20050929

Not to do Mine Own Will

John 6

v1-13 An insufficient supply filled the hungry.
v14-21 Do not be afraid.
v22-27 The people were selfish when Jesus had compassion to give them a gift.
v28-40 Jesus Himself, not a miracle, is the reason to believe.
v41-58 God's Word itself is the life, and He gave eternal life to whoever would believe the Word.
[incomplete]

Meaning

v27 Don't work to get something to satisfy your body. Instead, work hard to believe in Jesus and His death for our eternal life.

v35,53 Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus was just an image that meant coming to Him and believing on Him, Who would die for us.

v37,40 "Every one"- Even if you've done the worst sins and have excuses and are afraid it's too late for you. There's no way Jesus will throw you out if you come to Him.

v38Jesus didn't come to do His own will. He came to do God the Father's will. We should be like this too.

Application

v38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
My application was to go outside at lunch hour, and walk around the neighborhood a little bit, and try to preach the gospel to people so that they could be saved. There were more than 7 people out, but I was too chicken to talk to all of them. The Lord brought me 1 person to talk to, gave me boldness, and put His Word in my mouth to tell the person a tiny bit about Jesus.

20050926

The Hope Of The Gospel

Colossians 1:23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

There are some good things that we hope in. I'll mention 3.

  1. The Hope Of The Friendship
  2. The Hope Of The Fellowship
  3. The Hope Of The Family

They're all good things, and we should hope in them. But hope, deferred, makes the heart sick. Has your hope ever been deferred over these things? Have you ever gotten heartsick over these 3?

The Hope Of The Friendship

First, there's the hope of the friendship. Friendship is a very good thing.

The Bible says that a near friend is better than a far-off brother. It says that a friend loves at all times. It says, your own friend, and your father's friend, forsake not. It says a "servant" doesn't know what his master's doing, so Jesus has called us "friends," instead of "servants." There's a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

We do hope for friendship with one another, and we do have the hope of friendship. But the hope of friendship isn't The Hope Of The Gospel. If we're not careful, other hopes, like the hope of friendship, could move us away from the hope of the gospel.

The friendship we should hope for is the friendship of the gospel. Jesus is the One that had the greatest Love, to lay down His life for his friends. When our hope of other friendship falls apart, we still have hope. We have a hope of the gospel, in Jesus. Jesus won't fall apart.

The Hope Of The Fellowship

The 2nd hope we have, is the hope of fellowship. This is a wonderful thing. The Church is the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth. We should hope to have a glorious fellowship. Don't we want to pray and worship the Lord together from our hearts? Don't we want to dwell in the same place, and see one another, and speak with one another, and in so doing, enter into the presence, and same fellowship of Christ Himself? Don't we want to gather in a way that pleases the Lord? Don't we want to be built up instead of divided?

But we can't always have a glorious fellowship. Sometimes fellowship falls apart. Then we can get really heartsick, but we don't have to, if we hold onto the hope of the gospel. The fellowship of the Gospel, is the unbreakable fellowship we each have with Jesus Christ.

The Hope Of The Family

Isn't a family a great thing? Don't we hope for the family?

For a husband that Loves his wife, and honors her as a weaker vessel. Who works with his hands to provide for his own, and for those who have need. A father, who doesn't provoke his children to wrath, but brings them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Who doesn't let his soul spare for their crying or spare the rod, but loves his children and punishes them often, driving foolishness far from their hearts.

For a prudent, virtuous wife, who will Love her husband, and do him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. Who will be subject to him, and clothed with humility, with a meek and quiet spirit. Not contentious, clamorous, or strange. Grave or dignified. Sober and industrious, fearing the Lord. Wearing modest clothes. Being a keeper at home.

For a quiver full of children, who honor and obey their parents, not despising their directions, but listening to their instructions.

But it isn't always like this, is it? Don't some of the worst cases of "heartsickness" come from friendships, fellowships, and even families, falling apart?

And we should hope for glorious families, but families do fall apart. And when they do, we still need something to hope for, don't we? How about the hope of the gospel? Remember the gospel?

Our sins, which were great and many, have been blotted out. We are forgiven. We're free. He has saved us- He has mercy. One day we will see Him, and be with Him- forever.

Look at the family of the gospel. Do you want a husband who will love you the way a husband should? Look at the bridegroom of the Church. Jesus has Loved as nobody else has ever Loved; And in the good news, we hear and believe how He's demonstrated that Love.

For a loving father, look to The Heavenly Father.

Do you want children, and children who are the kind of children that they should be? If you would preach the gospel, you could bring people to Jesus to be born again as spiritual children. You could disciple new believers. You can see the fruit of new life entering the world through Jesus.


To have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. To have the brethren dwelling together in unity, making a joyful noise to the Lord. To have a family that loves one another. There's no reason to fret, even when this all falls apart. We still have a hope. It's in Christ.

20050922

Sound the Alarm

Listen to this, tell it to your children.
Drunkards awake... weep and howl!
Lament- be ashamed. Fast and wear sackcloth.
Assemble and cry- unto the Lord.

Sound the alarm; Sound it and tremble.
Call out the bridegroom; Let the bride leave her room.
Mourn, rend your heart- and turn to the Lord.

O Lord, spare your people!
Don't give your inheritance to reproach!
Why should the heathen, rule over us?
Why should they say, "Where is the Lord?"

Do not be afraid, for He is with you.
Be glad and rejoice- praise His name!
Sound the alarm; Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Call on the name... of the Lord.

20050915

time to seek the LORD

Hosea 10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

I shouldn't trust in my own strength and say things that are dishonest. Instead I need to be in prayer, and do merciful things, and speak righteously.

20050913

Israel has forgotten his Maker

Hosea 8:14
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
The Lord has made us, and yet we often disregard Him. Try to think of 3 things that the Lord has done for you, thank Him for them, and admit that He knows what He's doing.

20050912

They imagine mischief

Hosea 7:15
Though I have bound [and] strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

Like we've heard, a good imagination is a wonderful thing. But what is in your imagination? Make sure it's not mischief against the Lord. He knows.

20050909

The Law of the Heart

Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The word "heart" appears an incredible number of times in Psalm 119. It becomes apparent that we cannot keep the old law, except we can keep the law of the heart. The difference is that old law was letters written for the flesh, that Thou shalt not taste this or touch that. The new law is spiritual, to Love the Lord and your neighbor.

Psalm 119 is great for learning Hebrew. You can look at the Hebrew and English side by side. You can also listen to an MP3 of the Psalm being read aloud in Hebrew. There is an error in the recording- the reader starts over and repeats himself on verse 158. But it's a great way, at least to learn the alphabet, and maybe you'll pick up a few words, like "לב leb."

20050907

His mercy endures for ever

Psalm 118:29
O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
We say Thank You so often, we ought to say Thank You, out loud, to the Lord. His mercy is so everlasting that He forgives terrible sinners like me!

20050902

Whosoever Believeth

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What is the gospel? That question came up once in Acts 15, because certain believers rose up and said "That it was needful to circumcise them [the brethren], and to command [them] to keep the law of Moses." Peter said God choose that the Gentiles, by his mouth, "should hear the word of the gospel, and believe."

That "Word of the gospel," Peter was talking about, is in Acts 10. There, the Gentiles told Peter they were gathered "to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." So the things Peter said there are the gospel.

Peter told Who Jesus Is (He is the Lord,) What He Did (He died on the cross and rose again from the dead,) and How to Be Saved (by believing in Him.) That is the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Notice the phrase there in verse 43: "whosoever believeth in him." That same phrase is in John 3:16. I Love that phrase. I Love it because "whosoever" includes me, even such a wretched sinner.

If you want to be sure that you are saved, all you need to do is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Even if you were sorry for your sins, or confessed them, or stopped doing them, or even if you think you keep the law, you aren't saved unless you believe in the Lord Jesus. If you've ever believed in the Lord Jesus, even if you don't keep the law, you are saved, and you have everlasting life that will never stop or even pause. Friend, you should trust in Jesus as the One who has saved you, and not trust in anything else, like being sorry for your sins, or confessing them.

You cannot please the Lord by keeping the old law. You can't keep the old law. The Lord isn't pleased by the keeping of the old law, anyway. The old law is traditions, written with letters on stone and paper, like what we are not to taste, handle, or touch. Our new law is Love, spiritually written on our hearts. The way to please the Lord, as a believer, is to Love Him and the brethren. This is the new law. Do as much good as you can for everybody, especially believers, whether it's against the old law or not.

Friend, you should preach the gospel. Commanding people to keep the old law, or to stop sinning, or to be sorry, or to confess their sins, is not preaching the true gospel. Tell people the good news of Who Jesus Is, What He Did, and How to be Saved (just by believing in Him.)

20050901

Praise the Lord

Psalm 22:22
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
The Lord's name is "Jesus". Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures for ever!
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