God doesn't want us to persist in the sickness of sin. God wants us to be cured from the sickness of sin. We can be cured if we trust in God's word and stop practicing sin. God expects us to repent of our sins; that means we must change our life and stop sinning. That doesn't mean that we will be perfect; but we don't have to be perfect to stop making sin a deliberate and purposeful habit. We must cease doing evil and do good!
Some operate under the delusion of the once-saved-always-saved doctrine. They think they have a license to sin because they can't lose their salvation. Such false doctrines are contrary to the plain teaching of scripture. Hebrews 10:26 27 says, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
Do you want to be sick? I have been sick many times with some kind of virus. Sometimes it was the flu; sometimes is was something else. Being sick, however, there was one thing I knew; I didn't want to be sick! People who have Munchausen's Syndrome, however, not only want to be sick, but, and as odd as it sounds, they like being sick.
One of the blessings of knowing the battle is the LORD is that we can have assurance in knowing the end will turn out according to His blessed will. As James said about Job, “you have heard of the patience of Job, and seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (5:11). Jehovah can be trusted, and we must lean upon Him and not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).
Paul exhorted or encouraged Timothy to encourage the congregation in Ephesus to do something for all men. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the church is to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all men. What a great blessing to be given such purposes and truly we can say as the people of God, we have something to do daily (Philippians 2:12).
What type of man was David? Did David love the Lord? Was David perfect? Was David willing to make things right after his failures? David was known as the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1). Being from the tribe of Judah, he was from the kingly tribe of which Jesus also came. He was obedient to the will of God in that he understood roles and authority.
What does it mean to be faithful? Like anything else in education, we must define our terms, lest we find ourselves becoming a law unto ourselves (Romans 2:14). Faithful in the Hebrew language means, “to be confirmed, to be established, to be reliable and trusty”. In the Greek language it means, “to execute a command or the discharge of official duties, to trust in God’s promises”.
Truly, those who have suffered are able to comfort those who are suffering. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
This weak, natural, decaying body is only temporary, but there is coming a day when we will no longer have this body, but one full of power, glory, honor, a spiritual body, a body that will last forever (1 Corinthians 15:42-49). And that the “light afflictions” which we endure for this moment works for us an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). In this new body, there will be no more sorrow, anguish, toil, grief, or pain (Revelation 20:4). Grief helps us to realize that there is a better life coming for the faithful.
The writer of the book of Hebrews, inspired of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.” No one likes to go through difficult times. This passage makes it plain that suffering is not joyful but full of grief.
The church has final authority regarding these offenses. By the time the issue is presented, it should be clear what the offending party has done and what he needs to do to correct the situation. If the church's decision is not obeyed in this regard, then the one who committed the offence is to be as a heathen or publican. We must practice the instruction that Jesus gave about personal relationships regardless of our own personal discomforts.
Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:8, "And above all things have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins." When we go to a brother privately and discuss things and resolve them, we have helped to prevent spreading things beyond what should be known publicly. The Holy Spirit calls this love. We should not desire to broadcast every person’s private sin to the world.
Christians may succumb to the same bad attitudes. When we do, we become objects of Jesus’ rebuke. It is easy for us to listen to gossip about others, but we cannot know another person’s heart unless we talk to them and listen to their side of the story. The Bible gives us several principles to ensure that our Christian relationships remain healthy. These are love, patience, long suffering, and brotherly kindness.
In the end, they cause strife and division within the church, all because someone judged another based upon a perception. Many today have been infected with this notion. Is this concept correct? The Bible clearly teaches that it is not. We read in John 7:24: "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
Third, heavenly wisdom creates peace, which is a lot like sunshine; we appreciate it more after we’ve seen some rainy days. It may be fun to jump in mud puddles, […]
By contrast, man’s wisdom does not come from above. It is earthly (epigeios), sensual (psychikos), and demonic (daimoniodes). It has concourse with what is worldly, fleshly, and satanic. Its goal […]
Boys are naturally competitive. I have four of them. They are grown now, but when they were younger, they had daily conflicts. One was the battle for the front seat. […]
Sometimes, we must go where these people are to get the message to them. I’ve visited prisons to preach to murderers. I’ve also talked personally with adulterers and homosexuals about the gospel. These are difficult conversations to have, but if we oppose all association no matter what, we are saying that certain people are not worthy of the gospel. God is no respecter of persons (Rom.2:11; Acts 10:34). We should not be either.
Fathers are . . . F – Faithful to God and to his wife. A – Always leading as a Christian example. T – Tough yet tender with his family. […]
Why did Jesus associate with publicans and sinners? First, Jesus did not associate with sinful people to engage in their sinful practices. Jesus was the sinless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19). He never once committed a sin nor even spoke an inappropriate word (1 Peter 2:22).