Hebrews 3:13  ”But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Nearly everyone has had a pet of some type at a time in their life. Dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, fish, even something bigger such as a horse, goat, or pig. We love our pets. They bring us (I hope) lots of joy and happiness when they do funny things and act goofy. We may even try to get them to learn specific commands or tricks as well.

Take a horse for an example. If someone wants to take their horse out on a walk they will first have had to “break” their horse so that it is used to having a person riding on it’s back. Once in the saddle, a person will then have to gently urge the horse to start walking. They might use their voice to speak a certain command, or they might give the horse a few taps with their boots, conveying their wish for the horse to continue to move forwards. 

You could say that you are “exhorting” your horse when you try to get it to learn and obey your commands, and that is the topic of this study. What it means to exhort.

The word exhort when we look it up in the dictionary means “to urge, or to advise earnestly.” To “encourage” or to “spur or incite” something to happen.

In the book of Hebrews it teaches that we should exhort one another, more and more in the teachings of God’s Word.

Hebrews 10:25  “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Let’s talk about that. When the people in a church gather together to listen and learn from God’s scriptures, they are “assembling” together. But, as the writer of Hebrews wrote, not everyone keeps that assembly. Not everyone continues to come and learn about Christ on a regular basis, but that is why it teaches to exhort one another, to urge and encourage others to continue in their faith in Christ.

In fact it teaches in Romans that, along with teaching and prophecy, exhortation is a spiritual gift.

Romans 12:6-8  “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Just as with all of the other spiritual gifts, the gift of exhortation needs to be used. We should always exhort others to keep the commands of the Lord, and urge them to use their spiritual gifts as well. There are many times in the New Testament that the Apostle Paul exhorted others in the churches.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12  “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.”

1 Timothy 2:1-3  “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;”

1 Timothy 4:13  “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”

2 Timothy 4:2  “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

So let us always remember to urge and encourage others in the faith, to continue in the reading and study of God’s word. To urge others to come to Bible study, and to use the gifts that we have been given for the glory of God. Let us exhort each other.

In Christ,

Andrew

Growing up, what was something that you did every year to always remember or reflect upon an event or memory that happened in the past?

Sometimes when a person dies, those friends or family who were close to the deceased will, every year on the anniversary of the death, visit the place where their friend’s body was laid to rest. A rather solemn, serious moment in most cases, those attending that anniversary will often quietly reflect on the past memories that they had. 

This is something that is very common on the American holiday of Memorial Day, when the fallen soldiers and servicemen who have died during a war are remembered. This holiday was created in recognition of the sacrifice that those soldiers gave in the service of their country.

As a Christian, each of us should remember a very special, important event, and we do this in the observance and partaking in the body and blood of the Lord during Holy Communion.

1 Corinthians 11:23-29  “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

When we partake of Holy Communion, we need to remember why we do it. We need to remember what it means, and what is on the altar; that they truly are the body and blood of the Lord Jesus.

When Jesus was nailed on the cross He was crucified next to two criminals, even though He had done nothing to deserve it. Crucifixion was a punishment meant for the worst of offenders, resulting in a slow, painful death. But Jesus died that death so that we could have forgiveness for our sins. 

Remember that leading up to that time, it was required that when someone sinned they bought some kind of a sacrifice to God for their sins. But instead of having to continuously bring a sacrifice each time one sinned, Jesus died that one time for the sins of the entire world. With that single, greatest act that the world has ever seen, Jesus made forgiveness available to everyone. 

That is what we remember when we partake in Holy Communion. We remember the love of Christ, and His sacrifice that He made, all so we could have forgiveness and be set free from our sins. 

This is a part of our faith that we need to take in a very serious, solemn manner. What we partake of at the altar is not bread and wine; it is the body and blood of Christ. This is a crucial part that one needs to understand. It is the body and blood of our Lord that He gave us for the remission of our sins, and we need to partake of them worthily. We need to examine ourselves, confessing and repenting of our sins, and ask the Lord to forgive us.

The next time you have Holy Communion, remember what it is. Remember the love of Christ.

In Christ,

Andrew

Goodmorning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to ask you something.

When you were in school, how many of you had to take a true or false test?  It wasn’t multiple choice, and it wasn’t essay answers, you only two choices presented to you, and you had to pick either one of the other.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

Just like a test in school, we must be capable of discerning truth from the lies. We must recognize true men of God from false ones.  God gives us plenty of help by  providing us His Holy Word which is filled with all of the answers that we need.  We just need to look inside and take His open book test.

2 Peter 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

The word false means not genuine or true.  It means not being faithful or loyal to our obligations as a Christian, through allegiance and selfless obedience to the doctrines of our faith.  It is also defined as being treacherous, like a false friend or disloyal spouse.  A true prophet of God will believe and preach the Divine truths of scripture. False prophets will preach lies, and try to subtly lead you away from obedience to Christ. They are liars and deceivers.  After all, this is what the devil does, because he is the father of lies. The devil is so cunningly deceitful that he can appear like the genuine article.  The truth is that he is quite the contrary.  Jesus warned about the appearance of these kinds of men who would lead many astray from the truth.

Matthew 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Instead of a Spiritual transformation that happens through faith in Christ, false prophets transform themselves. All that is required is putting on a fancy robe, a stick-on name tag, and a world that is duped into believing what they see.  These are the same kind of people that Jesus dealt with thousands of years ago. They appeared beautiful on the exterior, feigning themselves as just men, but behind the scenes, in secret, they were maliciously speaking evil about Him.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

There were false prophets and apostles then, and they still roam the Earth today.  They even claim spirituality but it is only a deceitful hoax. We can clearly identify them because we have the answers right in front of us.

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The Apostle Paul teaches one of the many tests of true spirituality.

1 Corinthians 14:34-37  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.  What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?  If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

Women are forbidden from the ministry of God’s Word in any capacity.  Do these things go on out in the world? Absolutely! But those who participate in it or allow it to go on are obviously not of God because they are involved with heresy.  Because they reject this spiritual test from Paul, they only expose themselves as disobedient frauds. Remember that these are the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who reject them certainty don’t love Jesus, which will result in them being cursed and under His vengeance.

1 Corinthians 16:22  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

John 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Those who refuse to keep his commandments are liars. 

1 John 2:3-4  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Paul, a man who was filled with the Holy Spirit, refused women teachers in Church.  It was something he would not put up with at all.  

1 Timothy 2:11-14  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.  For Adam was first formed, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Many people who claim to be Christian allow these things to go on today in their religious groups.  It’s because they are heretics, and love and disseminate lies.  God will certainly punish this behavior.

Revelation 22:14-15  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

The Apostle Paul wanted Timothy to commit the things he had learned to faithful men.  It is only men who have been granted the authority to teach by God.  

2 Timothy 2:1-2  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Jesus called out to men to preach the kingdom of God, not women.

Matthew 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

There are certain things that a false prophet will allow that a true spiritual man of God will not.

1 Timothy 2:11-13  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.  For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

So the next time you see these things going on, you will know how they feel about the commandments of Christ.  The devil and his false prophets don’t want to do the will of God, and will try to get you to do the same.  God helps us to recognize the true men of God from the false ones.  We just need to take a look inside of God’s Holy Word.  The answers are already given, and you will find them all in His….

……Open Book Test.

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️

tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Please take note that we have absolutely no affiliation with any advertisement you might find on our posts. Thanks!

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1 Peter 2:21  “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:”

One can find many videos on the internet of how to do certain things. As a few examples, if someone needs to repair something on an engine but they don’t know exactly how to do it one can type in a few words into a search bar, scroll through a few videos, and they will have found a video describing in a step by step process what they need to do, as well as what not to do. Or if someone wants to try out a new cooking recipe they could watch a cooking show as a professional chef takes them through all of the necessary preparations to create that meal. The correct temperature, the exact amounts of ingredients, if something needs to be chilled or heated up and so forth.

What those videos do is teach by example, and an example is something that is representative of all such things in a group. Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule or method. Also, something that serves as a pattern to be imitated, (a good example,) or a thing not to be imitated (a bad example.)

As you will read in a moment, Jesus has given us an example to follow. He showed us through His actions some qualities and virtues that we need to be filled with, just as He was filled with.

John 13:4-17  “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

What did Jesus display to His disciples in the above passage? He showed them by His actions what it means to be filled with love and what it means to be humble. I want you to just picture this in your mind, what an amazing display of humility our Lord possessed. A King, washing the dirty feet of His people. Can you imagine a king in the world today leaving his palace, meeting, greeting, and talking with his subjects, and then grabbing a bucket of water and a cloth and washing their feet? But that is the kind of a King Jesus is. Humble. Meek. Loving.

As our Lord and King, Jesus asks us to do just as He did. He asks us to follow His example and for us to do the same as He did towards others. 

If we are Christians we are servants of Christ, and to do that we need to follow His lead. He is our “video” that we can look to and find any information that we need. So are you filled with the humility of the Lord. Will you follow His example and do the same to others?

In Christ,

Andrew

Goodmorning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to share something with you.

Every night as we are sleeping, something happens.  The Earth changes it’s mind.  It changes its direction and decides to turn completely around, spinning on its axis.  It undergoes its own conversion turning from darkness back to the light.  In a way, it seems like the Earth has a change of heart, desiring only to feel the light shine upon its face once again. It’s an incredible and symbolic example of repentance that God displays to the entire world, each and every day.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

Just like the Earth, God wants each of us to turn around.  He wants us to turn from darkness to light.  He wants us to turn from lies to the truth.  He wants us to turn around completely on our axis.

1 Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

When we speak about darkness, we are talking about the darkness of sinful living.  Sinfulness is disobedience and rebellion to the will of God.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to a brand new life.  He wants us to turn away from the way that we used to live, and walk according to His will.  This is not only a change of direction, but a complete change of your mind to serve God from your heart.  

Granted, each of us might make a mistake and regret certain things that we have done during our life, but grace is available from God in our time of need.  Like a child who is trying to learn how to ride his bicycle, God helps us through His mercy so that we can get back up and try again, so that eventually we can learn to ride the bike perfectly, and never fall off it again.

If you never make the attempt to get back up on the bike again, you will never get down the road to the final destination. If you never make an attempt to turn from your sin, you will never be able to perform His perfect will.  Christianity is about perfecting the soul, but you can never attain that if you never turn away from your sin by accepting biblical truth.  This is why some will be damned, because they believe not the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-13  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

The apostle clearly teaches that in order to inherit salvation, we must go through the process of sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, because this is what genuine repentance is all about.

There are going to be results that happen in your life if you are truly repentant.  You will be filled up with works that display a changed heart.  Genuine grace, acting upon the heart, is going to result in a complete transformation from the way that you used to live in the past.  The Apostle Paul credits God’s grace to the change in his life, but nonetheless, he was filled with works,….more works than the other apostles.  The works and deeds that he was involved with, showed that he had submitted to the will of God, and allowed Him to work inside of his heart.  If your faith doesn’t evidence any change or obedience to Christ, then it truly is dead.  

James 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

A group of religious leaders came out to John the Baptist to partake of his baptism unto repentance, but it was only an outward show of religion.  The reason why they came out to the Jordan was not because they had a change of heart.  John explains that they needed outward evidence of an inward change.  Repentance requires turning away from darkness to light.

Matthew 3:7-8  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

God wants to save us, but we have to make an effort to repent.  In order for sins to be blotted out, we must change and do the will of God.

Acts 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

It is a foregone conclusion that punishment for sin is coming, but God grants us a portion of divine grace so that we can take the opportunity now to turn from our sins and amend our ways.  Those who don’t take advantage of this precious gift to repent and change, will certainly face His vehement wrath.  God’s justice will punish sin, so He asks us to turn away from all of our iniquities, so that we can be saved from His fierce wrath, and live.

Ezekiel 18:30-32  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

God doesn’t desire sinners to perish, He wants them to repent.  

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Once again, faith without works is dead.  Even the Apostle Paul preached to do works that showed you were truly repentant at heart.  By works a man is justified, not by faith only, otherwise you’re no different than the religious leaders in the days of John the Baptist.

Acts 26:19-20  Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Will you take advantage of God’s gift of Grace? Will you repent? Are you going to obey God and turn around from darkness to the light, just as the Earth does, spinning around each day…..

…..On its Axis

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

Note: Any copies may be printed and freely distributed among those who have no internet service. There is no AI creative involvement in my writings, and must be left intact because they are very personal to me. These are not to be sold, and are made public only for the free benefit of Spiritual knowledge to those who are genuinely seeking the will of God.

tlkjbc.com

Goodmorning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to share something with you.

Although many people roam freely in this country, many of them are confined to a prison within their own heart.  It’s caused because of sinful living. God grants us a way out.  We need to receive forgiveness for our sins, and follow His escape route that leads to liberty and eternal life.  Through Jesus, we can receive Gods grace, which is the key to free us from our cell, but in order to get all of the way out of the cell block and outside the walls, we must escape and overcome the lusts of this world.  The key gets us part of the way, but it’s up to you to follow God’s escape route, and do the rest.

2 Peter 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The New Testament is filled with promises from God, but in order to receive God’s blessings and please Him completely, it comes down to becoming a doer of God’s Word.  Disobedience does not please God.  Disobedience does not please a parent, or the principal at school. It doesn’t please the state patrolman or your boss at work. Spiritually speaking, God does not reward disobedience, because the impenitent will be punished both here on Earth, and at judgement day.  This is why we need to repent right now and do the will of God from our hearts.  God gives us the promise of eternal life, but in order to obtain that promise, there are things that we need to do.  We must become converted, transformed and obedient to the will of God.  Without heartfelt repentance and a true inner change from wrong to right,…. without a change of direction from the path of this sinful world to the path of Christ, people are only deceiving themselves. It’s ludicrous to think that obedience to the will of God is salvation by works.  Loving obedience is required to obtain eternal life, and shows that we possess genuine faith and are walking in the true grace of God.

When you were a child, did you ever receive some type of allowance? In order to receive it at the end of the week, you needed to keep your grades up, be on good behavior and be helpful getting your chores done around the house.  You had been given the promise of receiving something, but you needed to act accordingly to obtain it.  It is no different being a Christian.  We need to perform God’s perfect will, through the portion of grace that He grants us, but we are not to receive it in vain. Paradise is a reward for the faithful. On the other hand, there will be those who cannot stop sinning, who shall receive the reward of unrighteousness. (2 Peter 2:13-14)

……that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…….

The word “might” is used to express the possibility that something is going to happen.  There is a great possibility that we can be in heaven, but it greatly depends on our cooperation with the Holy Spirit filled teachings of the men of God in scripture.  Salvation requires submitting and doing the will of God from our hearts.

The word “escape” means to succeed in keeping away from something that might be dangerous or harmful.  We must escape sin, get free from it and permanently stay away from it. There’s a great possibility, through God’s grace, of eventually obtaining eternal life, but you must prepare yourself by turning away from the wickedness of this world. Corruption is that which expresses itself in disobedience towards God. We are supposed to obey the will of God, because God will punish the disobedient and rebellious. Corrupt means to behave in a bad or improper way, or doing what is outside the parameters of His calling. It means morally bad and possessing evil or corrupt values.  We are given the precious gift of God’s grace but you must always remember that it is given so that we turn, submit to His will, and repent.  God wants us to become a people that are prepared for His coming kingdom.

Even though we are given the promise of eternal life, we have to act accordingly to obtain that eternal promise.  Scriptures clearly teach that God will save those people who truly repent in their heart, bringing forth the fruits of obedience.  On the other hand, the workers of iniquity will be cast away from his presence.  The lack of submission to God’s will is iniquity.  The kingdom of heaven is going to be a place that is free from sin.  This is the reason why we need to depart from sin right now.  We need to turn away from the sins of this world, by not participating in them anymore.  Scripture warns about punishments for those refuse to do this.  

2 Peter 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

These are people who were baptized into the Christian faith and began to serve and do God’s will, but the love for the world became greater in there life, than a love for God’s Word.  They aren’t ignorant because they know what scripture teaches, they simply choose to willfully not adhere to it anymore.  This betrayal will result in things being far worse for them.  When we speak about lust, it means having an evil desire or intent which leads to falling away from God.  There are many things that one could lust after, including riches, possessions, or worldly prestige.  To abide forever requires that you do God’s will, which requires obedience to the truth of God’s Word.  It requires escaping the lusts of this world.

1 John 2:15-17  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

God provides us with an escape route from temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God wants to save us, but obviously we need to follow Him.  To follow Christ means to do His will and obey.  Noah obeyed God’s will, and built a huge ship to rescue both his family and the animals from the great deludge. If his faith never resulted in obediently building the Ark, he and his family would have perished in the flood.  So you see, part of our salvation requires our obedience.  We must become faithful and loyal to the teachings of Christ.  We must reject earthly lusts which only choke off our relationship with God’s Holy Word.

Mark 4:18-19  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

We must break free from sin.  We must get free from it, and stay away from it.  We must faithfully abide in the truth, and loyally adhere to the map that leads to our eternal salvation.  We must shun Earthly lusts, because this truly is……

…..The Escape Route

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Please take note that we have absolutely no affiliation with any advertisement you might find on our posts. Thanks!

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Matthew 18:11  “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”

When a young child goes missing the local law enforcement will create a large search party and look everywhere for that child. They will put out alerts on phones, print up papers with the child’s description and last location. They will alert the media and have a picture put into the nightly news on television and in the newspaper. They will use every means necessary as they search for that lost child.

Once they find that child, don’t you think that the parents and family of that child will have a gigantic celebration? The child who was lost now is found, and that is a great cause to celebrate.

The word lost is defined as “having wandered away from, or unable to find, the way. It is something misplaced, the location of which is unknown.”

I like that definition, “having wandered away from the way,” because Jesus is the way, as He taught in John 14:6, and because we are sinners we are all, at one point, lost in those sins. Lost and without hope. Like a wayward, wandering sheep that has strayed away from the shepherd’s flock

Which is what Jesus likened the groups of people who followed after Him. Lost sheep. Jesus came to save those lost sheep, and He told a parable about it in Luke 15.

Luke 15:1-10  “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 

And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”

We are all like sheep gone astray. We are all lost in the darkness of our sins, away from the light that is found in Christ. We are called to find those lost sheep. We need to find them and lead them back to the Shepherd. We need to help let them back to Jesus. That is what the apostles did when they preached the gospel to others, trying to bring them into the sheepfold. Trying to bring them out of the darkness of the world and back into the Light.

Just like a child who has been found and brought back home safe and sound, great rejoicing happens when a sinner comes to Christ and repents from their sins. These lost sheep are everywhere, just waiting to be found. Will you go and search for them?

In Christ,

Andrew

Goodmorning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2 Thessalonians but before we do that, I wanted to share a thought with you.

In many battles and engagements, commanding officers have ordered their armies to retreat, as a matter of keeping the rest of their military intact and safe.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

We too are commanded by scripture to retreat and keep separate from those who will not walk according to the traditions of the original church.

2 Thessalonians 3:6  Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

There are certain people in the Christian faith, that we are not supposed to have anything to do with.  These are the ones who are not aligning themselves with the truth of scripture, and won’t accept certain things that the Apostles and disciples taught to the New Testament church.  Church traditions are teachings that are handed down to us concerning matters of our faith and beliefs.

Notice he says, which he received of us.  These are the traditions that are specifically handed down to us from the original apostles that are found in the Scriptures.  There were false apostles then, and there are false apostles today.  Because the Holy Spirit is one spirit, genuine Christianity will not conflict with the original teachings of the church many years ago.

2 Corinthians 11:13-14  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

We are supposed to contend for the original faith.

Jude 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Notice he says ” once delivered….”

If you ordered something by mail, and a parcel delivery truck showed up at your house, they would have you sign for the package and then give it to you.  Once you had it in your possession, it had been delivered.  Obviously, they don’t go back to the warehouse and try to deliver it over and over again, because its already been delivered once. Once means, ” only one time.”

There is only one true Christian faith, and it is found in the Scriptures. People don’t have the authority to change or alter scriptural truth that was already once delivered by the apostles, but they still attempt to do so today, assuming that they know better than the original apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. What vanity! Rather than accepting biblical teachings, they try to make the Bible fit the world, rather than the world converting to the truth. This is why Jude warned us to contend for the true faith. 

Many people have attempted to change and alter scripture by publishing false versions of the Bible filled with philosophy and worldly concepts.  I have looked at a few false perversions of the Bible that are not even close to what the original scripture actually teaches.  When they preach these false gospels, which are distributed by them, they place themselves under God’s judgement to be a cursed.

Galatians 1:7-9  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

There is only one truth, and everything outside of it are lies.

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Many people don’t like the truth, because if they accepted it, that would mean they would have to change their life around, and they really don’t want to do that.  They find it easier to publish false versions of the Bible, because they love their sins more than Christ.  

2 Thessalonians 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

Once again he says, if any man obey not our word…. These are the original teachings of the original church, taught through them, because they were the first ones who possessed them!  People have gotten so far away from biblical truth, that modern forms of Christianity don’t even come close to what the original church looked like 2000 years ago. 

Think about having a chocolate chip cookie recipe that was handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years.  But over the years, people felt that they could add to, or subtract from the original recipe. The original chocolate chip cookie recipe that you now possess isn’t even close to the original ingredients or formula.  This is what has gone on in certain forms of modern day Christianity.  Like the book of Revelations teaches, it has evolved into a harlot, also referred to as the whore of Babylon.  People have tried to alter the recipe of God’s truth, and this is one reason why we are supposed to avoid them completely.

Romans 16:17-18  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

If you are going to start hanging around with people who reject or won’t believe in the teachings of scripture, it can rub off on you.  You don’t want them to influence your life in any way.  Don’t forget Solomon, who loved his wives more than God and got involved burning incense to false gods. (1 Kings 11:1-13) Our devotion and relationship towards Christ and His Word has got to be the greatest love in this world.

Paul was very glad to hear that the original church was doing what they had been told.

1 Corinthians 11:2  Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

Christians are supposed to be joined together in one mind and in one Spirit.  There is one faith. We are supposed to be united together under the teachings of scripture.  We are supposed to join with others who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.  These are people who sincerely believe in God’s Word.  To be faithful to Christ, we must keep separate from those who won’t.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Revelation 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

So like a litmus test, we want to test others with the truth, to see if they genuinely want to obey and serve Jesus.  These are the kinds of people to spend the majority of your time with.  If they don’t accept the teachings of the original church, its best to withdraw and regroup with those or do.  Sometimes the most important thing that we can do for our personal safety, is to execute a….

….. Full Retreat

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Please take note that we have absolutely no affiliation with any advertisement you might find on our posts. Thanks!

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Think of some things that you do that need to be done, maybe around the house or possibly at work. For an example, let us say that your friends and neighbors are going to come over to your house later tonight for a backyard barbeque, and you are the host in charge of all of the food and preparations. In order to be ready for that night, you need to go out an get all of the food that you are going to eat: maybe burgers, brats, chips, pop etc. Along with anything else, you need to make certain that everything is ready. That is your top, main goal, over everything else. Even if some of your other friends call you up and want you to go with them in some other activity, you need to stick to your priorities, and get that food done first. Then after you have done that then maybe you can do a few other things, but always keep your priorities first.

Like a list. 1,2,3. 

In Matthew 22 Jesus had been asked a question. What is the greatest commandment? And before we read what Jesus answered, if something is the “greatest” it is something “of more importance or signification.” So in answer to that question, what did Jesus say?

Matthew 22:35-40  “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

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.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

I hope that you see the order that Jesus placed these two commandments. The first, and most important command of all, Jesus taught, was to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. This means that your love towards God has to be greater than anything else in your life. All of your heart, soul, and mind, Jesus said. 

For some people other material things take their attention off of God, and their love becomes skewed. It becomes diverted and instead of spending time worshipping and praising God, that time is instead pushed aside and other things take the position that God should have in their life. He needs to be at the very top. The first, and the most important.

That is what it means to love something with all of your heart. The entirety of the love in your heart, soul, and mind should be given to God. Then after God comes everyone else, but He needs to always remain number one.

In this next passage of scripture Jesus tells a parable about some people who had their priorities out of order, as they had put other things in a place of more importance in their lives.

Luke 14:16-27  “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

Of the three examples that Jesus gave in His parable, each one of them made an excuse. Other things were more important to then than attending the wedding, and that is what Jesus was teaching: that if you cannot bear your cross and follow Him, then you cannot be His disciple. As I wrote once before, when Jesus said “if any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother,…..” what the word hate means when used in this verse means to “love less,” not the modern, common usage meaning to strongly dislike. Our love for Jesus needs to be greater than our love for anyone else, even our closest relatives. If our cross is to follow the teachings of Christ, then we need to take up that cross and carry it. 

Love everyone. But love Christ more. He is number one. Be certain that He stays there.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good Morning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from first Timothy chapter 4, but before we do that, I wanted to share something with you.

Some people have held a job for a certain amount of time, but for whatever the reason, they eventually got to the point when they put in their two weeks notice and quit.  Many people have gone off to colleges and done the same thing.  They made an attempt to try to get some sort of degree, but after a few years, they walked away from school, and retuned back home.    

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

Some people who profess to be Christian are going to do the very same things. What was once birthed in their hearts through the waters of baptism, they will eventually turn away from and believe a lie instead.  They get to a point where the path becomes too narrow or too restrictive, so they depart from the seed that was sown in their heart.  Beloved, I urgently warn you, do not be deceived with others.  You must never allow God to see you walking away.

1 Timothy 4:1-2  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

When you depart, it means to walk away, leave, or separate from.  For example in a Christian marriage, the man represents the Lord and the woman represents the church.  When she gets married, she is commanded by Christ never to depart and separate from her husband, which is symbolic of the relationship we have towards Jesus within the church.  We are never to leave Christian teachings, as Judas did, because there is no turning back.  All other paths only lead to death and destruction.  As Peter said, ……Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)

Some people are going to depart from the faith.  When we speak about ” the faith ” it encompasses all of the teachings and doctrines found in the New testament as a whole.  Each day we are being educated in scriptural truth so that we can ultimately do the will of God and please Him perfectly, but there will be those who make an attempt at the Christian Life who fall short of the final goal.  The things that have been taught to them, written upon the fleshy tables of their hearts, never resulted in a complete transformation.  They only got part way there, and then quit or gave up.  There are numerous reasons why people leave the Christian Life.

For one, The devil doesn’t want you obeying Jesus, so He will attempt to rob your heart of God’s Word.

Mark 4:14-19 The sower soweth the word.  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Some will turn away from the faith because they don’t want to have to struggle or have to deal with suffering persecution that happens when you decide to keep God’s Word.

……….And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;  And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.

Others simply don’t want to let go of their lust for the things of this world, and its possessions.  

……….And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Departing from the faith is to depart from scriptural truth. It is to forsake Christ and His teachings.  These people may possess a form of godliness because they have been educated in the scripture, yet they deny certain aspects of the Christian Life that lead to the completion of our training.  The demands of the Christian walk became too steep for them.  Some of them don’t want to give up being a Christian, just certain teachings that they don’t want to adhere to.  They try to keep one foot in the world and one foot in the church.  They are deceiving both themselves and others.  They are lukewarm, trying to walk both sides of the fence.  Because they reject the truth spoken by true men of God, they quickly perk up their ears to the lies of false prophets and false teachers, who justify their sinful living and say the things that they want to hear.  It’s a fluffy, feel good message of do nothing Christianity, where everyone touts the virtues of love, but they are completely void of love and obedience to God.  The truth is that they love their sin more than repentance, a sign of the latter days.

2 Timothy 4:1-4  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

In the garden of Eden, Eve was led astray by the devil, insomuch that she listened to what the devil said, over what God had already commanded. The devil continues to try to get people to do the same today.  Some of them are in high places of spiritual authority, even in a pulpit.  Like I have said numerous times before, where do you think the devil is going to find the most access to sheep?  Wouldn’t he attempt to try to destroy the church from within?

2 Corinthians 11:13-15  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Like Eve, you have to choose if you’re going to listen to men of truth, or the father of lies.

1 John 4:5-6  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

There’s a right way and a wrong way, and we are not supposed to allow ourselves to be deceived with others who depart from scriptural truth.

Ephesians 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

When somebody departs from God’s truth,  the only thing left to them is to believe a lie.  They want to believe that they are going to heaven, but refuse to walk the narrow road of Christ that leads us there.  They want to believe that they are going to heaven, but reject the commands of the God of heaven.  They want to believe that they’re going to heaven, but their conscience is so burned that they could care less about repenting from dead works or doing the will of God.

Hebrews 3:12  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Again, I beseech and warn you not be deceived with others.  You must never allow God to see you….. 

…..Walking away.

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Please take note that we have absolutely no affiliation with any advertisement you might find on our posts. Thanks!

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