LET THE BIBLE SPEAK.

For Good Family Relationships: NOTE THESE 50 FACTS ABOUT YOUR WIFE! 1.       Your wife is not perfect, forgive her, always. 2.       Your wife is the bone of your bone, do not break her. 3.       Your wife is a gift, from God, appreciate her. 4.       Your wife is a rare gem, guide her jealously. 5.       Your wife is your best friend, be friendly with her. 6.       Your wife is your joy, nourish her. 7.       Your wife is to be cherished,  be cheerful to her. 8.       Your wife is your portion, cherish her. 9.       Your wife is not a devil, don’t dump her. 10.   Your wife is not only good for sex, carry her along in all issues, and discussions. 11.   Your wife is not your enemy, encourage her, don't fight her. 12.   Your wife is not a family material, never commit her unto the hands of your family members. 13.   Your wife is not your rival, don’t compete with her. 14.   Your wife is a female gender, honor her. 15.   Your wife is not common, don’t compare her. 16.

The Great day of Judgment is coming! Are you ready? Jesus spoke of the judgement day when he walked among men. He said "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of' Judgement" Matthew 12:36. "He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" John 12:48. Jesus spoke of a day of judgement on the last day. He said that two kinds of words were important: what we say and what he said. We will be judged by his words and by our words. This means that we need to pay attention to what we say and to what he says in the Bible. But how can we be sure that there really will be a day of Judgement? We can be sure there is a judgement because he proved there would be a Judgement by his own resurrection from the dead. The apostle Paul said, "God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in the which he w

Finding Grace Text: Genesis 6:1-8 I.         Each time we choose to sin, we are rejecting the one who tells us not to sin.             A.        It is something God has seen throughout man’s history                         1.         Numbers 14:11 - Israel’s rebellion                         2.         I Samuel 15:23 - Saul’s rebellion                         3.         II Kings 17:15 - Israel’s rebellion                         4.         It is why Israel fell - Isaiah 5:24; Jeremiah 6:19                         5.         They elevated tradition over God’s law - Mark 7:9             B.        It is something that continues today - I Thessalonians 4:7-8             C.        How do you react when someone rejects your offers of help?                         1.         It hurts because it is a rejection of you. It says you can’t satisfy their needs.                         2.         Often our gut reaction is say “Fine! Then I don’t need you!”                         3.  

Grace and Law Text: John 1:14-17 I.         False ideas don’t always die. They end up getting recycled at a later time when the present generation has forgotten the teachings of the past which showed the ideas to be false.             A.        I remember from childhood a big debate over the role of grace                         1.         The core was keeping the law wasn’t that important in view of God’s grace.                         2.         People are different, so we can’t ever agree on doctrine; therefore, we should have unity with a variety of beliefs because God’s grace covers everything.                         3.         It also claimed that we can be in fellowship without agreeing on doctrine.                         4.         Only a bare minimum of things were essential and everything else wasn’t important.             B.        In other words, it is the idea of unity in diversity – the ideas expressed to the extreme in groups like the Episcopals and United Ch

How Noah was Saved Text: I Peter 3:18-22 I.         In our reading, Peter draws on the account of Noah’s salvation to illustrate how the Christian is saved.             A.        Many people object to the straight forward reading of I Peter 3:21 because it stands contrary to what they have accepted.                         1.         To many people, baptism is simply a ritual without much meaning                         2.         Oh, they will agree that it represents thing, but that is as far as it goes. It has no meaning to each one of them as individuals.                         3.         Thus it becomes, in their eyes, an optional act                         4.         It has no purpose. It causes no change.             B.        But let’s take Peter’s comparison and see the parallels between the saving of Noah and the saving of a Christian II.        What are we being saved from?             A.        It seems straight forward. It ought to be obvious, but at the foun

The Teaching of Grace Text: Titus 2 I.         When you talk to people in the denominations, much is made about the Grace of God             A.        Emphasis is placed on God’s grace - Ephesians 2:8-9             B.        To the point that if any mention is made of men needing to accept the offered gift, then strong objections are made. No work done by man is accepted as effecting a man’s salvation.                         1.         Yet, the Bible is clear that it is the obedient who are saved - Hebrews 5:9 II.        Even Ephesians 2:8 states that grace comes through faith             A.        But where does faith come from?                         1.         Most in the denominations claim that faith is something imposed on an individual.                         2.         A person cannot believe unless God makes them believe.                         3.         But Paul stated that faith comes by the word of God- Romans 10:17             B.        What does Jesus de

Will God Bring All Sins into Remembrance?     How do you harmonize Hebrews 8:12, which says that God will remember sins no more, with Ecclesiastes 12:14, which states that God will bring every evil work into judgment? Ecclesiastes 12:14 affirms the following: “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” The thrust of this sober passage seems to be this: The works of men, whether good or evil, may be hidden from one’s contemporaries. That is, one may perform good works (whether toward God or man) in this life which are known only to the Maker. The godly soul may never receive any honor upon this earth for that fidelity, but eventually Jehovah will bring his obedience to light and reward him accordingly. On the other hand, one may perpetrate evil and never be caught. But the deception is only temporary; God will expose all such secret sins at the last day. It is obvious that these vile deeds, to be illuminated in t

1 Timothy 2:4 — Salvation through Knowledge There are many strange ideas in the religious world regarding salvation. Some contend that all people will be saved (Universalism). That notion is contradicted by dozens of passages (see Matthew 7:13,14). Others, like the Calvinists, argue that before the world was created God chose some, the elect, to be saved, and others He predetermined to be lost. That notion is plainly refuted by 1 Timothy 2:4. God “would have all men to be saved.” Note also verse 6 which affirms that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all (which conflicts with the Calvinistic theory of limited atonement, i.e., that Christ died only for the elect). Underline this phrase and note: contradicts Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. See also verse 6. Additionally, there are yet others (an even larger number probably) who subscribe to the notion that God will save all sincere people, whether they ever know and obey the truth or not. Such a concept is not in harmony with the

The True Meaning of Grace The concept of God’s “grace” is thrilling beyond words. It shines its brightest, however, against the seemingly dark backdrop of another aspect of our Creator’s nature — that of sacred wrath. The Wrath of God The most common Greek word for “wrath” is orge. The term occurs 36 times in the New Testament (cf. Rom. 1:18; 2:5). Another expression denoting “wrath” is thymos (18 times; cf. Rev. 16:19; 19:15). Most scholars make some distinction between the terms. Some suggest that thymos is “boiling” anger, whereas orge reflects an “abiding and settled” state of mind. Perhaps the two terms in concert denote the intense and sustained disposition of God towards evil and those who abandon themselves to it. But wrath, as used of God, does not suggest an impulsive, emotional reaction, as the term frequently does with humans. Rather, divine wrath is the reflection of a deliberate and measured reaction of a perfectly holy Being toward sin — a response that is entirely

Christians and Christmas It's that time of year again: the weather is getting cold, snow is beginning to fall, and we are constantly bombarded by retail stores and their marketing blitzes. Christmastime is upon us yet again, and every year it seems more commercialized, more cutthroat, and less about family and togetherness. Many attempt to counteract this trend with banners proclaiming, "Put Christ back in Christmas!". Such persons feel that the loss of the religious aspect of Christmas is a disturbing trend. Is it appropriate, however, to have "Christ" in "Christmas"? Since this is the time of year that many engage in "Christmas discussions," it is appropriate for us to consider what we can learn from the Scriptures regarding Christians and Christmas. When we open the Scriptures, we find in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 the description of the birth of Jesus the Christ according to the prophecies of the prophets of old. The shepherds and the ma

The Freedom of Truth Text: John 8:30-59 I.         Many began to believe on Jesus - John 8:30-31             A.        Jesus said that if they would live in the words of Jesus, then they would truly be his disciples - John 8:32                         1.         Obedience to his teaching would cause them to know the truth.                         2.         Obedience leads to greater retention of knowledge - James 1:21-25                         3.         Knowing the truth would bring them freedom             B.        From what would a person be freed? What is holding us in captivity?                         1.         Christ’s law has set us free from the law of sin and death - Romans 8:2                         2.         Satan holds people captive through sin - II Timothy 2:25-26                         3.         Paul said sin would not longer be our master - Romans 6:14, 17-18, 22                         4.         Notice that freedom is not doing as we please. Why?