Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance…

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance…

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And even now the axe also lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?...Luke 3:8-10.

Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience: wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things; but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him...Colossians 3:5-17.

But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk...Galatians 5:16-25.

We are to bring forth fruits worthy of God’s approval…when you read through these passages how many of the things you are doing good or evil? Is there love joy peace longsuffering kindness goodness faithfulness obedience (meekness) and self control or are in the flesh following fleshly lusts such as listed?

Prayer

Father empower us to not follow the flesh and to repent from our lusts and help us to lusts after the things of the Spirit…in Jesus of Nazareth’s name amen.

Try…A…Pause for Prayer and Devotional a Wellsaid Christian Devotional about the teachings of Jesus… https://www.anopenbiblestudy.com/blog-by-ben-the-friend

  #benjaminbrianstewart #Love #Christianity #Faith #Bible #Jesus #Prayer #Art #ChristianLife #Gospel #ChristianInspiration #Salvation #ChristianCommunity #love #instagood #photoftheday #beautiful #happy #new #sports #entertainment #technology #business #fashion #health #travel #food #music #art #photography

It is Divine to forgive but human to error…

It is Divine to forgive but human to error…

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God...Matthew 5:6-9. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses...Matthew 6:14-15.

But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that you may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law...Galatians 5:16-18. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith...Galatians 6:7-10.

Ever forgave and found healing…do you agree it is right to obey Jesus in order to find forgiveness…yes or no? I found when done wrong the healing starts when you forgive the oppressor and forgive the trauma. In fact I have learned it is right to forgive the trauma each time you remember the trauma. I found healing this way and hope and pray you do too.

Prayer

Father please forgive those who have done us wrong and our own souls’ as well…please fill us full of virtue, vigilance of righteousness and grace, mercy, peace, joy and love please heal those in Your kingdom that are erring in Jesus of Nazareth’s name amen.

Try…A…Pause for Prayer and Devotional a Wellsaid Christian Devotional about the teachings of Jesus… https://www.anopenbiblestudy.com/blog-by-ben-the-friend

#benjaminbrianstewart #Love #Christianity #Faith #Bible #Jesus #Prayer #Art #ChristianLife #Gospel #ChristianInspiration #Salvation #ChristianCommunity #love #instagood #photoftheday #beautiful #happy #new #sports #entertainment #technology #business #fashion #health #travel #food #music #art #photography

Is There a God...arguments for the existence of God...

Is There a God?

Intro:

1.      Why are you here today? I think that you are here today because you believe there is a God. In this lesson I will be speaking to the existence of God. I know that most, if not everyone here believe that God is real and he exists.

2.      I am however preparing you to present the arguments for God and his existence. In today’s society there is a real problem, people due to their freedoms here are making themselves God. By denying that there is a Creator, people are the highest level of existence.

3.      Since so many atheists exist in the world, and are trying to present cases to courts that deny our rights to freely exercise our religion, I thought it worth your time and mine to prepare a sermon that will help all of us to present the idea of a Creator.

4.      There are a few arguments that I will use. The Cosmological Argument, The Teleological Argument, and the Moral Argument.

I.                    The Cosmological Argument

A.    Cause and effect

1.      This argument would state that everything has a cause and effect.

a.       Because the world is in a state of regression or decay then there must be a cause

b.      Have you ever heard of the idea of perpetual motion?

1.      Perpetual motion is defined as eternal motion

2.      For years scientist have been trying to figure out a way to have perpetual motion

3.      The problem with this ideal is in science you have to put more energy into something to get an output. The ratio of energy in and energy out is call efficiency.

4.      The higher the efficiency the better the output

5.      Could you imagine an engine that never quits, we all know things like friction and heat keep it from running without end.

6.      Because of these types of things we all have to put oil in our cars and trucks

c.       The law of entropy, or the law of chaos

1.      The law of entropy is a law of physics that has just been generated in the last century. It states that the unbalanced forces in the universe will work, through this law, to balance all other forces. That since there is always an unbalance, then this constant balancing of forces is the reason for creation and not God. Like temperature heat and cold mix until they are the same potential.

2.      If this were true, the universe would still have to have an original beginning of forces that balance themselves out and makes the universe eternal.

3.      Every bit of matter we know does decay and is not eternal: plants, animals, and humans

4.      We know that all matter is finite or has a beginning and an end.

d.      Logic says that nothing can create nothing. That something does not come from nothing

1.      These scientist have created this idea so it will agree with the evolution theory.

2.      For it to be true the forces have to be eternal in order to be in the beginning. In other words there was no starting point or ending point for these forces that balance themselves out. Since nothing can create nothing this view is out of reasoning with common sense.

e.       Since the world is here there must be something that created it.

B.     Alternatives to this view

1.      It is an Illusion

a.       Some philosophers state that we really are some where else and this is what we dream or experience as a result of being elsewhere.

b.      It is similar to the ideas portrayed by the movie Matrix

2.      It sporadically arose out of nothing

a.       As I spoke of earlier this defies any form of logic

b.      It basically says that out of nothing came something.

c.       This is what some people of the big bang theory suggest that out of nothing came this big explosion in which everything was put into motion.

3.      It had no existence but has existed for eternity

a.       This is the idea of perpetual motion

b.      Since we can not even come close to creating perpetual motion it must not be true

4.      A Creator created the world.

C.     Assessment of these ideas

1.      The ideas that the world is an illusion is not within reason

2.      The idea that nothing created something also defies reason.

3.      The idea that the world is decaying is fact. However the idea that the world has forever and will forever continue to decay is not within reason. The stars that die out, the earth and its wealth of life, are evidences that everything started at a fixed time and place.

a.       The law of entropy says if everything was hot and cold then in time due to mixtures there would be a perfect balance called warm. The idea is that there is an eternal amount of hot and cold. So the forces behind creation is the mixing of cold and hot to get warm. However the world has always and will continue to decay, until the Lord comes back.

4.      The only other assessment left is that there is a creator that created everything.

a.       He was the one who gave us the starting point of time and place

b.      God is the Creator. Someone may say well who created God?

1.      There is something we must understand about God.  Jesus said “God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and truth” John 4:24

2.      God is a spirit; he is what we call self-existing. He needs nothing other than Himself to exist. He relies only on Himself for His existence, He is eternal.

3.      We are humans we are finite, meaning we have a beginning and an end, We depend on our environment to sustain our lives. In essence we depend on God to live.

II.                 The Teleological Argument

A.    The design and purpose

1.      Have you ever just thought about the chances of us being here?

2.      Odds for this happening by chance

a.       What are the odds of the earth being the exact distance from the sun that we neither burn up nor freeze to death?

b.      That everything is beneficial to everything else?

B.     Evolution idea

1.      The odds of a chemical soup existing in which some amino acids come together to form the first 1 cell organism of life happening by chance.

2.      The odds of this 1 cell organism evolving into a 2 celled organism

a.       Invertebrates

b.      Fish or vertebrates

c.       Reptiles

d.      Birds

e.       Mammals

3.      The very odds of this happening says that we did not evolve

4.      They have never found the missing links, which bridge the gap between the species.

5.      There are other proofs as well. They have found trees that are upright and pass through several layers of the geological strata. Thus proving the strata did not happen over billions of year because for that to happen; the tree would have to be billions of years old. In fact it actually suggest that there was a great flood.

C.     The ecosystem

1.      The human waste product of carbon dioxide is actually one of the substances needed for the plants to survive.

2.      The idea that the plants support the animals, and the animals and plants sustain us.

3.      The idea that the earth is 2/3rds water, and evaporates in such a way that produces clouds that carry this water to the land so that crops or vegetation can grow for the benefit of the animals, and humans.

a.       The water collects and then is distributed to the land or earth

b.      The extra is then collected into rivers, streams, and lakes then returned to the seas

D.    It is no accident

1.      These things did not happen by accident

2.      Each item has a purpose and a plan in the environment.

3.      The watchmaker

a.       Someone has given me an illustration of a watch

b.      The idea is that for all of this world to happen by accident or mere chance is like me taking the parts of a pocket watch, putting them into a bag, shaking the bag and its contents up, then reaching my hand into the bag and pulling out a put together, complete and working pocket watch.

c.       You and I both know you can not put the right parts in a bag shake it up and have a complete product. You see each part of a pocket watch has a design and a purpose.

d.      Each gear, piece, bearings, and shafts all depend on the others for it proper working order.

e.       The watch would never work unless an intelligent being put each piece in its proper place so that it would run correctly.

4.      God the watchmaker

a.       God is the one who put each part of this universe together

b.      He is the source of all things.

c.       He is the intelligent being that put everything in its place.

III.              Moral Code

A.    If men are only smart animals then what?

1.      Supposing we are here just by accident, then why do we consider some things to be wrong?

a.       If we are upright animals, then what is wrong with me eating a baby for lunch?

b.      You and I both know that eating humans and especially babies is wrong

c.       If we are just animals, then only the strong survive

d.      So on animal instincts, anything that could be food is considered food.

2.      All people have an inherent sense of right and wrong called a conscience

a.       Everybody has there idea of right and wrong

3.      Some say we legislate morality for the preservation of humans

a.       Then why are we do we consider it wrong when people like Geoffrey Dahlmer eat humans

b.      We get so mad at people for killing other people we make their punishment so severe that others will never do or else they also will be punished severely as well.

4.      For us to be smart animals means we had to evolve

a.       Why are the apes still not evolving?

b.      Why are the apes not speaking in a human language?

c.       What will we evolve into in the future?

B.     Men are moral because God is moral

1.      You and I have a sense of good and evil because we are not just animals

a.       We are not just physical beings we are spiritual beings

b.      We have a conscience and an ability to reason unlike the animals

c.       We are able to reason right and wrong

2.      God because he is our creator wants us to know how to behave

a.       He gives us the Bible so that we see what his standard of morality is

b.      By reading His standard our standard is changed to be like His.

3.      For there to be a moral law there most be a moral law giver

Conclusion:

1.      So with the idea of a God being established by anyone of these arguments we know there is something greater than ourselves out there. In every single society since the dawn of man has worshipped something. Man is hard wired to believe in something greater than himself.

2.      The Aztecs, Indians, the Aborigines, Greeks, man has always since the need for a divine aid. In some societies they went about to create their own God. That is why there is so much idolatry in the world today. We do not see it very much today here in America but there are many gods of the Hindu’s, Buddha, etc

3.      The problem with all of these other gods is most are presumed to be mean or evil and have to be appeased by sacrifices. Most people who are idolatrous believe they must give to the god or else harm will come unto them.

4.      The God that we see in the Bible is a loving, caring, forgiving, just, fair God, who only punishes those that directly disobey Him. God knows that man is not perfect and can not measure up to his standard of living. If man could be as good as God then God would not be God. Because of our predicament we need help in obtaining this moral perfection in the eyes of the life giver.

5.      God made a way for us to be saved. He gave us a way to be saved or forgiven in His eyes. That way is Jesus Christ. Jesus said “ I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but through me. John 14:6

6.      There is only one way to Heaven and that my friend is through Jesus Christ.

7.      The five finger Gospel:

8.      Hear

1. (Rom 10:17) So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

9.      Believe

1.  (Heb 11:6) And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

2. (Joh 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.(Joh 3:17) For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.

10.   Repent

1. (Act 17:30)The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:(Act 17:31)inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

2. (Luk 13:3) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.

11.    Confess

1. (Rom 10:9)because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:(Rom 10:10)for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

2. (Mat 10:32)Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven.(Mat 10:33)But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

12.   Baptism

1. (Act 2:38)And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(Act 2:39)For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.

2. (1Pe 3:21)which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

3. (Mar 16:16)He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.