Lesson 783

(Lesson 783)(10-17-13) (10-17-13) today's instruction comes from Matthew 10:32-33;
"Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him I will confess before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven."

This lesson is a simple and short one. Jesus simply said that those who deny him are doomed.
It is our challenge, as Christians, to teach Jesus to all who are willing to listen, so that He cannot be denied.~

Lesson 782

(Lesson 782(10-16-13) Today's lesson is taken from Matthew 10:24-31;

"The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

In today's lesson Jesus assures those who would dare to spread His message that they should not fear those who would rise up against them, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Those of us who profess to be Christians today should take this lesson to heart. There is much more to fear from those who preach false doctrines, and distort the gospel of Jesus Christ, than there is from those who don't believe at all.
Jesus also said, "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."
We should loudly preach those things that Jesus has left us in His blessed testament.~

Lesson 781

(Lesson 781)(10-15-13) Todays lesson comes from Matthew 10:21-23;

"And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."

This is another extremely important lesson for those who believe eternal salvation is an "on again, off again" deal, that depends upon whether or not one is a "sinner" at any particular time.

There is much misunderstand about what Jesus meant when He said, "but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."

First, we must remember that Jesus was talking to a group of Jews who were about to set out on a mission to replace the religious laws of their own people. They were about to openly defy the very laws that had governed their belief system for most of their entire history.

Jesus, very correctly, prepared them for that task by warning them of the dangers they would confront. Jesus knew the faith of those men would be stretched to its limits, it was His test of their worthiness to go on as His representatives, after He had ascended back to the Father. His statement, "he that endureth to the end shall be saved." meant that those who, while He was yet with them, held firmly to their faith in Him, even in the face of death, would show themselves worthy to be called His Apostles. Jesus gave this test knowing that if they placed their faith in Him, they would not die at the hands of those they would confront. Therefore, just as faith in Jesus Christ secures the eternal salvation of the children of God today, the faith of those Apostles would ultimately save not only their lives but, after the sacrificial ordeal of Christ, also their eternal souls.

Once we have accepted the amazing grace of God, through Jesus Christ, we are guaranteed that our souls will be sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." This passage clearly says that the sould of the saved are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption! ~

Lesson 780

(Lesson 780)(10-14-13) For today's lesson we refer to Matthew 10:16-20;

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."

In this lesson, Jesus warned His Apostles of the dangers that lay in wait for them as they went about spreading the news of His arrival.

The Apostles, were confronted by a well established group of religionists made up of mostly Jewish leaders and Gentile political figures, who would readily kill the Apostles to maintain their positions of power.
Jesus said, "I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves."

The writings of Paul and the others would later bear this out just as Jesus had warned. Many of the early disciples met their death while faithfully maintaining their devotion to, and teaching the good news of salvation by grace through faith. Those who were Killed included both Peter and Paul.

It behooves us to pay attention to what Jesus said they/we should do in preparation for their/our defense before the councils that would oppose them/us.

Jesus said, "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."

Although the challenges we, as teachers of the word, confront today are far less likely to be life threatening, it is still very comforting to know that the Holy Spirit of God has our backs. If those of us who dare to teach the pure gospel of Jesus Christ are confronted by false doctrines or the laws of those who hate us, Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will speak in our defense. What a wonderful and blessed security blanket!

With this in mind, we should study tirelessly and awake each day challenging ourselves to teach more lost souls God's plan of salvation.~

Lesson 779

(Lesson 779)(10-13-13) This lesson comes from Matthew 10:7-15;

"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

In this lesson, Jesus disclosed the message His Apostles were to teach. It's is the same message Jesus taught, Matt. 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is the also the exact same message that was preached by John the baptist, Matt. 3:1-2, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.".

I will try to establish why John, Jesus and the Apostles taught this message and how this message is to be understood today.

In the Old Testament, after all humanity had been destroyed except Noah, Ham, Shem, Japheth and their wives. And, after God's covenant with Abraham and his seed, God required His people to live by a set of rules, (The Law of Moses). Violation of that Law meant eternal separation from God unless the disobedience was atoned under the guidelines set out by the Law.

That procedure for atonement included three separate and distinct steps. The first was to "repent" the disobedience,(admit that you guilty and never do it again). Second, the "sinner" was required to submit themselves to a ritual water bath, (water baptism) which figuratively "washed" away the sin. Then Third the "sinner" was required to offer up some living thing as a blood sacrifice. After those three steps were completed the "sinner" was again reconciled to God.

As our heavenly Father knew from the beginning that it would, that Law horribly failed because of inherent sin in mankind (Adam's disobedience) and his/her inability to follow any set of rules at all.

God the Father, after giving mankind countless chances and watching them fail over and over again, sent His Son Jesus, in human form, to live the perfect example under the Law and to be a perfect sacrifice (Under the Law) for the sins of all who will only believe in Him.

I said all that to establish why the message "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." was so important to the Jewish people of Jesus' day.

That message simply meant that the prophesies had been fulfilled and the Messiah had come. It was to prepare the Jews for the transition from the Law of Moses, to the new law of grace through faith by which the new "kingdom" would abide. That message was meant only for the Jews of Jesus' day.~

Lesson 778

(Lesson 778)(10-12-13) Our lesson today comes from Matthew 10:1-6;

"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

In the very first part the instructions Jesus gave to those twelve named Apostles, Jesus told them to PREACH TO JEWS ONLY. They were told to avoid the Gentiles altogether, specifically the Samaritans.

There is much significance to be placed on Jesus telling His Apostles to avoid the Gentiles. That is because they, themselves were all Jews and under the Law of Moses no Jew was allowed to associate with Gentiles since they were considered unclean under the Law.

The Law of Moses remained in full affect until Jesus completed His divine ordeal and ascended back to heaven.
Once Jesus had been crucified, buried, resurrected, and had ascended the law God had given Moses would be fulfilled for both Jews and Gentiles who would come to accept Jesus as the Messiah and accept His sacrifice as the, 'one time fits all', remitter of ALL sin.

Jesus, Himself being a Jew, was, during His earthly ministry, bound to obey the Law of Moses until His testament of perfection was complete.

Lesson 777

(Lesson 777)(10-11-13) Today's lesson is taken from Matthew 9:27-38;

"And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."

This lesson again confirms the power of Jesus Christ over all things. Jesus said something very interesting as He gave sight to the two blind men, He asked, "Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you."

This means that Jesus did not freely heal those two blind men, He placed a price on that healing. He said, "according to your FAITH be it unto you."
In order for the blind men to receive sight, they were were required to have absolute faith that their sight would be given to them. Which, evidently, they did because their sight was granted.

That same rule applies to the children of God today. In order for our prayers to be answered as we desire, we must place absolute faith in God to grant that specific request. The degree of faith we place in the answer will ultimately determine the degree to which our prayer requests will be honored.

In simple terms, if we half-heartedly ask that a brother/sister be healed, that brother/sister might, or might not, be fully healed. If, on the other hand, we pray KNOWING that God will honor His promise, and if that healing is within His will, that brother/sister WILL be healed.

Also, if we pray the same prayer over and over again as if God didn't hear us the first time, or as if He might have forgotten that we prayed, we demonstrate a lack of faith. Don't we KNOW that through Jesus Christ we worship and omniscient, all powerful God, one who sees, hears, and knows all things? Therefore, when we pray, we are to pray and then confidently begin waiting for the answer. There is no need to ask again! God will NOT forget, and if our request is within His divine will to usward, our answer will come just as we requested it.

Sadly their are too many who are horribly misguided about who, how, when, and why, they should pray.

Unqualified prayer will never be answered. James 4:3, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.~