Tag: New Testament

Endure: Faith Produces Patience

Scripture: James 1: 3-6

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Scripture Commentary: Tested Faith Produces Patience and Endurance.

What is your relationship with Jesus Christ? And do you really believe that God listens to your prayers? Do you pray only for the things you think you need? Or do you pray for the patience to wait on God, and the wisdom to obey His Word?

Have faith in God and do not doubt.

At times we expect God’s answer to come right away. God will always give us what we need, when we need it. He does not grant every thoughtless or selfish request. We must have faith and confidence that God will align our desires with His purpose.

Remember that a mind that wavers is not completely convinced that God’s way is best. When you pray and ask God for advice, do not treat it as you would human advice. This would give you the option to disobey.

In asking God for wisdom, you show your faith and trust in Him. And then your decisions are sure and solid.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

James Chapter 1

Other Commentary from the Book of James:

To Know the Gospel is Different From Living It

Be Humble – Do Not Judge

Idols Can’t See Nor Hear Nor Walk; Worship the Living God

Sermon, Part Five (Final): The Final Destination

Revelation 9: 20-21

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood; which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk; Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their thefts.

No one suddenly falls into immorality; it happens a little bit at a time.

These people were so hardhearted that even plagues did not drive them to God. People don’t usually fall into immortality and evil suddenly. They slip into it a little at a time, and when they realize what has happened, they are irrevocably mired in their wicked ways.

People who allow sin to take root in their life will find themselves in a predicament. Temptation entertained today becomes sin tomorrow. From there, it turns into a habit, leading to death and separation from God forever. To think you could never become this evil is the first step toward a hard heart. Go to God and confess your sin. Ask for His forgiveness.

Psalm 23:6

Surely Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

When you hear your name called and you take your last breath, what will be your final destination? Will you be the rich man in hell or will you take the same path as Lazarus, the beggar, and be in God’s House? You have a choice and a chance.

2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house mot made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The doors of the church are never closed.

Jude 1:24-25

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scriptures Referenced:

Revelation Chapter 9

Psalm Chapter 23

2 Corinthians Chapter 5

Jude Chapter 1

Read the Other Parts of the Sermon, The Final Destination

Do You Know the Way to Heaven? (Part One)

Love Each Other As God Loves You (Part Two)

Don’t Be Ruled By Your Lusts (Part Three)

Disobedience Is the Devil’s Playground (Part Four)

Don’t Be Ruled By Your Lusts

Sermon, Part Three: The Final Destination (The Other Destination)

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and a bode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

Deuteronomy: 32:17

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

If you are moving to the alternate destination (to heaven), you are ruled by your lusts. This destination is the party of flashing lights and loud, provocative music. The women are made up, the men are dressed to impress. The person at the entrance is none other than Satan himself, selling you whatever you want to hear.

In the other destination life is a party … for now.

He tells you to look out for yourself, nothing and no one else matters. Do it your way; no one cares about what you say or do.  He says that life is a party. “Worship me and I will give you anything your heart desires. The price for my party is your soul.”

He is selling his tickets to anyone who is ready to live his lifestyle. Qualifications are, me, myself and I. Disrespectful, corruptible, slanderous, issuing damaging gossip about people, being useless, miserable, and contemptible are some of the characteristics of a place in Satan’s hell-hold.

Don’t be mislead.

If Satan was to be truthful (but he cannot be truthful), he would want to be back in the Kingdom of God, the Father. Satan will mislead you into thinking he has everything you want. But there is a difference in want and need.

God gives you your needs; Satan gives you your wants, like one-night stands. In the morning you say, “What have I done? Why am I here?”

Satan started recruiting in the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 3:1. He tempted Eve and succeeded, and ever since then he has been busy. His mission is to fill his house with as many of us as possible. To be tempted by Satan is not a sin, to give into him is the sin.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scriptures Referenced:

John Chapter 8

Deuteronomy Chapter 32

Genesis Chapter 3

Read Parts One and Two of the Sermon, The Final Destination

Part One: Do You Know the Way to Heaven?

Part Two: Love Each Other As God Loves You

Return next week for Part 4 of the Sermon, The Final Destination

Love Each Other As God Loves You

Sermon, Part Two: Love is Key to the Final Destination

John 15: 12

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Think of someone in particular who needs love. Give all the love you can, and then try to give more. How do we get to the final destination? Love each other, help each other, accept Jesus, and repent.

God doesn’t make it hard or even complicated.

All you need is faith, trust and the willingness to believe. In John 14:6, Jesus saith to Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Knowing Peter, Paul or Mary will not get you into heaven. Knowing, accepting Jesus, and repenting will get you into the Kingdom of God.

Well, you may say I have done good by my fellow man; I have put money in church; I have given to those in need. This is all good, but it will not give you the keys to eternal life in God’s Kingdom.

By uniting our lives with Jesus, we are unified with God, the Father. Some people may say that this way is too narrow. The way to God through Jesus is wide enough for the whole world, if the world chooses to accept Jesus.

God loves us so much.

God loves us so much he sent his Only Begotten Son to give us salvation and deliverance from sin. Christ is the way, the truth and the life.

Do not be like the Pharisees who loved money. They took exception to Jesus’s teaching. Christ teaches that you cannot serve two masters: money and God. The love of anything that you place before God will only last a short time. People think that material things will give them praise, but it will not. They consider their wealth to be a sign of God’s approval. God detests selfish wealth because it causes us to abandon the true spiritual gifts that God has given to us.

Wealth won’t get you into heaven – Jesus is the only way.

Remember the rich man in Luke 16:19, who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury while at the gate laid a beggar named Lazarus. The beggar was covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. The dogs came and licked the poor man’s sores. Remember that he died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.

The rich man died and was sent to hell. We do not know the rich man’s name but the poor man’s name is Lazarus. The rich man begged for mercy, but got none. While he was living, he did not repent. Now, he is dead and he cannot undo what he did while he was alive. He had no faith in God.

What is faith?

Faith is total dependence on God and a willingness to do his will. Faith is not something we put on to show others.

In this parable in Luke Chapter 16, Jesus tells us how people ended up in different places. If your life’s map is taking you to hell and you know it, and if you are here and have heard, then you still have time to make a U-turn and start on the road to God’s Kingdom.

God gives you a choice.

He doesn’t force anything on you. He is a merciful God, full of love and forgiveness. And He gives us grace, mercy, clemency, and his protection freely.

Now you have heard about the road to God’s Kingdom. You have been given the directions: repentance, love, and forgiveness. Live a Christ-like life. That does not mean to live a perfect life because none of us can be perfect.

By studying the Word, we will walk better than we have been doing. With God’s help, we will learn how to be better and do better. Faith in God will direct you to be the person that God made you to be.

Return later this week for Part Three of the sermon, The Final Destination. In Part Three we will focus on the other destination.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scriptures Referenced:

John Chapters 15

John Chapter 14

Luke Chapter 16

Read Part One of the Sermon, Your Final Destination

The Angels Worship Jesus Christ

Scripture: Hebrews 1: 5-8

5-6 For God never said to any angel, “You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name.”[b] But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, “I am his Father and he is my Son.” And still another time—when his firstborn Son came to earth—God said, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”

7 God speaks of his angels as messengers swift as the wind and as servants made of flaming fire; 8 but of his Son he says, “Your Kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever; its commands are always just and right.

Scripture Commentary:

God has many angels but He has only one Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was with His Father in the beginning of time, and He is with Him now. Christ, like His Father, is changeless.

When you put your faith in Christ, you are absolutely secure because He stands on the firmest foundation in the universe. He is always fair, just, and merciful to us who are so undeserving.

Jesus is God’s Son and is worthy of all praise!

In verse 6, God says to His angels, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” Then God “gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3: 16)

Don’t ever think God could never forgive your sins. All you have to do is accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior. Stop sinning and have faith in Him.

God can and will forgive us when we come to Him through His Son.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Hebrews Chapter 1

Also referenced:

John Chapter 3

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Hebrews:

Jesus and the Throne of God

Don’t Harden Your Hearts to God

Christ Died For Our Sins

Scripture: Romans 6: 7-10

7 For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him, 9 because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. 

Scripture Commentary:

We will all die but who will we die for? Are we living for worldly things or are we living for Christ? If we are living for Christ, then our old sinful self died once and for all, and we are free from its power. Paul has told us that through faith in Christ we are acquitted before God. We need no longer live under sin’s power.

So we are free!

What are we doing for Christ? When we were chained to sin, we lived as sinners. Now Christ has freed us from our sinful nature. Christ’s death and resurrection freed us to enjoy fellowship with him and to do His will.

So let us consider ourselves to be what God has in fact made us. We have a new start, and the Holy Spirit will help us become in our daily experience what Christ has declared us to be.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Romans Chapter 6

Read Other Commentary from Romans Chapter 6:

Do Not Continue in Sin; You Have Been Set Free

Will You Go On Sinning?

Stop Being Enslaved to Sinful Desires

Scripture: Titus 3: 3-7

3 For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ], 5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that we would be justified [made free of the guilt of sin] by His [compassionate, undeserved] grace, and that we would be [acknowledged as acceptable to Him and] made heirs of eternal life [actually experiencing it] according to our hope (His guarantee). 

Scripture Commentary:

Think back to the life you were living before Jesus Christ entered in. The Bible says, you were ” foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures.” Although, at the time, many of us thought we were doing well in that lifestyle.

Because of God’s mercy and love for us, we moved from a life of sin to one where we are lead by God’s Holy Spirit. All our sins, not merely some, but ALL, are washed away by His mercy.

Open your heart and soul to Jesus.

When we open our heart and soul to Jesus, He cleanses us. He does this not because we earned or deserved it. It is His gift to us. We know now that freedom doesn’t consist of doing anything we want. Freedom is living a life for Christ.

Our old lifestyle led to a path of slavery to addictions and sensual gratification. We were not free but slaves to what our body dictated. Christ frees us from the desires and control of sin. None of this occurs because we earned or deserved it. It is a gift from God.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Titus Chapter 3

Read More Commentary from the New Testament:

You Have No Excuse

Live By and Keep Step with the Spirit

Live a Godly Life in Christ Jesus

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3: 10-15

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Scripture Commentary:

Sin has consequences, and no one will get away with it forever. Live a godly life – live as if your actions will one day be known to everyone. Now is the time to change anything you wouldn’t want revealed later.

Don’t be surprised when people misunderstand, criticize, and even try to hurt you because of what you believe and how you have changed your life. Don’t give up!

Jesus’s light changes people.

Don’t expect false teachers and evil people to reform and change on their own. Left alone, they will go from bad to worse. If you have the opportunity to bring them back to faith in Christ, do so.

Christ has placed people in your life to bring them out of the darkness (as we all were at a time in our life). You are to point them to His glory, light and love.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

2 Timothy Chapter 3

Read Other Commentary from the Books of Timothy:

Be Strong in the Grace that is Jesus

Flee from Evil Desires and Pursue Righteousness

Walk in the Spirit, Live in the Light

Scripture: Galatians 5: 16-18, 25

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Scripture Commentary:

Why do we feel we are true Christians when we judge someone? Because we go to church and pray, we are not to judge anyone. Walk in the spirit. Christ died to set us free from sin and a long list of weakness we have in our flesh.

Those who appeal to their freedom so that they can have their own way or indulge their own desires are falling back into sin. It is sinful to talk behind someone’s back and to focus on another’s shortcomings.

Paul tells us we have two forces conflicting within us: The Holy Spirit and the sinful nature. We have within us the evil desires or inclinations that stem from our bodies. We are not to rely on our own wisdom. We have to let the Holy Spirit that is in us, guide us.

If we try to walk in the Spirit under our own human effort, we will fail. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will control your desires.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Galatians Chapter 5

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Galatians:

Are You Believing In the Jesus Who Saves?

Thanks Be to God for All He Has Done

Treat All with Tender Lovingkindness

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13: 11-14

Finally, believers, rejoice! Be made complete [be what you should be], be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace [enjoy the spiritual well-being experienced by believers who walk closely with God]; and the God of love and peace [the source of lovingkindness] will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a [a]holy kiss. 13 All [b]God’s people greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Scripture Commentary: Approach all with Christ-like lovingkindness.

Paul was dealing with an ongoing problem in the Corinthian church. He could have refused to communicate until they cleared up their situation. However, he reached out to them with Christ-like lovingkindness.

Love, however, means that sometimes we must confront those we care about. Both authority and personal concern are needed when dealing with people who are ruining their lives with sin. But there are several wrong approaches in confronting others. These approaches can further break relationships rather than heal them.

For instance, we can be legalistic and blast people away with the laws they should be obeying. Equally wrong, we can turn away from them because we don’t want to face the situation. Or we can isolate them by gossiping about their problem and turning others against them as well.

Or, like Paul, we can seek to build the relationship by taking a better approach of sharing, communicating, and caring. Although this approach can drain us emotionally, it is the best way for the other person. And it is the only Christ-like way to deal with other’s sin.

This is how Christ has dealt with each of us!

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

2 Corinthians Chapter 13

Read Other Commentary from Corinthians

God Has Prepared Great Things for You

God is Your Strength, Your Power, and Your Purpose