January 2019 - The Gospel Mailman

What Was Going to Happen to Jesus?

Scripture: Mark 10: 32-33

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles

Scripture Commentary:

Jesus had told the disciples what was going to happen to him. Jesus’ death and resurrection should have come as no surprise to the disciples. He clearly explained to them what would happen to Him. Unfortunately, they didn’t really hear what he was saying.

Jesus said He was the Messiah, but they thought the Messiah would be a conquering king. He spoke to them of resurrection, but they heard only His words about death. As Jesus often spoke in parables, the disciples may have thought His words on death and resurrection were another parable that they were not astute enough to understand.

There are no accidents in God’s plan.

The gospels include Jesus’ predictions of His death and resurrection to show that these events were God’s plan from the beginning.

The disciples may have been confused about what Jesus was telling them. Are you confused about what Jesus is telling you?

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 10

Will You Go On Sinning?

Scripture: Romans 6: 1-2, 23

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (1-2) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (23)

Scripture Commentary:

The question put to you in Romans 6 is are you a sinner who will stop sinning or will you go on sinning? We are born into Adam’s physical family and as such, we reaped the results of Adam’s sin. We have inherited his guilt, a sinful nature, and God’s punishment.

Baptism symbolizes our rebirth in Jesus Christ.

We can trade this punishment for forgiveness by being born again in Jesus Christ. Through baptism you bury your old self. When you come out of the water, you are new. If we think of our old sinful life as dead and buried, we have a powerful motive to resist sin.

We can enjoy our new life in Christ because we are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Our evil desires, our bondage to sin, and our love of sin died with Him. Now, united by faith with Him in His resurrection life, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin’s hold on us.

The power and penalty of sin died with Christ on the cross.

Jesus saved you because of his mercy. Accept His gift with thanksgiving.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Romans Chapter 6

You Have No Excuse!

Scripture: Romans 2: 1, 12-13

You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.(1) When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.(12,13)

Scripture Commentary:

How can you judge when you are just as bad? You belong to a stubborn race. You know what’s right but you insist on doing what’s wrong.

Often the sins we notice most clearly in others are the ones that have taken root in us. If we look closely at ourselves, we may find that we are committing the same sins in more socially acceptable forms by our earthly standards.

The Bible lays the groundwork for the Christian life.

If you follow Jesus, earthly standards do not apply to you. The Bible is your book of standards; it tells you how to conduct yourself.

We are all weak.

Everyone makes mistakes and falls but if Jesus is truly in our lives, we need to ask Him to help us. He will!

There is no worse slavery than slavery to sin. Admit to yourself and to God that you fit the human pattern and frequently fail to live up to His standards. Ask for help and watch Him work on you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Romans Chapter 2

The Wrath of God Against Sinful Humanity

Scripture: Romans 1: 18-23

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Scripture Commentary:

Why is the wrath of God against sinful people? It’s because they have substituted the truth about Him with a fantasy of their own imagination. They’ve stifled the truth God naturally reveals to all people to believe anything that supports their own self-centered lifestyle.

God cannot tolerate sin because His nature is morally perfect. He isn’t able to ignore or condone such willful rebellion. God wants to remove the sin and restore the sinner, and He is able to as long as the sinner doesn’t stubbornly distort or reject the truth.

Every person accepts or rejects God

However, God’s anger erupts against those who persist in sinning. Make sure you’re not pursuing a fantasy rather than the true God. Don’t suppress the truth about Him merely to protect your own lifestyle.

Every person either accepts or rejects God. If you reject Him, you reject the truth. Don’t be fooled. When the day comes for God to judge your response to Him, no excuses will be accepted. Now you know!

Read the Entire Chapter:

Romans Chapter 1

Levi Immediately Witnessed for Christ

Scripture: Mark 2: 15-17

Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?^]”

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Scripture Commentary:

The day Levi met Jesus, he held a meeting at his house to introduce others to Jesus. Levi didn’t waste any time starting to witness!

Some people feel that new believers should wait for training or maturity before they begin to tell others about Jesus. But like Levi, new believers can share their faith right away with whatever knowledge, skill, or experience they already have.

Jesus spent time with everyone who wanted to hear the Word.

The self-righteous Pharisees were indignant that Jesus would eat a meal with such sinners. Jesus spent time with whoever (poor, rich, bad or good) needed or wanted to hear His message.

Are there people you have been neglecting because of their reputation? They may be the ones who most need to see and hear the message of Jesus Christ’s love in and from you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 2

You Are My God; Earnestly I Seek You

Scripture: Psalms 63: 1-8

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

²I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
³Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
⁴I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

Scripture Commentary: Lord, I earnestly seek you.

When I earnestly seek you, your shield of salvation has saved me. Your gentleness made me great.

David probably wrote Psalms 61, 62, and 63 when he was seeking refuge during Absalom’s rebellion. If we are cut off from our friends, our loneliness will not let us seek God. For He is always with us. We are His children. He will never leave us.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Psalms Chapter 63

What You Do For Christ Has Lasting Value

Scripture: Proverbs 10: 2

Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.

Scripture Commentary: What has lasting value?

Some people bring unhappiness on themselves by choosing ill-gotten treasures. By craving satisfaction, they may do something that destroys their chances of ever achieving something of lasting value. God’s principles for right living bring lasting happiness because they guide us into long-term right behavior in spite of our ever changing feelings.

Scripture: Proverbs 10: 4

Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Scripture Commentary: God gives you new opportunity every day.

Every day God gives you opportunities to grow, serve and be productive. Yet it’s so easy to waste time, letting life slip away.

Refuse to be a lazy person, sleeping and frittering away the hours that are meant for productive work. God has a job for you to do.

The gift He has given you is to be used to glorify His name. Don’t let anything become more important than your search for God’s wisdom. To know God is not just to know the facts about Him, but also to stand in awe of Him and have a relationship with Him.

Don’t be the disgraceful son and sleep your life away. Be fruitful and go into the world talking about Jesus Christ.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Proverbs Chapter 10

Would You Curse God When the Devil Is Your Enemy?

Would You Curse God When It’s the Devil Who is Your Enemy?

Part Three: 1 Peter 5: 8

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan greatly misunderstands the breadth and depth of God’s mercy and forgiveness toward those who believe in Him. Satan believed that Job was willing to accept the loss of family and property as long as his own skin was safe.

We can be like that in a way. It’s like that when we see someone who is hurt or suffering, or who is losing everything and we say to ourselves that we’re glad it isn’t us.

Satan comes at you in many ways just as he did with Job.

First, he attacked Job’s family by removing his sons and daughters. Second, he went after Job’s property, and last, Satan attacked Job’s health.

In Job, chapter 6, verse 2, we see that Satan needed God’s permission to hurt Job but God didn’t allow for Job to be killed.

Job 2:9

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Job remained faithful to God.

With all that Job went through, he never lost his love for God, and he never cursed God. Would you be able to say the same if you were in Job’s shoes?

People curse God everyday when they use language that is ungodly. Some people profane God’s name with no thought to what they’re saying. But when you live a godly life, you put away the things that are not of God.

For anyone who doesn’t know how the story ends, Job was given back more than he lost.

Job 42: 12-17

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

In God’s house you do not need money, cars, and boats. You need only God; He will provide your needs.

Would the message of Job change if God hadn’t restored Job to his former blessings? No, God is still sovereign.

Don’t let anything come between you and God. If there’s anything in your life that you value more than God, get it out of your life! And don’t dwell on what you give up. God gave his Son for your sins.

You can never out give God!

Read the Entire Chapters of the Scriptures Referenced:

Read the other parts of the sermon, Would You Curse God?

Part One: Would You Curse God?

Part Two: Would You Curse God When the Pressure Is On?