Galatians 5: At the Cross, the Lord Provided Us with Fruit from God the Holy Spirit!Whose voice is setting the tone in your thoughts?
If you're in the resident congregation, turn off your electronic devices and put them away.Let this be a place where you aren't distracted by the world.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES
Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with a worldwide impact.My name is Pastor Rory Clark.Thanks for listening to this Bible lesson!
At Barah Ministries, we worship a Triune Godhead.
There is One God who reveals Himself to mankind as three separate, distinct, co-equal, co-infinite, co-eternal Persons…God the Father…God the Son…and God the Holy Spirit.
GOD THE FATHER is the author of the Triune Godhead's plan for all creatures.I was asked what God the Father is doing right now, and I thought it was a pretty stupid question.After a little research, I was pretty stupid for thinking the question was stupid.One of the many things God the Father is doing right now is listening to and answering the prayers of over seven billion people…John, Chapter 16, Verse 23…
JOHN 16:23 "Truly, truly, I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you, if you ask God the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you."
Every prayer is directed to God the Father.
GOD THE SON (the Lord) volunteered to execute God the Father's planby taking on the form of man as true humanity…as Jesus…the Christ…the Jewish Messiah In John, Chapter 4, Verses 25 and 26…Jesus affirms His Deity…
JOHN 4:25 The Samaritan woman at the well said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called the Christ)… and when that One comes…He will declare all things to us."
JOHN 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He (I am the Christ)."
Jesus Christ is God…and He is the central figure in divine history.
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is our Mentor and Teacher, and He is the rudder of the Christian's life. He played a central role in the birth of Jesus Christ's humanity according to Matthew, Chapter 1, Verse 18…
MATTHEW 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows…when His mother Mary had been engaged to marry Joseph, before they had sex she was found to be with child by the agency of God the Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit is every bit as much Deity as God the Father and God the Son.He is not an apparition, even though many call Him the Holy Ghost.He is a Person, and He is most definitely the unsung hero of the Trinity.
As Christians, we develop a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the entire Godhead through the study of the Word…the BibleInMatthew, Chapter 7, Verses 24 to 27, the Lord says…
MATTHEW 4:24 "…everyone who hears these words of Mine (in the Bible…My exact thoughts) and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock."
MATTHEW 4:25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house…and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock (the Rock is Jesus Christ)."
MATTHEW 4:26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on themwill be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand." MATTHEW 4:27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house…and it fell—and great was its fall."
God has an enemy…Satan…whom God made 'the ruler of this world' for a finite period of time. Here's how the Lord describes His former bodyguard in Ezekiel, Chapter 28, Verses 12 to 16…
EZEKIEL 28:12 "Thus says the Lord God…you (Satan) had the seal of perfection…you were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty."
EZEKIEL 28:13a "You were in Eden, the garden of God…every precious stone was your covering… the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald…
EZEKIEL 28:13b …and the gold…the workmanship of your settings and sockets was in you.On the day that you were created by Me, they were prepared."
EZEKIEL 28:14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers (the bodyguard of the throne room of heaven), and I (the Lord) placed you there (in that position) You were on the holy mountain of God (in the first heaven)…you walked amid the stones of fire (in the throne room of heaven)."
EZEKIEL 28:15 "You were blameless (righteous) in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you."
EZEKIEL 28:16a "By the abundance of your trade (which was the trafficking of slander against the Lord) you were internally filled with violence and you sinned…
EZEKIEL 28:16b …therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of GodAnd I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." Satan…the great deceiver…who convinced ALL the angels to turn against the Lord…was removed from his position of authority in the kingdom of God.The Lord gave him rulership of planet earth so he would have a chance to prove his accusation that the Lord is unfair and unloving.Of course, Satan will not succeed.
As believers in Christ, we don't worry about Satan because the Lord has given us victory over him through our union with Jesus Christ.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Provided Us with Fruit from God the Holy Spirit
LESSON INTRODUCTION
In our last lesson, we learned we have rotten fruit inside of us…the sins produced by the flesh.Today, we'll see the fruit produced in believers in Christ by God the Holy Spirit, and, as commanded by the Lord, we'll celebrate the Lord's Supper.What a perfect time to celebrate someone who inspires our military heroes…John, Chapter 15, Verse 13…
JOHN 15:13 Greater love has no one than this…that one lay down his life for his friends.
We celebrate the men and women who put their lives on the line to imitate the faithfulness of the Lord.
OPENING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let's hear some music. Veterans Day is November 11th every year. It's an American holiday when people in the military who are serving or who have served in the past, especially during wartime, are remembered and thanked.
It's always a pleasure for us at Barah Ministries to honor the men and women who stand on a wall to protect our freedoms…who say, "Nothing is going to hurt you tonight…not on my watch."
We pray for our friends in Israel who are defending their right to freedom right now.We pray that the Lord and Savior…the Jewish Messiah…Jesus…the Christ, will protect them and will orchestrate their total and overwhelming victory.
In honor of veterans in the United States and worldwide,we'll listen to two songs…A FEW GOOD MEN by the Gaither Vocal Band and the Armed Forces Medley.
MUSIC OPENING SONG Let's Sing the Lord's Praises
A FEW GOOD MEN Gaither Vocal Band
MUSIC OPENING SONG Let's Sing the Lord's Praises
ARMED FORCES MEDLEY
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 Your every provision…especially for the courageous men and women You gave to protect us so we can worship You in peace…many of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world don't enjoy the same peacefulness…we pray for them today because we know You are looking out for them…thank you for sending Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to die on a Cross to reconcile us to relationship with You…thank you for God the Holy Spirit who guides us into all the truth…
…through today's lesson, show us one more provision we get from the Godhead… the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit…, the fruit which we can reflect in this lost and dying world through Your divine power in us…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ's name...Amen.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Provided Us with Fruit from God the Holy Spirit
LESSON PART ONE
Welcome to the Lord's Supper Celebration.As we remember the Lord, let's relax and enjoy memories of the things the Lord has done for us, especially His work on the Cross on our behalf.The Lord's Supper allows you to direct your singular focus to the Lord alone.Concerning the Lord's Supper,our God commands in Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 19…
LUKE 22:19c "…keep on doing this Lord's Supper Celebrationin remembrance of Me."
The Lord wants you to think about the SOURCE of everything special about you and everything special in your life.He is the source!
The Lord's Supper is a chance for you to experience the real meaning of your relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe…the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…the most important relationship in your life. That's true if you are a believer in Christ…it's even more true if you are an unbeliever.
The Lord's Supper illuminates the power of a believer's union with Christ, one of the most valuable gifts we will ever have.It is the Lord letting you know He is on your side.
The Lord's Supper is for those who are the born-again ones…those spiritually alive people who were placed into union with Christ by God the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation through the baptism of the Spirit.God the Holy Spirit turned us into eternal companions of Christ.
The good news about being a companion of Christ is that the Lord stands between His believers and the enemy…He is our provider…He is our protector…He is our pardoner…even when the enemy is ourselves.
The subject matter of today'sLord's Supper is God the Holy Spirit. Let'slisten to the passage we have been studying, and then we'll get to the specific verses of focus for today: Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 16 to 26…
GALATIANS 5:16 But I (Paul) say (to you Galatian believers in Christ and to all believers in Christ)…walk by the Spirit, and you will not (no way…not no how) carry out the desire of the flesh.
GALATIANS 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against God the Holy Spirit…and God the Holy Spirit sets His desire against the flesh…for these two are in opposition to one another…so that you believers in Christ may not do whatever you please.
GALATIANS 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, and of course all believers in Christ are, you are not under the Mosaic Law.
GALATIANS 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident…(the rotten fruit of sin)…which are: sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality…
GALATIANS 5:20 …idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions…
GALATIANS 5:21 …envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you in the past, that those who practice such things as a lifestyle (not a reference to believers in Christ) will not inherit the kingdom of God.
GALATIANS 5:22 But the FRUIT OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is unconditional love, joy, and peace (in yourselves)…patience, kindness, and goodness (toward others)…
GALATIANS 5:23 …faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (in your relationship with God)…against such virtues there is no law.
GALATIANS 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
GALATIANS 5:25 If we believers in Christ live by the power of God the Holy Spirit, and of course we do, let us also walk in our lifestyle by the power of God the Holy Spirit.
GALATIANS 5:26 Let us not become boastful…challenging one another…or envying one another.
This final passage of Galatians, Chapter 5,is divided neatly into four parts…Verses 16 to 18…Verses 19 to 21…Verses 22 and 23…and Verses 24 to 26.
In our study of the first part of the passage, we learned that we are the caboose and God the Holy Spirit is the locomotive of our life's train.All our power is derived from the guidance of God the Holy Spirit…our human power can never be as effective as the Spirit's power in us.
In the second part of the passage, we learned that the flesh…that part of us that does the sinning…never has our best interest in mind Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 18 and 19…
ROMANS 7:18 For I (Paul) know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…for the willingness to do good…the wish to do good…is present in me…but the actual doing of the good is not present in me.
ROMANS 7:19 For the good that I want to do I do not do…but I PRACTICE the very evil that I do not want to do.
The flesh is a part of us that practices evil.Why do Christians continue to sin after salvation?They don't, But the dead flesh in them does.
Today,we'll study the third part of the passage…Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 22, and 23…there is a part of us that God uses for divine production…
GALATIANS 5:22 But the FRUIT OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is unconditional love, joy, and peace (in yourselves)…patience, kindness, and goodness (toward others)…
GALATIANS 5:23 …faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (in your relationship with God)…against such virtues there is no law.
Of all the blessings given to those in union with Christ, is there any greater than the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit?God, the Holy Spirit, never indwells someone without also making him a garden of spiritual fruit…
GALATIANS 5:22a But the FRUIT OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is unconditional love, joy, and peace (in yourselves)…
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Do you labor for the good of your brothers and sisters, both believers and unbelievers?Do you require nothing of others?
When we love unconditionally, God the Holy Spirit matures us from inward self-preoccupation to placing primary importance on the interests of others Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…
PHILIPPIANS 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit…but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…
PHILIPPIANS 2:4 …do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also look out for theinterests of others…
Our love no longer depends on finding something lovely in others.Unconditional love patiently bears with people. Isn't it great we have a God who loves us that way…Unconditionally?!
JOY Do you value those around you who are like-minded?Are you happy because of them?
It's easy to value those who are being matured by God the Holy Spirit within Barah Ministries. Each of you is a sanctuary of repose to relax in. It's so nice to be surrounded by people who love who we are and who we are not. JOY is a daily journey of choice…it is not a destination. When joy is put to song, Pharrell Williams's songHAPPY comes to mind.
PEACE Do you strive to maintain the unity God the Holy Spirit placed all believers in, even at significant personal cost?
All believers in Christ share the same Lord and will one day share the same heaven.The way to look at other believers in Christ, regardless of where they are in their maturity level, is with the eyes of peace.We are to hold nothing against them.It has been said, "Kindness receives an offense…refashions it in the factory of the soul…and sends it back as a blessing."When the majority of the fault in a situation lies with the other person, God the Holy Spirit encourages us to assume the best.
Through this fruit of God, the Holy Spirit, we learn to honor people behind their backs. That's a lesson many Christians have yet to learn.
When we return from the break,we'll take the offering, we'll enjoy the elements of the Lord's Supper, and we'll finish our look at the Fruit of God the Holy Spirit in Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 22 and 23.
FIVE-MINUTE BREAK HAPPY Pharrell Williams
THE LORD'S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Provided Us with Fruit from God the Holy Spirit
OFFERING INTRODUCTION
One of the great pleasures of life is givingour time, talent, and treasure to those who want to learn about the Lord Jesus Christfree of charge.True ministry involves giving, not receiving.Yet it's an equal pleasure being given to in return.In Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 17, the apostle Paul says…
PHILIPPIANS 4:17 Not that I seek the gift (for myself…even though I appreciate it) … but I seek the profit that increases to your account (from God when you give).
You're invited to join in giving…to make giving to Barah Ministries part of your weekly routine.God blesses your giving and makes it have an impact in places all over the worldwith people you know nothing about. Simultaneously, God gives abundant credit back to your account.If you listen to Barah Ministries, we appreciate it when you contribute to Barah Ministries.No amount is too small.
Let's welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
COLOSSIANS 2:9-10 For in Jesus Christ…all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form…and in union with Him you believers in Christ have been made complete…and He is the head over all rule and authority…
OFFERING SONG THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU Instrumental Version
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.
Matthew, Chapter 26, Verses 26 to 28, tells us the reason the Lord wants us to celebrate this meal together…
MATTHEW 26:26 While the apostles were eating, Jesus took some bread…and after a blessing, He broke the bread, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take…eat…this is My body which is being broken for you."
MATTHEW 26:27 And when Jesus 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…My blood…poured out for whosoever…for the forgiveness of sins.”
We celebrate to remember.
Jesus Christ died as our sin substitute…Jesus Christ is risen from the dead to prove His Deity…Jesus Christ will come again to gather us unto Himself.Jesus forgives us once and for all time through His work on the Cross.We celebrate, and we are grateful.
Enjoy the elements as we listen to Telly Leung remind us that we have a God who loves giving in the song ALL GOOD GIFTS.
THE LORD'S SUPPER SONG
ALL GOOD GIFTS Telly Leung
THE LORD'S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Provided Us with Fruit from God the Holy Spirit
LESSON PART TWO
Welcome back, Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 22…
GALATIANS 5:22b But the FRUIT OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is…patience, kindness, and goodness (toward others)…
PATIENCE Are you growing in your ability to overlook offenses?
Can you receive an offense full in the face and then look right over it?Are you "slow to anger" even when confronted with severe and repeated provocation and injury?Believe me, without the power of God the Holy Spirit, none of us are good at this.
Ministry in the church, no matter our role, places us around people whose progress is much slower than we might like.We will find ourselves around "the idle…the fainthearted…the weak."Instead of throwing up our hands and bagging on them in the gossip of our vile tongues, we must "be patient with them all."In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, a Christian, says…"God did not see fit to distribute the gift of intelligence equally."Indeed, We must learn through the power of God the Holy Spirit to value and to enjoy the differences between people.
KINDNESS Do you not only overlook offenses but also repay offenses with unconditional love?
This is kindness.Spirit-given kindness creates parents who discipline their children with a steady, tender voice…God the Holy Spirit creates sufferers who respond to ignorant, insensitive treatment with grace…God, the Holy Spirit,creates wives and husbands who repay their spouse's sharp words with a kiss.
Showing kindness, not only to those who will one day thank us for it, but also to "the ungrateful and the evil" is a fruit of the Spirit.Those who are kind can give a blessing, receive a curse in return, and then to go on giving blessings.Amen?
GOODNESS Do you dream up opportunities to be helpful?
We have a ton of people in Barah Ministries who are like this.Thank the Lord,for people who dispense goodness have a disposition to be useful, generous, and helpful because they are good at discerning what is pleasing to the Lord!
Charles Spurgeon, a nineteen century Baptist preacher, said, "Let us be on the watch for opportunities of usefulness…let us go about the world with our ears and eyes open, ready to avail ourselves of every occasion for doing good…let us not be content untilwe are useful, and let's make this the main ambition of our lives."
Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 23…
GALATIANS 5:23 …faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (in your relationship with God)…against such virtues there is no law.
FAITHFULNESS Do you do what you say you'll do, even in the smallest matters?
Faithful people have a trustworthy reputation. First Thessalonians, Chapter 5, Verse 24…
FIRST THESSALONIANS 5:24 Faithful is God the Father who calls you to salvation, and He also will bring it to pass.
God wants us to be like Himself…to be faithful in the small things.
GENTLENESS Do you use your strength to serve the weak?
The godly ones use the power of protectiveness. They correct others with unconditional love in a spirit of gentleness. They are not overly impressed by a sense of self-importance. They are there when people need them. Being there for people who need it when they need it is a hallmark of our omnipresent God!
SELF-CONTROL Do you refuse your flesh's cravings?
It's easy to answer that one "NO" because we also know that in the power of God, the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. We turn our flesh over to Him. In one of the pastoral epistles, Titus says in Chapter 2, Verses 11 to 14…
TITUS 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…
TITUS 2:12 …instructing us believers in Christ to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age…
TITUS 2:13 …looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…
TITUS 2:14 …who gave Himself for us…to redeem us from every lawless deed…and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The need for self-control applies to every bodily appetite, in particular to our sexual appetites. God, the Holy Spirit, helps us to hear God's promises louder than the flesh'slust demands…and to refuse to give sexual immorality a seat among the saints,Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 3, and 4…
EPHESIANS 5:3 But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you…as is proper among saints…
EPHESIANS 5:4 …and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting…but rather giving of thanks.
How, then, should believers in Christ respond when we find that the works of the flesh have overrun the garden, like weeds choking out the plants orcockroaches infesting the house? That's easy…we fix our eyes on Jesus…the pioneer and perfecter of faith. God, the Holy Spirit, produces His fruit in us that lets us reflect our Savior's goodness as well.
When we walk by God, the Holy Spirit of Christ's power, and when we make our home with Him, He makes our hearts a heaven, which is clearly visible for all around us to see. Praise be to God!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE The Good News of Jesus Christ's Salvation Offer to the Human Race
The closing moments of our lesson today could be the ten most important minutes of your life.
GOD WANTS YOU! He Wants You Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
How would it be to know there is someone who loves you so much that their love for you is almost unspeakable, yet you don't know who they are and you aren't interested in meeting them? That may be your situation because the Creator of the universe created you, and He loves you unconditionally, and you may not have a relationship with Him. John, Chapter 1, Verse 3 says…
JOHN 1:3 All things came into being through the Lord, God the Son…and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being (including you).
You can have a relationship with your Creator, and He is looking for you. Luke, Chapter 15, Verses 4 to 7…
LUKE 15:4 "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost (a reference to an unbeliever) until he finds it?"
LUKE 15:5 "When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."
LUKE 15:6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"
LUKE 15:7 "I (the Lord Jesus Christ) tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons (saints…believers in Christ) who need no repentance."
The bad news is that God is looking for you…and you DEFINITELY are not looking for Him. Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 11 and 12 say…
ROMANS 3:11 No creature understands God or any divine thing…no creature seeks a relationship with God…
ROMANS 3:12 …all creatures have turned aside from God…together they have become useless… no creature does good…there is not even one.
All of us were born in a state of unrighteousness…physically alive and spiritually dead…as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers.
It's not your fault you were born this way, but it is your circumstance.
In First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22, the Bible says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…
But in the face of this bad news, there's good news. The Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, provides a way for you to be saved. The good news is preached in what God calls the gospel message.
God has a personal salvation plan for every unbeliever. Let's see what happened when the gospel message was preached in a prison in first-century Rome…Acts, Chapter 16, Verses 25 to 34…
ACTS 16:25 …about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God from their jail cells, and the other prisoners were listening to them…
ACTS 16:26 …and suddenly there came a great earthquake…so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken…and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.
ACTS 16:27 When the jailer…a prison guard…awoke and saw the prison doors opened…he drew his sword and was about to kill himself…supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
Allowing prisoners to escape carried a penalty of instant execution for prison guards. He was going to do it himself…
ACTS 16:28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying to the guard, "Do not harm yourself…for we are all here!"
ACTS 16:29 And the jailer called for the lights to be turned on and he rushed in…and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas…
ACTS 16:30 …and after the prison guard brought Paul and Silas out, he said, "Sirs… what must I do to be saved?"
Obviously, the guard had been listening to the spiritual songs Paul and Silas were singing.
ACTS 16:31 And Paul and Silas said, "BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God…you and everyone in your household who also believes."
BELIEVE! Simply take God's Word for what it takes to be saved. There are no works of any kind necessary to be saved…it is simply you using the gift of faith given to you by God, placing your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and that's the ticket to eternal life.
How did our jailer friend get saved? In a crisis, he recognized He needed a Savior. He asked someone who knew what it took to be saved. Believers in Christ presented the accurate gospel message. The jailer did what was suggested. He was saved.
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 from God…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…
Don't wait for a crisis to be saved. Do it now. The news goes from bad to worse if you choose not to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 20 say this…
ROMANS 1:18 For the wrath of God the Father is revealed from heaven against allungodliness and against the unrighteousness of unbelievers whosuppress the truth by their unrighteousness…
ROMANS 1:19 …because that which is known about God the Father is evident inside of them…for God the Father made it evident to them from inside of them.
ROMANS 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes…God's eternal power…and God's divine nature…His Deity… have been clearly seen by all mankind…being understood even through what has been made in nature…God's creative work…so that all mankind is without excuse before God.
God makes Himself clearly visible in ways that make sense to human beings…both from the inside of them and the outside of them. So, accept the invitation and heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life (eternal 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."
Remember what Paul and Silas said to the jail guard in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 and following…
ACTS 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God, you and everyone in your household who also believes."
ACTS 16:32 And Paul and Silas spoke the Word of the Lord (the gospel message…the good news of Jesus Christ's salvation offer) to the jailer…together with all the people who were in his house.
ACTS 16:33 And the jailer took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night and washed their wounds…and immediately the jailer was baptized (by God the Holy Spirit)…he and all his household who also believed…(and all of them did).
ACTS 16:34 And the jailer brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed inthe Lord Jesus Christwith his wholehousehold.
Wouldn't you like to spend all eternity in heaven? Don't miss your opportunity… take advantage of the good news of the gospel message right NOW!
CLOSING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let's close with music. Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 16 says…
GALATIANS 5:16b …walk in the power of God the Holy Spirit, and you believers in Christ will not (no way…not no how) carry out the desire of the flesh.
Having fellowship with the indwelling God, the Holy Spirit, is a signature guarantee of our admission to heaven when we close our eyes in this life. Here's June Murphy to encourage us to walk in the LIGHT OF FELLOWSHIP.
MUSIC CLOSING SONG Let's Sing the Lord's Praises
LIGHT OF FELLOWSHIP June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
Almighty God and Father…
Thank you for letting us know that God the Holy Spirit is producing His fruit in every believer in Christ…it is not something believers have to work at…we simply let God the Holy Spirit do His work through us…and as we mature, we see ourselves handling every situation of life differently…handling things just the way the Lord would want us to…so we know that this handling is not from the source of ourselves…it's from the power of God…
..as we go forth into the week…help us to see God the Holy Spirit's work in us…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ's name...Amen.
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KEEP ON STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD!
Thanks for coming! Thanks for watching! Thanks for listening!
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