Tag Archives: Following Christ

The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet

Posted on March 8, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not COVET thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

When God gave the Tenth Commandment, He was very specific. The believer is not to “covet” (Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) that which God has given to another. God said:

“You shall not DESIRE your neighbor’s WIFE (or husband)”
This leads to adultery.
“You shall not DESIRE your neighbor’s employees”
This harms another’s business.
“You shall not DESIRE your neighbors vehicles”
Appreciate the tractor or car God has given you.
“You shall not DESIRE anything of your neighbors”
This leads to theft…. Continue reading →

Posted in Exodus, Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged Bible, Following Christ, God, God Is Faithful, gospel, Jesus, Ten Commandments | Leave a comment

Divine Destruction Of Death: Hebrews 2:14-16

Posted on March 3, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Hebrews 2:14-16 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Last week we saw that Jesus was NOT an Angel. Angels are superior to humans in strength and duration. Angels are spirit beings, composed of light. Humans are carbon based, who have limited earthly lives. We saw that:

Hebrews 1:4 {Jesus is} … so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Jesus is God the Son. He is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus is Creator God. Hebrews 1:2 noted that through Jesus God made the worlds. So Jesus is NOT an Angel, He is BETTER than the Angels. But Jesus is also – willingly – LESSER than the Angels. We read:

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

Jesus was made LOWER than the Angels. Why?… Continue reading →

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

Jesus Is No Angel

Posted on February 27, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

One of the heresies that crept into the Church was that Jesus is a great Teacher, but just a Man. Last week God told us in Hebrews that Jesus is no mere Man – that He is God in the flesh. A mere Man, no matter how moral, could not have paid for our sins on Calvary. We are all born sinners, all, that is, but Jesus Christ. He was born into humanity to save us from the condemnation of our sins.

While some were saying that Jesus is just a Man, others claimed that Jesus was no Man, but an Angel of God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and the Muslim cults teach that Jesus was an Angel or an Angelic messenger. But as we come to Hebrews once more we find out, NOT ONLY is Jesus NOT JUST a Man, but… Continue reading →

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Exodus 20:15: Thou Shalt Not Steal

Posted on February 23, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

Just four words in the English, but only two words in the Hebrew, the EIGHTH Commandment says:

lō’ gānaḇ (pronounced gaw-nab’)

The words mean “you shall not carry away or steal”. The earliest use of this word is found in the story of Jacob and his father in law Laban. Laban was aging, and wanted Jacob to stay with him and tend to his herds of goats and flocks of sheep. Jacob agreed to do so, but only if Laban gave him all the speckled or spotted goats and black sheep. Laban quickly agreed to this, as the animals that were spotted or the black sheep were considered inferior quality (Genesis 30:32-36). The majority of Laban’s flock was pure white, and the goats were pure white or black. So it seemed as if Jacob was making a lopsided deal. But Jacob was in communion with God, and the Lord told Jacob how to breed the animals so as to birth speckled animals (Genesis 31:10-12). Laban was trying to STEAL from Jacob, and God wasn’t going to have it. In the end, Jacob ended up with a greater herd of speckled and spotted animals…. Continue reading →

Posted in Exodus, Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged Bible, Following Christ, God, gospel, Jesus, salvation, Ten Commandments, theft | Leave a comment

The Importance Of Walking With Jesus

Posted on February 20, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…

Why did God give us the Book of Hebrews? Why Is “Hebrews” So Important For Us In America Today?

People are in a constant state of confusion in America. Many children are growing up confused about their sexuality. The vast majority struggling with sexual identity come from broken homes. Their mothers or fathers – or both – abandoned them, abused them in their formative years, and so the child is confused. … Continue reading →

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The Seventh Commandment – Love, Not Lust: Marriage Is Sacred

Posted on February 16, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

We’ve been studying the Ten Commandments the last few weeks. Tonight we’ll look at one of the most violated of the Ten:

Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Sexual Sin Destabilizes Nations, Ruins Churches,
and Cripples Families

Several years ago I predicted that the push for the normalization of homosexuality would lead to other sexual perversions. The “flavor of the day” is now called “polyamorous”. The Colson Center notes:

“… polyamory is the practice of having more than one sexual partner. In other words, it is what was called (until yesterday) “promiscuity.” However, as with each prior stop on the slippery slope of undefining marriage and the family, this one also abounds with creative euphemisms like “open relationships,” “non-monogamy,” “throuples,” “swingers,” and (worst of all) “polycules.” {A} New York Times article listed a bevy of new TV shows, movies, and books promoting polyamory as fun and even beneficial—a journey of “self-discovery” that could liven up your “marriage”.

A bumper sticker reads, “Life is short. Have an affair!”

The Huffington Post ran an article a few years ago entitled “There Are Now Greeting Cards For Cheating Spouses. (Yes, Really.)” that’s the actual title. One card said,… Continue reading →

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The Sixth Commandment: Life Is Sacred

Posted on February 13, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is in an uproar again. The state of Alabama executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith using Nitrogen Gas, in a procedure called nitrogen hypoxia. Smith was a part of a crew hired to murder Elizabeth Sennett. He and John Forrest Parker stabbed her to death in her home, on instructions from her husband. Convicted of murder, Smith sat on death row over 20 years. He was executed almost 36 years after he brutally assisted in murdering this woman. Alabama had tried to execute him by lethal injection (the procedure used to kill Parker) but failed because they were unable to find a suitable vein. Executed by nitrogen hypoxia, the ACLU said “Mr. Smith shook, convulsed, writhed, and gasped for minutes until he was pronounced dead at least 22 minutes after the execution began, though just how long it took is unknown since Alabama closed the execution curtain before the official time of death”.

I wonder how long Elizabeth Sennett “shook, convulsed, writhed, and gasped” as Smith and Parker drove knives into her body? Did those men deserve to die because they callously took her life? Does the state have the right to execute murders? The answer to both questions is an emphatic YES!

Tonight we’re going to look at The Sixth Commandment, and what this commandment entails. The world’s oldest profession is farming, as Adam was placed in the “Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged Bible, Faith, Following Christ, God, God Is Faithful, gospel, Jesus Christ, murder, no murder, salvation, Ten Commandments | Leave a comment

The Fourth Amen

Posted on February 13, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

2 Peter 3:14-18 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of {of Christ} in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. AMEN.

The Fourth Amen Sums Up The Christian Way Of Life

Peter’s last letter to the Church closes with the word “AMEN”. Amen is an interesting word. It is a UNIVERSAL word. “Amen” in the Greek text, the text of our New Testament, is amēn. “Amen” in the Hebrew text, the language of the Old Testament, is āmēn. “Amen” is found in every language on the earth, though it is pronounced differently. It is a unique word that means “let it be fulfilled” or “so be it” or “this is truth”.

When you say “Amen” you are not only agreeing with what is being said, but are claiming ownership.

In Peter’s first letter to the Church, he used the word “AMEN” three times. In the first “AMEN” he gave all glory and power and praise to Jesus Christ. When we SPEAK, our words are to MAGNIFY CHRIST and not ourselves:

1 Peter 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and … Continue reading →

Posted in 2 Peter, General, Sermons Preached | Tagged Christ, christianity, Faith, Following Christ, God Is Faithful, Jesus, love God, salvation | Leave a comment

Growing Victorious In This Viperous World

Posted on February 7, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

2 Peter 3:1-2 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:

In this wonderful chapter of my life – serving the Lord as a pastor and an unworthy servant – I have read many books and listened to sermons from men who were considered “greats” in our faith. The past 25 years or so I have been shocked at the fall of many of the great pastors and preachers. Johnny Hunt has been accused of sexual harassment, and is suing the SBC contrary to the direct teaching of the Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:1-11). Ravi Zacharias, a prolific author and well known apologist, was discovered (after his death) that he was systematically and sexually abusing women. Paige Patterson the former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was fired for improper behavior. Bill Hybels resigned from Willow Creek and Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill amidst charges of abusive leadership. Perry Noble was fired from his church for alcohol abuse. The grandson of Billy Graham, William Graham Tullian Tchividjian resigned as pastor… Continue reading →

Posted in 2 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged Bible, Bible Study, christianity, Following Christ, God, God Is Faithful, Jesus Christ, love God, love the Word, salvation | Leave a comment

The Lord Knows, Part 2

Posted on January 29, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

The false prophet is not someone who is sincere, but become deluded. The false prophet knows what the right way is, but they have “forsaken the right way”. The Greek for “forsaken” is kataleipō, which means “to depart from or leave behind, to abandon something to go another way”. The word was used for Jesus when he “LEFT {kataleipō} Nazareth to dwell in Capernaum” (Matthew 4:13). The false prophets know the right way – but have walked away from what is right. They are “gone astray”, planaō, “wander from truth, to be led into error, to choose to be deceived, to leave the right path”. They are, like Jesus said,

Matthew 15:14 … blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Illustrate: In the United States alone, some 600,000 people get lost in woods or forested area every year. Why do they get lost? First, they leave a designated trail. Second, going off trail they do not use a compass. Or third, off trail without a compass they follow someone who doesn’t know the way. Christians, we must stay on the designated trail, the Word of God. Our compass is God the Holy Spirit. Be careful who you follow, for if they do not refer to the Scripture – they themselves are deliberately lost…. Continue reading →