Oak Cliff Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
In times like these we need the Bible. We need a personal relationship with God and His word. We need to be grateful for those who've gone before us to leave a heritage of faith for those who come after us.
What does the Bible say about the return of Christ- Three things are certain- We should expect His return at any time. It will be horrific for those unprepared. Believers should live holy lives with joyful anticipation of Him.
Do you know that you are ready for eternity- Are you certain you are ready to face the judgment of God- Not everyone who thinks that he or she is a Christian is actually born again. And so, in these verses, God calls you to be ready for His coming. He calls you to be born again.
As a follower of Chirst, do you know what the infrastructure is that holds up your faith and salvation- We being walking through the infrastructure that forms the strong foundation of the Christian life, and we begin with Scripture, the Word of God. God gives us Scripture as a foundation to grow us from spiritual children to full-grown men and women of God.
How exactly are we to prepare for the return of Christ- How are we to get ready and stay ready for His return- He says to stay awake, to be alert, to be ready. How do we do that- That's what Jesus is telling us in these verses. God shows us how to be ready for the return of Christ.
God makes a promise to us on the basis of His love whereby we are called children of God.
Asa was faithful to the Lord. When he faced an impossible situation, he found that the Lord was faithful to him.
Christ's return is a certainty. What is uncertain is the timing of it. When will it happen- In this passage in Matthew 24- God commands believers to be ready at all times for the return of Christ. No one knows when it will happen, so Jesus says to us that we have to be ready all the time.
In these verses, God declares to you and me the certainty of Christ's return. He wants you to know this so that you will be confident and so that you will be comforted. Our Lord lets us know about His return because He does not want you to be shaken or led astray by all the scoffers-the unbelievers and false teachers-that we encounter every day. The Lord Jesus doesn't want you to be confused by all of the chaos going on in the world around you today, so He tells you that there is no way you will miss His coming-it won't happen in secret. The Lord Jesus DOES want you to know that those of us who are alive at His coming will see the signs that the time is drawing near and we will be encouraged and our hope will be strengthened.
Knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ is both human and divine is vital to the gospel. It is a truth that you and I must believe. If we fail to understand that Jesus is Lord because He is God- if we fail to understand that was able to keep the whole law on our behalf because He is God in the flesh- if we fail to understand that our Lord was able to live a sinless life in order to meet God the Father's requirement for the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin, and He was able to do so because He is God, then you cannot understand the gospel of salvation. It is because Jesus is both fully human and fully God that you and I can call upon Him for the forgiveness of our sins and for the gift of eternal life.
God prepares us for the overwhelming greatness and glory of Christ's return. He wants you and me to know what is going to happen, that this amazing text, verses 29-31, has not yet been fulfilled in its literal sense, but that it will be. And when it is fulfilled, there will be no question, no debate, no confusion, because Christ will come, the heavens will be shaken, the unrighteous will know that judgment has come upon them, and those of us who are believers will experience rapture or resurrection from the dead. Our Lord is instructing and preparing us for the coming of this event.
In these verses, God gives a clear warning that anyone who rejects Christ will be left with nothing in the end. This warning was given to the Jewish leaders, to the Jews who followed them, to the entire Jewish system which was officially rejecting Christ, and ultimately it is given to us today.
There is a truth in this passage that is for every person no matter who you are or where you live or when you live. With all of the events and descriptions that Jesus gives us of His return, and with all of the questions that we may have about the events leading up to it, one overarching truth stands out in this passage- God declares that when Christ returns, everyone will know it.
In these verses, God tells us how He wants us to face the end of the age. Jesus was giving us an overview or a summary of what would come first leading up to the end of the age, but He wanted His disciples - all of us - to know how to live, how to face all of the things that will happen - that have happened and that are yet to happen.
Believers must not participate in evil, but must also expose evil. We must rightly expose evil in our own lives, in the church, in our nation, and in the world.
We have the very same pride in our hearts the Pharisees did that puts on pretenses in order to cover up our own unbelief, or our belief in the wrong things. God condemns prideful pretense that hides false spirituality.
The message of this text is not complicated- God condemns all who are religious on the outside but who are in rebellion on the inside. He condemns that kind of duplicity that puts on a religious mask, pretending to be spiritually healthy in public, but whose attitudes and actions in private are continuously and egregiously sinful. The word for such duplicity is -hypocrisy.-
Through this amazing record of God's announcement to Mary of the coming virgin birth of the Lord Jesus, God declares the impossible. And God calls you and me to trust Him to do the impossible regarding our salvation.
The message of our Lord in these verses is really very simple- God calls all people to integrity and truthfulness at all times. And if anyone should be truthful and an example of honoring one's word, it should be believers.
God warns us of the great danger of inverting His priorities for our lives. He warns us of majoring on the minor things while neglecting the truly major and most important things in His word.
In these verses, our Lord declares that believers are to follow Him in such a manner that we would not be led astray by false leaders in the church, but rather, that we would be able to discern those who ungodly leaders and those who are true and godly. God shows us the way to do this in this passage. It is not all that difficult to spot those who are false. In these verses, God calls us to devotion to Christ and His word which discerns dangerous leaders.
In this passage, God condemns hypocritical spiritual leaders who lead people away from the gospel. He uses the word -hypocrite- over and over for such leaders. You and I today must understand that condemnation does not apply only to those Scribes and Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking in the temple that day, but it applies to any spiritual leader today who is guilty of the same kinds of ungodly behavior.
Sometimes we encounter doctrines in God's word that are controversial or difficult to understand. The doctrine of election is such a doctrine. It is found, though, throughout the Scriptures. It is not an obscure doctrine. While many people may object to the doctrine, Jesus Himself makes it very clear that God works through the general call to faith in Christ in order to extend His effectual call to His chosen ones.
As our Lord speaks to the crowds and to these Jewish leaders, He is also speaking to you and me today. In these verses, God warns that everyone who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ will be rejected by Him. The message of God's judgement and wrath is definitely an unpopular one today, but these are the words of the Lord Jesus Himself as He describes in a most picturesque way that any one of us who rejects the Father and His Son will also be rejected by Him forever.
In this passage, God warns that everyone who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ will be destroyed by His judgment. That's a pretty heavy message, but it is indeed what Jesus was saying to the Jews 2,000 years ago, and it is the meaning of the parable and the verses that follow as they concern you and me today.
Jesus told the people a parable. The parable had a very simple point then and it has the same simple point today- God declares that obedience to His word is a fruit of genuine faith and salvation.
The Jewish leaders were challenging the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had clearly rejected His authority and were only concerned with their own. Where you and I are concerned, this passage has a very simple message- God calls us to submit to His authority over our lives.
God calls us to true religion that calls on Him by faith through prayer. Our Lord is describing true religion, real religion, authentic religion. And authentic religion is a relationship with the Father through faith in Christ that is characterized by constant, faith-filled prayer.
In these two verse, God condemns empty, fruitless religion. Sometimes, we refer to superficial Christianity as -religiosity.- It is the appearance of spiritual life when there actually is no spiritual life. That was one of the problems with Israel in Jesus' day and it is one of the problems we are facing in the church today.
There is One and only One who has the authority to be our true King. He is the only One who is truly sovereign and in control. In these verses, God declares the sovereign Lordship of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
God is merciful, gracious and abounding in steadfast love. He MUST judge sin because it it evil and completely against His own holy nature. But He also loves you and me and has provided a way to be rescued from His wrath. God calls you to receive His free gift of eternal life through faith alone in Christ alone.
-Wonderful things- are happening as our Lord is transforming lives, which is what encountering Jesus by faith always brings about. In this text, the lives of those who ordinarily would be rejected from worship in the temple and those who are very young, are encountering the Messiah and the worship in the temple is being transformed. Likewise, God transforms our lives and our worship through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
Through understanding God's Word we can know Him intimately. However, because His thoughts and ways are so far above ours, we can only know Him through His Word. Furthermore, His word can never fail. It is always effective, though it must be understood according to itself and not man's interpretations.
In this passage, God shows us the way of spiritual reformation, whether personal or corporate. Such reformation is not something that we can make happen. If we could make it happen, then it would have happened already. But this passage conveys to us how it is that we can move in the direction of our place ourselves in an attitude that can lead to spiritual reformation and transformation. It can lead to salvation for those who do not know the Lord, and it can lead to great growth and maturity for those who are already devoted to the Lord Jesus.
As the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem at the beginning to the week leading up to His crucifixion, something amazing happened. How did His arrival affect those who were on the road that day- More importantly, how has His arrival affected you personally- In this passage that the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Messiah, has a transforming effect on all who believe. God always transforms our lives when we encounter our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In a time when the philosophy of Social Justice and the moral revolution is gaining ground, we must understand that God grounds all human morality in His own nature and character. What is right and wrong is determined by God because all morality, all that we understand to be right and wrong, flows from the heart of God. It is a reflection of Who He is.
What does God say about race- How would He answer the question, -Is there more than one race of human beings-- What we see in God's word is simply this- God created every single person from one man.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign because He is God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity. He is the faithful witness to the truth of the gospel.
Our Lord calls those of us who are true followers of Christ to be so focused on the Lord Jesus and on our relationship with Him that we would see immediately how foolish every unbiblical worldview really is so that we will not get pulled in. God calls you to be intentional above all in your devotion to Christ.
Through this historical narrative, God urges us to persevere in calling out to Him for His merciful rescue.
What was our Lord Jesus condemning in this passage- He was condemning that self-seeking, self-exalting, posturing for a position of honor or power, the desire to be in authority over others. There is no place, Our Lord Jesus says, for such prideful, selfish posturing within the kingdom of heaven or within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In these verses, God calls us to a kind of spiritual greatness that comes through humble service to one another. Our Lord's definition of what is truly great is very different from the world's and from yours and mine.
In these verses, we see that God always acts with intentionality in our lives. What that means is that the things that happen to you, both good and bad, God intends with great purpose for your overall good.
God grants the grace of His salvation in equal measure to all whom He calls into His kingdom. God does not play favorites, but, as someone once said about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ- The ground at the foot of the cross is level. No one who comes to Christ comes on the basis of their own merit, nor does anyone receive any more or any less of God's great gift of eternal life. You either have eternal life through faith in Christ, or you do not.
In these verses, God declares to us the great benefits of following Christ. Some of the specific benefits of knowing Him are more obvious to us than others. It is not hard for us to think of that benefit that Jesus actually mentions last in His list here- eternal life. But there are other benefits that Jesus mentions in this passage that are quite simply amazing- And this is, by no means, a comprehensive list.
God warns that wealth is one of the greatest road blocks to salvation there is. It is so great, in fact, that it is impossible for someone who is wealthy to come to saving faith in Christ. It is impossible for us. But it is not impossible for God. Could it be that you are one of those who loves money more than your own soul-
God presents the resurrected Jesus to each of us. God is giving each of us the opportunity to hear the truth of His mercy and love, that even though we are in rebellion against Him, He loves us, has given Himself for us as the one and only sacrifice that can pay for our sins, and He presents this good news of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ to each of us in these verses.
In these verses, God declares to us the deity of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus goes to the cross, there is nothing more important that you and I need to know. Our heavenly Father is underscoring through Luke that the one who was going to the cross was fully divine. Because Jesus is fully divine, He was able to pay the full price for YOUR sins.
In these verses, God is teaching us some critically important things relating to our own evangelism. What we see in this passage is that God grants salvation only to those who are willing to place Christ above all things. Jesus must come first. If He doesn't then you cannot be saved. If you have gone through the traditional motions of joining a church, but in your heart you are not devoted to Christ above all, then you are not regenerate, you are still in your sins, and you are on the broad road that leads to eternal destruction.
In these verses, God shows us something about Himself, about His own heart, about how He feels towards children. He has great affection for them. In these verses, we see that God loves children with a very special love that points all of us to the gospel of salvation.
In these verses, God calls you and me to a practice of marriage consistent with the holiness of marriage. What Jesus is saying here is NOT that divorce is almost always allowed because of this one exception. On the contrary, what Jesus is saying here is that divorce is almost NEVER allowed as far as God is concerned. The -exception clause- is not a broad exception, but is actually a very narrow, very rare kind of exception. Just look at the reaction of the disciples in verse 10. They understood what Jesus was saying.
In these verses, God declares His design for marriage. Before we consider what Jesus says about divorce and remarriage, we must first consider what He says here about marriage.
God takes it very seriously when any one of us causes another person to stumble into sin, regardless of how it happens. God calls us to take great care in how we treat other believers.
God declares to us that true spiritual greatness looks like the humility of a little child.
There is too much at stake for believers to put our Christian liberty before the spiritual needs of others. We must be willing to sacrifice our liberty in Christ when necessary for the sake of the gospel, that we would not allow our behavior to hinder the gospel in any way. The gospel itself is offensive just as it is, but we are not to allow ourselves knowingly to cause offense to others in such a way that it would hinder us in presenting the gospel. The most important instruction of this passage is this- God cautions us never to allow our liberty in Christ to become a hindrance to the gospel.
One of the really interesting things about this passage is the response of the disciples. It tells us a great deal about their hearts and minds. It tells us a great deal about their lack of spiritual understanding. In fact, it tells us a great deal about every human being who is unregenerate and in bondage to sin. What we see in these two verses is this- God alone opens our understanding to the magnitude of the cross.
In these verses, God promises to overcome the impossible for those who trust in Him. This does not mean that He is going to answer every prayer just the way we want Him to or think He ought to. God is only going to respond in accordance with His perfect nature and will, and according to His word. But God declares in numerous passages throughout Scripture that He works through the prayers of His people.
In this passage, God expects every believer to forgive every other believer without limit. Because we have been forgiven by our heavenly Father of such sin the magnitude of which we cannot even begin to fathom, God also expects us to forgive one another as our sins against one another are infinitesimally small by comparison.
The message of this passage is plain enough. In these verses, God charges us to hold one another accountable for sin, both individually and corporately.
Jesus cautions us of the sin of having a bad attitude towards another believer by which we actually become the cause of that brother or sister being discouraged in the faith, of stalling out in their walk with Christ and in their growth in the faith. In these verses, God calls us to take great care in our attitudes towards other believers.
How Isaiah must have wondered at this one verse, Isaiah 9-6- Who could this Messiah be and what was He going to do, this One who would be born, who would come into the world as a baby born of a woman, but One of whom we must understand is called -Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace-- In this one verse, God actually reveals to us a great deal about our Savior. God gives us a Savior who can do for us what only God can do.
So many people in Jesus' day were confused about who Jesus was and they did not believe that He was the Messiah. Because of their confusion about the Scriptures- because they didn't understand the truth about Elijah- because of their confusion about the prophecies in God's word- and because they didn't believe that John the Baptist and Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, so many of those confused people rejected the only One who could saved them from God's wrath. Many people today are equally confused because they are ignorant of Scripture or because they have heard all kinds of distortions and misrepresentations of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God grants us knowledge in His word of who Jesus really is- He is our only Savior.
Jesus alone is able to save you. There is no other salvation, no other rescue from the judgment of God. And so, in this verse, God declares that Christ alone is our Messiah and Savior. No one else is qualified to save you, no one else but Jesus only. The question then is very simple- Are you yourself looking only to Christ for your own salvation-
In these two verses, God calls every believer to maintain both fear and familiarity with Christ. There is in Scripture and in our own experience as believers the affirmation that our relationship with our Savior, who is both fully divine and fully human, involves both a great reverential fear and a deeply personal knowledge and tender familiarity. Each of us is called to maintain this tension in our relationship with our heavenly Father and with our Savior. To veer too far in either direction is to lose sight of the biblical truth of who God is as we are presented with the Father's glory in the transfiguration.
God grants to us His very presence through the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know God and to be known by Him personally and eternally, then you must -listen- to the Lord Jesus. You must hear His word, the gospel. You must listen in the sense that you heed what He says, that you believe what He says, that you obey what He says, that you would actually follow Him in complete submission and devotion of all that you are.
Why were Moses and Elijah present at Christ's Transfiguration- What was the significance of their appearance with Him on that mountain- Why not Abraham- Why not David- In this transfiguration event, God reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through His fulfillment of the Old Testament, of both the Law and the Prophets. Our Lord doesn't just fulfill some of it. He fulfills all of it. For that reason, He alone is worthy of such glorification, both on the mountain and throughout all eternity. Because of this, we can know that He alone is able to save us from our sins and from the wrath to come.
God reveals to us the divine glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. - In verses 1 - 2, we see so clearly and so powerfully the divine glory of the Lord Jesus manifested visibly in His body.
From what Peter said in this verse, we learn some vital lessons about the glory of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. We learn what NOT to focus on when we think about Jesus, when we think about the gospel, when we think about the glory of our Lord. And instead, God calls us to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and God that He is.
God declares to us the redemptive purpose of His word. Through the warnings of judgment that God gives through His prophet, Jeremiah, God's resounding offer of forgiveness to all who will repent and submit to Him in faith is also proclaimed.
Jesus declared that there were some who were with Him who would not taste death before the coming of His kingdom. What did He mean by that- And what does it mean to us today- God declares to us that His kingdom is here and now. It began to be -here and now- two thousand years ago not long after Jesus made this statement. It is still -here and now- right now, this very moment. But are you part of His kingdom-
The calling to follow Christ is undeniably comprehensive. Jesus is demanding your all, everything that you are, if you are to be His true follower and disciple. But why should any one of us be willing to commit like that- Why should you be willing to actually deny your natural appetites and desires for the sake of Christ- Why should you be willing to suffer and die for Him like He calls us to do- In these verses, God tells why you should deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ.
When David wrote this Psalm, he was probably thinking about the nations around Israel that had been subdued but who later rebelled. This Psalm, however, does not only apply to those nations during David's day, but to every nation that exists today. Jesus Christ, the Son of David, is rightful King over every nation, and every nation today is in rebellion against Him. The nations rage in their rebellion.
True biblical discipleship and what that word means is outlined for us in this single verse in Matthew. In this verse, God calls us to come to Christ on His terms. Not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is a true follower of Jesus. But Jesus tells us what a true follower looks like, and here He gives us the basic principles of genuine discipleship.
In this passage in Matthew 16, God is showing us that if we are not careful, if we are not completely submissive to Christ and His word, allowing Christ Himself to determine what is right and wrong in our understanding, in our theology and doctrine, and in the kinds of things that we say and do, then we can very easily stumble into the most serious sins we can imagine, even opposing Christ and the gospel. Those of us who are genuine believers don-t want that- God warns us of the very real danger of standing in opposition to Him. And He shows us here what the trap is so that we can avoid that trap and avoid making the same horrific mistake that Peter did.
We see in this passage that God establishes His church upon the rock of salvation which is Jesus Christ. The question that this prompts, then, for each of us is simple- Are you a member of the true and spiritual church that Jesus is building upon the rock of Himself and His salvation-
There is a vitally important question that every person must answer before the end of this life- Who is Jesus- In these verses, God Himself shows us the correct answer to the question. Answering that question correctly and then responding to that correct answer has eternal consequences.
Jesus is talking about false teaching that denies the gospel in one way or another. In this case, he is talking about the teaching of the Pharisees and the teaching of the Sadducees. Those two groups were poles apart in what they taught the people, though they teamed up against the Lord Jesus to oppose Him. So, in this passage, God warns us of false teachings that in any way deny the gospel of salvation. There are many such false teachings today. Many of them are all still related to the leaven of the Pharisees or Sadducees in some way.
In this passage, God warns us of a very real, very present danger in our walk with Christ. Here, God calls us to set our hearts on the spiritual rather than the superficial. He calls us to set our hearts upon the things of His kingdom rather than the things of this world.
In this passage, some men with hardened hearts of unbelief confront Jesus. They make demands of Jesus. They seek to impose their own agenda upon Jesus. But Jesus won't play along. You and I are going to encounter such people as well, and you and I do not need to indulge their unbelief. We should not -play along- with them. Instead, we need to do what Jesus did- Stay on message with the gospel.
God shows us the heart of Jesus in this passage, showing us how the Lord Jesus Christ feels towards these Gentile people, these sinners. Indeed, God shows us how Jesus feels towards all sinner who come to Him. In these verses, God grants grace to sinners out of the deep compassion of His heart.
In theses verses, God grants grace to sinners in order that they may give Him great glory.
In these verses, the Lord Jesus is putting a gentile woman-s faith to the test. He is putting her faith on display in order to teach her, to teach His disciples and to teach us something that is most important- God responds mercifully to all who call out to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith.
The men who confronted Jesus in these verses were confronting Him on the basis of man-made traditions that Judaism had exalted to the level of or even above the truth of God-s word. The question we must deal with is simply this- Does such elevation of man-made rules, rituals and traditions ever happen in the our own church today- God warns us here of the danger of the conflict between man-made religion and the gospel.
In these verses, God shows us the compassion and power of our divine Savior, Jesus Christ. One question that perhaps you and I need to consider is this- How are you and I going to respond to this Jesus today. We can see how the people responded to Him then, knowing what little they knew about His power and compassion. But how are you and I, who know so much more about Jesus, going to respond to Him today- Are you going to come running to Him today in order to find in Him the deliverance that you need not only for your difficult circumstances, but also for your far greater need for forgiveness and eternal life-
When it looks like to us that our world is falling apart due to a trial or to some other seemingly catastrophic set of circumstances, our Lord urges us not to fear, but to take refuge in Him. We are instructed to cease our inner striving and to rest in the Lord, trusting in His infinite power and wisdom.
Second blessing. Speaking in tongues. Slain in the Spirit. Where did these things come from- And how did they spread to become such common practices- In this study, adapted from a study done by Dr. Tom Nelson of Denton Bible Church, we explore the origin and development of Pentecostalism leading to the movements that are so pervasive in the 21st century.
Has your faith ever faltered, leading you to fear in the midst of difficult circumstances- Then you are no different than Peter, upon whose faith Jesus built His church. In this passage, God encourages us with the assurance of His presence even when we falter in our faith. The message is one of great encouragement for every believer.
In this text, our Lord does a number of things that demonstrate His divine authority over the situation that He and His disciples were in. He was always in complete control. God gives to us a Savior who exercises sovereign authority over all things. And when you and I are going through a trial, knowing who God is and that He is in complete control is the greatest comfort there is.
There are many -antichrists- who are active in the world today. They may not be -The Antichrist- who is to come, but they are antichrists nonetheless. What this means is that you and I are going to encounter the spirit of antichrist all the time, every day. So what are we to do- How are we to respond- God calls believers to stand firm in His word in the face of raging opposition to God.
Repentance is a necessary component of the saving grace that is granted to every believer through faith in Christ. A faith that is not marked by genuine repentance is not saving faith. At the same time, repentance is not an oppressive -legalism- forced upon the believer, but is part of a joyous response to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit works within the heart of God's elect.
God declares His greatness through all of the things He has created. The reason it is so important that we get this right is because the credibility of the gospel itself rests upon the truthfulness of Genesis chapters 1 - 11 and God-s account of creation in chapters 1 - 3. Equally important and probably most evident regarding God-s creation is that through it, He has declared His greatness.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, God gives us a Savior who is greater than Moses in providing for the needs of His people. Moses prayed and God gave manna from heaven. But Jesus created food for the people before their very eyes. He is greater than Moses. Christ truly is our -all in all.- He is the one who can provide the manna for our souls. He is the only one who can provide the Bread of Life. And He calls us to place our trust in Him for every provision. He calls us to come to Him and to trust Him for eternal life.
God warns us of the power of unbelief. Unbelief had the people of Nazareth in a stranglehold. They could see the wisdom, the power, the greatness of Jesus words and works, but they steadfastly rejected Him. Not only did they reject Him, but they were offended by Him. And you and I can expect to see the very same response in people today. While on the one hand, people can see and will admit that Jesus is great, they will persist in their rejection of Him, even being offended by the gospel and by the righteous and godly lifestyle the Lord Jesus calls us to. Are you one who is in some way offended by the Lord Jesus Christ-
In the verses, God calls us to present the gospel of the Old and New Testaments. There is only one gospel, and God calls us to show people both treasures that are old and treasures that are new. We are to show that the gospel is that of both the Old and New Testaments. You are called to be an expert in the gospel.
Many people today are all too happy to accept the mercy, grace, love and forgiveness of the gospel, but they draw a line when it comes to any doctrine of final judgment, of God-s separating the saved and the unsaved, of His wrath or of an eternal hell that involves punishment and suffering. Far too many people have created a god in their own image that is not the true God of the Bible, and they eliminate anything they think is negative. In this passage, though, God warns us of the coming judgment at the end of the age. It is coming.
In these verses, God declares the surpassing value of becoming part of His kingdom. There is nothing in all of life that is greater or more important than entering into the kingdom of heaven. There is nothing that is more valuable than knowing Christ and having a saving relationship with Him by faith.
Sermons are a vital part of our worship as believers and followers of Christ. But there are right ways and wrong ways to listen to a sermon. In Nehemiah 8, God tells us how He wants us to listen to a sermon.