Tag Archives: love

God’s Telephone Directory

Posted on August 18, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Before Sherry and I got old and gray, we used to go hiking down various nature trails. One of the nicest areas we found was around Tennessee’s Reelfoot Lake. There are some beautiful hiking trails there. We’d take our walking sticks, and make a day of it.

Down one trail we followed, we found something I still can’t figure out – even years later. We were about a mile in – very far from the road – when we found a washing machine. There’s something freaky about finding a washing machine – one about 20 years old – down a narrow path that no vehicle could follow.

As I was reading and studying Nehemiah, I got to chapter 7 and said to myself, “Oh great. A washing machine!” The bulk of this chapter is nothing but names – many difficult to pronounce – and numbers. The summary of these figures is in

Nehemiah 7:66-67 The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, 67 Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women…. Continue reading →

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The Wall Is Repaired Through Unity

Posted on July 21, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

We have been studying the Book of Nehemiah, and how that wonderful Book relates to the Church today. God expects His Church not to languish, but to grow. As the Church we are called to promote the Kingdom of God in this present world. Jesus sent us with a specific commission to tell others about Him and His Gospel, and to be the light of God in this present darkness.

Israel was destroyed because they got away from the Word of God, and started to love themselves more than they loved God.

God sent a series of enemies into Israel – Babylon, Assyria, and Medo-Persia – to punish His people and awaken them from their sinful slumber. The Church in America today is in much the same place. We are a “Post Christian” nation because we as Christians have not stood at our post. Years ago the great Evangelist Dwight L. Moody said:

“A great many people have got a false idea about the church. They have got an idea that the church is a place to rest in … to get into a nicely cushioned pew, and contribute to the charities, listen to the minister, and do their share to keep the church out of bankruptcy is all they want. The idea of work for them—actual work in {and through} the church—never enters their minds.”

This is a poor concept of the Church. God calls His Church to work together for His glory. The reason that God gave us ministers:… Continue reading →

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Working For God

Posted on July 16, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 2. 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah. Nehemiah is the Cup Bearer or the Butler of the King Artaxerxes (a Persian King and conqueror of Judah). God has moved on the heart of Ezra and Zerubbabel to lead Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Some 12 years later some of these exiles return to King Artaxerxes palace and tell Nehemiah that the walls of Jerusalem are destroyed, and the gates burned with fire.

When the walls of the nation are fallen and the gates burned, the criminal element rule the nation. The walls must be rebuilt if righteousness will return!

Nehemiah seeks first God’s permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Receiving permission from God, Nehemiah asks King Artaxerxes for help – who willingly gives it! Nehemiah travels to Jerusalem, surveys the damage done, then gathers the refugees in exile to present the facts to them. We read:… Continue reading →

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The Kingdom of God Is ..

Posted on June 13, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Romans 14:17-18 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

I want to start the message today with a question we all need to ask ourselves. The question is …

Are We Following The King Of The Old Testament,
Or The King Of The New Covenant?

The Christians at Rome had a major problem in the Church. They were fighting over food.

The Jewish Christian, raised up in the shadow of the Temple and animal sacrifices, believed that certain foods were clean and other foods were unclean. The Gentile Christian, however, was not raised up under the Law of Moses, and saw all foods as clean. This caused friction in the Church. To be fair, the Jewish Christian did not make up these taboos. When God gave Israel the Law through Moses, He established lists of “clean” foods and “unclean” foods. Why did God do this?

• First of all, because God is the King of His people, a people that He loves. Our God is immense in knowledge. He knows all things from the beginning to the end. God is never surprised. 1 John 3:20 states “{God} knows everything” (ESV). God said:

Isaiah 46:9-10 … I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ …… Continue reading →

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Walking Worthy Of The Gospel

Posted on May 29, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

It shocks me, but doesn’t surprise me when the lost do terrible things. This past Tuesday, May 24, 2022 an 18 year old man named Salvador Ramos went into Robb Elementary School and killed nineteen children and two adults. Seventeen others were wounded. The young man earlier that day shot his own grandmother in the face, severely wounding her.

What creates such a horror? People are quick to blame guns, and call for gun control and additional laws, including enhanced background checks prior to the sales of guns. Sadly, there’s no easy answer that government can give us to the problems we face in our nation. The first murder in the Bible was not committed with a gun, but an unnamed weapon (Genesis 4:1-10). The horror is not in the weapon, but in the heart of the one who murders another.

Had Ramos gone into that classroom and killed 21 people with a machete, or a stick of dynamite, or a poison gas, it would be just as horrible. The horror is that his heart could yield a weapon to destroy lives made by God.

What are the first causes of this terrible behavior? Bloodshed, murder and mayhem are pushed through network media and the larger movie screens and streaming services, along with sexual perversity of every kind. Children are allowed to play video games where they participate in bloody mayhem. The Bible says:… Continue reading →

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My God Enlarges Me

Posted on April 12, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 4 – one of the wonderful prayers of a Prayer Warrior and King named simply “David”.

Psalm 4 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. 3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him. 4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. 6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. 8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

One of the greatest weapons that a Christian has is the weapon of prayer. One of the great prayer warriors of yesteryear, E.M. Bounds said:

“God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them. … Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid … Prayer is a trade to be learned. We must be apprentices and serve our time at it. Painstaking care, much thought, practice and labor are required to be a skillful tradesman in praying. Practice in this, as well as in all other… Continue reading →

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Who Is This Man? A Palm Sunday Message

Posted on April 12, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

As Jesus headed to the unnamed Ruler’s home, a woman in the crowd, “diseased with an issue of blood for twelve years” (Matthew 9:20) saw Jesus. Thinking to herself, she said:

Matthew 9:21 … If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole

Touching Jesus – just the hem of His garment – caused her to be healed immediately! Jesus told her,

Matthew 9:22 … Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith has made thee whole!

Who is this man who can heal without a thought? But He is more, more than just a Healer. When He reaches the Ruler’s home, the mourners are crying over this twelve year old girl who has died. This Man said:

Matthew 9:24-25 … Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25 {Jesus responded, and} He went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

Who is this Man Who not only heals, but raises the dead? The crowds around Jesus grow larger and larger every day. Then it comes time when the Jew must go to Jerusalem, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. What a special time Passover is! It commemorates the time that God saved Israel from Egypt. The lamb without spot or blemish was to be taken into the home, … Continue reading →

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Who Is God?

Posted on April 5, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Turn with me in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah comes right after Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon, Isaiah, JEREMIAH. Jeremiah was known as the “Weeping Prophet”. Why? Because God had been good to Israel, but Israel turned away from God. God’s people were chasing sin. God’s people had become indistinguishable from the lost peoples around them. So God sent Jeremiah to a hard hearted people with an uncomfortable message.

Jeremiah preached to Israel more than 40 years. The Book of Jeremiah, is the longest book in the Bible by Hebrew word count. It has 22,285 Hebrew words.

Jeremiah Teaches Us The Goodness
& Faithfulness Of God

We see God’s goodness in Jeremiah’s appointment: We are told in Jeremiah 1:1 that these are “the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin” (1:1). Jeremiah is the “son of Hilkiah”. Jeremiah’s father “Hilkiah” is the Hebrew חִלְקִיָּה Chilqîyâh, {pronounced khil-kee-yaw’}, which means “The LORD {YHWH} Is My Portion”. The Priestly Tribe of Israel, the Levites, were given no land when they entered Canaan. As priests, God was their Portion (Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1-8). As the son of a Priest,… Continue reading →

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Be Strong – Grow In Grace

Posted on March 28, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

We are not saved by:
religious ritual, by bead counting, by praying to a saint or to Mary.
We are not saved by animal sacrifices, nor by holy water, nor by
ceremonial baptism (which is but a like figure of salvation – 1 Peter 3:21). We are not saved by genuflection, by a human priest’s blessing,
by last rites, by institutions, by human efforts.

We are saved by Grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is the GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast”. It is the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross that saves me. When I received Jesus as Lord and Savior, believing Him to be the one and only Messiah, the Savior, and believed He died for my salvation, and rose from the grave for my justification – then God the Holy Spirit saves me. It is the Spirit of God that causes the Christian to be “born again”. Not as we were, but as children of God.

It is GRACE that brings us to the new birth. It is GRACE that makes the new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Rituals do nothing. The Apostle said:

Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature…. Continue reading →

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Reject Not The Counsel Of God

Posted on March 27, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Saving faith comes to Jesus, and bows down at His feet. Saving faith clings to Jesus, adoring
Jesus as the Savior and Lord.

Simon had been greatly blessed by God. One commentary suggested that Simon might have been a leper that Jesus Himself healed, and so he now invited Christ to his home to “even up the score”. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I do know this.

You cannot be saved and NOT love Jesus. “We love Him, for He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Though Jesus was a Guest in Simon’s home, he made no effort to provide even the smallest amenity – like a wash basin and a cloth – to the Lord. He fed Jesus, but begrudgingly. The woman, on the other hand, ministered to Jesus. She ministered to God! Jesus said, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little… Continue reading →

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