Tag Archives: living for Jesus

The Third Commandment

Posted on January 13, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

The Name of God defines Who God is. God is “I Am”. He is Eternal, without beginning or end. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). God has no starting place. He was never created, but has always been the Creator. God knows all things. “His understanding is beyond measure” (Psalm 147:5). Dr. Adrian Rogers wrote:

“The name Jehovah is used some 6,800 times in the Bible. It is the personal covenant name of Israel’s God. In the King James Version of the Bible, it’s translated Lord God. Not only does it speak of God’s strength, but also it speaks of the sovereignty of God and the goodness of God. The root of this name means “self-existing,” one who never came into being, and one who always will be. When Moses asked God, “Who shall I tell Pharaoh has sent me?” God said, “I AM THAT I AM.””

God is eternal and UNCHANGING. He is I AM. “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). Our God DEPENDS ON NO ONE. His Name is I AM. “The Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (John 5:26). Our God is the pattern of all life. God’s Name is not “YOU ARE” but “I AM”. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). There is nothing that God cannot do except evil. Pastor John MacArthur writes: Continue reading →

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Suffering Well

Posted on September 26, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

As humans, we often ask “Why is there suffering in this world we are in?” Sometimes we see suffering in children, such as those at St Jude’s Hospital. Open your newspaper and you don’t have far to look for suffering. I subscribe to “Main Street Maury”, our local newspaper. I like it because it seems to have balanced reporting. In the opinion section there is a liberal column right next to a Libertarian column. I don’t agree with all I read, but I do like balanced reporting. I look at my paper. On the front page, “SAFE Clinic helps victims of violence”. A wonderful ministry operated locally by the Center of Hope. It exists because of suffering. Turn the page. “Domestic incident leads to Columbia woman’s death; suspect hospitalized”. This is horrible. It’s suffering. Next page. “Free legal assistance to low income residents”. Suffering. The obituaries. Death and suffering. You see where I’m going.

If “God is good”, if there is a God Who created all things, why is there such suffering?

The Bible tells us that suffering entered our world because mankind chose to walk away from the God Who created all things “VERY GOOD” (Genesis 1:31). When God made us, He made us – both male and female – “in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). God gave humans authority over the earth, telling us to “have dominion” and to “multiply and fill the earth”. God gave us authority over the animals and nature, but gave us a free will to make choices. We could choose to follow our Creator, or we could follow another created being.

Many of us, like Adam, choose to follow
the created rather than the Creator…. Continue reading →

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Try The Spirits

Posted on April 4, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

1 John 4:1-4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I was listening to a “Christian” Radio Station the other day, hearing some of the “Contemporary Christian Music” that is being put out by Millennials and Generation Z. It was a song called Banks by a group called Needtobreathe. They’ve released 8 albums, have been nominated for a Grammy in 2014. The tune was catchy But as I listened to it, I realized –

It had absolutely nothing to do with God, the Bible, or anything Christian.

There are a lot of songs out there that sound Christian, but are not. There are a lot of things out in the world that sound Christian but are not. There are a lot of preachers out in the world that sound Christian, but are not. There are a lot of sermons out in the world that sound Christian but are not. The devil is the master of deception.

Opening Illustration: One of my favorite television shows is The Andy Griffith Show. I know that Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Generation Z (anyone born 1997-2012) will probably have never heard of this show, but it’s a classic. A single father, Sheriff Andy Taylor, raises his young son OP along with his Aunt Bee. The show ran October 1960 – September 1968, and never placed lower that seventh in the Nielsen ratings. In one episode Aunt Bee was feeling her age, and went to the doctor. The doctor told Bee, “We’re no spring chickens anymore” – about the same thing the doctor told my brother Bill when he said “It’s age related”. There’s nothing that can be done to fix it if it’s “age related”. As Bee came home from seeing the doctor, she came across a Medicine Man selling elixir named Colonel Harvey (John Dehner). Buying a few bottles, she does feel better…. Continue reading →

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Rightly Dividing God’s Word: Part 1, Introduction To The Ages

Posted on November 11, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

The Apostle Paul was nearing the end of his ministry. He told Timothy – a young man he was training:

2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Paul knew that shortly he would be standing before the Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (rule 54-68AD), and that he would be – in all likelihood – beheaded for his preaching of Christ. One Source notes,

“Based on historical events of the day, it is likely that Paul was beheaded, possibly around the same time that Peter was crucified.”

Before Paul was saved on the Damascus Road, he trained under the noted Bible Scholar, Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 5:34; 22:3). Paul was “taught according to the perfect manner of the Law of the fathers”, the Scripture. As Paul prepared to die he wanted to leave Timothy with the best advice on how to live and promote the Gospel of Christ. … Continue reading →

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Just Making Sure

Posted on November 9, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

When I was a boy one of the greatest Rock Bands of that day was called “The Beatles”. The Beatles were an English Rock Band from Liverpool, England. Highly influential, the Beatles popularized long hair, free love, music videos, and use of mind altering drugs. The group was anything but Christian. John Lennon, the group’s leader, said:

“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that: I’m right, and I will be proved right. We are more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, Rock and Roll or Jesus. Jesus was all right, but His disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”

People have been promising the destruction of Christianity since Jesus rose from the grave – and yet, our faith continues on. The Beatles broke up April 10, 1970 – only about 10 years after the band was formed. John Lennon was killed by a madman December 8, 1980, a little over ten years after the band broke up. …

… And yet Christ and His followers continue on. Why is this? Because our Founder, the Lord Jesus Christ, is greater than anyone who has ever been. Jesus is not just a Carpenter’s son, born in a small town named Nazareth. Jesus is more than this. We who follow Jesus know that the world will always be against our Savior. Yet we are not discouraged. We …

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

Our Savior was not dominated by death. Though executed unjustly, He laid His life down for us, to make payment for our sins. Jesus said, … Continue reading →

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Live Like You Are Beloved

Posted on September 20, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

I have always resisted the easy believism preaching of “God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life”.

This type of preaching became popular in the later 20th century church, and often pops up in the current culture as well. I do believe that “God loves you”. But I’m not sure how “wonderful” the plan for your life is, as “wonderful” means “to inspire delight, pleasure or admiration”.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But we live in a fallen world absolutely opposed to the Biblical Jesus. If you live for Jesus, expect – at best – discomfort!

That’s what 1 Peter chapter 4 focuses on: S-U-F-F-E-R-I-N-G! I have talked with other Pastors who tell me they’d rather focus on the love of God and future Heaven, than they would on the darkness of this world. But Beloved, we live in a dark world. Not too long ago Canadian Authorities chased two brothers Damien and Miles Sanderson who killed at least ten (10) people, and wounded eighteen (18) more with knives. Why did they do this? Because we live in a fallen world.

Every dark and evil thing in our world today can be traced to sin. It is sin that separates us from God. It is sin that drags people down…. Continue reading →

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Repent, Receive, And Do

Posted on July 26, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Please turn with me in your Bibles to James Chapter One. This morning we talked about the difference between Salvation and Sanctification. Salvation is a place we enter when we repent and turn to Jesus, believing Him to be our Lord and Savior. Giving our broken lives to Him, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit of God to us to begin a lifetime work in our lives.

We repent of being our own god, and turn to God the Son, Jesus Christ.
We receive the Scripture as God’s Word – especially what Jesus decreed.
We reflect in our lives the life of Christ, for we are God’s children.

The “religion” that gets a person into God’s Heaven cannot be divorced from the way of Christ. Jesus taught us the twin pillars of our faith is to love God supremely, and to love others the way that Jesus has loved us (Matthew 22:36-40; John 13:34).

Opening: On July 11, 1656, two Quaker Missionaries Ann Austin and Mary Fisher arrived in Boston Harbor, New England. A Christian denomination called the Puritans ruled Massachusetts, much like the Pharisees ruled Israel in Jesus’ day. The Puritans believed the Quakers to be a cult. Deputy Governor Richard Bellingham boarded the ladies ship, ordered the women to stay on board, and confiscated 100 books the ladies brought with them. The books were burned, the women imprisoned without counsel or the ability… Continue reading →

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The Marks Of The Christian

Posted on April 9, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

What marks a Christian, a Christian? What are the signs or evidences in the life that stand as proofs that you are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus? It is not the man made denomination that makes a Christian, but God does this when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Apostle of Love wrote:

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

The Position Of The Christian Is Different To
The Position Of The Lost

A Christian is distinctly different to a non-Christian. A Christian is a “Son of God”. Someone once asked, “But doesn’t God have any daughters?”. Well yes, He does. But “Son of God” is a technical term for the genuine Christian.

When Jesus Christ was incarnate, He became the Son of Man. But Jesus is eternally THE Son of God.
Even Satan acknowledged this…. Continue reading →

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The IF Of Salvation

Posted on March 23, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

The word “IF” occurs in the King James Version of the Scripture 1,595 times in 1,420 verses. The first use of the word “IF” occurs when Cain was upset that God would not accept his sacrifice. God told Cain:

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God was emphasizing to Cain that He expected Cain to bring an animal sacrifice, not the fruit of the field. Had Cain done that, the Lord would have accepted it. God demanded animal sacrifices because, as we later learn in Scripture, these animal sacrifices pointed out that human works cannot permanently cover our sins in God’s eyes. We all needed Jesus Christ as the “Lamb of God” to come and give His life for us. Jesus is “the Lamb without spot or blemish (John 1:29), “Christ our Passover sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Cain refused to listen to the IF of God, and murdered his brother Abel. Cain not only lost the possibility of salvation, but lived the rest of his life a marked man for the evil he did.

IF is used so many ways in the Scripture:
Noah released a dove to see IF the waters were receding (Genesis 8:8)
Abraham by IF gave grace to Lot, allowing him to choose (Genesis 13:9)
IF God found just ten righteous in Sodom, they would live (Genesis 18:32)

Some of the great IF statements come from Jesus. Continue reading →

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A Life Well Lived

Posted on December 28, 2020 by bibleteacherorg

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 2.

Every Christmas we as Christians focus on the Baby Jesus in the manger, the Shepherds who came to see the Child, the Wise Men traveling to Bethlehem, a virgin named Mary and Joseph her betrothed. We think about the original Grinch, King Herod, who not only hated Jesus (though He was but a toddler), but was evil enough to order the assassination of all the children in Bethlehem. Yet God was faithful, is faithful, and will always be faithful.

While we focus on the various elements of the Christmas story, others focus on anything but that. Many contemplate and follow through on suicide, as the holiday season brings increased sadness to those who have lost loved… Continue reading →

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