Tag commandments

7 things Jesus said that made me work harder

The Preacher Leave a comment

While sitting in my office here in Borger, Tx, I was wondering, Why does one person seem to be more active as a Christian and another does not?  Said another way, why do some remain faithful and others fall away? Pondering this question, 7 verses of Jesus came to mind that are motivators for me and my faith.

1)“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” [Mt 22:37]

  • Certainly we should start here. This is the ultimate motivator, IF you believe in the existence of God. For me, obedience to an all powerful God makes perfect sense. He created me, He gave me life, He deserves my life service. Related to this saying are these:
  • “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:34-35]
    • Our love, including our demonstration of love, has an impact on my evangelistic efforts. It reminds me of David’s sin. He certainly committed adultery, lying and finally murder, but his real sin was, “Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, “ [2Sa 12:14]
  • “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” [Mt 5:44]
    • Elevated even further, love our enemies. This really gets at the heart of the matter because in this one thing we see the truth of the love of God, the love of an enemy. [Rom 5:10]

2)“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” [Mr 8:36]

  • This verse showed me the vanity of worldly pursuits, and that these pursuits can interfere with my ability to win heaven. This verse clearly shows that nothing can be compared to heaven. What’s surprising, not that we sell our souls, but that we sell it so cheaply.

3)“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Lu 9:62]

  • It’s very easy to get lazy and unmotivated as a christian. This verse reminds us that our service toward God is an active service. James reminds us of this when he wrote, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” [Jam 2:18]

4)“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” [Mt 5:20]

  • So many people believe in an, “I’m ok / you’re ok” kind of life. This verse shows us that our righteousness is to EXCEED another’s. When you also look at this other verse, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” [Mt 23:23] we see that He was critical of their lack in the heart issues. Please note that He said, “without leaving the others undone.”

5)“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:” [Mt 25:35]

  • How do we do this? How do we feed our Lord? When we read the context we see very clearly that it’s done through the care and feeding of our brethren. He then goes on to say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” / “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

6)“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” [Mt 22:29]

  • Can there be any more sobering words from our Lord than these? “Spencer, you’re mistaken.” In what were these mistaken? You may say, “It’s got nothing to do with salvation.” My question for you is this, CAN YOU BE MISTAKEN ABOUT SALVATION, By not knowing the scriptures or the power of God?

7)“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” [Joh 3:5]

  • When Jesus says things like, “except ye______, he cannot enter….” we need to pay attention. So much verbal gymnastics are performed attempting to explain away baptism. When you take the entirety of scripture, [Mrk 16:16; Acts 22:16] you can only come to the conclusion that baptism is essential.

So, there you go. Seven amazing quotes from our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ. What will motivate you to serve Him better? If not these, what?

One more bonus quote I will share: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” [Mt 7:21]

What Does it Matter?

The Preacher Leave a comment

no, no, no, I’m not referring to Hillary’s Benghazi testimony so much as using it as a springboard to answer the question. This question comes up a lot, especially in matters of religion. When a person is confronted with a scripture pointing out a seemingly trivial differences in beliefs, that’s when you will hear….

What does it matter?

Though it’s often considered wrong to answer a question with a question, I want to ask this one…..What did Jesus say about a seemingly trivial matter?

Let’s look at the Sadducees questioning Jesus on the resurrection. (Mat 22:23-33) Not believing in the resurrection, they sought to test him with an example of a woman that was widowed 7 times, then herself dying also. They asked Jesus, “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.”

Jesus gave a very specific answer, He said, “Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Did you catch His answer? He pointed out the reason for their error was because they failed to note the TENSE of a verb. “I AM”, was spoken in the present tense, regarding Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were dead at the time of the declaration. Jesus pointing them back to the time of God calling on Moses to deliver the people from Egypt. (Ex 3:6,16)

What does it matter?

Here are just a few things we learn about scripture from this story……

  1. it’s possible to make an error with the scriptures
  2. It’s possible to underestimate the power of God
  3. The Bible writers were directed by God to use specific words
  4. We need to pay attention to word usage in the Bible

So, what is the answer to “What does it matter?” It’s that we can be mistaken, lose the meaning or otherwise make an error with our studies as we attempt to find out the will of the Lord.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Eph 5:17 )

Here’s one more question, if it’s possible to make an error with the scriptures, would it be possible to be mistaken about salvation?

spencer

Borger, Tx
806/274-5021
Ask me how to make your calling and election sure. 2Pet 1:10

  

The faith of Abraham

The Preacher Leave a comment

 

The scriptures say, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Ro 4:3

Have you ever wondered what it was about Abraham to receive such praise? I have, so I looked into the Bible to see about this wonderful man. As I studied his life, I came across the story of God’s demand of Abraham…..

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Gen 22:1 KJV

You’ve heard the story before, but perhaps you have yet to notice one little part. It’s found in vs 3, after God commands him to take his only son and offer him as a burnt offering it says, “And Abraham ROSE UP EARLY..”

HE ROSE UP EARLY….

I have no idea about you, but ME, would I get up early to go and sacrifice my only son. I have 3 sons, would I rise early to sacrifice any of them? Abraham did. I wonder how well he actually slept that night. Was he worried, was he afraid, did he have any doubts?

To find the answer, we need to continue to study our bibles. As we do a word search, we would find this scripture;

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 8 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. Heb 11:17 KJV

I believe that Abraham had no worries, no doubt, no tossing and turning that night. He had non of these troubles because he knew, “…that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;” NOW THAT’S FAITH!

He believed God, and then ROSE EARLY. I have a question; Would he have gotten the label as a man of faith had he failed to take Isaac to that mountain? Consider this verse and tell me if it has any bearing on the answer…

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, WHEN he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Jas 2:17

I emphasized one of the words in that passage to point it out to you, WHEN. Abraham was justified WHEN he had offered Isaac. Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised, just as he was fully convinced in Gen 15. (Rom 4:21) Are we in any different a position? We’re told to have faith, Heb 11:6, but how do we know that we have a faith like Abraham?

WHEN we do whatever God says.

  • Lu 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
  • Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
  • Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

 

spencer

Borger, Tx
806/274-5021
Ask me how to make your calling and election sure. 2Pet 1:10