Tag Archives: love God

Behold Simeon (After Christmas Message)

Posted on December 31, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Luke 2:25-26 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. (26) And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Throughout the Scripture there are times when God gives us a STOP sign. He puts a “behold” (the Greek ἰδού idoú, [pronounced id-oo’]) in the text. When Joseph discovered Mary was with Child, he slept, and

Matthew 1:20 … behold (idoú) the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost…. Continue reading →

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Do You Love Jesus?

Posted on December 5, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

I was reading an article on “The 3 Misconceptions That Many Muslims Have About Christianity” the other day. I love to read, and learn much by it. One of the largest problems in witnessing Christ to Muslims is that they believe the West is “Christian”. Muslims regard their faith – Islam – as both a religion and a state. If I had never been exposed to Christianity and was told “America is a Christian nation”, I’d have some serious problems with that. If you brand America as “Christian”, then you must believe that sexual immorality, shedding of blood, and celebration of drug and alcohol use are endorsed by Christ. That’s not true. Neither America nor the West are Christian. The bloody “Christian” Crusades endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church are not “Christian”.

Do you know what “Christian” is? It is to love Jesus. It is to obey His Commands, regardless as to what anyone thinks. That’s “Christian”. Anything else is fake.

Being “Religious” does not make you “Christian”. You can know all the songs in the Baptist hymnal by heart and be lost. Jesus’ greatest critics were the Pharisees, who were extremely religious. God turned the tables on the Pharisees when He knocked down the one called Saul of Tarsus (Acts 23:6 & Philippians 3:5) on the Damascus Road, converting him to Christianity. After Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle he often spoke against those who …

“had a form of godliness, but denied the power of God”
(2 Timothy 3:5).

Illustrate: Have you ever seen a Rubik’s Cube? I owned one years ago. The Rubik’s Cube has 43 quintillion (a quintillion has 18 zeros), 252 quadrillion, 3 trillion, 274 billion, 489 million, 856 thousand likely patterns that you have to overcome to unscramble it. I figured out how to unscramble a Rubik’s Cube in about 10 minutes. I peeled off the little paper colored squares, and re-pasted them where they were supposed to be…. Continue reading →

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Come Join Our Team

Posted on December 2, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Once saved, you are members of the Family of God. As such, you are expected to DO what God tells you to do. You are to obey His commands, rain or shine, mountaintop or valley, good days or bad days.

Are you His? Do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior? If so, bless the Lord, O my soul! If not, today give yourselves to Jesus! There is only one place that you will discover peace with yourself, and peace with God. That is in the arms of Christ. Run to Him. Give your lives to Him not just once, but daily and forever. For in Christ is power and glory…. Continue reading →

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Joy Not In Things, But In God

Posted on November 18, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

People today find their joy in all the wrong places. In Psalm 100, one of my favorite, we see the Scripture telling us over and over to rejoice, to praise, to be happy, to be glad. The entire Psalm, meant to be sung in the Temple of God by a Cantor or Worship Leader, is one long praise. The song begins by telling us to give a cry of victory over the trials of life, then commands us to rejoice as we serve our God. Yes, the entire Psalm is about being happy, rejoicing, being satisfied beyond belief. Read with me:

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Only The Saved Know Where Joy Comes From

C.H. Spurgeon wrote in his sermon “The Claims of God”:

BRETHREN, it is a trick of Satan to distract us from the most important and vital matters by the suggestion of trivial considerations. {That old Devil} will fill our eyes with dust to prevent our looking to the bronze serpent for healing; from the preaching of Jesus he endeavored to distract human attention by debates upon the tithing of mint, and anise, and cumin; the making broad of the borders of one’s garments; the wearing of phylacteries … {Satan} followed this method at Jacob’s well. When our Lord spoke to the {Samaritan} woman about living water, and the salvation of her soul, the evil spirit prompted her to {say,} “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and You say that in Jerusalem men ought to worship.” With this same art Satan still works!

The devil tried to do the same thing with our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness. The devil offered Jesus food, prestige, and power as avenues to joy. Jesus’ simple reply was, “It is written”.

Oh that we would learn from Jesus. Satan is destroying our nation through trivial and godless things, distractions from the most important truths. I am told that one political party made great gains in this last election because they capitalized on the anger generated by the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade. Thank God it was overturned! People are upset because the Supreme Court has sent the question of legalized abortion back to the states, where it should have always been. One party has said that they will codify abortion into U.S. Law. Even if they do, people will not find joy in this. There is no joy in evil and selfishness. There is no genuine joy to be found in things…. Continue reading →

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Rightly Dividing God’s Word Part 2: God, Stewardships, & The Age of Innocence

Posted on November 15, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Salvation is not by our works, but by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He died for our sins, and rose again to lead us as believers, His Church. As we study the Scripture, we are always aware that:

All Scripture Is Written TO The Believer, But
Not All Scripture Is Written FOR The Believer

The Social and Ceremonial portions of the Mosaic Law found in the Old Testament are written not FOR the Gentiles nor the Church, but FOR Israel. We did establish this: Whether OLD or NEW Covenant, no one has EVER been saved by their works, but by faith in God. Once saved, however, the believer is to follow the commandments of God…. Continue reading →

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The Best Foundation Is Jesus

Posted on November 6, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Jesus loved to ask questions when He taught. By asking questions, He made His hearers THINK about their response before they answered. Jesus asked, according to the website Red Letter Challenge, 305 questions throughout the Gospels.

In this chapter alone Jesus asked 10 questions when being challenged and when teaching. This is His 10th Question.

People came to Jesus, crying out “Lord, Lord”. They wanted Jesus to do something for them. Jesus healed the lepers, the blind, the sick. But Jesus had something greater to give to those in need.
Jesus offered Himself as King of our lives.

Jesus IS Lord. When John the Baptist preached, his message was “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). When Jesus preached, His message was “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15). The Gospel includes the “Kingdom of God”. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom. He “came to save HIS PEOPLE from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus IS Lord. He cannot be anything less. Scripture is clear that “without holiness, no one shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Pastor Stephen J. Cole notes:

“Genuine saving faith always results in a life of progressive godliness. If a person claims to be saved, but has no hunger for God’s Word, no growing hatred of sin, and no growth in godly living, he needs to examine whether he is truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).”

The proof of salvation is that you want to please your Lord. John 3:16 – perhaps the most quoted text of Scripture in the Bible – says –

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is true that salvation is a free gift of God. But once saved, you are brought into the Kingdom of God, and Christ is your King. Pastor John MacArthur wrote in his book… Continue reading →

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What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Posted on November 4, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

A Christian is a work in progress. Salvation is entirely a work of God in us. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For BY GRACE are you saved THROUGH FAITH, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES. It (this salvation) IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast.

Salvation is the broken Creature throwing themselves on the Creator and Savior. Salvation is an empty hand, reaching out to God Who is able, seeking fulfillment. Salvation comes to us when God Himself opens our eyes to the Son, and calls us to His side. Salvation comes when we run into the arms of Him Who is not broken, our Savior and Lord Jesus. Once we are saved the Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:10 We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus {to do} good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are not saved by works, but by faith. But once saved, we are called to do “good works”. When we become self absorbed and “me” focused, we walk away from our calling and get into trouble. A believer can fall in the worst trap when we make “I” the center of the universe….. Continue reading →

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Who Has Your Heart?

Posted on September 27, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

What is IN the spiritual heart is manifest in what you OUTWARDLY do. Religion cannot fix a heart problem.

Our Lord Jesus put it this way. Jesus chastised the religious Pharisees of his day – because they twisted the Word of God to make allowance for their sinful practices. Their are many in our world who do that today – you might be one of them! Jesus told the Pharisees:

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV) You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Preach: Jesus said of the Pharisees, “their heart is far from Me”. God gave us His Word, the Holy Bible, to show us His Standard and His Savior. We are to follow His Savior Jesus Christ with all our hearts. We are to love God with all our hearts. Jesus came to this earth not just to heal our physical bodies, but to fix our heart problem. He said:

Matthew 15:10-11, 17-20 (ESV) … “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” … 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

When we look around our America today, around our homes, in our schools, what do we see? Certainly there are good things out there. Certainly there are good people. But I’ll guarantee you, there were a lot of “good” people who stopped traffic to pick up and, yes, steal money that was not their own. They did not earn that money. They had a heart problem.

Jesus came, not to be a Hero, a conquering King,
but to be a Healer of our hearts…. Continue reading →

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We Desperately Need God In Us

Posted on September 16, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

You can be religious. You can keep the Law. You can follow God for a time. But if you are not born again of the Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, your false faith will not last. No faith that is primarily of works will save. Salvation is by faith in Christ Jesus. The Temple died after Israel rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah. Today, those who are born again of the Spirit (John 3:1, 3, 7; 1 Peter 1:3) through faith in Jesus Christ are the Temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-16; Ephesians 2:21).

And this Temple cannot be torn down by anything but faithlessness. Let us bind our hearts to Jesus, for the glory of God forever. … Continue reading →

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Christ Suffered & Left An Example

Posted on September 11, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

I thought this week to begin preaching through 1 Peter chapter 3. And yet, as I thought to do so, the Lord impressed on my heart that we need to more closely examine this passage – especially since today is Communion Sunday. Focus on these words for just a moment:

1 Peter 2:21 Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps

Christ Suffered For Us

The first part of this text I want to address is “Christ suffered for US”. Let’s define this. First of all, how did CHRIST SUFFER?

First of all, Jesus suffered DEMOTION for us

Jesus is the eternal Son of God, Heaven’s glorious King. When Jesus prayed before going to the Cross, He said:

John 17:5, 24 (ESV) … Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. … 24 … because you loved me before the foundation of the world…… Continue reading →

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