When your vertical relationship is right with the Lord then your horizontal relationships will find order (Mt.6:33). When you're out of sorts with others, its a symptom of your relationship with God.
WARNING: this message is long and leaves no room for discarding Israel. I promise to shorten it next time but still leave no room for deserting Israel.
Paul prayed for the salvation of Israel who were religiously zealous but far from God. The law can only ever work the righteousness of man and never the righteousness of God.
Be careful about trying to over-explain the sovereignty of God. Leave some room for the mystery of God. God never makes anyone stubborn beyond their own rebellious heart. We all start from a position of lost.
What more can be said? If God has done so much to save us, will He not now care for us? Verse 34 gives the 4-fold work of Christ: Crucifixion, Resurrection, Exaltation, and Intercession.
Some call this the ascending order of salvation. These verses are the purpose to which God has called us in v.28. We know God can provide our need because He knows our need.
This verse has been a favorite of many. R.A.Torry called it a soft pillow for a tired heart. Dr. Barnhouse added, nothing can tough me unless it passes through the will of God.
Christmas was and is troubling to the routine of life. No one apart from the interruption of the angels would have known of this birth of the Christ Child.
The contrast is who governs or controls your life and the constant conflict is between those two competinginterests or natures. And they are mutually exclusive, the flesh or the Spirit.
Paul transitions from justification to sanctification. We are fully identified with the resurrection of Jesus. Many believers are trying to live wrapped in the comfort of their grave clothes.
The blessing and basis of our salvation/justification. As in Adam we are condemned, in Christ we are justified. Just-as-if-i'd never sinner. Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul now illustrates salvation by faith alone by two famous men, Abraham who lived before the law and David who broke the law, neither could have possibly been justified by the law.
The righteousness of God is by faith alone and don't even make the mistake of considering faith an effort on your part. Works limit Christ for the Jews or else keep him on the cross. Our faith relies completely on a risen savior.
Did you know that your fellowship with God is dependent upon your forgiveness of others? It is hypocritical to demand restitution of others when God has forgiven you all.
The Sermon on the Mount breaks 400 years of silence and goes beyond the religious traditions and gets at the heart of the matter. The Beatitudes introduce attitudes that ought to be in the believer's heart, which summarize kingdom living.
What you are in Christ cannot be lost but can be wasted. The world needs what you have in Christ. You are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. Your good glorifies God.
The Christian grace of forgiveness is the single greatest testimony any of us can have and by which we are clearly identified with Christ. NOTE: the recording drops out about for 30 seconds at the 11 minute mark.
Believers seek to overcome evil with good. We are the optimist, seeking for ways to make for peace. Satan is a troublemaker. We are called the children of God...
We say, if your heart is not in it, you're headed for disappointment if not failure. However, simultaneous with success, the heart may also be the source of all our trouble (Jer.15:9)
Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control, like a sail harnessing the wind or a race-car driver shifting gears. There is a necessary tension between doing what is possible and doing what is necessary.
We live on the promises of God, not His explanations. There will always come a time we simply don't understand, its then we trust His promises. We must go deep in God's word and possess all that He promises.
Identify with Christ in the likeness of the resurrection. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the power of the resurrection. Inheritance of God the Father is the hope of the resurrection
Dave and Julie Rudolph serve in South Africa planting churches. He preached on the generosity of giving and thankfulness for the generosity of supporting churches. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift 2Cor.9:15. We are never more like God than when we give generously.
What one generation tolerates the next will embrace. The surgical knife of repentance is necessary to cut away the sin that we have tolerated. Its not about going back but moving forward in our relationship with the Lord.
God's will is on an as needed basis but God's will is exactly what you would choose if you had all the facts. God's reputation goes before us and when we arrive He has already prepared the way.
Its a little hard to hear the first five minutes. How do we define success for this coming New Year? With all the unknown things we may face, how can we be sure of success?