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Tag: Bible

Do you really believe that? ONLY Scripture Sola Scriptura
ONLY Scripture – Sola Scriptura

The HOLY BIBLE IS: The written word of God from scripture.

  • Hypocrite ‘christian’ & Hypocrite Unbeliever

    Hypocrite ‘christian’ & Hypocrite Unbeliever

    You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. – Luke 6:42b

    HARSH words from Jesus!

    Would you of the church (who call yourself “christian”) deserve the rebuke of the One we call Lord?

    It so happens that the same thing that unbelievers do not like in ‘christians’ is the same thing that I do not like: hypocrisy.

    True followers of Christ Jesus must be pure in our faith and truthful in our witness.

    (As a reminder to any who have not followed my Lenten series of posts, now (the 40 days prior to Resurrection Sunday) is a time for Christians to put down our mask of hypocrisy and put on the righteousness of repentance – a returning to Christ Jesus, who suffered the penalty for our sins and was crucified as Perfect Sacrifice for those who believe.  We will get to the message of hope and the redemption of the Cross closer to Easter, God willing.)

    hypocriteAn earlier part of this series on Covenant and Truth concluded with an introductory thought on christian hypocrisy.

    covenant definition

    We then proceeded to examine the witness of christian marriage and of christian families (including teens).

    Today we will take on a couple of issues as they relate to hypocrisy by BOTH christians & non-Christians.

    Let’s begin, however, with the entire scripture of Jesus on the ‘log in your own eye.’

    Luke 6:39  He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man?

    christian hypocrite: Can you lead a non-believer to Christ while you remain blind to your own sin?

    Will they not both fall into a pit?

    Are you BOTH not destined to the pit of Hell if you do not repent?

    40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    Are you “fully trained,” dear brother (sister) in the Lord? Are you like Jesus, whom we call Lord? 

    God knows the truth and others witness the truth of your proclaimed purity.

    41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

    An unbeliever will be the first to ask this question of christian hypocrites. The unbeliever ALSO sees the darkness and sin in others, while failing to acknowledge the sin in their own life.

    No difference (except that their hypocrisy is not also witness against Christ).

    42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

    A reminder: our responsibility to a Christian brother, member of the family of Christ Jesus, is higher than to an unbeliever. No need to point out the sins to the unbeliever, while failing to bring to light your own.

    You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

    A Tree and Its Fruit

    43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

    What is the fruit of Christian marriage?

    A lasting covenant, witness to Christ’s love for us.

    What is the fruit of Christian parents?

    Godly children; godly teens; godly sons to marry and godly daughters to be given in marriage.

    HOW ARE WE DOING?

    • As a church?
    • As a husband or wife claiming Christ?
    • As a child or teen under the roof and authority of a Christian household?

    Truth is (as you can see from our previous articles and statistics) christians are failing miserably in our witness of Christ.

    The fruit is rotting.

    To be continued…

  • Fatherly Advice

    Fatherly Advice

    Psalm 103:13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

    Proverbs 10:1 A wise son makes a glad father,
    but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

    Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

    Deuteronomy 5:16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

    Therefore, fathers: how must we instruct our sons; mothers, how must we raise our daughters?

    Instruct them in scripture and raise them in Christ Jesus.

    Although the Proverbs etched in our memory of scripture speak specifically of fathers raising sons in obedience to scripture and to the Lord, the advice of Proverbs should flow also from a mother’s instruction and be heeded by our young women of faith.

    Proverbs 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Beginning of Knowledge

    1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

    2 To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,
    3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in righteousness, justice, and equity;
    4 to give prudence to the simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the youth—
    5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,
    6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

    7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

    Warn your christian child against becoming a fool without knowledge of scripture and the commands of Christ.

    The Enticement of Sinners

    8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
    9 for they are a graceful garland for your head
    and pendants for your neck.
    10 My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.

     Our christian sons and daughters (like us) live in a world opposed to Christ, daily temptations to be enticed by many a sin to the company of the seduction and darkness of welcoming ‘friends.’

     Proverbs 3:

    5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
    6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
    7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

    At what age in your childhood did you become ‘wise in your own eyes?”

    Our younger children may earlier become friends of the world.  Children of rebellious parents would lead your child to their worldly wisdom at an earlier age in these last days.

    Proverbs 5:

    20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
    21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ponders all his paths.
    22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
    23 He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray.

    Proverbs 10

    2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
    but righteousness delivers from death.
    3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
    4 A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
    5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

    8 The wise of heart will receive commandments,
    but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
    9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
    10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
    and a babbling fool will come to ruin.
    11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
    12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all offenses.

    Proverbs 12

    8 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
    19 Truthful lips endure forever,
    but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
    20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
    but those who plan peace have joy.
    21 No ill befalls the righteous,
    but the wicked are filled with trouble.
    22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
    but those who act faithfully are his delight.

     Proverbs 14 

    1 The wisest of women builds her house,
    but folly with her own hands tears it down.

    11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
    but the tent of the upright will flourish.
    12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
    but its end is the way to death.

    Is yours a Christian home filled with the love, instruction and correction of scripture?

    Does your Holy Christian marriage stand as example before your children of Christ’s own love for us?

    Is your relationship to each of your children near to you as your relationship to Christ Jesus?

    Do your children witness your relationship with God in their relationship with you?

    LORD, Christ Jesus, we are your little children with so much to learn in humility in bowing down to your will for me, for my wife, for our children. Lord help us to be wise in your word and to walk faithfully in witness to your ways.

     

     

  • Whose Sons and Daughters?

    Whose Sons and Daughters?

    A Rebellious Son

    Deuteronomy 21:18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

    This is the Law as God has given concerning rebellious sons. (Yes, we have grace and the Law is long forgotten even by the Jews; for like God’s adopted children, His chosen sons and daughters are also a rebellious people.)

    Many rebellious christian parents live in rebellion against Christ.

    How can the son of your seed or the fruit of your womb become faithful to the Lord when their mother flaunts disobedience and their father shrugs off the counsel of the Lord; IF even both father and mother remained joined as one in their home as witness to God’s unfailing love?

    Christ Jesus used the example of children more than once.

    IF we are to call ourselves children of Christ (Christians) and call God our Father, should we not set the example of Christ’s holiness between our Holy God and our children called to holiness?

    • “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did… John 8:39b

    We must follow Him with the faith of a little child as did the Disciples. We must accept the discipline and rebuke of Jesus, growing through scripture and the Spirit in a full knowledge of our Lord and Master (as the Disciples would call Jesus.)

    What a responsibility for parents to be the master (rhabbi) of God’s children given into our care for a brief time.

    Think of your own children (of whatever age) and hear the close relationship of leading between Jesus and those in His care for three years prior to the occasion of this little-noted scripture from this time leading up to His Holy Sacrifice on the Cross for all the children who call Him, “Lord” and Master:

    John 12

    35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

    The Unbelief of the People

    When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

    John 13:33 

    • Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

    Jesus has made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and proclaimed to the crowds that the light of God is with them for only a while longer until they will walk in darkness. He and His Disciples break the bread of the Passover Seder together in an upper room in Jerusalem, after Jesus has washed their feet… each of them, including Judas.

    Hear how Jesus loves and addresses them:

    “Little children, Jesus calls these grown men who serve Him as Lord.”

    What does this have to with the role of a Christian dad, a Christian mom?

    We hold this same love and responsibility for the little sheep of our family fold.

    Do your children see the uncompromising righteousness of Christ and His overflowing love through you, beloved Christian parent?

    Are you a parent in the Image of Jesus?

    To be continued…