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TO ADAM "Who told you you are naked? Have you eaten of the tree I asked you not to eat of? TO CAIN If you did well, you wouldn't have a frown. Now sin is crouching at your door. Master it. TO NOAH Go into the ark, you and your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. TO ABRAHAM Walk before me and be blameless THROUGH MOSES And when all these things come upon you... and you call them to mind ... and return to the Lord your God, and obey His voice... then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you. If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally ... and they realize their guilt ... they shall be forgiven. THROUGH SOLOMON If my people ... turn from their wicked ways, then I will ... forgive their sin THROUGH ISAIAH Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good ... though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow... If you are willing

*WE CAME TO PREACH* We came to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of our hearers asked us, "What shall we do to be saved from the wrath of God reserved for sinners?" We told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and God will forgive them, give them power to serve Him and to fulfil the desires of the flesh no more. Before they could make a move one young guy shouted loudly, "Hell no! You've got it all wrong. Don't start with REPENT. How can these sinners stop sinning without the power of God transforming them FIRST?" We said, "But that is what the Lord Jesus preached in Matthew 4:17, and asked us in Luke 24:47 to preach". By this time, the people who asked what to do had started dispersing ... This guy continued, "By repent, Jesus didn't mean stop sinning, or regret whatever wrong you have done, because He knows you have no capacity to do that. He just meant change your mind about Him. In Greek it's cal

Two Parts of the 10 Commandments - A Reflection on National and Personal Life Part A: LOVE GOD 1. No other God 2. No idols 3. No misuse of God's name 4. Observe Sabbath 5. Honour your parents Part B: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR 6. No murder 7. No adultery 8. No stealing 9. No falsehood 10. No greed or envying You would hardly see a modern nation with laws for the first part, but there is no country without laws for the second part. Yet, without love for God, the only one with the capacity to unite us in one meaningful family, true selfless love for others is impossible. We wipe out the requirement to love God, not because we don't believe in His existence, but because we have replace love for Him with LOVE FOR MONEY. No wonder, it is the ECONOMY that virtually drives all decisions of governance, interpersonal and even international relations. We are really missing out big time. Come to think of it: without God and eternal life, all our efforts at making it in life a

Sin is unprofitable in both the short and long term for the following reasons: 1. It's often illegal 2. It carries personal guilt 3. It's destructive habit forming 4. It often threatens good health 5. Almost all its champions recant late 6. Beneficiaries seldom defend it openly 7. It is the only reason you'll wish there's no God #RepentAndBeSaved

The Church's Needs for the Gifts (Graces) 1. Prophecy - Refresh what God has said and press it's relevance today: comfort and encourage (1 Corinthians 14:1-3) 2. Service (Micro-manage the daily and perennial needs, such as welfare, errands, cleaning,financial management, etc.) Acts 6 3. Teaching - Passing on the sound foundations of the church, explaining practices, guarding against invasion of false teaching (Mt 28:18KJV, Titus 2) 4. Exhortation/Counseling - Spotting conflicts, erring, depression and wisely bringing back in line, and restoring to ministry, etc. (Peacemakers, Mt. 5, James in Acts 15, and Barnabas in Acts 4,5) 5. Giving - According as God has blessed you, in the greater confidence of having the abundant unfailing provision and promises of care in the Lord Jesus, ensuring that the saints and the Lord's work doesn't lack while you hoard or live in comfort: we must maintain the Lord's testimony in the world in three key ways (apart from preaching

10x Better 1. You are better suited for God's purposes, because He is the chief beneficiary of marriage 2. You now think community (not selfishly) of which you and yours are a necessary part 3. Your circle of friends has dwindled to the real ones who are able to bear not only you but your dependents as well 4. People trust you better, because, at least you have a surety in your spouse 5. You are better respected because "Caring for  Another Me" is written all over you 6. You approach to conflict and decisions better because you are always managing another opinion at home 7. You have a home now, because your spouse must live somewhere that is yours 8. Your health is better managed because the fast food people don't trust you fully any longer 9. Your family is now larger and your culture richer because you now have at least this-in-law and that-in-law, in addition 10. Your offspring has started multiplying because the skill of raising children once b

SOLA FIDE? FAITH WITH WORKS: NONE ALONE PAUL: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we  are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. - Eph. 2: 8-10 JAMES: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ... Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ... You see then that a man is justified by works, not by faith only. - Jam. 2:14,17, 24 MARTIN LUTHER: "We are saved by faith alone" ... James is an Epistle of straw" - c. 1522 WAYNE GRUDEM: "We are saved by faith, but the faith that saves is not alone." MARTIN LUTHER: Faith is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith. CONCLUSION We are justif

ZEAL BEFORE & AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT A) Before (How Jesus' Disciples understood Christian ministry before the Holy Spirit came): 1. Selling Oil to Pay Bills 2. Correcting God's Word 3. Cutting Ears to defend God 4. Maneuvering for High Positions 5. Calling Fire to Consume Enemies B)After (How the Disciples served in the Power of the Holy Spirit, after He was given): 1. Fearless Under Persecution 2. Praying for Persecutors' Salvation 3. Eliminating Poverty through Sharing 4. Relaxing and Ministering even in Prison 5. Leaving High Postions for the Gospel's Sake #HolySpirit References A) 1. Jn 12:5-7, 2. Mt 16:21-23 3. Jn 18:10,11 4. Mt 20:20-28 5. Lk 9:54-56 B)1. Acts 4:18-21 2. Acts 4:32-37 3. Acts 4: 29-31 4. Acts 12:6; 16:25-34 5. Php. 3:3-8

In matters of Bible "why?"s, it is always absolutely important to get your answer from the Bible or just obey and trust that the consequences will be best. Before Christ, repentance and forgiveness of sins was preached, and people repented and were forgiven. If they did it in obedience to God's word or directive, God counted it as faith, looking forward to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. People like Cain and Lamech had such opportunity but seemed to have flunked it. People like Abel, Enoch and Noah, certainly turned away from the sinful ways of their forebears and contemporaries and are so testified of in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Under the Law, animal sacrifices held the fort symbolically for the coming Christ. The uprightness of many who were cleared under the Law, however, seems to leave much to be desired. For example, King David, though touted of God as being a man after His own heart was prevented from building God's Temple because he was a bloody man. An

SEASONED vs SEASONAL CHRISTIANITY Until the Holy Spirit came, the disciples of Jesus were very much on and off, mostly off: 1. Judas was in ministry to enrich himself. (Jn 12:6) 2. The sons of Zebedee, James and John, were maneuvering for power, and were ready to call down fire 🔥 on anyone who got in their way. (Mt 20:20,21, Lk 9:54) 3. Peter would cut an ear, tell a lie and even go as far as rebuking God in order to avoid the unpleasant necessities of ministry. (Jn 18:10, Lk 22:56-62, Mk 8:32) 4. Collectively, their vision of the Kingdom of God could only go as far as the liberation of Israel from Roman domination. (Ac 1:6) Check out how these same people changed after the Holy Spirit came, in Acts 2 and beyond. My thesis is that if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, you are not really prepared for the all-seasons venture of following and serving Christ. And Jesus repeatedly told the disciples this very thing in Luke  22: 49, Acts 1:8, etc. #NotAshamed of Mk 9:4