Tag Archives: Following Christ

Love Not The World

Posted on February 27, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

I was reading an article in our local paper “Main Street Maury”, a letter written to the editor entitled “USA 37,000, Japan 101: but it’s not a game” (sic). It was the standard opinion piece where – in comparison to other countries – the gun deaths in the United States are much higher. It was obvious the author had access to the Internet, and knew how to research. The conclusion of the article was, “I know the U.S. will not adopt Japan’s strict standards, but it’s time to consider adopting regulations to lower the number of gun deaths in the U.S.”. The author then quoted Jesus, though he did not give Jesus credit for the quote (which is in Matthew 26:52). Continue quote, “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.” Many innocent people are dying because we are living by the sword in America’s obsessive gun culture”. There’s a few things I’d like to note in reference to this article.

First, Jesus not only said “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword”, He also said at the conclusion of the Communion, also called “The Lord’s Table”:

Luke 22:35-38 {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.”

When Jesus said “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword”, He was responding to Simon Peter’s rash attack against a Priest of Israel. Jesus did not tell us to use the sword offensively or aggressively. We are not to attack others (though, if part of… Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John | Tagged antiChrist, blended faith, Following Christ, love God, Loving God, loving the world, salvation | Leave a comment

The Cycle Of Judges

Posted on February 21, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

When I was growing up, very few parents bought their children their first car. When I wanted a car, dad told me to work for it, and that he would help. My granddaddy gave me a 1958 Rambler (wish I had it today) that I thought little of. It cost me nothing. It was old. Real old. Old As ME. So I really mistreated that car. But when I bought my first car, I spent part of every weekend washing, waxing, and polishing it both inside and out. The kids that received their cars gratis mistreated them, cared little for them. When you work for it, you care about it.

Joshua worked for God, and did as God said. But he expected each believer to do their part. It is a principle of Scripture that:

2 Thessalonians 3:10 … if a person will not work, that person shall not eat …

1 Thessalonians 5:18 … a worker deserves their wages …… Continue reading →

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

We Keep His Commandments

Posted on February 19, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

1 John 2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Opening: Yet another Church falls from the light of God. Last week the Church of England (Anglicans) decided it would bless “civil marriages and partnerships of same sex couples”. As with many other mainline denominations, compromise with the error of our age will not bless but divide the Church. The Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America noted:

“the Church of England is moving a step at a time to fully accept the practice of homosexuality as part of the life and practice of the English Church. … We have lived through this with other Western Anglican Provinces that continually wavered on the ‘faith once delivered’ (Jude 3) and now outright deny the doctrine of biblical anthropology regarding gender identity and moral behavior. Those in the secular press and culture will argue that these are matters of justice, but God’s justice can never contradict God’s righteousness, and we know these changes attack the very core of biblical authority. Have the Scriptures been clear on human sexuality through the centuries? Yes, they have. The majority of Anglicans around the world have concluded the same. And yet, now, the Church of England has authorized the blessing of sin and declared that sin is no longer sin.”

When sin is normalized, no one wins. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, Sermons Preached | Tagged be the Light, do good, fake salvation, Following Christ, Kingdom of God, obedience, salvation, true faith | Leave a comment

From Gilgal To Bochim

Posted on February 13, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

An “angel of the Lord” came to Israel with a message direct from God. The Angel spoke from God just as our Bible speaks from God. What caused the Angel to come? Because Israel had gone “from Gilgal to Bochim”. You read this as a Gentile and think, “so what?”. You have to look at the places, and see what happened in the contexts. The Angel came “from Gilgal”. The Bible tells us that ..

Gilgal (also called Bethel) is the place where the second generation of Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land.

It was at Gilgal that God had Israel cross into the Promised Land. The Priests were to go first, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, a holy box that contained manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the Ten Commandments on stone (Hebrews 9:4). As the Priests stepped into the Jordan, the Bible says:

Joshua 3:13 … when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.

God replicated what He did at the Red Sea with the first generation of Israel. While Moses (a Priest) held his rod over the water, the Red Sea parted and the people went through on dry land. As the second generation of Israel crossed the swollen Jordan River, the Priests step in carrying the Ark of the Covenant. As they step in the water, the water retreats, and stands up on both sides like it did with Moses 40 years before. Israel obeyed God, and started rolling forward.

Gilgal (the transliterated Hebrew word Gilgāl) means:
“a ROLLING WHEEL”.

Israel was on the move. Following God, they would be a juggernaut that nothing could stop! To help Israel remember this time, Joshua had every tribe pick set up a memorial stone at Gilgal (Joshua 4:19-20). When you follow God, you can do the impossible. The Scripture says:… Continue reading →

Posted in Judges, Sermons Preached | Tagged Faith, Following Christ, God Is Faithful, Israel, love God, obedience | Leave a comment

IF You Sin

Posted on February 12, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The Devil Is A Deceiver

It wasn’t very long from the time that Jesus raised up from the grave that the devil began his attacks against the Church. Satan started with lying and open persecution, the exact same thing that he did with Jesus. Satan encouraged the religious establishment – the Chief Priests of Israel – to band together on a lie. The guard that was at the Tomb of Jesus …

Matthew 28:11-15 (ESV) … went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Based on this lie, the Priests of Judaism began to present Christianity as a harmful and treasonous cult. When the Apostles went out preaching the Gospel, “{the Pharisees} beat them and {commanded} them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go” (Acts 5:40, ESV). The Leader of the Church in Jerusalem, the Apostle James, was killed by Herod the King (Acts 12:2). The Evangelist and Deacon Stephen was stoned to death with rocks, a brutal death! (Acts 7:59, 8:2). A Pharisee called Saul of Tarsus was hired to systemically seek out and kill Christians (Acts 9:1). This continued throughout much of the early Church years.

The problem with martyring a person is that it has a boomerang effect. When you kill someone for their faith, you can make them a hero. The last know gladiator fight was on January 1, 404 AD. A Christian simply called Telemachus (from Asia, the area of modern day Turkey) felt led of the Lord to visit the Coliseum in Rome…. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, Sermons Preached | Tagged born again, Following Christ, God Is Faithful, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord, love God, overcoming sin, salvation, sin not my master | Leave a comment

You DON’T Do You

Posted on February 5, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

The Apostle John wrote more of the New Testament – by word count – than any other Apostle. Last Wednesday we started looking at the Gospel of John (chapter 1 verses 1-14) where John spoke of the Incarnation of Jesus. The word “Incarnation” means to “come from a higher state where you are God into a lower state where you are perfect Man”. Only Jesus is in this unique state. We found out in

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

Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is “the WORD that was WITH GOD, and the WORD Who WAS God”. Jesus Christ was with the Godhead from the beginning. We saw that Jesus Christ is also CREATOR God. “All things were made by him”. John said this in two different ways so that we can understand that Jesus is not just ASSOCIATE Creator, He is THE Creator of all things.

This Creator, this God Who made all things in six days, Who made all things “very good”, this God came to earth. He interjected Himself into the Creation proper. Why would God the Son become incarnate, lower Himself to be part of His creation?… Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, God Is Faithful, gospel, love, love God, salvation | Leave a comment

Why Follow Jesus?

Posted on February 3, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When we come to John chapter 1, the Apostle John wants to tell us why its so important to follow Jesus. As an “Apostle” John walked with Jesus. This is what the Apostles did. Apostles were hand chosen by Jesus to walk with Him as He walked on this earth. The Bible says:

Ephesians 2:20 (TLB) What a FOUNDATION you stand on now: the APOSTLES and the Prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ Himself!

Christians love the Bible, and trust the Bible because it was written by APOSTLES like John who walked with Jesus, touched Jesus, and listened to Jesus teach. John was not only called “The Apostle John”, but he had other names he was called. … Continue reading →

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

Blessed And Prosperous

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

The “wicked” find their blessings in the things of this world. This is the Hebrew rāšāʿ {pronounced raw-shaw’} which means “the ungodly, the one guilty of sin, the morally wrong (as judged by God)”. Righteous Abraham called the Sodomites “rāšāʿ” (Genesis 18:23). Those who disrespect life and murder others are “rāšāʿ” (Numbers 35:31). We are told in:

Job 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked {rāšāʿ} shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

To be “wicked” is not to be just immoral, but to approach
life without God in view!

We are told in Solomon’s writings:

Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked {rāšāʿ}, is sin.

When I think of WICKEDNESS, or UNGODLINESS, I do not think about tilling your garden. But God says that very act of tilling the garden for the godless is sinful. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 10:4 the wicked {rāšāʿ}, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

To violate the Ten Commandments is wicked. But to live your life without a thought to God is also wicked. Our Lord Jesus spoke the parable of the wealthy farmer in:… Continue reading →

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Following Christ

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Will you follow Jesus when the world hates you?
Will you stand with Jesus, and declare the Scripture true?
When they call you”homophobic” or “demon possessed”, will you walk with Him?
Or will you sleep soundly in Gethsemane?
Or hide in the crowd while He’s being nailed to the Cross?

Jesus gave up EVERYTHING in order to save us and to bring us to God.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … 17 … if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Before you can be saved, you must be lost. If you come to Jesus lost… Continue reading →

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

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Posted on January 22, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

As this is Sanctity of Life Sunday the question I want to address today is, How Much Is A Life Worth? The the wake of the overturning of Roe vs Wade – and the devil screamed about that – the question of abortion went back to the states. Many were FURIOUS over the Supreme Court decision, and many states are now passing laws that even allow for partial birth abortion. What is a life worth? When our Lord Jesus was ministering on this earth, He said every life is valuable.

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Word Study on Sparrows: When Jesus wanted to show the value of a human life, He turned to the sparrow (Greek στρουθίον strouthíon, [pronounced stroo-thee’-on]. The word “sparrow” is only found six times in the King James text. Jesus said in Matthew that “two sparrows {were} sold for a farthing”, and in Luke “five sparrows {were} sold for two farthings”. So if you bought 4, you got the fifth one free. Sparrows were very cheap. The word “farthing” is the Greek {ἀσσάριον assárion, [pronounced as-sar’-ee-on]}, which Dr Thomas Constable notes is 1/16th of a laborer’s daily wage. That would be about $3.63 in America for a minimum wage worker ($7.25 per hour) – very little. … Continue reading →