“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own yes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7)
Trust in the Lord… These words written by the wise man to his son contain important reminders for all of us who strive to live in this old sinful world. Trusting in the Lord is a “must” for us all. It is too easy to feel as though we “have to do it all on our own strength”. Then it is too likely that we will try to carry burdens – we can’t. Not trusting in the Lord will leave us feeling lost—abandoned—estranged—and alone. None of this is necessary – If we would only learn and put into practice 7 simple steps…
Elijah sitting under a broom tree prayed to the Lord, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 18:4). No, he was not committing suicide. Yes, he was tired and worn, and feeling alone. God showed Elijah that he was never alone, and that he still had a few things to do.
I once preached a funeral service for a woman who was just one month shy or 103. A few days before her passing, her and I sat in the hospital together testing our Bible knowledge. She won! The first time I met her, I came up onto her front porch and peeking through the window–saw her sitting at her kitchen table reading her bible through a large magnifying glass. When I sat down with her she told me that she read the New Testament once every month of her adult life. That would have been some 80 years or more.
She told me that she was hoping for the day to come when she would, “put off this tent”, and go home to meet the Lord. She, like Elijah, had committed an entire life in service to the Lord Jesus and His church, and was tired and ready. The wonderful thing in this is that she did the work she was called to do for so many years, teaching and providing necessities for the needs of the saints, and others.
The important question we must all ask of ourselves is simply when I do die, and I will die. Will it be a time to weep, or a time to laugh; A time to mourn, or a time to dance? Will it be a time to rejoice or a time of the greatest sorry?
Try as hard as you can, with all your strength, with all your knowledge and you’ll always end up on the wrong path when it comes to the salvation of your soul. Sadly, and overwhelmingly that is exactly what people try to do.
You can recognize the signs simply by asking a “religious” person questions about salvation, about the church or about doctrine. When you hear things like, “We’ll let me tell you what I believe”, or “I think”, or “my church teaches”. Add to that the old, where is it written questions, and answers like, “I don’t know, but I know it is in the Bible”. These are strong indicators that the person does not know their Bible.
Listen in as we investigate this subject. . .
The only way to be like-minded is to believe the same things — the word of God provides the things we must believe. Nothing added, nothing removed, and nothing changed. Just God’s inspired word.
Yes, being like-minded is easy when it comes to faith is easy as 1, 2, 3, when we let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom (Col. 3:16). Falling short of that will always cause division.
We need to make the connection between Christ and His Church. In this lesson brother Calvin addresses three things that will help us better understand the church and it’s relationship to Christ and salvation.
1. Sign Seeking
2. Preoccupation
3. Saving Faith
Listen in as these three topics are revealed by the word of God
When men say things, teach things, command things, that are not in harmony with the inspired word of God–they are wrong. Bottom line!
We just need to let God be true and every man a liar (Rom. 3:4), then and only then will we have the unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace that God wants us to have.
Many people today claim to be Christians but have differing beliefs and different points of view when it comes to who Jesus really is and the role He plays in their lives.
Questions: Is Jesus in your mind, the One Who Has total and complete authority over your life (Matt. 28:18)? Is everything you believe about Jesus coming from Jesus through the word of God (Heb. 1:102)? Is Jesus alone God’s spokesman, or are you lead by another? Is the Savior of the World in you, in your heart because of what He has told you or because of what man has told you (Matt. 17:5)? Can you quote just 5 things Jesus said must be done for Him to save you, or have you followed the one thing from men (John 6:45; John 8:24; Luke 13:3; Matt. 10:32; Mark 16:16)? Is Jesus really the One and Only Head of “your” church, or is there another, like a “pastor”, a “priest”, a “reverend”, or a “Pope” (Col. 1:18, 24)?
Challenge: Find the words, “Saved by Grace and nothing else” in your Bible, and if you cannot, and you can’t, stop believing that, teaching that, and start teaching exactly what the Savior did say. If you can’t find the “sinner’s prayer”, and you can’t, then stop believing that and stop teaching that.
Stop believing and practicing anything and everything you cannot find, in proper context, in your bible and start putting Jesus where He belongs in your life!
As the apostles of Christ were listening to the Lord’s words, and when He finished, we are told, “while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11).
Our lesson will focus on the words, “Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven”. We are awaiting the coming of the Lord so that one that Great and Wonderful Day, Jesus will take the church He purchased with His own blood up into the clouds to be with Him for ever more.
Paul described this event like this. “16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
Listen in as we search the scriptures and learn from God the things necessary for us to be in that final ascension with Jesus the Lord…
There are many topics on which we can talk on this evening regarding being a new creature in Christ. Things that have to do with our relationship with God, with our brethren, with those who are outside of Christ in the world.
We know from studying our scriptures and being disciples of our Lord Jesus that we can gain much to be prepared for the work that must be done in the kingdom. For any kingdom to be successful there must be workers. We know Jesus is our example. We read in John chapter 9, “I [a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (V.4).
“13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not [a]prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:13-18).
Christ and His church is a prevailing theme from the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In our lesson today we will examine the scriptures to see what this is all about with a goal to make application to our lives as individuals.
Let us focus on the church–who do we say that He is? For we will be defined as a church by the way we define this.