Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ESV
I love the Word of God. Reading it changed my life, for I came to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord when I finally read a New Testament that had been lying around my house for I don't know how many years.
I also love hearing good sound Bible teaching and preaching that helps me understand the Word of God better, or be reminded of things in it that I ought to ponder.
I also like teaching from Scripture. For several years it was my privilege to teach an adult Sunday School school class during the months of June and September. Almost always I would teach on a book of the Bible, such as the epistle to the Ephesians or the gospel of John.
Then last year health problems kept me from teaching Sunday School. So I took to writing blog posts based on Scripture. I wasn't always steadfast in keeping up with the writing of posts. There weren't very many people who were reading the posts. My health had its ups and downs, including more stays in the hospital.
But lately I've been feeling better, and I've been trying to write worthwhile blog posts from Scripture on a more regular basis.
After I wrote the recent blog post about how the name of our church was changed to include the word "Bible", I offered the link to that post to be shared with those on the email prayer chain that our church sends out.
More people read that blog post than had generally been in one of the adult Sunday School classes that I taught. People also commented on it on Facebook, which I appreciated because I do like to learn from others as well as to share what I learn.
If God wants me to continue to teach, perhaps this blog is the way He would have me do it at the present time. I've shared this thought with others, and one of the elders and our pastor agree that this may well be how God would have me use the gift of teaching while I'm not able to lead a class.
I ask that you pray for me. If I'm to teach either in Sunday School or via this blog, I want what I teach to be sound Biblical doctrine. I want to take great care to heed the words Paul wrote to Timothy: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) ESV
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Our Church Has A New Name
This week the members of our church voted to change the name of our church from Brookville Baptist Church to Brookville Bible Church.
Now that our church has this new name, I hope and pray that we will become more dedicated and devoted than ever to know what the Bible says, and live according to what it says.
In Paul's second letter to Timothy he wrote: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) ESV
A banner in our church declares that this is a church where Jesus is Lord and people are loved. In order for that to be true, we must know what is in the Bible and live by it. Even Jesus Himself confirmed the authority of Scripture by saying again and again "it is written" when speaking and teaching. He was reminding people that what had already been written in Scripture by Moses and the prophets was the word of God.
If Jesus is to be our Lord we must know what He wants us to know. It's not up to us to make up or to imagine what He might want us to know and do. We need to go to the Word of God and read what it says and how it says it in context.
If we are going to use the word Bible in the name of our church we want to be sure that we and all who teach in our church heed Paul's instruction to Timothy when he wrote Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) ESV
We are to do our best. Our very best. We are to take care that we rightly handle the word of truth. We don't want to add to it or take away from it. We don't want to change it to make it more acceptable to people. We don't want to make it say what it does not say.
We don't want to misrepresent God or what God has said in His Word. If we ever do that, even unintentionally, we won't be rightly handling the word of truth.
We want to follow the example of Paul in declaring to others the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). To do that we have to study the Bible carefully. We need to know what comes before and after passages of Scripture. We need to know what the rest of the Bible has to say about the subject that one passage addresses.
The Bible contains what God wants us to know about Himself, and what He has done, is doing, and will do.
The Bible tells us how God wants us to relate to Him, in awesome fear, obedience, worship, and thankfulness for the salvation provided by the sacrifice of His only begotten son, Jesus.
The Bible also tells us how God wants us to relate to one another, in our churches, in our families, and in the world.
The more we know what the Bible truly teaches, the more we will be able to live as the people and the church He commands us to be.
Let us all, whether members of Brookvville Bible Church or not, be diligent in learning what God want us to learn from His written Word. May the new name of our church inspire to us to do our very best to know what the Bible says to us so we can become better equipped for every good work.
Now that our church has this new name, I hope and pray that we will become more dedicated and devoted than ever to know what the Bible says, and live according to what it says.
In Paul's second letter to Timothy he wrote: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) ESV
A banner in our church declares that this is a church where Jesus is Lord and people are loved. In order for that to be true, we must know what is in the Bible and live by it. Even Jesus Himself confirmed the authority of Scripture by saying again and again "it is written" when speaking and teaching. He was reminding people that what had already been written in Scripture by Moses and the prophets was the word of God.
If Jesus is to be our Lord we must know what He wants us to know. It's not up to us to make up or to imagine what He might want us to know and do. We need to go to the Word of God and read what it says and how it says it in context.
If we are going to use the word Bible in the name of our church we want to be sure that we and all who teach in our church heed Paul's instruction to Timothy when he wrote Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) ESV
We are to do our best. Our very best. We are to take care that we rightly handle the word of truth. We don't want to add to it or take away from it. We don't want to change it to make it more acceptable to people. We don't want to make it say what it does not say.
We don't want to misrepresent God or what God has said in His Word. If we ever do that, even unintentionally, we won't be rightly handling the word of truth.
We want to follow the example of Paul in declaring to others the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). To do that we have to study the Bible carefully. We need to know what comes before and after passages of Scripture. We need to know what the rest of the Bible has to say about the subject that one passage addresses.
The Bible contains what God wants us to know about Himself, and what He has done, is doing, and will do.
The Bible tells us how God wants us to relate to Him, in awesome fear, obedience, worship, and thankfulness for the salvation provided by the sacrifice of His only begotten son, Jesus.
The Bible also tells us how God wants us to relate to one another, in our churches, in our families, and in the world.
The more we know what the Bible truly teaches, the more we will be able to live as the people and the church He commands us to be.
Let us all, whether members of Brookvville Bible Church or not, be diligent in learning what God want us to learn from His written Word. May the new name of our church inspire to us to do our very best to know what the Bible says to us so we can become better equipped for every good work.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Love Your Enemies?
Mat 5:43-48 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust...You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. ESV
Jesus said some awfully hard things. It was commonly accepted that loving our neighbor and hating our enemy was completely acceptable. But Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He said that our Father in heaven makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust, therefore that is the example we are to follow.
By giving the example of how God loves us, providing sun and rain to everybody, Jesus let us know that He's not talking about feelings of affection. He is talking about what we do in regards to others, whether they are friends or foes. Just as God provides things that are needed by everybody, so we ought to give to others what they need regardless of how they treat us.
But being kind to those who are unkind to us isn't easy. It doesn't come naturally. If someone insults us we want to insult back...or maybe punch them in the nose.
We want to live by own own standards. We want to be just "good enough" to be acceptable to those people whose opinions we care about. But Jesus doesn't go along with that. The only standards that matter to Him are God's standards. He calls on us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Can we succeed in being perfect? No. We're sinners and even when we try our best we still fail. And often we won't even bother to try. We'd rather sin that do things the way God wants them done.
So, should we give up and just go on sinning against others and against God? God forbid that we should even think such a thing.
Jesus, who did live perfectly, was the perfect spotless sacrificial lamb to die in our place. We can be acceptable to God because Jesus paid for our sins. For that we can be eternally thankful.
If we seek to cease from sinning and sometimes fail, we can and should confess our sins and Jesus will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). But if we intentionally sin whenever we feel like it, then we'll be declaring by our actions that we don't consider Jesus to be our Lord. Such behavior and attitude will hopefully result in chastisement by God. If it doesn't, then a person should question whether he or she has ever really been saved and adopted by God as His child (Hebrews 12:8).
Loving our enemies, being kind to those who are unkind to us, isn't what most of us want to do. But that is what Jesus did. We were His enemies. We didn't want Him to tell us what to do. But He loved us so much that He suffered and died for us, to atone for our sins.
Jesus has much to say to us that we might not appreciate hearing or obeying. But He's the boss. He knows what He's talking about. He knows what is best. And He loves us more than we can imagine. Let's thank Him for what He's done. Let's seek His help to do what He wants us to do. Let us express our gratitude by our words and deeds.
Jesus said some awfully hard things. It was commonly accepted that loving our neighbor and hating our enemy was completely acceptable. But Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He said that our Father in heaven makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust, therefore that is the example we are to follow.
By giving the example of how God loves us, providing sun and rain to everybody, Jesus let us know that He's not talking about feelings of affection. He is talking about what we do in regards to others, whether they are friends or foes. Just as God provides things that are needed by everybody, so we ought to give to others what they need regardless of how they treat us.
But being kind to those who are unkind to us isn't easy. It doesn't come naturally. If someone insults us we want to insult back...or maybe punch them in the nose.
We want to live by own own standards. We want to be just "good enough" to be acceptable to those people whose opinions we care about. But Jesus doesn't go along with that. The only standards that matter to Him are God's standards. He calls on us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Can we succeed in being perfect? No. We're sinners and even when we try our best we still fail. And often we won't even bother to try. We'd rather sin that do things the way God wants them done.
So, should we give up and just go on sinning against others and against God? God forbid that we should even think such a thing.
Jesus, who did live perfectly, was the perfect spotless sacrificial lamb to die in our place. We can be acceptable to God because Jesus paid for our sins. For that we can be eternally thankful.
If we seek to cease from sinning and sometimes fail, we can and should confess our sins and Jesus will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). But if we intentionally sin whenever we feel like it, then we'll be declaring by our actions that we don't consider Jesus to be our Lord. Such behavior and attitude will hopefully result in chastisement by God. If it doesn't, then a person should question whether he or she has ever really been saved and adopted by God as His child (Hebrews 12:8).
Loving our enemies, being kind to those who are unkind to us, isn't what most of us want to do. But that is what Jesus did. We were His enemies. We didn't want Him to tell us what to do. But He loved us so much that He suffered and died for us, to atone for our sins.
Jesus has much to say to us that we might not appreciate hearing or obeying. But He's the boss. He knows what He's talking about. He knows what is best. And He loves us more than we can imagine. Let's thank Him for what He's done. Let's seek His help to do what He wants us to do. Let us express our gratitude by our words and deeds.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
John 3:16 and also 17, 18, 19 and 20
Joh 3:16-20 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ESV
John 3:16 is a very popular Bible verse. People often put it on signs to display at sporting events, or have on bumper stickers. People quote it when telling others about Jesus.
The verses immediately following verse 16 are not so widely quoted. But it's important to look at them to get a more complete understanding of what Jesus was saying.
What do those verses say? They declare that whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the only Son of God. Why? Because Jesus is is the light. He is the one who make clear what is really true. But a great many people don't want what is really true. They want to believe what they want to true about themselves and others and everything else.
People love the darkness that is ignorance of and rejection of the light of who Jesus is and what He has said and done.
God commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We reject that. We decide we have better things to do. We have things that we want to do and we do them rather than do what God tells us to do. And if we consider God at all we simply expect Him to go along with what we've decided to do with our lives.
God knows we're all sinners who have rejected Him. Nevertheless He made one provision for us to be accepted by Him. He sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die in our place, for our sins. Jesus and His death on the Cross is the only sacrifice that the Father accepts for our sins.
God gave us a glimpse of what righteousness would look like by giving us the Law. But all of us pick and choose the parts of His law that we agree with, and then give our own interpretation as to what they mean to us. We decide we know better than God when it comes to doing what is right based on our own evaluation of things. But none of that is acceptable to God.
Gal 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Jesus, and His death on our behalf, is acceptable to God. Nothing else can make atonement and make things right between us and God. If there was anything else that could make things right between us and God then Jesus, the Son of God, wasted His time going to the Cross to suffer and die for our sins.
Gal 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Christ did not die for no purpose. His death paid the price for our sins. We can either believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior who died in our place on the Cross, and thereby have eternal life, or we can reject Him and what He did, and remain condemned for all eternity.
I hope you will choose to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and will encourage others to do the same. Any who reject Jesus, who He is and what He has done, will regret it forever.
John 3:16 is a very popular Bible verse. People often put it on signs to display at sporting events, or have on bumper stickers. People quote it when telling others about Jesus.
The verses immediately following verse 16 are not so widely quoted. But it's important to look at them to get a more complete understanding of what Jesus was saying.
What do those verses say? They declare that whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the only Son of God. Why? Because Jesus is is the light. He is the one who make clear what is really true. But a great many people don't want what is really true. They want to believe what they want to true about themselves and others and everything else.
People love the darkness that is ignorance of and rejection of the light of who Jesus is and what He has said and done.
God commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We reject that. We decide we have better things to do. We have things that we want to do and we do them rather than do what God tells us to do. And if we consider God at all we simply expect Him to go along with what we've decided to do with our lives.
God knows we're all sinners who have rejected Him. Nevertheless He made one provision for us to be accepted by Him. He sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die in our place, for our sins. Jesus and His death on the Cross is the only sacrifice that the Father accepts for our sins.
God gave us a glimpse of what righteousness would look like by giving us the Law. But all of us pick and choose the parts of His law that we agree with, and then give our own interpretation as to what they mean to us. We decide we know better than God when it comes to doing what is right based on our own evaluation of things. But none of that is acceptable to God.
Gal 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Jesus, and His death on our behalf, is acceptable to God. Nothing else can make atonement and make things right between us and God. If there was anything else that could make things right between us and God then Jesus, the Son of God, wasted His time going to the Cross to suffer and die for our sins.
Gal 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Christ did not die for no purpose. His death paid the price for our sins. We can either believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior who died in our place on the Cross, and thereby have eternal life, or we can reject Him and what He did, and remain condemned for all eternity.
I hope you will choose to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and will encourage others to do the same. Any who reject Jesus, who He is and what He has done, will regret it forever.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
In Jesus All Things Hold Together
Col 1:16-17 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ESV
This passage in Paul's letter to the Colossians does not describe Jesus as merely a profound teacher or religious leader. Jesus does teach and He does lead those who follow Him. But He is so much more than that.
This passage of Scripture, like the opening verses of the Gospel written by John, declare Jesus to be the one who created everything that has been created.
Apart from Jesus, nothing that has been created would exist. There would be no universe. No stars. No planets. No you. No me.
You and I owe our existence to Jesus. Jesus, as our creator, and the creator of everything else that has been created, knows everything about us and the rest of creation. He knows the purpose of why we and all else was created.
This passage of Scripture states that we were not created for the benefit of ourselves.Verse 17 states that all things were created through Him and for Him.
You and I and everyone and everything else was created for Jesus. Want to know what you purpose in life is? The purpose why you and everything else exists is Jesus.
This passage also makes it clear that Jesus didn't just create everything and then no longer had anything to do with it. It says that in Him all things hold together.
When Jesus was here in a flesh and blood body, He didn't cease to be who has always been and will always be. He who created everything still had power over everything. He could and did walk on water. He could and did calm a storm. He could and did make enough food to feed thousands of people. He restored crippled bodies and even brought people who had died back to life.
He could do all those things because in Him all those things were held together. He is still holding all things together. He deserves more of our attention. We ought to learn all we can about Him and what He wants us to know. To know those things we need to know what is in the Bible.
If we're not learning what is written in the Bible we are going through life ignorant of what is really important. We were designed to be able to know and understand things. If you don't yet own a Bible, you can go online to read and study it for free. One such online site where you can do that is BibleGateway.com.
Jesus is worthy of more of our attention. He holds everything together, including you and me. Apart from Him we could not exist. Let us give Him more of the attention He deserves.
This passage in Paul's letter to the Colossians does not describe Jesus as merely a profound teacher or religious leader. Jesus does teach and He does lead those who follow Him. But He is so much more than that.
This passage of Scripture, like the opening verses of the Gospel written by John, declare Jesus to be the one who created everything that has been created.
Apart from Jesus, nothing that has been created would exist. There would be no universe. No stars. No planets. No you. No me.
You and I owe our existence to Jesus. Jesus, as our creator, and the creator of everything else that has been created, knows everything about us and the rest of creation. He knows the purpose of why we and all else was created.
This passage of Scripture states that we were not created for the benefit of ourselves.Verse 17 states that all things were created through Him and for Him.
You and I and everyone and everything else was created for Jesus. Want to know what you purpose in life is? The purpose why you and everything else exists is Jesus.
This passage also makes it clear that Jesus didn't just create everything and then no longer had anything to do with it. It says that in Him all things hold together.
When Jesus was here in a flesh and blood body, He didn't cease to be who has always been and will always be. He who created everything still had power over everything. He could and did walk on water. He could and did calm a storm. He could and did make enough food to feed thousands of people. He restored crippled bodies and even brought people who had died back to life.
He could do all those things because in Him all those things were held together. He is still holding all things together. He deserves more of our attention. We ought to learn all we can about Him and what He wants us to know. To know those things we need to know what is in the Bible.
If we're not learning what is written in the Bible we are going through life ignorant of what is really important. We were designed to be able to know and understand things. If you don't yet own a Bible, you can go online to read and study it for free. One such online site where you can do that is BibleGateway.com.
Jesus is worthy of more of our attention. He holds everything together, including you and me. Apart from Him we could not exist. Let us give Him more of the attention He deserves.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Jesus Knows What He's Talking About
Luk 5:3-8 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." ESV
When Jesus sat in the Simon's boat and taught, it seems that everyone respectfully just listened to what He had to say. They considered Him to be a rabbi, and would know what He was talking about.
But when He finished speaking to the people, and told Simon to move the boat out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch, Simon wasn't so sure Jesus understood a lot about fishing. Simon didn't refuse to do as Jesus said, but he did give a word of caution. Perhaps he thought Jesus would reconsider what He'd said and not have them attempt to catch any fish.
But Jesus always knows what He's talking about. When the nets were let down they encompassed so many fish they began to break, and men from the other boat had to come help. As they hauled the fish aboard, filling the boat, the weight of all those fish nearly sank Siimon's boat.
But did Simon get upset by the possible loss of his boat? Or did he rejoice at how many fish he'd be able sell? No. He fell down at Jesus knees, saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Simon realized that Jesus wasn't merely a rabbi trained to teach the Scriptures. Jesus was much more than a teacher. He either knew exactly where all those fish were, or he'd made them to be where the nets had been let down. Clearly Jesus was no ordinary man.
Having heard Jesus teach, and then seen how He had completely turned a failed night of fishing into a catch big enough to nearly sink his boat, Simon knew this was an incredible man of God. Simon knew he was unworthy to be in the presence of one so holy.
I hope we can learn some things from Simon. I hope we'll learn that Jesus knows what He's talking about. If He has anything to say about any aspect of life, then we'd better listen and do what He says.
In this situation, Simon thought he knew more about fishing than this rabbi. In our experience we seem to think we know more than Jesus about running our own lives. By our actions we show we think we know more than Jesus does about how to be a husband, wife, worker, or boss. We establish relationships with other people based on whatever we think is best rather than Jesus says in the Bible.
When we learn that Jesus does know better than we do about everything, I hope we'll be like Simon and acknowledge that we're sinful and not worthy even of being in His presence. When we have that kind of attitude we'll be ready to accept His invitation to follow Him and learn from Him.
When Jesus sat in the Simon's boat and taught, it seems that everyone respectfully just listened to what He had to say. They considered Him to be a rabbi, and would know what He was talking about.
But when He finished speaking to the people, and told Simon to move the boat out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch, Simon wasn't so sure Jesus understood a lot about fishing. Simon didn't refuse to do as Jesus said, but he did give a word of caution. Perhaps he thought Jesus would reconsider what He'd said and not have them attempt to catch any fish.
But Jesus always knows what He's talking about. When the nets were let down they encompassed so many fish they began to break, and men from the other boat had to come help. As they hauled the fish aboard, filling the boat, the weight of all those fish nearly sank Siimon's boat.
But did Simon get upset by the possible loss of his boat? Or did he rejoice at how many fish he'd be able sell? No. He fell down at Jesus knees, saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Simon realized that Jesus wasn't merely a rabbi trained to teach the Scriptures. Jesus was much more than a teacher. He either knew exactly where all those fish were, or he'd made them to be where the nets had been let down. Clearly Jesus was no ordinary man.
Having heard Jesus teach, and then seen how He had completely turned a failed night of fishing into a catch big enough to nearly sink his boat, Simon knew this was an incredible man of God. Simon knew he was unworthy to be in the presence of one so holy.
I hope we can learn some things from Simon. I hope we'll learn that Jesus knows what He's talking about. If He has anything to say about any aspect of life, then we'd better listen and do what He says.
In this situation, Simon thought he knew more about fishing than this rabbi. In our experience we seem to think we know more than Jesus about running our own lives. By our actions we show we think we know more than Jesus does about how to be a husband, wife, worker, or boss. We establish relationships with other people based on whatever we think is best rather than Jesus says in the Bible.
When we learn that Jesus does know better than we do about everything, I hope we'll be like Simon and acknowledge that we're sinful and not worthy even of being in His presence. When we have that kind of attitude we'll be ready to accept His invitation to follow Him and learn from Him.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Joy Over One Sinner Who Repents
Jesus said in Luke 15:10. "Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." ESV
The context in which Jesus made that statement was that religious leaders were critical of Jesus for letting sinners draw near to hear Him. So Jesus spoke a parable of a shepherd who will go after a lost sheep until it is found, and a woman who will seek diligently for a lost coin until she finds it. The shepherd and the woman rejoice when they find what was lost.
Finding a lost sheep or coin are worth rejoicing about. But much greater exultation takes place when a sinner repents, for that's when there is joy before the angels of God.
There is much that God says is sin that people find quite acceptable and desirable. As long as that's what they think, they'll see no need to repent. Much of what is on TV, in movies, in songs, and in books actually encourages people to do what is offensive to God.
Sin, whether people know it or not, has serious eternal consequences. The only way to escape those consequences is to gain the forgiveness that can only be found in the person and work of Jesus.
Too many Christians are complacent about telling others about who Jesus is and what He has done and taught. It is time that we learn to be better at sharing the gospel. If we don't do it, who will? If Jesus is our Lord then we ought to be doing what He wants us to do.
Although Jesus spent time with sinners, eating and talking with them, He never did what they were doing in regards to sin. Never, in His entire life while He was here in the flesh, did He ever sin.
Just as Jesus spent time with sinners and talked with them, we ought to do the same. But we must not join them in their sins whether they be in words or deeds. God wants them to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness of their sins, just as we who believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord have done.
We should want for others to repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Whenever that happens, we can greatly rejoice, along with the angels in heaven. Let's think about that, pray about it, and act on it whenever we are able.
The context in which Jesus made that statement was that religious leaders were critical of Jesus for letting sinners draw near to hear Him. So Jesus spoke a parable of a shepherd who will go after a lost sheep until it is found, and a woman who will seek diligently for a lost coin until she finds it. The shepherd and the woman rejoice when they find what was lost.
Finding a lost sheep or coin are worth rejoicing about. But much greater exultation takes place when a sinner repents, for that's when there is joy before the angels of God.
There is much that God says is sin that people find quite acceptable and desirable. As long as that's what they think, they'll see no need to repent. Much of what is on TV, in movies, in songs, and in books actually encourages people to do what is offensive to God.
Sin, whether people know it or not, has serious eternal consequences. The only way to escape those consequences is to gain the forgiveness that can only be found in the person and work of Jesus.
Too many Christians are complacent about telling others about who Jesus is and what He has done and taught. It is time that we learn to be better at sharing the gospel. If we don't do it, who will? If Jesus is our Lord then we ought to be doing what He wants us to do.
Although Jesus spent time with sinners, eating and talking with them, He never did what they were doing in regards to sin. Never, in His entire life while He was here in the flesh, did He ever sin.
Just as Jesus spent time with sinners and talked with them, we ought to do the same. But we must not join them in their sins whether they be in words or deeds. God wants them to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness of their sins, just as we who believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord have done.
We should want for others to repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Whenever that happens, we can greatly rejoice, along with the angels in heaven. Let's think about that, pray about it, and act on it whenever we are able.
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