Good morning and welcome in today.

Today we are going to discuss some Scripture from Eph 1.

Ephesians 1:7 – In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

John 8:21-24

²¹ Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.

²² Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.

²³ And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Jesus is the promised Messiah that God sent to save us from death!

John 3:14-17

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.

Jesus was lifted up on a cross in Jerusalem where He bled and died and was pierced.

Zechariah 12:10

¹⁰ And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced…

¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

God wants to save up from our sins, just as death passed over them in Egypt.

Num 21:5-9

⁵ And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

⁶ And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Jesus want to save us!

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Jesus could of called legions of angel’s to destroy the Earth, but He didn’t condemn it. He showed His great mercy.

John 8:31-36

³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

³³ They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

³⁴ Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

³⁵ And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

³⁶ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Jews in this passage today were in bondage to their own sinful condition. Their hearts and minds needed to be freed. They needed to come to the Savior that God sent for that very purpose. God sent Jesus so we could be forgiven of our sins.

Romans 3:24-26 – Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  

In fact that’s what redemption means. the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Being delivered or rescued from harm.

Think of a fireman who goes out in the world every day to rescue people are caught in fires. Jesus wants to save us from the penalty of our own sins.

Psalms 130:7 – Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD [there is] mercy, and with him [is] plenteous redemption.

In the church we are freed from sins and delivered from death when we faithfully partake of the body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion. Jesus our precious Lord was slain for the sins of the entire world. He rescues us..

Heb 4:14

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

¹⁵ For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We have to accept the truth, that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Then we can receive His mercy and forgiveness.

After all, Jesus is teaching that it’s the truth that makes us free….sinfree..

That’s where I’m stopping right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow. Bye-bye everybody

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to look at some scripture from Hebrews chapter 11. We’re going to look at a few biblical examples of people of faith.

Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

To be confident is to have full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing:

Many people refer to Hebrews 11 as the faith chapter because there’s so many examples.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

It’s through our belief and faith in God that we understand that he created all the things that we see.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Because Able believed in God so much, he offered God a well pleasing sacrifice. That’s called being Faith righteous.

⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Enoch pleased God completely.

⁵ By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

A reward is something thats given in recognition of one’s service, effort, or achievement. If you’re going to seek God diligently it means having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties.

Noah had great faith. Look at the size of the ark he constructed. He knew and prepared for what was coming in the future.

⁷ By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Abraham trusted in God even though he didn’t know where he was going to.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

⁹ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Look what happened in Sarah’s life when she trusted God.

¹¹ Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

¹² Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴ For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Abraham had so much faith that he knew that God could raise the dead.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

¹⁸ 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.

Mark 11:22-24 – And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Again, faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

Moses parents were filled up with great faith.

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

Moses even turned away from all the treasures that Egypt could offer him.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

²⁸ Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

One of the largest examples of trusting in God is when they passed through the Red Sea

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

God does great miracles. We need to have faith!

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing shall be impossible.

³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

³² And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

³³ Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

³⁴ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

³⁶ And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

³⁸ (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

⁴⁰ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Possessing faith and trusting in God is a very powerful thing.

Psalms 37:5 – Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass.

I think that’s where I’m going to stop for today but Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

Have you ever been to a baseball game? When a young rookie finally makes it up to the major leagues it is an incredible event for that player. It is hopefully the start of a long, good career. And when that player hits their first home run, the entire clubhouse erupts in cheers, congratulating him on his milestone. 

Now, he might not hit a homerun everyday, or every couple days; he might struggle with certain issues that he needs to work on. Maybe his stance in the baseball box needs adjusting so that he can become even better. A rival pitcher may spot a weakness in the way that he swings the bat and will attack that part of the player. The young hitter may fail, and strike out, but when they go to the hitting coach, they can work on fixing his mistakes so that he can become better, so the next time that he meets that pitcher he knows that he is prepared and ready to overcome.

Just the same, when a sinner on earth repents and comes to Christ, the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner that repents. It is the beginning of their great career for the team of Jesus. They may have certain days that they have trouble and make a mistake, but they continue to press on, working on their faults and problems that they need to work on. They know that eventually they will overcome any problem that they have if they rely on Christ. 

Whatever problems a new Christian runs into, we know that we have Jesus to help us to become better and overcome any sin issues that we have problems with. He is our spiritual hitting coach, and when we fail, we can go to Him and learn how to become better.  If any temptations that get thrown at us we can take our bat and hit those sins away.

Psalms 34:17 – [The righteous] cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

A new Christian is like a young child taking their steps for the first time. They won’t always get it right the first time, but when they fall, they get back up and try again. Maybe a parent will hold their hand to get them started again, and eventually they will learn how to walk without falling. Even an adult can trip and fall on something. But once you fall, you have the ability to get back up and not make that mistake again.

A new Christian might fall to a sin in their way, but if they take Jesus’ hand, He will pick you up and set you back on your feet. 

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

When someone makes a mistake, they are given the opportunity to fix it and become better. Remember when Peter tried to rebuke Jesus in Matthew 16, Jesus rebuked HIM. But Jesus didn’t refuse to help Peter to become better. When Peter denied knowing the Lord, Jesus didn’t turn away from him. He later forgave Peter and told him, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). 

So if you or someone else sins or makes a mistake, repent of your sins, and go to your Coach, and become a better Christian for the Lord!

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in today today we’re going to talk about a passage of scripture from Romans chapter 15… but before we do that.

Hope is a feeling of optimism or a desire that something will happen. · To have confidence; trust

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive …

Romans 15:13 – Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Our God is the God of hope. God wants us to abound in hope. He wants us to rejoice in hope.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Just as God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He continues to deliver.

Ps 71:5 For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.

God doesn’t desire anyone to perish. He came to save us.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jesus is a shield unto us. He is God, the greatest shield you could ever have.

Ps 119:114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

God is transforming us by His grace

Romans 5:2-5 – By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

God will deliver us!

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Wait means to stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.

Ps 33:22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

No matter what we go through in this life, God will deliver.

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large. Its definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation.”

Psalms 39:7 – And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope [is] in thee.

The commandment of Jesus is to abide in hope. Abide means to accept without objection.

1 Corinthians 13:13 – And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.

Continual means a process or situation that happens or exists without stopping.

Ps 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.

Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

Ps 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

When you trust Jesus, like Noah and Moses did, God will bless you.

Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is

When the Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea the Lord delivered them.

Joel 3:16 – The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Again, He will deliver.

Ps 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 – Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

Our God is a God of Charity and love and everything that goes against that, He will deliver us from.

1 Peter 1:3 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Hebrews 6:11 – And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Our hope in not placed in us, but Christ.

Lam 3:24 saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Abraham believed and had hope even things looked hopeless.

Rom 4:17-22 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

¹⁸ Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

¹⁹ And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:

²⁰ He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

²¹ And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

²² And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Righteousness is not attained by how good you think you are because we are all sinners who each come short of the glory of God. One of the signs of righteousness is hope which is a divine virtue. God can, and He will deliver. Place your hope in him.

Abraham had hope even when things looked hopeless. That is because His hope was in the Lord Jesus.

That’s it for today but Lord willing we’ll talk to some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16

Too often today, many “Christians” only want to do what they want, or what is convenient for them. They want to do what is easy, and skip all of the things that they have trouble doing or don’t want to do. They want to go to church on Sunday, sing a few hymns, and the rest of the week live whatever way they want. Well I have news for them: that is NOT Christianity. That is a show of godliness, but in truth it is all fake. That is a “lukewarm Christian.”

A person who claims to be a Christian, but does not do what Jesus and His holy word says is not really a Christian at all. A Christian is someone who believes and follows Jesus and His teachings. Jesus says if you love me, keep my words. If someone isn’t going to keep His words, ask yourself, do they truly love Christ? Love for our Lord will abide and keep the things that He and His apostles taught.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46

Why do you think there are so many denominations of churches in the world today? They all want to believe only what they want to believe. If they all believed the teachings of the bible, then there wouldn’t be a hundred different denominations, there would be one. In the time of the apostle Paul, there weren’t Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, etc. They were a part of the “Church.” One group, because they believed the words that Jesus taught, and they listened to what His apostles taught them. Just imagine if Paul or Peter were here today and saw what people have turned the Christian faith into. They would have been very displeased with what is happening today to say the least. 

“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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:21-27

Like Jesus said to the Pharisees, they appeared on the outside that they were wonderful and good, but inside they were full of sin. 

“Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matthew 23:28

In order for these so-called “Christians” to get around verses that they don’t want to adhere to, they make excuses like, “That verse was just written for that specific church 2000 years ago,” or “That verse was meant just for that time, it doesn’t apply today.” They try to twist the meaning of the scripture so that it fits the way that they want to live. Sadly, when you try to convict some of these people blinded by their sins, they get angry and defensive and will not listen to what you are trying to get them to understand. 

You do not get to pick and choose which parts of the bible that you get to keep and obey, and throw away or ignore the rest. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16

I just want you to remember, if someone willfully chooses to ignore or disobey a direct command from Jesus or his apostles in the bible, then they really can’t call themselves Christians. You either keep all of the word of God, or you keep none of it. 

Don’t be a lukewarm Christian. Set yourself on fire with the Holy Ghost!

In Christ,

Andrew 

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

To deny yourself means to not do what you want to do, but to do the will of someone else. 

Someone who exercises knows what this means. In order for someone to lose weight, they need to deny themselves certain foods that have too many calories. They need to spend time working out and exercising to burn off those excess calories. Unless they exercise or eat less consistantly, they will not lose weight. They need to deny themselves what they naturally want to do, and exercise.

“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

It’s like a young toddler. Most toddlers love candy or cookies. Sometimes a parent will put a candy bar on the table in front of their child and tell them that they cannot eat it until a certain time. If they make it without eating it until the set time, they will get TWO candy bars. Now if the child gives in to the urge and temptation of the candy in front of them, will they get the second bar? No. If they want an additional treat then they need to deny themselves what they really want to do, which is eat that candy right now!

Just like that toddler, we need to deny ourselves what we want to do, as normal carnal, sinful people, and live as Christ wants us to. When our carnal body wants to steal something, the Spirit tells us that we shouldn’t. When someone punches or hurts us, the Spirit in our life will cause us to instead show love towards that person, and not retalliate or avenge ourselves.

Being a Christian is a daily process. You cannot take a day or a week off from Christianity. True Christians live each day for the Lord and for His glory. They deny themselves the ways of the world and are focused on the kingdom of Heaven. 

Remember when Jesus gathered together the 12 disciples? Jesus went out and found Peter and Andrew busy fishing in the sea. He told them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their occupation to follow Christ. That is the true meaning of denying yourself and taking up the cross for Jesus. 

Are you ready to deny yourself for Jesus? Are you willing to take up your cross for Him?

In Christ, 

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in a day today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from 1 Cor.

1 Cor 1

²⁶ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after .the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

²⁷ But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

²⁸ And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

Wise in the flesh is having the power or authority of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion.

Jesus is the truth, without Him in your life, you will be deceived and will believe a lie.

Mighty means very large, powerful, or important.

1 sam 17

⁴ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

⁵ And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

⁷ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

⁸ And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

⁹ If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

¹⁴ And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

¹⁵ But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷ And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren;

¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

²² And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

²³ And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

²⁵ And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

²⁶ And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

²⁷ And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

²⁸ And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

²⁹ And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

³⁰ And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

³¹ And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

³² And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

³³ And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

³⁵ And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

³⁶ Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

³⁷ David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

³⁸ And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹ And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

⁴⁰ And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

⁴² And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.

⁴⁸ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

⁵¹ Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵² And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

⁵³ And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

⁵⁵ And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

⁵⁶ And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

⁵⁷ And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

God chooses the lowest in this world to confound the wise.

Nobel means having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.

Who does Jesus choose to be His disciples? Sinners. Most of the teachings of the Christian faith were taught by a man named paul who called himself the chief of sinners.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;

When something is foolish its lacking or exhibiting a lack of good sense or judgment. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.

When you despise something or someone, you dislike them and have a very low opinion of them. Someone who despises another will not forgive others when they repent

That no flesh should glory in his presence. What do we learn from this verse is that God will punish the wicked. It does not matter who they are or if they profess to be Christian. If God does not punish he would be unjust. God takes the worst of sinners to proclaim the word of Truth

We are all sinners. God uses the worst of sinners to proclaim His truth. Welcome to the truth. Love does not do this too other people. Because it’s sin to other people That’s wrong

Not many wise or noble.are called by God. He calls sinners who recognize what they are. Praise God for His Grace.

That’s where we are going to stop for right now but Lord willing we’ll talk to some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

Do any of you have a garden? I have grown tomatoes in my garden for many years. I especially like those sweet little cherry tomatoes. Usually I have around 25 plants growing, and nearly all of them produce bunches of tomatoes. But occasionally I will have one or two plants that grow up big just like the others, but when you search through the leaves, there are no tomatoes growing on it. It has no fruit. Usually when I see a plant like this I will let it grow for a while, but if it doesn’t start to produce anything soon, I will pull it out of the ground so that it doesn’t take up any more nutrients away from the other good plants.

That is just like the Christian faith. There are many, many people on the earth, all apart of God’s garden. He put us on this earth so that He can receive fruit from us. Unless we live a fruit-filled life, filled with love and preaching Christ’s word, we too will be cut down. 

“He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:6-9

Do you see what happened in the story above? The fig tree did not produce anything for the owner of the vineyard. The dresser (or caretaker) of the vineyard was able to spare the tree one more year for it to produce some fruit. But if it still continued to be unfruitful, then it would be cut down.

Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. If we don’t bear fruit of the Vine, we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:1-8

Look how much fruit Paul had. Look at how many of the books in the New Testament that Paul wrote. Paul was busy starting churches and preaching to people everywhere. All of those people who believed the things he was preaching are his fruit. All who read his books in the New Testament and come to Christ are his fruit. He might not be alive on the earth today, but his writings will last until Judgement Day, and he can continue to increase his fruit. 

Read this parable.

“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” Matthew 13:3-8

In the parable of the sower, the sower spread seeds all over the place. He spread some among stony places, he spread some among thorns, some along a path, and some fell into good soil. Not every seed that gets planted will take root and grow up strong, just as not everyone that hears God’s word is going to believe it and become a mature Christian. The sower isn’t responsible for the growth. God makes all things grow. What matters is that you continue to plant those seeds of faith in people’s hearts, so that someday, you too will receive 30, 60, 100 fold.

“He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:6-9

“And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” Matthew 21:19

Jesus cursed the tree for being unfruitful. Are you a fruitful Christian?

In Christ,

Andrew

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16

Baptism is the act of faith in Christ that causes them to change from their old sinful, earthly way of living and start living their life for the glory of Christ. When someone is baptized, they are completely submerged under water, signifying their death to the carnal, sinful life, and when they rise back up out of the water, it is the start of their new life as a Christian.

Just as when we die physically on earth, and we are raised up in our new bodies when Jesus returns, baptism is the death of our life without Christ, and when we get raised back up out of the water, our new life begins.

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

Baptism is like changing oil on a car. When you take your car to the shop, they will take and drain out all of that old, dirty oil, and fill it back up with new, good, clean oil. When we are baptized, the whole old way we used to live is drained out of us, and we are filled up with the oil of the Holy Spirit.

In John 3, a man named Nicodemus was talking with Jesus. Jesus explained to him that you need to be born again to enter into God’s kingdom. We need to be born again through baptism of the Spirit.

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:1-7

Just because someone has been baptized doesn’t always mean that they truly believe in the word of God. I know of some who have been baptized, not because they really believed, but because they were with some other friends who were being baptized and they just did it because their friends did. It takes true faith. Just like the verse at the top of the page says, you NEED to BELIEVE and be baptized to be saved. Because it is when you believe that you will follow Christ.

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27

“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16

If you haven’t been baptized and born again, what are you waiting for? Today is the day of salvation!!

In Christ,

Andrew