(#007) Colossians 2 - Christians Gravitate to False Teachers and Repel Teachers of Truth

It's simply easier to reflect satan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome To 

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

 

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!  

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact.  My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to this Bible lesson!  

 

Who is Jesus Christ?  At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that Jesus Christ is God.  

 

John, Chapter 1, Verses 1 to 3 introduce Him…

 

JOHN 1:1

In the beginning (not really a beginning) was the Word (in Greek, ho logos…a reference to the Lord…God the Son)…and the Word (the Lord…God the Son) was with God the Father…and the Word was God (co-equal…co-infinite…co-eternal…the same in essence as God the Father).

 

JOHN 1:2

He (the Lord…God the Son) existed in the beginning with God the Father.

 

JOHN 1:3 

All things came into being through Him (the Lord…God the Son)…and apart from Him (as the Creator)…nothing came into being that has come into being.

 

John, Chapter 1, Verse 14 describes what makes Him the uniquely born One…

 

 

JOHN 1:14

And the Word (the Lord…God the Son) became flesh (taking on the form of a human being as Jesus…the Christ)…and He lived for a while among us (for 33 years)…and we (the apostles) saw His glory (with our own eyes)…the glory of the only begotten One from the source of God Father…full of grace and full of truth.

 

We worship the Lord Jesus Christ…He is 100% God and 100% Man in one person forever…and at Barah Ministries we know that our eternal future is based on a single decision each of us makes about Him.

 

Why does Barah Ministries exist?  

 

At Barah Ministries, we introduce people to the Lord.  We make a difference by teaching the Word of God verse-by-verse from the Lord’s perspective and not from man’s perspective.  Barah Ministries is provided by God for the benefit of unbelievers, to give them the gospel message…the good news concerning Jesus Christ’s salvation offer.  Barah Ministries is provided by God for the benefit of Christians as well, those of us who want a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the Lord through the study of His Word.  

 

Why do we study the Word of God?  

 

The apostle Peter tells us why in Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verses 17 and 18…

 

SECOND PETER 3:17

Beloved (believers in Christ)…be on your guard (don’t say I didn’t warn you) so that all of you (Christians) are not led astray by the error of unprincipled men (false teachers)…so as to fall from your steadfastness (the secure position we have as victors through Christ)…

 

We study the Bible so we are not tricked by false teachers!

 

SECOND PETER 3:18 

…instead, keep on growing in the sphere of grace and in the knowledge of the One who is our Lord and Savior…Jesus…the Christ.  To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

We study Scripture to get to know our Lord!   

 

God has an enemy…Satan…whom God made ‘the ruler of this world.’  In John, Chapter 12, Verse 31, the Lord says…

 

JOHN 12:31

“Now judgment is upon this world…now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out (he will be dethroned at a future time).”

 

Satan sponsors the sin of legalism.  He encourages people to put themselves above others because of the things they do.  The triclinium believers in the first-century church at Corinth…for example…were elitist believers who proclaimed themselves to be better than everyone else.  They committed the same sin as the older brother in the prodigal son's story who in self-righteousness flaunted how good he is compared to his brother for not engaging in what he called “loose living.”  Judging his brother is a much worse sin in God's eyes…the sin of pride…Satan’s original sin.  Satan readily sucks us into the sins of a pseudo-morality, and we act as if there is nothing wrong with it.  Don’t be fooled!

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

Christians Gravitate to False Teachers and Repel Teachers of Truth

 

LESSON INTRODUCTION

 

False teachers with their false teaching…liars with their lies…Christians gravitate to these men as if they are magnets.  False teachers teach us what we want to believe.  They don’t teach us the truth we need to know.

 

Yet God teaches us about Himself in the most minute of places.  He teaches us about Himself through magnets.  All magnets have north and south poles. Opposite poles are attracted to each other, while the same poles repel each other.  It’s the same with Christians.  Christians are attracted to lies…the opposite of what we ought to do…and Christians repel the truth.

 

As Christians, we are in the light.  John makes this clear in First John, Chapter 1, Verses 5 to 7…

 

 

FIRST JOHN 1:5

This is the message we (John and the other apostles) have heard (directly)

 from Him (the incarnate Lord…Jesus…the Christ) and announce to you… that God the Father is Light…and in Him, there is no darkness at all.

 

FIRST JOHN 1:6 

If(3)…[maybe we will and maybe we won’t…we have a choice]…we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness…we lie and do not practice the truth…

 

FIRST JOHN 1:7 

…but if(3) we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light…we (God and the Christian) have fellowship with one another…and the blood of Jesus His Son keeps on cleansing us from all sin.

 

In my lifetime I have seen, I have participated in, and I continue to see believers in Christ deifying false teachers and their false teaching while simultaneously rejecting true teaching.  Why?  Who really cares why?  Would knowing why make it okay?  We know why…because the Bible tells us why…and the Bible tells us what to do about it.  In Matthew, Chapter 15, Verses 7 to 9 the Lord said of the unbelieving religious leaders…

 

MATTHEW 15:7

“You hypocrites!  Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you…

 

MATTHEW 15:8 

“‘This people honors Me with their lips…but their heart is far away from Me.”

 

MATTHEW 15:9 

“‘But in vain do they worship Me…teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

 

The same can be said of Christians who gravitate to lies.  The “why” Christians gravitate to false teachers and false teaching is because Christians often are hypocrites…the “what to do about it” is to stop worshiping the Lord with our talk and to start worshipping Him with our walk.

 

In today’s lesson we’ll begin our verse-by-verse study of Paul's letter to the Colossians…a letter designed to address Christians gravitating to false teachers while repelling true teachers and true teaching…a letter designed to correct error…and as we do every month, we’ll celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  In today’s Lord’s Supper lesson, we’ll learn that at the Cross, the Lord taught us to pray.

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

Even when we are unfaithful, the Lord remains faithful to us.  He is always looking to reassure His believers.  Isaiah, Chapter 41, Verse 10…

 

ISAIAH 41:10

“Do not fear, for I am with you…do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you…surely I will help you…surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

 

So we can believe Sarah Reeves when she says to God…you’ve got me RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT ME!

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT ME

Sarah Reeves

 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT ME

Sarah Reeves

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for exposing our conduct…bringing it to light…thank you for indicting our leadership…thank you for being intolerant of one ounce of sin in our lives…thank you for giving us imperfect teachers who are not afraid to teach the truth and who are not afraid of exposing the times when they fall short of Your standards…

 

…help us to learn about You through the truth-tellers You send to us…help us to be attracted to Your Word…help us to repel lies and false teachers… give us the strength to allow You to remove impure and inaccurate thoughts from our lives…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ's

name...Amen.

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

Christians Gravitate to False Teachers and Repel Teachers of Truth

 

Christians are probably the number one reason why unbelievers reject Christianity.  When unbelievers see us snuggling up to falsehood, they feel totally comfortable doing the same thing.  What parts of your life reflect the world?  What parts of your life make people move away from Christianity?

 

As we begin the study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians…we will notice that Paul is addressing a problem…false teachers and their false teaching.  Colossians, Chapter 2 is where the problem is highlighted…like Verse 4…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:4 

I (Paul) say these things so that no one (such as a false teacher) will delude you with a persuasive argument (false teaching).

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verse 6…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:6 

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord (through the simplicity and purity of the gospel message)…so walk in Him (live a simple, pure, devoted lifestyle)…

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verse 16…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:16 

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verse 18…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:18 

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize (the freedom of the resurrection life) by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind…

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verse 20…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:20 

If(1) all of you believers in Christ have died with Christ (to the sovereignty of sin)…and of course you have…if you have died to the elementary principles of the world (and its rules)…and you have…why, as if you were a part of the world, do you submit yourself to decrees…

 

False teachers captivate us with their false teaching.  But there is only one way that their deception can work…when we allow it…when we embrace it…when we choose it…when we gravitate toward it, while simultaneously repelling the truth.  And we DO!  Why?  We want to believe liars and their lies.  What do we believers in Christ want to believe?

 

We want to believe that God is conditional in His love.  He loves us when

we are good and He hates us when we are bad.  We want to believe this because we are this way.

 

We want to believe that God is unforgiving because we are this way.

 

We want to believe that God is disappointed with us when we make mistakes because we are this way…both with ourselves and with others.

 

We want to believe that when a Christian is “off the rails” that they will come around…as if everyone comes around.  Some people don't come around.  I'm convinced that God places people in our lives who won't ever come around to teach us about Satan and the fallen angels….they DON'T come around.  We certainly don't want to believe that our parents will never come around…or our kids will never come around...or our friends will never come around.  The reality is that some don't…in fact, most don't.  When you're "off the rails," it's easier to stay off the rails.

 

We want to believe that everyone is going to heaven.  Everyone isn’t.

 

We want to believe that we can help God save us with good deeds.  It’s impossible.

 

We want to believe that we can lose our salvation.

 

We want to believe that there is no need to concern ourselves with learning what our spiritual gift is…and there is no need to use it.

 

In short, we want to create our own version of Christianity.  We want to add in the things that make us look good.  A friend asked me recently, “Aren’t we supposed to act like Christians?”  Yes.  We are supposed to do that.  Do we?  Absolutely not.  And unbelievers are watching.

 

The things we learn in the Bible apply to us.  We’re not sitting as passive spectators saying, “Ain’t it awful?”  when we see the conduct of the Corinthians and the Colossians and how easily they slip into the elementary principles of the world and its lifestyle.  We are to use the teaching as a mirror to illuminate our own conduct.  But we don't.  We gravitate toward those who teach us that our despicable conduct is perfectly okay because we are only human.  We are human…it's true.  But we are humans who are indwelled by the Omnipotent Trinity.  At a point…that has to mean something to you.  Does it?

 

When we return from the break, we’ll take the offering, and then we’ll enjoy the Lord’s Supper Celebration.  

 

FIVE MINUTE BREAK

NOBODY

Casting Crowns

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

Christians Gravitate to False Teachers and Repel Teachers of Truth

 

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “You can’t have a perfect day without doing something for someone who’ll never be able to repay you.”  Our God does this every second of every day.  As believers in Christ, we must reflect His grace.

 

When you give to Barah Ministries you make it possible for people all over the world who can’t afford to contribute to get the spiritual food that feeds the spiritual life free of charge.  Thanks in advance for your generosity.  Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

FIRST PETER 5:8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 

OFFERING SONG

HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET

Danny Gokey

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ taught Us to Pray

 

Welcome to The Lord’s Supper Celebration, the most intimate expression of our love for the Lord Jesus Christ in The Christian Way of Living.  The Lord demonstrates His desire for a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with His believers by creating a way to keep on sharing His body and His blood with us, just as He did with His apostles on the night before His death.  Luke, Chapter 22, Verses 14 to 16… 

 

LUKE 22:14

When the hour had come (and His crucifixion was near) … the Lord Jesus Christ reclined at the Passover table…and the apostles reclined with Him.

 

 

LUKE 22:15 

And the Lord said to the apostles, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer … ”

 

LUKE 22:16 

“…for I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you that I shall never again eat this

Passover meal until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God the Father.”

 

In First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26, the apostle Paul says, on behalf of the Lord…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26a

…as often as you eat this bread (representing His body)…and as often as you drink this cup (representing His blood)…as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26b

…you proclaim as a reality and you announce the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross…and His resurrection from the dead…until He comes again at the second coming.

 

During the Lord’s Supper Celebration, Jesus wants His believers to look back to the Cross for a moment.  He wants us to REMEMBER how He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.  He wants us to REMEMBER the sacrifice of shedding His blood to cover our sins.  He wants us to REMEMBER the deliverance to the resurrection life He orchestrated, bringing us into His kingdom of light.  Most of all, the Lord wants His believers to look forward with ANTICIPATION that He is coming again.   

 

As believers in Christ, when we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we ask ourselves in reflection, “What did the Lord Jesus Christ do for us at the Cross?”   

 

At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to PRAY.  The first thing that Jesus Christ said as He hung from the Cross was a prayer…detailed in Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 24…

 

LUKE 23:34a

Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them (the ones crucifying me)…for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

This is such an interesting prayer.  People who don’t know what they are doing are innocent.  The innocent do not need forgiveness.  So, by saying the perpetrators of His crucifixion needed forgiveness, the Lord also was declaring that they were guilty.  What were they guilty of?  They were guilty of ignoring the evidence.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ made it absolutely clear that He is the Christ…the Jewish Messiah.  My Mom used to say, “None are so blind as those who refuse to see.”  Her comment was a takeoff from Matthew, Chapter 13, Verse 13…

 

MATTHEW 13:13

I (the Lord Jesus Christ) speak to them (unbelievers) in parables…because while seeing they do not see…and while hearing they do not hear…nor do they understand.

 

Nor do unbelievers WANT TO understand.  Those who ignore the evidence don’t want to know the Lord.  Yet in the world, we are always giving allowances to people who ignore the evidence about the Lord…"Yeah, but what if they didn't know?"  They knew.

 

The Old Testament gave clear direction to the Jews concerning how they would be able to recognize the Messiah.  What were they to look for?  The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem…the Messiah would be born of a virgin…the Messiah would fulfill all of the prophecies revealed about Him in the Old Testament….especially the doing of signs and wonders. 

 

The Jews saw the evidence and then made a decision about Jesus…the Christ…the Jewish Messiah.  They decided He was from Satan and not from God.  Mark, Chapter 3, Verses 22 to 24…

 

MARK 3:22

The scribes (teachers of the Law) who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul (a demon)” … and “He casts out demons by (means of a power alliance with) the ruler of the demons (Satan).”

 

MARK 3:23 

And Jesus called the scribes to Himself and began speaking to them in parables (asking), “How can Satan cast out Satan?”

 

In other words, the Lord is saying that Satan would be stupid to act against himself or his emissaries.  The Lord continues…

 

MARK 3:24 

“If a kingdom is divided against itself…that kingdom cannot stand.”

 

When an unbeliever seals his own fate with a decision to reject a relationship with the Lord, the Lord’s only choice is to pray for him.  The Lord is not willing to coerce our will.

 

While accusing the perpetrators of their guilt, the Lord simultaneously forgives them.  Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 24…

 

LUKE 23:34a

Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them…for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

Unbelievers who die having rejected a relationship with Christ will meet the Lord face-to-face, and He will not bring up their sins.  Psalm 103, Verse 12…

 

PSALM 103:12

As far as the east is from the west…so far has the Lord removed our transgressions from us.

 

Psalm 86, Verse 5…

 

PSALM 86:5

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive…and You are abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

 

I guarantee…we are not similar to the Lord in that way or in any way.  We would not forgive our perpetrators.  We always bring up the sins of others.  But through the unconditional love of God, which the Holy Spirit pours into us through the fruit of the Spirit, we can reflect God’s unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness to others…and we must!

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

Enjoying the Elements

 

Bread and wine.  The Lord gave us these things to remember Him.  We will enjoy the elements together in a few moments as we listen to The Lord’s Supper Song.

 

Obeying God's command, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross regularly…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK on the Cross…the voluntary sacrifice He made on our behalf as our sin sacrifice.  We are grateful for what God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have done for us.  Matthew, Chapter 26, Verses 26 to 28…

 

MATTHEW 26:26 

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take…eat…this is My body (which is being broken for you).”

 

MATTHEW 26:27 

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you…”

 

MATTHEW 26:28 

“…for this is My blood…the blood of a new covenant…blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of their sins.”

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by a Lord who is always there for us…the One on whom we can depend…and let’s keep on being transformed by His life, His death, His resurrection and His Word… and let’s enjoy His unconditional love, His forgiveness, and His grace.

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

What do we learn from Christ’s work at the Cross?  In Second Corinthians, Chapter 3, Verse 5 we learn…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 3:5

…we are not adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves…but our adequacy is from God the Father…

 

Our power comes from God’s power in us…Second Peter, Chapter 1, Verse 3 says…

 

SECOND PETER 1:3

…His divine power (dunamis)…has granted to us believers in Christ EVERYTHING pertaining to life (the resurrection life-ZOE)…and godliness (EUSEBEIA-The Christian Way of Living) …through the true knowledge of Jesus who called us by His own glory and excellence.

 

So Psalm 46, Verse 10 says…

 

PSALM 46:10

“Cease striving and know that I am God…” 

 

We trust our God to do all things for us.  Here’s Unspoken to sing what we believers know to be true…JUST GIVE ME JESUS.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG 

JUST GIVE ME JESUS

Unspoken

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

If you don’t yet have a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you have the chance to be precious in God’s sight…Psalm 116, Verse 15 says…

 

PSALM 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones (His saints… believers in Christ).

 

The fact that GOD WANTS YOU is a great thing to know as you get older because there will be a day when it is apparent to you that no one gets out of this life alive.  What's going to happen to you when you close your eyes in this life?  Will you go to heaven or will you go to hell?

 

God has an enemy…Satan…the ruler of this world…and he has distorted Christianity by creating counterfeits to Christianity…religions…designed to mislead you into thinking you’re saved when you might not be.  Roman Catholicism is one of those counterfeits.  Here is an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church…

 

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (Paragraph 2010)

Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can MERIT FOR OURSELVES AND FOR OTHERS the graces needed for our sanctification…

 

Through religion, Satan wants you to think you can work your way to heaven…he wants you to think you can earn your own salvation…and he wants you to think you can pray for the dead to help them earn salvation.  He's lying. Hebrews, Chapter 9, Verse 27…

 

HEBREWS 9:27

…it is appointed (by God) for men to die once…and after physical death comes judgment (God’s evaluation) … 

 

You can’t work for salvation.  Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 6 says…  

 

ROMANS 11:6

But if salvation is by grace, and of course it is, it is no longer on the basis of your works…otherwise grace (as a free gift from the source of God) is no longer grace (free).

 

If you have to work for a free gift then the work makes you deserve the gift.  In salvation, there is no work you could do that is impressive enough to God to let you save yourself.  

 

The Lord provides us with the Bible to illuminate the path to heaven…John, Chapter 20, Verse 31…

 

JOHN 20:31 

…these things written in the Bible have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (The Jewish Messiah) … the Son of God (in human form) … and that by believing in Him you may have the resurrection life in His name.

 

The Bible contains the Lord’s exact thinking.  It is your “owner’s manual”

for life, and it obliterates the delusion that any of us are good people in God’s eyes.  The Bible says we’re all “bad people!”  Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23 says…

 

ROMANS 3:23

…all creatures have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

 

Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 10…

 

ROMANS 3:10

…it is written, “There is no creature who is righteous, not even one…”

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a

…all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human being) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

Your condition at physical birth IS NOT YOUR FAULT, but it is your circumstance.  

 

The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ did something about your problem…He has a plan for your life because He doesn’t want anyone to go to The Lake of Fire…Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 says…

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of...instead, He is patient toward unbelievers…not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a voluntary change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

So, how can you get to heaven?  Right where you sit, RIGHT NOW, you can tell God the Father that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the moment of eternal life for you.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

The ONE WAY…the ONLY WAY to get to heaven is through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ…John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and I am the truth (through the Word of God), and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”

 

Who is this God who saves you?  The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4… 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3

For I (Paul) delivered to you as of primary importance the gospel message I also received… that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 

…and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…

 

Believing in Jesus Christ is your acknowledgment that you can't do a thing

to get to heaven on your own.  It's your confirmation that being “a good person” does not get you to heaven. 

 

It's wise to let God save you because once God does something, He never changes His mind.  John, Chapter 10, Verse 28 says…

 

JOHN 10:28

“…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) give eternal life to believers in Christ, and they will never perish…and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

 

You can’t lose your salvation.  If ANYONE tells you that you can lose your salvation, they are lying to you. 

 

So, heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

You can join me and a host of your believer friends in heaven when you close your eyes in this life!  Choose it now!  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

When we get pressure in this life, we tend to evaluate it as a bad thing.  Yet all growth comes as a result of pressure.  A piece of coal put under pressure becomes a diamond.  The people who are most effective in this life are the ones who don’t faint in their souls when the pressure comes.  These are the ones who have a relationship with God and who understand how He works.  First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 10 says…

 

FIRST PETER 5:10

After you have suffered for a little while…the God and Father of all grace… who called you believers in Christ to His eternal glory in union with Christ…will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

 

Or as June Murphy says in song…GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR GOOD.

 

CLOSING SONG

GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR GOOD

June Murphy

 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR GOOD

June Murphy

 

CLOSING VERSES

 

         A Doxology of Praise to Our God

 

Let’s close with words of worship for our Almighty God.  

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

Stop worrying about anything…instead, in everything by prayer and petition with an attitude of thanksgiving…let your requests be made known to God the Father. 

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:7 

And the peace of God the Father, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds (flooding your souls with peace)…you who are in union with Christ Jesus.

 

JUDE 1:24

Now to Jesus Christ…the One who is able to keep you from stumbling…and the One who is able to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy…

 

JUDE 1:25 

…to the only God…our Savior…through our union with Jesus Christ our Lord…be glory …majesty…dominion…and authority…before all time…and now…and forever. Amen.

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

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