The Bible teaches that God always tells the truth and cannot lie. Titus 1:2 says, “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” Hebrews 6:18 states, “that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
What does it take for a congregation to grow? What does it take to have a successful gospel meeting? What does it take to have a successful VBS or Youth Rally? What does it take to have any successful endeavor within the church?
What does it take for a congregation to grow? What does it take to have a successful gospel meeting? What does it take to have a successful VBS or Youth Rally? What does it take to have any successful endeavor within the church?
What does it take for a congregation to grow? What does it take to have a successful gospel meeting? What does it take to have a successful VBS or Youth Rally? What does it take to have any successful endeavor within the church?
God does not want us to just behave in any old way we please. Peter wrote, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:13-16).
The gospel chariot is a metaphor for the church. We want as many to be added to the kingdom as possible. Paul wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Saving sinners means that we stop and pick up as many as we can as we faithfully preach the gospel and sow the seed of the kingdom.
This song emphasizes that God is the creator of all things. It is an echo of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.” Children who sing these lyrics understand that God made everything simply by speaking it into existence. One cannot read Genesis 1 and get the idea that everything evolved over a long period of time without someone planting that idea first. This theory of evolution is false.
Jesus loves everyone, whatever their race or country of origin. It is sacrilege for us to say otherwise. “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34, 35). One’s country of origin plays no part in how God looks at us. He looks at everyone the same—in need of the gospel.
“Jesus Loves Me” is probably the most sublime song of which I know. It was written by Anna Bartless Warner in 1859. This song tells the truth that it was love that motivated Jesus to sacrifice himself on the cross for our sins. It tells us that he will take care of our needs. How do we know these things? “The Bible tells me so.”
Jesus said, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35). “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Let us teach and pray and then teach and pray some more. There are souls who are ready to be added to the church (Acts 2:48). What are you doing to help them?
A seed will produce after its own kind. An Apple seed cannot bring forth a Peach tree. A Wheat seed cannot bring forth a Pecan tree. A Grape seed cannot bring forth a Watermelon. Now, “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11b). When THAT seed is planted, what will come of it? They got Christians (Acts 11:26). And when the church teaches and practices what Christ and the apostles taught and practiced, you can only get ONE THING—GOD’S CHURCH— CHRIST’S CHURCH—THE CHURCH OF CHRIST! That is why I am a member of the church of Christ.
The church of Christ honors THE plan that Christ gave for salvation. By looking at the process of salvation as given by Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, one comes to the undeniable conclusion that there are five things that must occur before one can claim salvation.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 that ANY name that honors ANYONE other than the one who was crucified for your salvation is a name that is NOT worth keeping! Yet how many churches today are named after Paul, Peter, John or some man?
God does not want me to just take for granted that I am saved. He wants me to examine my life every day to make sure that I am doing what He wants. He said to the Corinthians, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Why does God forgive? God forgives because each person has eternal value worth more than the whole world (Matthew 16:26) and He wants them to be saved. God so valued each person that he offered His only begotten Son as sacrifice.
How does God forgive? God forgives generously. One of the greatest statements in the Bible concerning God’s forgiveness occurs in Psalm 103:10-14. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust."
Who does God forgive? God forgives all men potentially and the penitent actually. As indicated by the future tense, Jesus spoke about potential forgiveness in Mark 3:28 “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.” Actual forgiveness, however, comes when an individual repents and turns to God in obedience (Mark 4:12).
The perfect standard for behavior is God, and the gospel exhorts all to be perfect as God is perfect. This entails that one imitate God as much as is possible. “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1 ASV). We would do well to imitate God when it comes to forgiveness. Second Peter 3:9 says that God “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
The bottom line is that if we want to be pleasing to God, we can be pleasing to God! Why would one NOT want to please God? The only reason I can think of is so that he can please himself instead of God, and, this is what many choose to do. Remember Matthew 7:23? “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
To be God’s people today, we must, as Paul said, undergo circumcision of the heart. Colossians 2:11-12 says, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” When one is baptized, a person is forgiven of sin and his heart is circumcised.