andy Griffith Show – they never discussed God, Church, nor prayed over meals. I often wonder if any of those on the show – which I love to watch – are today in Heaven or hell.

The best life is the one that follows Jesus. Rather than labor for temporary wealth – which is fleeting – labor for the Lord. The Bible says:

Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV) Keep your life FREE FROM LOVE OF MONEY, and BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, for He {our Lord Jesus} has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

That is the greatest of riches, that the “Lord is my Helper; I will not fear”. God puts a hedge around those who love Him. We should not be concerned about the riches of this world, but rather “the riches of God’s Grace!”

Ephesians 1:7 (KJV) In {Jesus} we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the RICHES OF HIS GRACE

I love preaching what Paul called …

Ephesians 3:8 (KJV) …. the UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST

The riches of this world come and go. But the riches we have through faith in Jesus never pass away!

Beware Of The Evil Eye

Proverbs 23:6-7 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an EVIL EYE, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For AS HE THINKETH IN HIS HEART, SO IS HE: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but HIS HEART IS NOT WITH THEE.

Word Study: The words rendered “EVIL EYE” is the Hebrew raʿ ʿayin, which means what it says. “EVIL EYE”. What in the world is an evil eye? In the previous chapter we read:

Proverbs 22:9 (KJV) He that hath a BOUNTIFUL EYE shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

The “BOUNTIFUL EYE” is the person who is generous to others, who cares more for people than for riches and money. The person with the “EVIL EYE” is someone who loves money and is covetous, seeking to grab all that they can. The King James uses the phrase “EVIL EYE” in two other places:

Proverbs 28:2 (NKJV) A man with an EVIL EYE hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.

This person will do anything he can do to get his riches – even if it hurts others. If a covetous person, a person who loves money, invites you to eat at his table, it is not because he likes you, but because he is looking for a handle that he can use you by.

You’ve probably met people like this. I have.

1. The person with the evil eye doesn’t want to hang out with you, or even come to your Church. They only come around when they need something.

2. The person with the evil eye never considers that you might need something. The covetous covet – they build their own kingdoms, and don’t care if they step on you as they climb the ladder.

3. The person with the evil eye is self centered and selfish. Life rotates around them, or their organization, and no one else.

4. The person with the evil eye will make promises that they will not keep, and concessions that they will not follow through on. When Ray Kroc convinced the McDonald brothers to sell their name along with their business, Kroc and the brothers made a handshake deal that they would be given future royalty payments. Kroc gave the brothers 2.7 million dollars in 1961, but later refused to pay the royalty payments, as it was not in writing. This cost the brothers and their families over $100 million per year.

5. The person with the evil eye will be back, if you ever give them anything. They do not care about draining your resources, or ruining your life. They will not compromise in their coveting.

RUN FROM THESE PEOPLE!

These are people with defiled hearts. Jesus said:

Mark 7:20-23 (KJV) … That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an EVIL EYE, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

As Solomon said, “HIS HEART IS NOT WITH THEE”. They don’t care about you. Run, run away! If you do not, then the warning is:

Proverbs 23:8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

If you eat with the person that has the evil eye, if you sit at his table, that little bit you get will come back up on you. John Gill wrote in his commentary:

“It shall turn in thy stomach, thou shall not be able to keep it, when thou understandest thou art not welcome; or thou wilt wish thou hadst never eaten a bit, or that thou couldest vomit up what thou hast; so disagreeable is the thought of being unwelcome, or when this appears to be the case; and lose thy sweet words; expressed in thankfulness to the master of the feast, in praise of his food, in pleasantry with him, and the other guests at table; all which are repented of when a man finds he is not welcome.”

Or as my mama used to say, “You will rue the day!”

Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a FOOL: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

I believe in sharing the Gospel with everyone. I love to broadcast the truth of Christ’s glorious Gospel. Yet some people, when you share Bible truth with them, are clearly godless. Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 7:6 (ESV) Do not give DOGS what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before PIGS, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

The Bible uses the words “DOG” and “PIG” or swine metaphorically. Jesus is not talking about literal dogs or pigs, but people who are lost and are determined to stay lost. We should share the Gospel with whosoever will, because Jesus Christ died for the world (John 3:16). I never miss a chance to speak to or pray for others in the name of Jesus. Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 10:14 (ESV) And if anyone will not receive you OR LISTEN TO YOUR WORDS, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. (see also Luke 9:5; Mark 6:11)

My commentary notes:

“There was a spiritual significance to a disciple of Jesus shaking the dust off his feet. It was a statement of finality about people who had been given the truth and who had rejected it. On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas put Jesus’ words into practice. They had been preaching in Pisidian Antioch, but some of the Jewish leaders of that city stirred up persecution against the missionaries and had them expelled from the region. “So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium” (Acts 13:51). Antioch may not have welcomed the gospel as they should have, but that didn’t keep the message from spreading to other areas. Paul and Barnabas had done all they were sent to do, and the responsibility was now on the shoulders of those in Antioch. The apostles had proclaimed truth boldly. Some had accepted it eagerly; some had rejected it with violence. The apostles were not responsible for the Antiochians’ level of acceptance, only for their own obedience to God.”

We are to tell others about Jesus, to share His truth with them – and if they will not hear, it’s on them, not on us. We are responsible to be obedient to God, but we are not responsible for making others believe, or for taking the punishment for what they themselves choose to do. God told the Prophet:

Ezekiel 3:16-19 (ESV) … the word of the LORD came to me: 17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, YOU SHALL GIVE THEM WARNING FROM ME. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and YOU GIVE HIM NO WARNING, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but HIS BLOOD I WILL REQUIRE AT YOUR HAND. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and HE DOES NOT TURN from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Our responsibility is to tell others. But we are not to chase the fool who will not listen. That’s not our calling. We are to give God’s Word as HE presented it. Yet some people will mock at or sneer at the Biblical truth.

Proverbs 29:9 (ESV) If a wise man has an argument with a fool,the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.

Trying to teach someone divine wisdom while they reject divine wisdom is a waste of time. Only God can change the heart of a person. We need not wear ourselves out trying to be God.

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The Author, The Achiever, The Architect

Posted on October 28, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Bradley Lembach on Unsplash

Ephesians 2:18-22 (KJV)For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner Stone; 21 In Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

I was at my doctor’s office this past Wednesday, and while I was waiting (and waiting) I was “redeeming the time” (Ephesians 5:15-16) by reading a good book. The book I’m currently reading is Thomas Watson’s “The Doctrine of Repentance”. Watson was a Puritan Pastor (1620-1686) who rejected the teachings of the Church of England, a spin off of the Catholic Church. He was persecuted as a “non-conformist” because he would not follow the state endorsed churches. Watson died at 66 years old, suddenly, while in his prayer closet with the Lord. The man loved Jesus! In talking about repentance, Watson wrote:

“Before a man can come to Christ, he must first come to himself. … where we cannot see our own sin, there can be no repentance. … Would it not be strange if two people lived together, and ate and drank together, yet did not know each other? But this is how it is with a sinner; his body and soul live together and work together, but still he does not know himself. He does not know his own heart, nor what a hell he carries within him. {Listen to this} People are veiled over with ignorance and self love; they do not see what deformed souls they have. The devil does with them what the falconer does with the hawk. He blindfolds them so they cannot see he is carrying them to hell…”

I like that statement about the sinner, whose “body and soul live together and work together, but still he does not know himself”. I really believe that the reason for the confusion in our country today (transgenderism, choose your pronouns, people trying to be animals or furries, boys in girls sports) is because people are desperately seeking identity, seeking who they are. Beloved,

You will never discover WHO you are until you discover the ONE WHO created you.

It is my prayer today that God give as many as are under the sound of my voice the gift of repentance. When the Apostle Peter was telling the Jewish Church how the Gentiles were being saved through the Gospel of Christ, the Church leaders praised God, saying,

Acts 11:18 (ESV) Then to the Gentiles also GOD HAS GRANTED REPENTANCE that leads to life.

It is God Who gives REPENTANCE, Who must open the eyes of the lost. When Peter and the Apostles were told to NOT preach Christ, they said:

Acts 5:29-32 (NKJV) We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up JESUS whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand [to be] Prince and Savior, TO GIVE REPENTANCE TO ISRAEL and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and [so] also [is] the Holy Spirit WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM.

As we can see from our Acts passage, the TRINITY OF GOD is involved in salvation. God the Father raised up the Lord Jesus from the grave. The Father exalted Jesus to be both PRINCE AND SAVIOR – Jesus is LORD and Jesus is SAVIOR. God gives REPENTANCE, and then FORGIVENESS OF SINS, along with THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD … but only to “THOSE WHO OBEY HIM”.

Beloved, you are given a choice once God grants repentance to either call on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved and to live in Him … or NOT. You do not save yourself, but you must answer the call.

Ephesians 2:18 (KJV)For THROUGH HIM we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Jesus Christ Is The AUTHOR and
Finisher Of Salvation

You cannot write your name in God’s Book, in the Book of Life. You need to understand that – apart from the Lord Jesus Christ – you are absolutely and resolutely condemned before God. Your so called “Good Works” count for nothing without Jesus. The Bible is very clear and concise on this. We are told in:

Romans 3:10, 23 (NKJV) As it is written: “There is NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE; … 23 for ALL have sinned and FALL SHORT of the glory of God,

The Bible speaks of a Great White Throne, a terrifying time when those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will stand before God. John the Revelator said:

Revelation 20:12, 15 (NKJV) And I saw THE DEAD, small and great, STANDING BEFORE GOD, and BOOKS were opened. And ANOTHER BOOK was opened, which is THE BOOK OF LIFE. And THE DEAD WERE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS, by the things which were written in the books. … 15 And ANYONE NOT FOUND WRITTEN in the BOOK OF LIFE was cast into the lake of fire.

The person who stands before God in the coming judgment is relying on their “good” works, the religious things they did in this life. But their works are no good. They may have been sincere. They may have tried with all their might. But these people without Christ are “THE DEAD”. Dead things are standing before the Living God (Deuteronomy 5:26; 1 Samuel 17:26; Psalm 42:2; 84:2; Romans 9:26). They should have come to God. What does our text tell us?

Ephesians 2:18 (KJV) For THROUGH HIM we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

“THROUGH HIM”, through Christ Jesus we have access to the Father. The Bible says that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. The Bible says that Christ’s primary mission was to save sinners. Jesus clearly said, “the Son of Man has come to SEEK AND SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST” (Luke 19:10). Jesus clearly said “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Bible says that “we look UNTO JESUS, the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). And yet people hear the Gospel is to believe on, to receive Christ as Lord and Savior, and yet persist in believing “oh, I’m as good as anyone. If I die, surely I’ll go to Heaven”. No, this is a lie from Satan, a lie from your pride.

At the Great White Throne “THE DEAD” will have their works judged, and they are all insufficient. We are told “ANYONE NOT FOUND WRITTEN in the BOOK OF LIFE was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

We are not the Authors of our salvation. Jesus Christ is THE AUTHOR and FINISHER of our salvation. You must repent, and come to Him with empty hands and willing hearts.

Pastor and Author Warren Wiersbe said it so clearly. He said:

“The unbeliever is not sick; he is dead! He does not need resuscitation; he needs resurrection. All lost sinners are dead, and the only difference between one sinner and another is the state of decay. The lost derelict on skid row may be more decayed outwardly than the unsaved society leader, but both are dead in sin—and one corpse cannot be more dead than another! This means that our world is one vast graveyard, filled with people who are dead while they live.”

Dr. Robert Lightner of Dallas Theological Seminary wrote:

“God is the only one who could solve the problem which man’s sin presented to Him. After man’s fall God the Father began in time the plan of salvation which He devised before time began. This divine plan centered in his divine Son: “He gave His only begotten Son” because He “so loved the world” (John 3:16). “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).”

Jesus Christ is the Author of salvation. The Father sent Him from glory to this earth to open the door of Heaven for us. A favorite text of many is:

John 3:16-17 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

God wants no one wandering through this life confused. He made you on purpose. You are not an accident, and not inconsequential. You are made in His image to do more than just exist and then die. It is “THROUGH JESUS we have access by one Spirit UNTO THE FATHER”. The Father cannot do anything about your life if you do not receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Do you want to please God? Do you want to have a wonderful life, the life God wants for you? Then DO the work of God!

John 6:29 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Jesus is not just the AUTHOR of salvation, but He is the FINISHER. He gave everything He had to save you. What does He want from you? REPENT. Give Him YOUR LIFE. He gave His life for you, for me, for everyone. The Scripture says:

Romans 5:6-10 (NKJV) For when we were still without strength, in due time CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY. … 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM WRATH THROUGH HIM. 10 For if when we were enemies we were RECONCILED TO GOD {THE FATHER} THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, much more, having been reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.

It is only “THROUGH CHRIST” that we have access to the Father. It is not through your “good” works, nor your sincerity – but only through Jesus.

Christ Is The Author, The Holy Spirit
The ACHIEVER Of Salvation

Ephesians 2:18 (KJV)For through Him we both have access BY ONE SPIRIT unto the Father.

Those who stand before the Great White Throne are called “THE DEAD”. They are, one and all, spiritually dead. They are people in whom the Holy Spirit has not worked.

Ephesians 2:4-7 (KJV) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath QUICKENED US TOGETHER with Christ, (BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED;) 6 And HATH RAISED US UP TOGETHER, and made US sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit changes the status of those who come to Christ. Without the Spirit, you are “THE DEAD”. You are destined to end up at a Great White Throne, and will be cast into a LAKE OF FIRE where you will NEVER ESCAPE. Dead things go into that terrible lake. But once you REPENT and RECEIVE the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to your life.

Ephesians 2:18-19 (KJV)For through Christ we both have access BY ONE SPIRIT unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, but FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, and OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD;

Before salvation you are a “STRANGER” to God. God knows you, but as a dead thing. You are alive in His world, but do not know Him nor consider Him as a matter of fact. You are “FOREIGNERS”. You do not speak the language of God, nor seek to understand His ways. You are a stranger in a strange land, and God seems far from you. Here’s a mark that you’re lost:

If you think life is “all about me”, and you think nothing of God in your daily lives, you are “DEAD”, strangers and foreigners to God.

Psalm 10:4 (ESV) In the PRIDE of his face the wicked does not seek {God}; all his thoughts are, “THERE IS NO GOD”.

Those without Christ may seem religious and sincere, but they care nothing for God. Their faith is surface, much like the Pharisees of whom Jesus said:

Matthew 23:27-28 (LSB) … For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are FULL OF DEAD MEN’S BONES and all uncleanness. 28 In this way, you also OUTWARDLY appear righteous to men, but INWARDLY you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Hell will be filled with religious people. Hell will be filled with sincere people. Hell will be filled with “good” people. Hell will be filled with those without Christ, without the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When you receive the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit changes you to be …

FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS

That word “CITIZEN” should be easy enough to understand. A citizen to God is someone who LIVES IN CHRIST’S KINGDOM not just THEN, but NOW. The Bible says:

Colossians 1:13 (LSB) {God} rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us TO THE KINGDOM OF THE SON of His love

We do not belong to this present fallen world, but to His Kingdom. We are citizens first and foremost to the Kingdom of Christ. When the Apostle Paul was going to be beaten by the Romans, he appealed to his Roman citizenship (Acts 16:37; 21:39). The Roman authorities immediately back away from whipping him – citizens have rights! We who have believed on Jesus are a part of His Kingdom, and HE IS OUR LORD. We follow Him. Jesus said,

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

John 15:10 (ESV) If you keep my commandments, YOU WILL ABIDE IN MY LOVE, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

The Holy Spirit brings you into the Kingdom of Christ. But the Holy Spirit also does something else. When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Spirit brings you into …

THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

You are adopted by God the Spirit, brought into God’s family. You are not just citizens, but God makes you more than His creation. He makes you HIS CHILDREN. The Bible tells the believer in Christ:

Romans 8:14-17 (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 {the Holy Spirit} WE CRY, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that WE ARE THE 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.

Galatians 4:4-7 (LSB) But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS. 6 And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE, BUT A SON; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Before you received Jesus as Lord and Savior, you were slaves to sin, servants of the darkness. But now, because of Jesus, because of the Holy Spirit, your salvation has been achieved and will keep on being achieved. If you are saved, you are a product of God’s hand. If that is true then I can say with the Apostle:

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that HE WHO HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL COMPLETE IT until the day of Jesus Christ;

The God Who made all things will finish what He has started in the Christ follower.

God The Father Is The ARCHITECT Of Our Faith

Ephesians 2:20-22 (KJV)And are BUILT upon the FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner Stone; 21 In Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

What is God the Father doing? Were we who are saved just saved so we can go to Heaven? Were we saved just so that God can keep us out of the Lake of Fire? No!

If you are saved, you are saved into His Kingdom. If you are saved, you are saved together with others to be a HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD.

God the Father is the Architect, the Planner of our salvation. He did not save us without purpose. Before there was an Israel, man worshiped God at singular, man made altars. After God called Abraham to salvation, ABRAHAM BUILT an altar and worshiped God (Genesis 12:7-8). When Abraham’s son Isaac gave himself to Jesus, ISAAC BUILT an altar (Genesis 26:25) and worshiped God. When Isaac’s son JACOB went into the land of Promise, JACOB BUILT an altar (Genesis 35:7) in the place where he saw the Lord. When Jacob’s family grew into Israel the nation, God had ISRAEL BUILD a Tabernacle, a Tent to worship Him in (Exodus 25:9). It was planned out by God the Father, but built by man. Much later King David’s son King Solomon was allowed TO BUILD A TEMPLE to worship God in (1 Kings 5:17). So follow this, dear ones.

Man began by worshiping God ALONE, at man made altars.
Then God designed a Tabernacle, but His people built it.
Then God designed a Temple, but once more humans built it.

These things were all temporary. God slowly introduced us to what He would do through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament altar was man made, and its foundation was dirt or stone. The Old Testament Tabernacle was built on dirt. The Old Temple was built on stone. These things were all EARTHLY, all OF THIS WORLD. These were all but “COPY and SHADOWS of the Heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). These were but “SHADOWS of the GOOD THINGS TO COME” (Hebrews 10:1).

The Father planned the Church. The Son died for the Church. The Holy Spirit is building the Church. The Master’s Plan is the Church.

Ephesians 2:20 (KJV) And are BUILT upon the FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner Stone;

The Church is not built on dirt like an altar or the Tabernacle. The Church’s foundation is not stone like the Temple. Those things are temporary, and faded with time. The Church is built on “the FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS”, the eternal writings that we call the Holy Bible. When God’s people come together in love, we are the Church. Hear me!

We don’t “go to Church”. We ARE the Church!

That which holds the Church together is Jesus Christ. He is the “Chief Corner Stone”. My commentary notes:

“Since ancient times, builders have used cornerstones in their construction projects. A cornerstone was the principal stone, usually placed at the corner of an edifice, to guide the workers in their course. The cornerstone was usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed of any in the edifice. The Bible describes Jesus as the cornerstone that His church would be built upon. He is foundational. Once the cornerstone was set, it became the basis for determining every measurement in the remaining construction; everything was aligned to it. As the cornerstone of the building of the church, Jesus is our standard of measure and alignment.”

The Prophet said of Christ in Isaiah 28:16-17 (ESV) thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am the One who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a Stone, a Tested Stone, a Precious Cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.

The Church belongs to Jesus. The Church glorifies the Lord Who made us. Jesus promised, “I will build MY CHURCH, and the GATES OF HELL will NOT prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The Church is not temporary. It is permanent. The Church is not built on earth or stone, but on Scripture and Jesus. The Church is a body of believers – the Kingdom of Christ – gathered together to worship Him.

Ephesians 2:21(KJV) In Whom {in Jesus Christ, in God} all the building fitly framed together GROWETH INTO A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD:

The Church is God’s Temple. Not this building, but the people who gather together to worship the Lord Jesus. The Church – that body of believers – who loves Jesus will grow spiritually and numerically. It will grow brighter and brighter to the glory of God.

Ephesians 2:22 In Whom {In God} ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

God lives in His Church. He lives in the midst of His people. We cling to Jesus Christ our Lord. We stand on what the Word of God teaches. We love one another, as Christ has loved us. Amen.

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Repent, Restore, Reap

Posted on October 28, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by jose alfonso sierra on Unsplash

Galatians 6:1-4 BRETHREN, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

The great Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said before he went to be with Jesus:

“I don’t ask people if they’re ‘saved’ anymore. Who isn’t ‘saved’, from the White House to the jail house? I look a person in the eye and say, ‘Does Christ live in you?’ ‘I was saved in…’ ‘I didn’t ask you that. I’m asking you does Christ live in you?’ Christianity is the only religion in the world where a man’s God comes and lives inside of him. A Chinese scholar was given a copy of the New Testament. He’s read the Quran, he’s read the Vedas (the Hindi writings), and all the (other) sacred books. (He was asked) ‘What’s the most amazing thing you read?’ He said ‘The most awesome thing is in Ephesians chapter 2. It says ‘I times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. At the end of that chapter it says, ‘You are the habitation of God’. Does your God live inside of you? That’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever read! I’ve never read where a man’s God comes and makes that man the habitation of God.”

God lives in the Christian. Paul starts out this section with the word “BRETHREN”. He’s not talking to Jews (as Paul was a Jew), but but to fellow believers in Christ. The Christian is a person who has been “born again” or “quickened” by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:23). The Christian is “indwelt by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 8:9). The Christian, as we saw in the last chapter, is called of God to:

Galatians 5:16, 18 (KJV) WALK IN THE SPIRIT… 18 if ye be LED OF THE SPIRIT, ye are not under the law.

The Child of God, the Christ follower, is not to follow after the flesh and after sin, but to follow after the Spirit of God. The Christian is not to be a sinner, but a saint, a disciple of Christ. Saved by Grace, the Bible says to the children of God:

Romans 6:14-18 (NKJV) For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, YOU ARE THAT ONE’S SLAVES TO WHOM YOU OBEY, whether of sin [leading] to death, or of obedience [leading] to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that [though] you WERE SLAVES OF SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been SET FREE FROM SIN, you became slaves of righteousness.

The Christian is set free from the dominion of sin. God lives inside of us. We are to “walk in the Spirit”, that is, walk yielded to God’s leading. But here’s the question:

What if a Christian sins?
How should we as family handle this?

Galatians 6:1 BRETHREN, if a man be OVERTAKEN {prolambanō} in a FAULT {paraptōma}, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Word Study: The word translated “OVERTAKEN” is interesting, because it means “to be grabbed, to seize”. The word translated “FAULT” means “something that trespasses against or deviates from truth and righteousness”. When we as believers do something that God within us tells us not to do, do something which God has clearly forbade in the Scripture, then we can become seized by it. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sin is a trap. Sin is offensive to God. Sin is counterproductive to the mission of the Church, a stain on the gown of Christ’s Bride. Sin is not to be winked at, but repented of, and left alone.

Sin is spiritual poison ivy – handle it, and it spreads and devastates not just you, but others around you!

Word Study: In the event that a believer in the Church falls away, and begins to walk in the flesh rather than walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21), then the Apostle calls on “those who are SPIRITUAL” to do something with that believer. The Spiritual, God led believers are to “RESTORE” (katartizō, “to render sound or complete, to repair”). This word is first used in the New Testament when Jesus began to call His Apostles:

Matthew 4:21 (KJV) And going on from thence, {Jesus} saw other two brethren, James [the son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, MENDING {katartizō} their nets; and He called them.

The fishermen James and John were not making new nets. Their nets had been torn because they had been catching fish, and pulling them into their lives. Sometimes believers, like nets, cast themselves in the direction of something that God has forbidden. It tears their souls. Like nets, the fallen brother in Christ needs repair. Let’s use the imagery of the fishermen and the net being restored, and apply this to our text.

1 The net cannot be restored while it is filled with fish. The net must be emptied before the breach can be closed. Even so, no believer can be “restored” or mended while they are actively in their sin. In the Church of Corinth, The Apostle Paul was aghast! He wrote:

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 (ESV) It is actually reported that THERE IS SEXUAL IMMORALITY AMONG YOU, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for A MAN HAS HIS FATHER’S WIFE. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be REMOVED FROM AMONG YOU.

Restoration does not mean to look the other way. When someone in the active membership of the local Church – someone who is supposed to be a believer in Christ – gets into sexual sin, they are to be “REMOVED FROM AMONG YOU”. We are not to wink at the heterosexual or homosexual sinner in “tolerance”. God does not tolerate it, and neither should we. Before anyone can be RESTORED, they must first REPENT. The net must be emptied of sin. Paul told the Church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 5:4-7 (ESV)When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to DELIVER THIS MAN TO SATAN FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

The Church is a Body of Believers walking in the Spirit, walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. If someone begins to walk in the flesh and will not repent, we are to lovingly withdraw fellowship from them. Paul goes on to say:

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 (ESV) But now I am writing to you NOT TO ASSOCIATE WITH ANYONE WHO BEARS THE NAME OF BROTHER if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “PURGE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOU.”

The unrepentant and flesh walking “brother in Christ” – we are not to embrace him, but to remove fellowship from them. Can that person still come to the Church? Certainly! We want the sinner to come to Church. But we do not commiserate with that person, nor justify that person.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little sin spreads and infuses the whole Church. We love them, but do not condone their action.

At a Church I pastored a certain man began to live in sexual sin with his girlfriend. When he came to Church, it was reported to me that several members approached them, and encouraged them to get married. He professed to be a Christian. She professed to be a Christian. I myself talked to them, but they made excuses and refused to repent. They stopped coming to Church, mad at the Church for saying anything about the situation.

Good! Beloved, the wages of sin is death. If we love our fellow believers, we will encourage them to get away from sin.

2 Once the net is emptied, the person has repented, they are to be repaired. The net is not repaired with non-net material. It is repaired with the same material that was broken. We repair the net by loving the person, and sharing the Word of God with them. We pray with them, and care for them. If we were offended, we forgive them. Jesus said:

Luke 17:3-4 (KJV) Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, REBUKE HIM; and IF HE REPENT, FORGIVE HIM. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Word Study: Restoration of the fallen brother or sister is done “IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”. We are to be very careful not to fall into self righteousness. Restoration is done “IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS”. The word “MEEKNESS” is the Greek πρ ότης praiótēs, {pronounced ᾳ prah-ot’-ace}, which means “gentleness, mildness, in a humble way”. Meekness or humility is one of the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 MEEKNESS {praiótēs}, temperance: against such there is no law.

Meekness or humility does not add to nor take away from the Word of God, but submits to it. We are to be humble with the returning fallen, for Beloved, we ourselves may fall! The Scripture says in

Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and MEEKNESS (PRAIÓTĒS), with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, MEEKNESS (PRAIÓTĒS), long suffering”.

We pray for one another. We share Scripture with one another. We need one another.

Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s BURDENS (Báros), and so fulfill THE LAW OF CHRIST.

If a brother or sister in Christ fall, but repent and return, we are to receive them as the Father received the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31). We are not to be like the fault finding elder brother, puffed up and angry.

Those who are spiritual are the ones who seek to fulfill “THE LAW OF CHRIST”.

The Law of Christ is God’s Law of Love. Romans 13:8, 10 tells us, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love [is] the fulfillment of the law.” We fulfill the Law of Christ when we encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We point the fallen to Christ. We do not condemn them, but love them as wounded members of the body.

Galatians 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

We are all broken creatures, and could all be overtaken by sin. Let us rest in Christ, and love one another. We are all broken creatures who could be snared on any day.

Our strength is to be not in ourselves, but “In Christ”.

I was reading a book this morning called “Lessons From The Upper Room” by Sinclair B Ferguson. In that book Pastor Ferguson noted that the word “Christian” is only found three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). The believer in Jesus is called “in Christ” over two hundred times. When a brother or sister in Christ falls from Christ, we are to show them how to get back “in Christ” through repentance and obedience. We are not superior to them because we have not fallen. We have not fallen because we are “In Christ”. Beware of pride! 1 Corinthians 8:2 warns us that “if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth NOTHING yet as he ought to know”.

God Will Hold YOU Accountable – No One Can Live The Christian Life For Anyone Else

Galatians 6:4-5 But let every man PROVE HIS OWN WORK, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For EVERY MAN SHALL BEAR HIS OWN BURDEN.

I might not have fallen into trespasses, but one thing that can sneak up on us all is complacency and laziness. When God calls us to salvation, He does not just call us to HEAVEN, but to LIVING FOR HIM. He calls us to WORK. Though Adam was created perfect, God placed him in a perfect garden to “dress and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Salvation is entirely by Grace. Retention of salvation is entirely by Grace. But once saved, we are called to DO GOOD for GOD.

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand that WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.

The Christ follower is to “WALK in GOOD WORKS”. God expects His Children by faith in Christ to work for Him. We are to “let our light shine before others, so that the world may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Salvation is not just a moment in time, but it is a continuing event, a work in progress. Believers are to live our lives bringing glory to our God.

Our works are the proof of the genuineness of our faith.

Christians are to live for Jesus, to glorify Him. Jesus said “I am the Vine, and you are the Branches” (John 15:5). We are called together as Christ’s Church to do good and to glorify our Lord. Pastor Voddie Baucham preached before going to be with Jesus:

“Be careful about how you talk about Christ’s Bride (the Church). He is her Head. He loves her. He’s perfecting her. And He is One with her. We do not hold the Church in the kind of esteem that we ought to if we truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those who say, no, no, no, I love Jesus, just not the Church. It’s like coming up to me and saying, I love you, I believe we just should be friends. But I just need you to keep your wife away from me because I don’t like her. I love you, and want to have a close, intimate relationship with you, but I hate the one that you have united yourself to in a one flesh covenant that we call marriage. Can that be okay? And the answer is absolutely not! Yet that’s exactly what we do with Christ and His bride, the Church.”

Voddie went on to say, “I have been asked why is it that these charlatans have churches with thousands and thousands of people. My answer is that those are not churches – they’re goat farms, filled with people with itching ears!”

Beloved, ever believer in Christ is saved to a Church, and within that Church every believer is saved to walk in good works. There is coming a judgment day for the lost, and what a terrible day that will be. But there is coming a judgment day for the believer. The Bible says:

Romans 2:6-11 (ESV) {God} will render to each one ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS: 7 to those who by patience in WELL-DOING seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who DOES EVIL, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who DOES GOOD, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality …

Works and salvation are tied together. You do not work to BE saved, but once saved by faith you do good BECAUSE YOU ARE SAVED. You do good within a Church Family. You do good within the Kingdom of God.

God said:

Romans 14:10-12 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the SOUL of the Christian is not in question, but the VALUE OF THE WORKS that Christian did for God while on the earth. You and I will “bear our own burden”. We will not be allowed to blame others for what we did. We won’t be able to find ways to deflect our guilt, nor ways to manufacture innocence. God the Son, using God the Holy Spirit, will examine the deeds that we have done while in this body, whether good or bad. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 (ESV) … each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation {of Jesus Christ} survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s WORK IS BURNED UP, HE WILL SUFFER LOSS, THOUGH HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED, but only as through fire.

We were left on this earth to be “laborers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9). The Apostle continues:

Galatians 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

The lost person may walk an aisle, be baptized, join a Church – then walk away, believing themselves to be saved when they think nothing of Christ and His Kingdom. Listen Beloved:

The proof of new birth, of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, is in your works. If you walked the aisle years ago but perpetually live sowing to the flesh, then, dear friend, YOU ARE NOT SAVED. If you are saved you love Jesus, you love His Word, you love His people, and you love the lost person. There is no such thing as a fruitless Christian!

So for you who are true believers, born again of the Spirit, indwelt by God, heed these words:

Galatians 6:9-10 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Do Good, for Jesus and for His glory. Amen!

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The Nature of Christ

Posted on October 19, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash

Galatians 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Have You Received The Nature Of Christ?

When the early Church began to grow, and Peter along with the other Apostles went out with the glorious Gospel of Christ, the Church reached out to the Jews, but spent little reaching to the Gentiles. All preaching was on Solomon’s Porch in Jerusalem. All of the Gospel was shared where it was comfortable. We all have that problem within us. We like to stay with the familiar.

It is true that on the Day of Pentecost that God gave Peter and the Apostles the ability to speak in other languages so as to share the Gospel. But the Bible tells us that these people that heard the Gospel on Pentecost were jews:

Acts 2:5 (ESV) Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem JEWS, DEVOUT MEN FROM EVERY NATION under heaven.

These were Jews, not Gentiles. These were Jews who had been living in other countries so long that they had adopted the language of those countries. God gave the 120 from the upper room the ability to share the Gospel in the language these Jews were speaking:

Acts 2:6-8 (ESV) And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that WE HEAR, EACH OF US IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE?

The Holy Spirit empowered the 120 to preach the Gospel. The barriers that God erected at the Tower of Babel were removed – temporarily – so the Gospel could go forth. But listen – the Gospel was being preached to the Jews, not the Gentiles. The languages that they were preaching the Gospel in was the language of “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11). Could Gentiles have been hearing the Gospel? Certainly, but the target was the Jews. Though Phillip did witness to the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:27-39), the target audience of the Gospel was the Jews, not the Gentiles.

Then God sent Peter to Cornelius, a Centurion of the Italian Cohort. Cornelius was a man saved by Grace. Though a Gentile, he feared God, gave generously, and prayed continually to God (Acts 10:2). God sent Peter to Cornelius. Peter said,

Acts 10:28 (ESV) And {Peter} said to {Cornelius, and those Gentiles with him}, You yourselves know how UNLAWFUL IT IS FOR A JEW TO ASSOCIATE WITH OR TO VISIT ANYONE OF ANOTHER NATION, but GOD HAS SHOWN ME that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Peter and the Jewish Church did not reach out to the Gentiles, because the Pharisees had so twisted the Law of God that he had been taught that it was UNLAWFUL to reach out to the Gentiles.

It was never UNLAWFUL to reach out to the Gentiles. God told Israel:

Isaiah 60:3 (NKJV) The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Yet Israel had allowed religion to twist the Law. They were NOT the Light of the World. But God corrected this. He sent Peter to Cornelius, and Peter shared the Gospel of salvation with Cornelius and his household:

Acts 10:34-36 (ESV) So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY, 35 but in EVERY NATION anyone who FEARS HIM and DOES WHAT IS RIGHT IS ACCEPTABLE TO HIM. 36 As for the Word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).

Peter shared the Whole Gospel with Cornelius and his household, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah sent from God. The Bible says that as Peter ended with his presentation,

Acts 10:44-47 (ESV) While Peter was still saying these things, THE HOLY SPIRIT FELL ON ALL WHO HEARD THE WORD. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS POURED OUT even on the Gentiles. 46 For THEY WERE HEARING THEM SPEAK IN TONGUES AND EXTOL GOD. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT just as we have?

On the Day of Pentecost, the 120 were enabled by God to speak the Gospel and glorify God in other earth languages. In order to teach Peter, the Lord enabled the Gentiles to speak probably Aramaic or Hebrew, languages that Peter and the other Jews would understand. It was not gibberish, because they were “SPEAKING IN TONGUES AND EXTOLLING OR GLORIFYING GOD”. It was evident that the Holy Spirit did this. He was present, and had imparted the same God given ability to the Gentiles in the home of Cornelius that He gave to the 120 on the Day of Pentecost. The Bible tells us that:

“The Holy Spirit fell on them”
“The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on them”
“They received the Holy Spirit”

Beloved, the Holy Spirit MUST come to you, and MUST work in your life if you are indeed saved. I’m not talking about the Gift of Tongues. When the Holy Spirit comes to you,

You are INDWELT of the Spirit (John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
You are BORN AGAIN of the Spirit (John 3:3-7)
You are SEALED of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)
You are ASSISTED IN PRAYER by the Spirit (Jude 20)
You are EMPOWERED by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
You are GIFTED by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4)
You become the WORKMANSHIP of the Spirit (Ephesians 2:10)

Being the WORKMANSHIP of the Spirit means to WALK in the Spirit. A non-believer cannot walk in the Spirit.

I was talking to a fellow today who stopped by my office, and told me how he went to a Church that relied heavily on symbology – lighting of candles, etc. This fellow was impressed by all the pageantry that he saw. Many “churches” practice smoke and mirrors, chants and incantation, worship of leaders (Popes, Cardinals, etc), but this is not walking in the Spirit. Other “churches” practice “speaking in tongues”, something not tied to the proclamation of the Gospel nor earthly languages. That is not walking in the Spirit.

To walk in the Spirit is the normal way of life for the born again believer. Walking in the Spirit is the fulfillment of what God promised Israel as the New Covenant. God told His people:

Ezekiel 11:19-21 (NKJV) Then I will give them one heart, and I WILL PUT A NEW SPIRIT WITHIN THEM, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH, 20 that they may WALK IN MY STATUTES, AND KEEP MY JUDGMENTS, AND DO THEM; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But [as for those] whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.

And again,

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NKJV) I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART, AND PUT A NEW SPIRIT WITHIN YOU; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. 27 I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES, and you will keep My judgments and do [them].

God called this “the NEW COVENANT” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It is Jesus Christ Who brought us the New Covenant. At the Lord’s Table Jesus took the Cup and said:

Matthew 26:28 (NKJV) For this is MY BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mark 14:24 (NKJV) And He said to them, This is MY BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT, which is shed for many.

Those who are born again are:

2 Corinthians 3:6 (NKJV) who also made us sufficient as MINISTERS OF THE NEW COVENANT, NOT OF THE LETTER BUT OF THE SPIRIT; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

We share the Gospel of Christ, the fact that Christ suffered and died for all. We share what Jesus shared, “REPENT, for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is at hand!” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus preached:

Mark 1:15 (NKJV) … The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.

Faith in Jesus Christ leads us out of Egypt, and into the Christian way of life.

If You Have Not Walked OUT Of Egypt,
You Cannot Walk IN The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

To “Walk in the Spirit” has nothing to do with
speaking in tongues.

It has to do with WHO you are walking with. The world walks in darkness. The world walks in the flesh. The world walks with a heart of stone to God, satisfying itself. It walks with an eye to satisfying SELF without regard to God. The Bible says:

Proverbs 4:19 (NKJV) THE WAY OF THE WICKED IS LIKE DARKNESS; They do not know what makes them stumble.

The lost think their way is right. They “LEAVE THE PATHS OF UPRIGHTNESS to WALK IN THE WAYS OF DARKNESS” (Proverbs 2:13). When Jesus came into the world, how did He come? Herod sought to kill Him, and killed many babies in Bethlehem. The Pharisees plotted to kill Him. The Chief Priests and religious crowd hated Him. Why? Jesus said:

John 3:19-21 (ESV) … Light has come into the world, and PEOPLE LOVED THE DARKNESS rather than the light because THEIR WORKS WERE EVIL. 20 For EVERYONE WHO DOES WICKED THINGS HATES THE LIGHT and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But WHOEVER DOES WHAT IS TRUE comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Illustrate: Those who are Christ’s have received the nature of Christ. I’ve seen junk yards, and in those junk yards people have cast off all manner of things to be recycled. In junkyards they have these large electromagnets that pass over scraps. If it is metal like iron or steel, the magnet will draw it up, and that which is unsuitable will fall to the earth. That which has the same nature as the magnet will RISE UP and be SEPARATE. This is a picture of the believer in Christ. The believer in Christ is well acquainted with the Holy Spirit. The believer is INDWELT, BORN AGAIN, SEALED, ASSISTED IN PRAYER, EMPOWERED and GIFTED by the Spirit. The believer is the WORKMANSHIP of the Spirit. God passes over the believer’s life each day. Though we may stumble, though we may fail at times, falling under the flesh, the Holy Spirit like a magnet will draw us back to God.

I know, because I’ve fallen many times. Yet even when fallen, the Spirit like a magnet draws me back toward God.

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

When you are BORN AGAIN, your nature changes. You are not as you were. This is the intent of what Jesus did on the Cross.

Romans 8:1-9 (ESV) 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. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

When you come to Christ repenting and receiving Him, the Holy Spirit sets you free from the Law of Moses, and Indwells you. Now the Law of God is written in your hearts. The Christ follower does not live according to the flesh, according to what WE want, but according to the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible tells us that “THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD”. But we who believe are not in the flesh. We are “IN THE SPIRIT, IF IN FACT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU”. If the Spirit of God does not indwell you, then you are NOT SAVED.

The Bible is clear, though. We are under the Law of God, or we are under the Spirit of God. The word “LAW” appears 498 times in the Scripture. The LAW of Moses cannot make us right with God. That was not the Law’s intent. The Bible says:

Romans 3:28 (ESV) For we hold that ONE IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH APART FROM WORKS OF THE LAW.

The animal sacrifices, the Levitical Priesthood, the Holy of Holies in the Temple could not justify you, make you right with God. The sacrifices had to be done over and over and over again because they were but shadows, temporary, until Christ came. “WE UPHOLD THE LAW” (Romans 3:31) as Christ followers, not following the letter, but the Spirit of God. Because salvation is a supernatural event, the saved die to their old man, and are given the nature of Christ. Paul wrote:

Romans 7:4-6 (ESV) Likewise, my brothers, YOU ALSO HAVE DIED TO THE LAW THROUGH THE BODY OF CHRIST, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may BEAR FRUIT FOR GOD. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now WE ARE RELEASED FROM THE LAW, having died to that which held us captive, so that WE SERVE IN THE NEW WAY OF THE SPIRIT and not in the old way of the written code.

God changes us when we are saved. God the Holy Spirit effects us, moves us, works in us. We are in partnership with the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. So, IS THE LAW GONE?

Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

If you are saved by Grace, God has sent
His Spirit to live in your heart.

Galatians 4:6 (ESV) And because you are sons, GOD HAS SENT THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON INTO OUR HEARTS, crying, “Abba! Father!”

We know Whose we are. We belong to the family of God, and the Holy Spirit works in our hearts. Though we still have sinful desires and selfishness, the Holy Spirit guides us to love the Father and love others. While we are walking selflessly, in the Spirit, we are not under the Law. But if we become lawless, the Bible says:

1 Timothy 1:9-11 (NKJV) knowing this: that THE LAW IS NOT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS PERSON, BUT FOR THE LAWLESS and insubordinate, for [the] ungodly and for sinners, for [the] unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

If you claim to be a “Christian Homosexual” or a “Christian” who lives in sexual sin, then the Law is still for you. You live by the Spirit, or you live by the Law.

The Law is not eradicated by any means. It is the Law – written by God Himself – that will be read out before the Great White Throne. The Cross of Calvary did not apply whiteout to the Old Testament Law. On the contrary. Every person on planet earth is EITHER UNDER THE LAW – OR UNDER THE SPIRIT.

If that which leads you through this life is the “WORKS OF THE FLESH”, then the Bible is very clear “YOU WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD”. Let’s look at that Scripture:

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE MANIFEST {phaneros, easily recognized}, which are these; Adultery {violation of one man one woman marriage}, fornication {porneia, illicit sexual intercourse}, uncleanness {akatharsia, vile sexuality, Romans 1:24}, lasciviousness {aselgeia, wanton behavior}, 20 Idolatry {eidōlolatria}, witchcraft {pharmakeia, drug use, sorcery}, hatred {echthra, hostility}, variance {eris, contentiousness, trouble making}, emulations {zēlos, envy, covetousness}, wrath {thymos}, strife {eritheia, power seeking}, seditions {dichostasia, little clique or factions}, heresies {hairesis, those who follow their own doctrine}, 21 Envyings {phthonos}, murders {phonos, to slaughter}, drunkenness {methē}, revellings {kōmos, rioting}, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

It is very clear that those who desire to follow the “WORKS OF THE FLESH” are not believers in Christ, and have not been born again of the Spirit. Believers may fall into these things, and desire these things. But if you are indwelt of the Spirit, you cannot comfortably stay in the works of the flesh. Pastor John MacArthur said:

“The only legitimate evidence of real salvation is a transformed life. That’s it. That’s the only evidence. If it’s not there, then there’s no salvation. … You would expect an unregenerate, unredeemed, unbelieving sinner to behave that way … and that’s because it’s consistent with his nature. But if you have a new nature, if you have been begotten by the Spirit of God, you are a new creation. … that is manifestly evidenced because of your new creation. Transformation is the only test of true salvation. It’s not perfect. I sometimes say it’s not perfection, but it is direction. It’s the way your life goes toward obedience. … that’s what Jesus said in John 8. Whoever continues in My Word is My true disciple, the real thing.”

The Christian is not perfect, and will, at times, fall into the flesh. But we will not stay there. I had to break down the works of the flesh into their composite Greek words – a very tedious and hard chore. Why? Because the works of the flesh are all SELF driven, SELF focused, SELF exalting. There are very many works of the flesh. But compare this with the works of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Those words practically define themselves. They are outside of selfishness. They are outside of pettiness. These words are seen in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In short, if you are saved, you will have the nature of Christ. Not the world, but Christ.

We end with:

Galatians 5:24-26 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Salvation begins with self denial, a willing crucifixion of the flesh with its affections and lusts. We daily deny ourselves, pick up the Cross, and follow our Lord. One day we will follow Him into glory. I can hardly wait. I sure hope I see you all there. And I will, if you are saved by Grace, born again of the Spirit – if you have the nature of Christ.

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Christ Is Our Peace

Posted on October 19, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Ingmar on Unsplash

Ephesians 2:14-15 For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace …

God Calls ALL The Broken And Hopeless By Grace

When God called Israel to be His people, He called them by Grace. It was by Grace Adam was given Paradise, and by Grace Adam was not destroyed when he disobeyed the Lord. It was by Grace Noah and his family was spared, and by Grace the world was destroyed by flood but mankind continued on. It was by Grace Abraham was called to follow God, and by Grace Isaac was born, though Abraham sinned with Hagar. It was by Grace Jacob, the younger son, was given the blessing of God, and by Grace Jacob became Israel. It was by Grace God established Israel in Egypt, and by Grace Israel was led out of Egypt. It was by Grace God gave Israel the Promised Land. When you go through the Bible you will see Grace upon Grace. We previously read in Ephesians:

Ephesians 1:7 (KJV) In Whom {Jesus} we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Ephesians 2:7 (KJV) That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

The problem with people is that we are fickle creatures. Israel was fickle, we are fickle.

When I say that word (and the Holy Spirit brought it to my mind), it is an adjective that means,

“Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; impulsive, unpredictable; not fixed or firm, unstable, not firm in opinion or purpose; of a changeable mind.”

God gave Grace upon Grace upon Grace to Israel. Why did God do this? Because God made a promise to Abraham:

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

God promised (and God is not fickle) to make a GREAT NATION (Israel) out of nothing, for Abraham had no children. But God also promised (and God is not fickle) that He would “BLESS ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH”. Not just what would one day become Israel, but EVERYONE. The Bible says that Israel was supposed to be the Light of the world when Jesus came through her. The Prophet wrote:

Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

When Christ came He would be “a LIGHT for revelation TO THE GENTILES and for GLORY to ISRAEL” (Luke 2:32). When Israel kept wandering away from God, God kept bringing them back. It was like herding cats! But God chose Israel. It was through Israel God was going to bring the Messiah! Let me be honest right now.

Israel repeated turned from God to false gods.
From following Christ, to trying to be Christ.
And yet God did not destroy her.

God did not give up on Israel. The prophets nearly gave up on Israel, but God did not! When Isaiah despaired because the people would not listen, When Isaiah cried out to God, saying,

Isaiah 49:4 (ESV) … I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.

God told Isaiah,

Isaiah 49:6-7 (ESV) … It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.

God does not give up! What He has planned will always come forth. When Jesus came into the world, He came to save whosoever will believe in Him. Why? Because

1 Timothy 1:15 …. Christ Jesus came into the world to save SINNERS

Jesus is an Israelite, but He came to save the world. Not just Jews, but ALL NATIONS. He came as a fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham, “In you shall ALL THE NATIONS be blessed”. The Bible says that Jesus Christ came …

Romans 1:16 (ESV) … to the Jew first and ALSO to the Greek.

Not just to the Jews – but to the Gentiles as well. When Christ came to this world through Israel, Gentiles were segregated from the Jews. Unbelief and fickleness crept into the Israel that God saved by Grace, and Israel was no longer the “light to lighten the Gentiles”. The Gentiles were shunned by the Jews, for the Gentiles were not circumcised.

Ephesians 2:11-12 (KJV) Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world

There was a sad time in our nation’s history when there were “Whites Only” laundromats, “Whites Only” drinking fountains, “Whites Only” restaurants, “Whites Only” schools and businesses. Those who were black were expected to ride in the back of the bus if they rode at all. Imagine how you would feel as a black person in this atmosphere.

This is what the Jews did to the Gentiles.
Not for water, or clothing, or eating, or transportation.
They were told GOD DON’T WANT YOU!

The Gentiles were identified as “Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision”. We were not worthy to go and make sacrifices to God in the Temple. We were not worthy – according to the Pharisees – for us to approach God through a priest. The Outer Court was called the Court of the Gentiles, but even the Jews had taken over this “Blacks only” place. Imagine this.

Listen To This: You walk toward the Temple and into the “Court of the Gentiles”. It’s the only place you are allowed to go because you are the “UNCIRCUMCISION”. There are signs all over the place. “Gentiles NOT WELCOME beyond this point”. You are unworthy, so Israel said. So you approach that Court that you are allowed to go into, and what do you find? People selling sacrifices, making money off of Jews who have come to the Temple to make offerings and atonement to God. Do you understand what the Gentiles saw?

The Jews were selling sacrifices in YOUR space, sacrifices that YOU could not even make to God. YOU WERE TRASH!

Paul was, at one time, one of the Pharisees that did not offer the Gentiles even a glimpse of God. As the Apostle writes these words, he knows how far the Gentiles were from salvation. He says, “at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel”. Since you were not circumcised, were not a Jew, God was not for you. God gave grace to Israel, but there was no Grace for you.

Man’s religion equated circumcision with worth, and race with worthiness to be saved. Since you were neither Jew nor circumcised by a Jewish priest, God did not want you.

Paul goes on to say, that you were “strangers from the covenants of promise”. Not because God didn’t promise this in Abraham, but because unbelieving circumcised people parading as religious experts said God had nothing to do with you! God didn’t say this. We read earlier that God told Abraham, “In You shall ALL THE NATIONS BE BLESSED”. God came for everybody. God saved a useless nation called Israel, and made it useful. God wanted to use Israel to being His Son into the world, and so save all the world. But the PHARISEES – on my Lord, those people are still around today, even in this Church – the PHARISEES discounted the Gentiles as unworthy of salvation, and rejected from the promises of Grace. The Gentiles, “having no hope, and without God in the world”.

Then Jesus came into the world.

Jesus walked into the Court of the Gentiles, where the Jews had hijacked it to sell sacrifices to all BUT THE GENTILES. What did Jesus do? At the beginning of His ministry, we read:

John 2:14-16 (NKJV) {Jesus} found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

Jesus called the Court of the Gentiles “My Father’s house”. The Gentiles mattered. Every person matters. YOU matter to God. At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, just before He went to the Cross, we read that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, as multitudes praised God for Him. Jesus got off that donkey, and we read:

Matthew 21:12-13 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’

The first time Jesus chased the money changers and sellers out of the Court of the Gentiles, He said they were making God’s House a “House of Profit”. But the second time He did so, He said they had made God’s House into a “Den of Thieves”. It’s supposed to be a House of Prayer, a place where ANYONE can come to God.

God Is Calling You

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who SOMETIMES were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Word Study: See the word “SOMETIMES”. This is no pun – SOMETIMES the King James translates a word not quite correctly. This is the Greek pote (pro. pot-eh’), which means “in time past”. The Apostle has been telling us that there was a time before Jesus when we who are Gentiles “WERE FAR OFF” (makran, a long way away). Israel who was supposed to be “a LIGHT FOR THE NATIONS” (Isaiah 42:6-7) turned from her job. Rather than reach out to Gentiles, she developed religious ways to shun the people that God promised to Abraham.

“BUT NOW IN CHRIST JESUS”. The Church of Christ, His Bride, does not shun anyone. We carry His wonderful Gospel to the world. What is that Gospel. “are made nigh {near to God} by the blood of Christ”. It is the BLOOD of Jesus Christ that saves us from our sins. When the Gentiles went toward the Temple, they could not go past the Court of the Gentiles by reason of death. The Gentiles had no access to God, no Atonement, no Grace. But because of Jesus,

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NKJV) Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and [having] a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of [our] hope without wavering, for He who promised [is] faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as [is] the manner of some, but exhorting [one another], and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Whereas before, under the Old Covenant, we could not bring sacrifices to the High Priest at the entrance of the Holy of Holies, NOW we can enter INTO THE HEAVENLY HOLY OF HOLIES, into the very Presence of God. The High Priest Who represents us is Christ, and it is HIS BLOOD that is the Atonement, the covering for our sins.

We were far off, but if we believe in Him, in Jesus Christ, we are set apart, we are SANCTIFIED by the Blood of the Lamb (Hebrews 13:12). When you call out to God in your brokenness, when you cry out to Him Who “loved you, and gave Himself up for you” (Ephesians 5:2), God the Father sends His Holy Holy Spirit to quicken you, to cause you to be born again into the family of God. Whereas there was a barrier of sin between you and God, through the Blood of Christ we are brought near to God.

We are brought into His family!

Ephesians 2:14-15 For He {Jesus} is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in His flesh the ENMITY, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Word Study: The word translated “ENMITY” is the Greek echthra, which means “hatred between enemies”. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins “IN HIS FLESH”. The Law of God is good in that it is diagnostic, it shows that we are all at heart sinners. The Law was weaponized by the Pharisees, twisted by the Sadducees, and ignored by the Herodians. But God gave the Law as a Teacher, as we have previously studied:

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

The Jews and the Gentiles were divided, separated by the Law. But now, IN CHRIST, He takes away the divisions. If a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then there is no caste distinction. The Bible says:

Galatians 3:28 (KJV) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 (KJV) Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.

There are no second class citizens in the Kingdom of God. There are no lesser thans. Those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Who have believed that His Blood paid it all, they are brothers and sisters in Christ, and priests before God.

When John the Revelator was caused to look into Heaven, He saw the Saints of God, the believers in Christ gathered around His Throne. The Bible says:

Revelation 5:9-10 (NKJV) {the Saints} sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll {O Jesus}, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

There is only one way to come to God, to have peace with God, and that is through the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on that Cross for whosoever will. His Blood is the unifier. He brings us to God. He defeats racism, and brings us together. He reminds us that all are broken, and all need His Cross. The Christian, given the nature of Christ by the Holy Spirit, loves his fellow believer, and respects his fellow man as the creation of God. Jesus is the RECONCILER. We read:

Ephesians 2:16-18 And that He might reconcile both {Jews and Gentiles} unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both {Jews and Gentiles} have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Oh Beloved, do you have peace with God? Oh Loved ones, are you victims or victors? Are you enjoying the Presence of God daily – or are you still far off? Dear friends, we are reconciled to God by the Blood of the Lamb. We are at peace with God because of Jesus. God has not given up on you, not yet. If you are far off from God, it is not because of Jesus. He calls you today. Will you come? In a moment we’ll be singing our invitation, a song about the Blood of Jesus. Don’t just sing it. LISTEN TO IT. As Jerry comes forward, listen:

1. Jesus, keep me near the Cross,
There a precious Fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.
In the cross, In the cross,
Be my glory ever.
Till my ransomed soul shall find,
Rest beyond the river.

4. Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me,
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadow o’er me.
In the cross, In the cross,
Be my glory ever.
Till my ransomed soul shall find,
Rest beyond the river.

May God touch your hearts. Amen.

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The Rapture

Posted on October 17, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

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1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

On October 10, 2025 there was an explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant in Hickman County, Tennessee. Sixteen people died in that catastrophic explosion. The explosion was so powerful it registered as an 1.6 magnitude earthquake with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – it was felt as far away as 155 miles. The sixteen people are presumed dead, and no bodies are recovered at this time. The question is,

What of those who were believers in Christ (assuming there were) among the sixteen? Are they with Jesus now, or do they somehow wait on the earth for the resurrection?

This past Sunday in Sunday School we studied and discussed the verses we opened with. Well, not all of the verses. It caused a problem in some of the Sunday School Classes, so I wanted to quickly address this tonight. One of my problems with Lifeway Studies is that it often leaves out significant Scripture in the Sunday School Lessons. The lesson did explain that verses 16-18 were about the Rapture of the Church. And they are. But the confusion I have heard from our members is, “I thought that Christians, when they pass from this life, immediately go to Heaven. So why do these verses seem to teach that Jesus is resurrecting people who are sleeping on the earth? The answer is simple. The Lifeway material DID NOT SHOW VERSES 13-15, which give us CONTEXT.

Omitted From The Sunday School Material

1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

So let’s break it down tonight, because proper understanding of where you go when you leave this life is necessary to a proper understanding as to what happened to those 16 poor souls in Hickman County. It also explains what happens to those believers in Christ:

Who died (and die) at sea, and were eaten by fish;
Who died in nuclear blasts (like Hiroshima or Nagasaki);
Who died (and die) in house fires, and cannot be found;
Who died (and die) in forests, and were eaten by animals

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to be morbid. What happens when we die – and WHY IS THE CONTEXT OF SCRIPTURE SO VERY IMPORTANT?

Why Did God Direct Paul To Write
This Section Of Scripture?

The devil will do everything he can to stall or disrupt the function of the Church of Christ. If he cannot get someone to reject the Gospel, he will push confusion into the membership of the Church. The Bible says:

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

When confusion is evident, God is not in it. It is the devil who tries to throw a wrench into God’s Work. In the case of the Church at Thessalonica, people were told that “The Day of the Lord” was passed, and that those who died before Jesus came would miss His coming. Christians began to fret and worry that their loved ones would miss out on the glory of Jesus’ coming. So let’s read the Scripture in context. The Apostle writes:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, CONCERNING THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Who is Paul talking about “THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP”? When a believer in Christ dies, the Bible says “they fall asleep”. For instance, when Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Christ, the Bible says:

Acts 7:59-60 (ESV) as they {the Pharisees} were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, HE FELL ASLEEP.

Two things happened in this text. Stephen cried out “LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT”. His soul went to be with Jesus. But then “HE FELL ASLEEP”. His body “slept”. When you see a person in a casket, it appears as if they “sleep”. Their body does “sleep”. Sleep is a temporary state. The body sleeps, but the soul is elsewhere. When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, our Lord said:

John 11:11 (ESV) Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I GO TO AWAKEN HIM.

Lazarus was “dead”, passed from this life. But Jesus was going to awaken him, just as He did with Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8:52.

Sleep is a metaphor for the physical death of the body.

The Prophet Daniel wrote:

Daniel 12:2 (ESV) And many of those who SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH shall awake, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, and SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT.

When you die, your earthly body “sleeps” in the dust of the earth. The wicked will be resurrected one day and cast into a lake of fire. The righteous, however, will be re-created, and given glorified bodies. This is what we call “The Rapture”.

What about the Soul?

The Soul does not sleep, only the body. The Bible says:

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Upon death, the soul leaves the body and returns to God Who made it. If you are a Christ follower, your soul returns to where Jesus presently is – PRAISE HIM! The Apostle wrote in:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV) So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be ABSENT FROM THE BODY AND TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD.

Though God is everywhere, and God hears our prayers (for He has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” – Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Matthew 28:20; John 14:18; Psalm 94:14), we are not literally in Heave with Him until we leave this life. When we leave this body, our souls go to be with Jesus. What did Jesus tell the repentant thief next to Him on the Cross?

Luke 23:43 (ESV) Truly, I say to you, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep are ALWAYS TOGETHER, in life or in death.

Your body sleeps in the dust of the earth – but your SOUL goes to be with Jesus. There are some who believe that, upon death, you are in unconscious sleep until the resurrection. Our Lord Jesus didn’t believe this. In the story He told of The Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus said:

Luke 16:22-23 (NKJV) {Lazarus died} was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And BEING IN TORMENTS in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

When the Rich Man died, he was “IN TORMENTS”, awake and suffering in hell. But Jesus said that “Lazarus was COMFORTED” (Luke 16:25). Both Lazarus and the Rich man were AWARE of where they were. They were not sleeping, that is, their souls were awake. Their BODIES were sleeping in the dust of the earth.

Our souls do not sleep after passing from this life. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah stood talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:3). What were they talking with Jesus about? The Bible says:

Luke 9:31 (ESV) {Moses and Elijah} appeared in glory and SPOKE OF HIS DEPARTURE {the crucifixion}, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

When the Apostle John was allowed to look into Heaven, what did he see? The Bible says:

Revelation 6:9-10 (KJV) I saw under the altar THE SOULS of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

SOULS – not bodies but SOULS – are gathered around the Throne of God. They are crying out for vengeance on those who martyred them. God gives them rest, and encourages them that judgment is coming!

The Rapture Is The Uniting Of The Believer’s Soul
With A Glorified Body

Jesus told Martha:

John 11:25 (NKJV) I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, HE SHALL LIVE. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me SHALL NEVER DIE.

The body dies – it sleeps in the dust of the earth. But the soul goes to be with Jesus. This is why CONTEXT matters, Lifeway!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP, {those whose bodies sleep in the dust of the earth} that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which SLEEP in Jesus WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM.

When Jesus returns to Rapture His Church, those which “SLEEP IN JESUS”, that is, those whose bodies sleep in the earth, “WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM”. Those who departed this life prior to the Rapture, we are told, Jesus will bring them with Him. The Bridgeway Bible Commentary notes:

“Among the Thessalonians, some were worried that those in their church who had died would not share in the return of Christ and the final triumph of his kingdom. Paul assures them that they will share in his return just as they share in his death and resurrection. (13-14). Believers who have died, far from being at a disadvantage, will be raised to life first. Believers still alive will join them, and together they will meet Christ and be with him for ever (15-17). Christian faith should give people hope and encouragement. They should see death not as a tragic end but as a glorious entrance into something new (18; cf. v. 13b).”

In the previous chapter Paul wrote:

1 Thessalonians 3:13 (NKJV) so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

When He comes, He comes “with ALL HIS SAINTS”. When Jesus returns with the Saints who have departed this earth:

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST:

This is a reference to the making of the glorified body. The body of the saint will be recreated from the dust of the earth. Those who were destroyed physically, who were eaten by animals, who were burned up in fire or cremated, whose bodies cannot be found, God doesn’t care. What is impossible for man is possible with God. God will, at Rapture, give those believers whose souls have been in Heaven their glorified bodies first. We are told:

THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST

Rise from where? The grave? The sea? The woods? The dust of the ground? It doesn’t say, nor should we care. The point is, our God is faithful! What He has promised, He will do.

When God made Adam, He made him from the dust of the earth. He will make our bodies PERFECT from the dust of the earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD.

The Good Shepherd shall have all His sheep. We will be reunited forever with Him in glory. Following the Rapture, there will be a Great Tribulation. And that is a lesson for another day.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Let’s pray!

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The State Of The Saint

Posted on October 13, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Ephesians 2:1-6 And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Nicolas Roske, who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in June 2022, was recently sentenced. The Justice Department sought a 30 year sentence, but Judge Deborah Boardman imposed an 8 year sentence. When asked about this, Senator John Kennedy (R-La) stated: “The sentence is way too little. He will be out in six years, and will be a danger to society.”

The Senator went on to say:

“I don’t know why people are like that. If I make it to heaven, I’m going to ask, but there’s some people that hurt other people, and they take other people’s stuff and, to protect everybody else, you’ve got to isolate them.”

I like Senator Kennedy. He seems down to earth, and speaks with common sense. Some of the things he’s said are very incisive:

“Power does not change you; it unmasks you.”

“If you believe that tax policy has nothing to do with the economy, then you’re pretty much like a rock, only dumber.”

“We don’t need more gun control laws. We need more idiot control.”

There’s two things I want to say about Kennedy’s statement on the Roske Sentencing. He spoke about the evil in the world, saying “I don’t know why people are like that. If I make it to heaven, I’m going to ask”. You don’t have to wait for Heaven to ask. The Bible tells you why people are that way. We’re going to see it today in our focal text. It will be very clear. But I also want to say this. Senator Kennedy said,

“IF I MAKE IT TO HEAVEN”

I think Senator Kennedy is a great guy. But his words expose a fallacy that people think is Biblical, but it isn’t. “IF I make it to Heaven”.

The devil has convinced people that they can work their way to Heaven. This is a common thought in the world today. I see it among Church members. I see it among preachers. We cannot work our way to Heaven. The reason bad people do bad things is tied to our inability to save ourselves.

The Apostle wrote in 1 John 5:13-15 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

The Christian KNOWS that he has eternal life. The Christian KNOWS that God is his Father, and God HEARS our prayers, as long as those prayers do not violate the character of God. We must pray “according to his will”. Then John goes on to say:

1 John 5:18-19 (ESV) We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him {self from sin}, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

There are two states of being in this world. There are those who are “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26, NKJV). These people – commonly called “Christians” but Biblically called “Saints” or “Disciples of Christ”, are people whom God has saved. Those who are NOT saved by faith are “in the power of the evil one”.

There are the SAVED, born again of the Spirit, changed by God the Holy Spirit. They are QUICKENED. Then there are the LOST, those who are without Christ. They are SPIRITUALLY DEAD, unattached to God.

Let’s look at our text.

All Are Dead Apart From God’s Intervention

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

Sometimes Bible translators add text that is not in the original language of the Scripture to aid in the reading of the text. That’s what’s happening in this verse. The words hath he quickenedare not found in verse 1 – and are not necessary to the truth taught. The text reads:

And you WHO WERE DEAD in trespasses and sins

When Adam disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6) the Bible says:

Genesis 3:7 (ESV) … the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked

Before Adam sinned, his eyes were opened to God and God’s love. But after Adam sinned, his eyes were focused on the flesh, on his flesh, not on the Spirit of God. Adam immediately started walking apart from God. Adam did what HE thought was “good”. Adam “sewed fig leaves together and made themselves clothing”. When Adam heard God coming, “he hid himself from God” (Genesis 3:8). Whereas Adam loved God, now he wanted to be apart from God. When God called out Adam’s sin, Adam blamed others for his sin, rather than repent (Genesis 3:12). This pattern was repeated in Eve. By his actions, Adam brought spiritual death into the world.

The Bible teaches that when man fell from God that every part of man – his mind, his will, his emotions, his flesh – was corrupted by sin. As babies we are born into this world PHYSICALLY alive, but SPIRITUALLY dead.

Word Study: Those without God like to think that they can earn their way to Heaven by their works. But the Bible says we are born into this world “DEAD in trespasses and sins”. The word “TRESPASSES” (Greek paraptōma) literally means “to fall short of a goal or a target”. When Adam sinned, he thought he could make it better by building a suit of clothes out of fig leaves. But that didn’t please God. People today think, “Well, if I do this, or do that, it will please God”. But the person WITHOUT God cannot please God by his works. The Bible says:

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Apart from the power of God, even our “good deeds” are like “POLLUTED GARMENTS”, or as the King James says, “FILTHY RAGS”. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 7:17-18 (KJV) every GOOD tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

We are born into this world sinners. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,and in sin did my mother conceive me.

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

People are born separated from God. The only exception is in the case of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is God incarnate, and so was born without sin (Hebrews 4:15; 9:28). But for everyone else that is not Jesus, we are born spiritually dead, addicted to the flesh. People love darkness. It’s in their very nature. Jesus said,

John 3:19 (ESV) … the Light has come into the world {this is Jesus}, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

People love the darkness. People love their sins. People are born into this world enslaved to their sins. Jesus said:

John 8:34 (ESV) … Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

So why do people do the evil, Senator Kennedy? Because they are born into this world spiritually dead. Before God intervenes and saves a person, the Bible says:

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Born apart from God, we “walk according to the COURSE {Greek aiōn, the Age, Period, or Time} OF THIS WORLD”. Until God intervenes, we are all born into THIS PRESENT EARTH, in this TIME, walking apart from God. No one is naturally “good”. Now, not everyone is as bad as they can be. But no one, unless God intervenes, wants to walk with God. We “walk” or live our lives as unbelievers “according to the prince of the power of the air”. This is one of the titles of Satan. He is a “PRINCE” because he has authority (1 John 5:19, the whole world is in the power of the wicked one). Satan has power over “THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE”. He entices, he fans the flames of rebellion against God and His Christ. Satan told Jesus that “I own the world, all the kingdoms and their glory” (Matthew 4:8-9). Jesus didn’t correct the devil, but said that only God is to be worshiped (Matthew 4:10).

The whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. But Jesus is greater than Satan!

Before a person meets Jesus, before God causes a change in a person, the Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our CONVERSATION {anastrephō} in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Word Study: Without God’s intervention, we are all bound to sin. The word “CONVERSATION” is the Greek anastrephō, which means “the place we live, our home”. The lost person makes themselves at home with “desires of the flesh and of the mind”. We are our own gods, for we have rejected God and His Son Jesus Christ. Because of this, the Bible defines the lost person as “by nature the children of wrath”. People have the concept that God loves everyone as they are. Not true. God loves you as His creation. But God placed all His love for you in Jesus Christ His Son. Listen to me:

God Cannot Love You Apart From His Son

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith He loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

God shows His love for us, His mercy, His great Kindness by offering us a way out of spiritual death. That Way is Christ, faith in the Lord Jesus! God raises us from a state of spiritual death when we receive Jesus as the Christ, our Lord and Savior. I heard a preacher make this statement:

“There is no place in the New Testament where God says we are to REPENT OF OUR SINS.”

That’s a profound statement – and it is true. God calls us to repent. But it doesn’t mean to be sorry for our sins. The word “REPENT” is the Greek metanoeō, which means “to change the mind”. Here’s the thing. IF we are DEAD IN SINS, blinded to our sin, and are born into this world DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS, then how are we to REPENT and feel sorry for our sins? Repent means to LOOK GODWARD, and give your life to Him. It means to look upward and say,

“Lord, I’m broken. My way of life isn’t working. I give myself to You. I will follow You. I am no longer my own god. You and You alone are my God! I love You, Jesus!”

Word Study: God opens our eyes at the point of salvation, and gives us a choice to either accept or reject Jesus Christ as Lord. If we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, God responds to this and “quickens us together with Christ”. The word translated “QUICKENS” is the Greek syzōopoieō which means “to make ALIVE TOGETHER WITH”. This word is found twice in the Scripture. Here, and in:

Colossians 2:13 (KJV) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together [syzōopoieō] with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

At the point of salvation, you are removed from the Kingdom of Satan and are moved into the Kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NASB) {God the Father} rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

When you REPENT and STOP BEING YOUR OWN GOD, when you CALL ON JESUS for salvation, falling in love with Him, God makes you alive TOGETHER with CHRIST. Before you were without God, and were your own gods. NOW you follow Jesus, you love Jesus. You are bound to Jesus. As Jesus lives, you live. As Jesus is alive forever, you are alive forever. As Jesus is the Son of God, you are sons and daughters of God. Your destiny is with Jesus. This is not by your works, but “BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED”.

Your first birth brought you to spiritual death. Now, born again Saint, you are spiritually alive. You do not belong to the domain darkness and sin – but to the Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son.

Ephesians 2:6-7 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

GOD raised us up. We are SAINTS, not sinners. We are His DISCIPLES, not the devil’s. We are, right at this moment, “MADE to SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS”. We didn’t get there by our power, but by God’s power. We are quickened TOGETHER WITH CHRIST.

At the Pastor’s Conference, one Pastor asked the question “What is repentance?” I said that I believe repentance is acknowledging our helplessness, and relying on the riches of God’s Grace. You see, when we sin, we have three HUMAN options:

1. We can minimize the sin, and try through our own ‘good works’ to cover up our sin, or

2. We can blame someone else for our sin, or

3. We can hide from God, ignoring Him

Repentance is to do none of these things. It is to cast yourself on the riches of God’s Grace, for that is the only way you can be right with God. Repentance is to look upward, and with humility say “You, God, are God. I am not. I am a broken thing. But I want to be Yours. I ask You, in the Name of Jesus, to change me, to change my state, to change my kingdom. I rest on what Jesus Christ did for me at Calvary. I believe in You, O Lord. Not in me, but in You!”

What is my part in salvation, and what is God’s part? The best answer for this is seen in the earthly ministry of Christ. When Jesus said “stretch out your hand” the man with the withered hand did as Jesus said. He obeyed Jesus! When Jesus said “take up your bed, and walk” the crippled man heard Jesus. He picked up his bed and walked. He didn’t care what the Pharisees said. He didn’t care that is was the Sabbath. He just obeyed Jesus! He heard, and followed. When the blind man needed sight Jesus told him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, the man had to do as Jesus said before he could see. In each and every case when a person was healed they obeyed Jesus. They did absolutely nothing to heal themselves.

They came to Jesus, they did as Jesus said, and they were healed.

God did not use man in the creation of all things. God spoke, and it came into being. God the Father planned creation, and created all things through His Son Jesus. God the Spirit moved on creation. God’s Word brings life. The Psalmist said (Psalm 119:50) “Thy Word, O God, hath quickened me. By You I am alive!” How does salvation come? God says, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else” (Isaiah 14:22). Here is the text that saved C.H. Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, and this same text will save you. Look unto God and be saved. Look unto God, knowing that what I try to do God will not do. My sufficiency and my salvation is in God.

Salvation Is – From Start To Finish –
Entirely A Work Of God

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.

Spiritual life cannot come forth out of that which is dead unless God bring it forth. God speaking through the Prophet said:

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

Those whose nature is evil cannot make themselves good, any more than the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots. Job asked,

Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

There is not one person who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing. We cannot clean ourselves up. We cannot get better over time. That which is dirt stays dirt, and that which is bitter stays bitter, unless God enact the change. How does God change a person? Not by our efforts, but by Grace through faith. We believe what the Lord has said. We REPENT and RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST. He is both Lord and Savior to the Saint. The Bible says:

John 1:12-13 (NKJV) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

New Birth or the Quickening does not come about because we are better than others. It does not come about because we will it. We are quickened – made alive together with Christ – when we surrender our lives to Him Who loves us, and gave Himself for us. Once a person is saved:

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 Saint of God no longer walks in the darkness with Satan and the lost. The Saint of God walks with Jesus. We who are saved do the works that are pleasing to God. So … here’s a little test.

Once you were “saved”, were you more aware of God in your life?

Once you were “saved”, did you want to please the Lord with what you do?

Once you were “saved”, do you look forward to being with other Saints?

Once you were “saved”, do you care more for people than you used to?

Saints, We ARE His workmanship. If you have been saved by God, and are a new creature, then God is at work in you. We ARE His. God does not start a story and then fail to complete it. We are His. He is ours. God will complete what He has started. The Bible says we ARE His workmanship. We keep on being His. The baby will not be abandoned by the parent. The child will not be aborted because it is unwanted. God, Who created the New Creature in the crucible of Christ, will finish the New Creature.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things [are] of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…

The mark of the Christian is the changed life. We are not perfect. But we are God’s, and it shows in our lives. God the Father “made Jesus, Who knew no sin, to be SIN FOR US, that we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We are children of light and life. Not of darkness. God is at work in us. Praise His holy Name! Jesus tells His people:

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

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Running Well

Posted on October 13, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash

Galatians 5:7-14 (KJV) Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Repentance Is When We Follow Jesus

The children of Israel were mocked by the line of Ishmael, the Arabs, from the time that Isaac was born. The Bible tells us that Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, mocked Isaac while a baby (Genesis 21:9-10). God promised that He would bring Israel – the nation by whom He would send the Messiah to the world – 430 years before the Exodus. The promise was made to Abraham, to Sarah, and through Isaac. God keeps His promises.

The clock started ticking with the birth of Isaac. The nation of Israel would not actually be fully built until Jacob’s twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. God led Joseph to Egypt, and Israel grew in Egypt from twelve families to twelve tribes. The children of Ishmael persecuted the children of Jacob. Israel suffered as a nation of slaves to Egypt. The Bible says that they suffered until Israel cried out to God:

Exodus 2:23-24 (ESV) … the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

God raised up Moses, and did mighty miracles among the Egyptians saying “Let My people go!” But Pharaoh would not let them go, and beat them harder with the whip. Then Moses told them what God said do.

Exodus 12:21-23 (ESV) … Go and select lambs {without blemish} for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

The Blood of the Lamb would protect the home from the destroyer, from death. That night Israel huddled in their homes, and heard the cries of the lost who were not under the Blood. Where ever there was no Blood, the first born of the family died in that house. They next day Pharaoh told Israel to leave Egypt. The Bible says:

Exodus 12:40-41 (ESV) The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

430 years from the birth of Isaac, God fulfilled His promise. God always fulfills His promise. How did Israel leave Egypt. “The people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children”
(Exodus 12:37, ESV).

They didn’t RIDE out on horses or camels. Why not? The Bible says that “The LORD gave people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so they let them have what they asked for. They asked the Egyptians for SILVER and GOLD jewelry and for CLOTHING” (Exodus 12:34-36). But they did not ask for, nor receive, animals to ride. THEY WALKED OUT. They were ON FOOT. The God that they followed – the preincarnate Christ Jesus our Lord – went before them as a “pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night” (Exodus 13:21). This is the same God Who, in Noah’s day, sent two of every animal to the Ark (Genesis 8:19). God could have easily sent horses or camels to Israel. But THEY WALKED OUT. Why did I go through all this? Because of this verse:

Galatians 5:7 (KJV) Ye did run well; WHO did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

You WALK before you RUN.

God used Israel as a picture of salvation for us. When we come to God by faith, we usually come when we are at our lowest point. We are hurting. Our resources have come to an end. We realize we are broken creatures, and we need the Lord. As Israel called out to God for relief, we call on the Name of Jesus. For years we walked WITH Egypt, WITH the lost world. But now we find ourselves enslaved to it. We are slaves to sin and death. Then we cry out! WE REPENT.

Repentance is when we stop walking with Egypt (the world) and follow Jesus both day and night. We go where Jesus tells us to go. We walk WITH HIM, BEHIND HIM, and He goes before us. Like Israel, we are freed from slavery to Egypt.

You must WALK before you can RUN. God uses WALKING to describe the entrance into the Christian way of life. He uses RUNNING to describe the continuation of your life with Christ. Paul tells the Galatians “You DID run well.” Running is a fast walk. Why is running used for Christianity? Because running is strenuous, not easy. Running involves valleys and hills. Running follows a course. Paul wrote the Church:

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (ESV) Do you not know that in a RACE all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So RUN that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

If you are a Christian, you WALKED away from Egypt. You repented, and called out to Jesus for salvation. Jesus came, and you began to follow Him. Now you RUN for Him. You follow Him, and RUN so that you can obtain a prize. The prize is Jesus’ “Well done, My good and faithful servant”. We see this picture again in:

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

You cannot run for Jesus until you walk away from Egypt. You did not walk out of Egypt in your own strength. You did not save yourself. You cried out to God, and Jesus came. The Bible says:

Romans 5:6-9 (NKJV) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

While a slave to sin, Jesus died for you. While sinners lost in Egypt, Christ died for you. Then you received the Blood of the Lamb, the Blood of Jesus Christ. You received His death, His resurrection. We live for God because God died for us! We had nothing to do with our salvation, other than calling upon Him, repenting, and following Him in love ALL THE TIME. The lost do not walk after Jesus. The lost do not care about the Blood of the Lamb. They wallow. They wallow in sin, and wander in darkness. The lost are like the man in Lystra …

Illustrate: In Lystra, there was a man there “without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked” (Acts 14:8-10). We are all this way before Jesus. We are crippled from our mother’s womb. We cannot walk with Jesus, cannot run for God. This man cried out to God, and God sent Paul to him. Paul commanded, “Stand up straight on your feet” (Acts 14:10), and immediately the man “leaped up and walked”. The crowd saw this, and said “the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”. Paul told them,

Acts 14:15 (NKJV) … why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them

Stop following the false gods of this world. Walk away from Egypt, and follow the LIVING GOD WHO made all things. Follow Jesus. He can heal you. He can save you. It is His Blood that cleanses us. It is His Blood that saves us. There was another man “lame from his mother’s womb” (Acts 3:2) who laid daily at the gate of the Temple, begging for help. When Peter saw him, he said:

Acts 3:6, 8 (NKJV) … Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk … 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them–walking, leaping, and praising God.

We must walk before we can run. We cannot walk, unless Jesus heals us. Once we leave Egypt, we walk with Him loving Him, following Him, day and night. My Olive Tree commentary notes:

“Christ is preeminent – first and foremost in everything – and the Christian’s life should reflect that priorirty. Because believers are rooted in Him, alive in Him, hidden in Him, and complete in Him, it is utterly inconsistent for them to live life without Him. Clothed in His love, with His peace ruling in our hearts, weare equipped to make Christ first in every area of life. ”

What Hinders Our Walk, Our Race?

Galatians 5:7-8 (KJV) Ye DID run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

The Galatians were running well. When they heard the Gospel, they repented, and walked away from Egypt. They began to “run with patience the race set before them”. But then they stopped running well. To run well, you must

1. Stay on the Official course that is set up for our race, and

2. Stay focused on the Leader, Who is in our case Jesus.

It is Jesus Who goes before us. It is Jesus Who leads us. What caused the Galatians to get off the course? What caused the Church to stumble, to wander? It wasn’t Jesus Who caused it. Jesus knows where we are supposed to go. So what was it? The Apostle writes:

Galatians 5:9 (KJV) A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Leaven or YEAST is used in Scripture as a picture of SIN. Before the Israelites killed the Lamb without spot or blemish, before they put the Blood of the Lamb on their homes, they ate unleavened bread for 7 days. They put leaven out of their homes. My commentary notes:

“in the Mosaic Law, leaven represents sin or corruption. The law forbade grain offerings made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11). In fact, no yeast was allowed to be burned on the altar in any sacrifice. The grain offering for Aaron and his sons (the priests) was also not to contain leaven and was to be eaten in a holy place (Leviticus 6:17). … Leaven is also mentioned in the New Testament. In Matthew 16:6–12, Jesus compared the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians to leaven. ”

Salvation is rooted in Christ, not in our efforts. Our root is in Jesus, in what He has done for us. The Bible says:

Colossians 2:6-8 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

What hinders our walk with Jesus? It is not Jesus. It is when we take our eyes off of Jesus, and begin to look to the world, to the lost. It is sin to look away from Jesus, and look to the world in your walk. People watch nonsense on television, the beliefs of the world. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”. Let a little bit in, and it will cause you to drift back to Egypt. God saved us from Egypt. We do not belong to Pharaoh, but to Jesus. We follow Him day and night. False religion and unbiblical weirdness calls to us as we run our race. We must not listen to it! It has no place in our faith.

When Jesus was attacked, He ALWAYS referred to Scripture. “It is written”. Where is it in the Bible? If the writings of the Apostles and Prophets do not support it, put it away. Cast it off as unnecessary. Follow Jesus.

Let’s read carefully the next verse, for it says much:

Galatians 5:10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

What is Paul saying here? He is NOT saying “I have confidence IN YOU”. The Christian has NO CONFIDENCE in themselves. I have no confidence in you, by yourselves. I have no confidence in ME, much less YOU. Do you know what the Christian’s confidence is in? The Apostle says:

Philippians 3:3 (NKJV) For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

The true CIRCUMCISION, the true BELIEVER IN CHRIST, is the person who (1) “worships God in the Spirit”. Like David, we dance before the Ark of God. We are not focused on what others around us think or do. We are focused on loving Him Who loves us. We (2) “rejoice in Christ Jesus”. Life is a gift from God, and we celebrate what Jesus did for us! But Beloved, we who are the true CIRCUMCISION (3) “have no confidence in the flesh”. We’re not trusting our works to get us to the Promised Land. We are trusting what Jesus has done and is doing in us. Paul says:

Galatians 5:10 I have confidence in you THROUGH THE LORD, that ye will be none otherwise minded…

All Christians know that if they are saved, it is because Jesus saved us. All Christians know that our faith is in HIM, not in US. Listen to me.

If you are genuinely saved, you will keep walking with Jesus. If you are genuinely saved, you will run on the course He sets before you. We have no choice. He is Lord.

There are many pretenders who, with “philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”, will come along with a “New Thing”. If you are Christ’s, you will reject the serpent. You will “examine yourselves daily as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). There are a lot of those who profess that they are “Christians”, but they have never followed Jesus out of Egypt. They follow the world. They follow human trends and philosophies. They follow religion. But they do not follow Jesus.

Jesus spoke of these people. They run around, run, run, run. They try so hard to be saved, to try and impress others. Like the Pharisees, they heed not the Word of God, but human traditions and human impressions. They will stand before Jesus one day. Jesus spoke of them:

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV) Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The will of the Father in Heaven is that we follow Jesus out of Egypt. Someone asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28). What is the Will of the Father? Jesus said simply,

“The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent”
(John 6:29)

We follow Jesus. We live to please Jesus. The Pharisees crept into the Church at Galatia and taught “you MUST be circumcised to be saved”.

Paul Taught Circumcision – But Only For The Jews

Galatians 5:11-12 (KJV) And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

Someone will always come along and try and add something to salvation, something that needed not to be added. The Pharisees did this at Galatia. They said, “You can’t be saved if you’re not circumcised, for God gave us the Law of circumcision”. The truth is, circumcision has nothing to do with salvation, but everything to do with Israel. Abraham was saved in Genesis 15. It was not until Genesis 17 that God gave Abraham and his direct descendants the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14). God directed that the male children that came out of Abraham’s line, through Isaac, would be circumcised. Then God said this:

Genesis 17:14 (NKJV) And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.

God did not say that the uncircumcised person would be lost or cast out of God’s Kingdom. God said “that person shall be cut off from his people”, that is, cast out of the nation Israel. Paul had two young men that he trained. Timothy was a descendant of the blood line of Abraham, a Jew. Timothy had a Gentile father, and was never circumcised. Paul had him circumcised (Acts 16:3). But then Paul worked with another young man named Titus. Paul REFUSED to have Titus circumcised (Galatians 2:3) because he was a Gentile, not a Jew. Only the male Jews are under the Covenant of circumcision.

When the Pharisees tried to get the Galatians to submit to the Covenant of Circumcision, they were trying to get them to run on man’s course, not God’s course. We need to be careful not to infuse the doctrines of humans into the directives of God.

Paul said “I wish these people, these Pharisees, were CUT OFF from you”. That’s really an amusing statement. He was saying, “rather than cut off your foreskin to please these Pharisees, CUT THEM OFF. Circumcise these troublemakers from your midst. We don’t need them. Get back to running your race well, as you were doing.”

What is the race we are to be running, Church?

Galatians 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

You were called into liberty. God called you out of Egypt, out of slavery, to follow Him. We are freed from sin and human tradition to “by love serve one another”. We fulfill the Law when we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Love does not add to the elements of salvation. Salvation is a gift of God. You receive the gift by following Jesus. We love Jesus. We love one another. We minister by love. We do the things that are pleasing to our God.

We do not make golden calves.

Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

We are not saved to murmur as Israel did, but to follow Jesus. We are not saved to put ourselves first, but to follow Jesus. I close with this:

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

That’s the course we are on. That’s the light that we walk in. We follow Jesus. We add nothing to His Word. We magnify Him Who saved us, looking for the day when we will enter our Promised Land.

Amen.

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Living As Christ Followers

Posted on October 5, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Proverbs 22:1 A good NAME {šēm} is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.

Does God Know Your Name?

Nearly every translation I looked at of this Bible verse supplies the phrase:

A GOOD name, or
A GOOD reputation

However, the word “GOOD” is not actually in the original language of the Scripture. The King James shows this by italicizing the word“good”. Solomon wrote in another place:

Ecclesiastes 7:1 (KJV) A GOOD NAME {ṭôḇ šēm} [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

It is important that a person have a “GOOD NAME”, or a good reputation among people. It is possible this is what the text means. However, I believe that the Lord left the word good out of the text here for a reason. The next verse reads:

Proverbs 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

God is the Maker of both poor and rich, both famous and obscure. God is the Maker of everyone. I think what verse 1 is declaring – and I’ll put it in the form of a question – “Since God makes EVERYONE, does GOD KNOW YOUR NAME?”

Yes, it’s a great thing to have a good reputation among people. But does God know WHO YOU ARE? He made you. Does He know you?

Let’s take that italicized “good” out of there, and read it again.

Proverbs 22:1 A NAME {šēm} is rather to be chosen than great riches…

Does God know your name? You can be the richest man in the world. You can be Elon Musk, with a net worth of $342 billion. Or Larry Ellison, who has a net worth of $373 billion. Or you can be famous like Taylor Swift. But if God doesn’t know your name, it counts for nothing whatsoever. I often encounter people who say,

“I’ve been a member of such and such Church all my life.” That’s wonderful. But does God know your name?

“Well, I sing in the choir”. Great! Does God know your name?

“I tithe regularly”. Wonderful! Does God know your name? Have YOU enjoyed the GRACE of GOD? Have you come to Jesus Christ in faith, following Him in love? The second part of the verse speaks of “LOVING FAVOR” …

Proverbs 22:1 … and LOVING FAVOR {ṭôḇ ḥēn} rather than silver and gold.

Word Study: The Hebrew ṭôḇ ḥēn {pronounced tobe khane} literally means “loving GRACE”. The first time the word ḥēn {pro. khane} is found in the Bible is in:

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found GRACE [ḥēn {pro. khane}] in the eyes of the LORD.

God knew Noah’s name – and through Noah God saved the world from destruction. When Joseph was sold into slavery to Egyptian traders, and was later unfairly cast into prison, the Bible says:

Genesis 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him GRACE [ḥēn {pro. khane}] …

Because God knew Joseph’s name, he became the right hand man to the King of Egypt. Through Joseph God saved Israel from destruction, and grew it into a mighty nation. When it came time for Israel to leave Egypt, God raised up Moses, and told him:

Exodus 33:12 … I know thee {Moses} by name, and thou hast also found GRACE [ḥēn {pro. khane}] in My sight.

God knew Moses’ name. Everyone God ever used, He knew their name. God knew Charlie Kirk’s name. God uses those whom He knows.

We are known of God when we call upon Him, pleading the Blood of Jesus on our lives. God is the Giver of Life, the Giver of Eternal Life, the Giver of GRACE. The Bible says:

Psalm 84:11 (KJV) For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give GRACE [ḥēn {pro. khane}] and glory: no good [thing] will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

The greatest thing in life is not fame or riches. It is not health and home. It is that God knows your name, that your name is written in the Book of Life!

Bridges wrote in his commentary:

“While it is true that reputation and the affection of others are more desirable than great riches, we must not forget that they may be in themselves vanity and a snare …. The only honor that is safe is that which comes from God.”

Does God know your name? Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? God has made everyone, and gives life to all. “With God is the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE” (Psalm 36:9). Only by receiving Jesus Christ can we be known of God. The Apostle said,

1 John 5:11-12 (ESV) … 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.

When Jesus sent His disciples out to minister and heal others, the Bible says:

Luke 10:17-20 (ESV) The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Some people place much emphasis on the statement, “My name is in the Church Roll. I’ve been a member of Riverview Baptist for years”. That is a fine thing. But does God know your name? Is your name written in Heaven? If not, there will come a day of reckoning. Jesus said:

Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV) Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

If God doesn’t know your name – If Jesus doesn’t know who you are – if you have never called on Him and surrendered to Him for salvation by Grace – then whatever you have in this life is worthless. I’d rather have a nickle and Jesus, than billions without. I’d rather be an unknown servant of Christ, than we famous without!

If You Know Jesus, He Will Make You
Both Wise And Rich!

Proverbs 22:3-4 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. 4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.

Illustrate: Are You An Eagle, or a Crow? I love to read, and read about crows and eagles the other day. The crow is one of the smartest of all birds. A group of 15 or more crows is called “a murder of crows”. When it is cold outside, a murder of crows can be up to a thousand crows. When I first heard that, it made me wonder. “A MURDER of crows”? What a strange name. There’s a reason for it. Though crows are scavengers, when crows cluster together in a “murder” they will attack and kill weaker or sick birds. Crows will also protect their territory. One nature site notes:

“Crows are fiercely territorial and will attack eagles to defend their territory. They are very protective of their nesting areas and view eagles as potential threats. To maintain control over their domain, crows will team up and use clever tactics to fight eagles that wander into it. This behavior is a natural instinct for crows to ensure their safety and survival. … In their confrontations with eagles, crows use a strategy known as “mobbing,” where they group together and harass the eagle. They do this by flying around the eagle, cawing loudly, and sometimes even pecking at it. This tactic is effective because the noise and the number of crows in a murder can be overwhelming and intimidating for the eagle.”

How does an eagle defend itself against a “murder of crows”? It doesn’t fight the crows. The eagle takes off, and flies. The article went on to say,

“When crows chase an eagle, the eagle deals with it by simply flying higher. Eagles are capable of soaring to great heights where the air is thinner. This makes it harder for crows, who aren’t equipped to fly as high, to keep up.”

Christians – Disciples of Christ – Saints of God – are to be EAGLES, not CROWS!

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

The Christ follower when attacked by the crows of this world HIDES by following Christ, by doing as God’s Word says to do. We do not wallow with the crows, eating carrion and garbage. We fly ever HIGHER, looking to God our Savior.

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Word Study: Those who are “SIMPLE” {Hebrew pᵊṯî, pro. Peth-ee’} or FOOLISH ignore the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and follow the ways of darkness. Becoming like the crow, they are punished. Hear me, professor of Christ. If you do not live for Jesus, you will bring your own punishment on yourself! Christ followers are to …

1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 (KJV) Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My commentary notes: “foolish persons, devoid of the grace of God and the fear of him, go on careless and unconcerned in their sinful course of life, transgressing the law of God; they proceed from evil to evil, from lesser to greater sins; they go on in the broad road to destruction, and are punished with temporal judgments here, and with everlasting destruction hereafter.”

The believer and lover of Christ, like the eagle, does not waste time battling the murder. Instead we fly upward, looking to our God. We live for His glory.

Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are RICHES, and honor, and life.

We humble ourselves before our God, knowing that if we heed Him that, in time, we shall leave the crows behind. What is it that our Jesus told us?

Matthew 6:33 (ESV) … seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The Psalmist David wrote:

Psalm 34:9-10 (ESV) Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

God looks after His children. He always has, and always will! Those who love the Lord will be blessed. But …

Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the FROWARD {ʿiqqēš, pro. ik-kashe’}: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

Those who walk “in perversity, crookedly” will eventually find that their life has fallen into “THORNS AND SNARES”. Sin brings with it its own punishment. Those who are careful, who want to protect their soul, will stay away from perversity and lawlessness. The Scripture tells the believer to, as the Beloved of God, to be …

Jude 20-21 (ESV) … building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

My commentary notes:

“Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14). The road that seems so easy is far from easy. Thorns and snares lie in the way, and those who choose to travel that route have no one to help them surmount the difficulties. Those who choose to follow the narrow way may find it to be a hard road, but Jesus leads the way and provides mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).”

Raise Your Children To Love The Lord

Proverbs 22:6 TRAIN up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Word Study: The reason why many children reach legal age, then leave the Church, is because parents did not do as this Scripture teaches. The word translated “TRAIN” is the Hebrew hanak which means “to dedicate”. The child is not dedicated in the way that they think they should go, but in the way that God wants them to go. God told His Israel:

Deuteronomy 6:4-8 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

When parents and grandparents focus on dedicating their children to God while they are young, the seed planted in their hearts will bring them back to God when they reach maturity. Young Timothy was raised in a household where his mother was a believer, but his father a pagan unbeliever (Acts 16:1). When Timothy reached adulthood, the faith of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5) led him to salvation. Paul told Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:14-15 (ESV) … as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Live Like You Are Rich, Christian. Do Not Become Ensnared By The World.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

At one time in my life I was over $18,000.00 in credit card debt. Yes, I was and am a Christian. But when I was in the military with a family, we were living in poverty. Our healthcare was covered, but enlisted military members were paid very low wages. We could eat, but my children didn’t have all the “perks” that others had.

So I foolishly used the credit card. When I left the military, I kept using the credit card. And every month I lived as a slave, a SLAVE to the credit card companies. About 20 years ago when I was pastoring in North Carolina the Lord enabled me to get out of credit card debt, and slavery. And I’m not going back!

What got me into slavery? I wanted what everybody else had for my family. I should have just trusted in the Lord. Once I got out from under the heel of the credit card companies, I have kept my trust in the Lord. Beloved, the borrower is servant to the lender. We should only serve the Lord!

“The rich ruleth over the poor”. Christians are rich because of what Christ has given us. One of my favorite verses is:

Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV) [Let your] conduct [be] without covetousness; [be] content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we may boldly say: “The LORD [is] my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Christians are RICH. In Jesus we …

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) … have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Let’s tie the RICHES we as Disciples of Christ have with the next verse:

Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

Christ followers should not “SOW INIQUITY”. In this world we are going to be hated by the darkness, by the lost person. Yet when attacked we must remember that we are rich in Christ. We should not return tit for tat, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. This is an Old Covenant concept given to Israel under the Law of Moses. Jesus told us:

Matthew 5:38-41, 44-45 (ESV) You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ [39] But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. [40] And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. [41] And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. … [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus said that if someone comes to you with non-life threatening force, then as His children we are to “turn the other cheek”. We are to do good to those who do badly to us. Does this mean we cannot defend ourselves against deadly force? No! Jesus also said:

Luke 22:35-38 (ESV) {Jesus} said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” [36] He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. [37] For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” [38] And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

I heard one young man – Seminary trained – who told me that Jesus was telling His disciples to buy swords and – like dress up for Halloween – pretend to be transgressors so that Scripture could be fulfilled. This young man got this from Seminary, sad to say. Jesus was not saying “Let’s do Trick or Treat so we can look like transgressors”. He wasn’t asking the disciples to be “numbered with the transgressors”. The prophecy that Jesus was speaking of had yet to be fulfilled – just as He said. The prophecy was only fulfilled when Jesus hung on the Cross. We read in:

Mark 15:25-28 (KJV) And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. [26] And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. [27] And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. [28] And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

The prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was nailed up between TWO TRANSGRESSORS. The Scripture is plainly saying this. Jesus did not ask His disciples to play dress up, to pretend to be transgressors! The Scripture doesn’t say that. What was Jesus saying when He said, “let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one”. He was saying:

“You have the right to defend yourselves against deadly attacks. The devil is going to put Me on display between two thieves, and justify My death by saying I and those who follow Me are evil. Some will see this and will bring deadly force on you. You do have the right to defend yourselves against deadly force.”

But we are never to attack others offensively. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to ALL get a sword. When they said, “We have two swords”, Jesus said, “It is enough”.

Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

If you sow evil, you reap nothing. Anger produces nothing. If you are going to follow Christ, expect to be maligned. Expect to be hated. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies. There is power in love. But if a criminal breaks into your house, your Church, with the intent to do harm, you have the right to defend yourself and your loved ones. But ONLY for defense!

May God guide us to be better followers of Christ. Amen.

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