If Christians feared God more than they fear men and love their praise, so-called Christian scholarship and local church ministry would be radically different.
The so-called evangelical church is completely unprepared to give account to Christ, and many of the voices prominent in our ears now will join the many wailing, "Lord, Lord, did we not . . ." on the day of judgment (Matthew 7:21-23).
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Joy to believers. Siren call to the slumbering. Warning to the hostile.
More certain than our next breath.
Christ is risen from the dead.
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No relationship in any sphere of life is more important than fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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God doesn't lower the standard of righteousness He requires simply because you and I don't meet it.
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Weak pulpits harden unsuspecting people in their sin. So why should serious Bible teaching be the primary emphasis of a church's ministry?
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to produce children of God who will adorn the doctrine of God with righteous living.
"You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23).
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We don't get to define the terms under which we follow Christ.
He does.
When Christ says, "Follow Me," He is not asking you to add Him to your existing priorities, as if He becomes one among other equally compelling interests in your life. Instead, He calls you with authority to abandon all your existing priorities and subject your heart affections to Him alone.
You hand your life over to Him as if signing a blank check and give yourself to Him without conditions or qualifications. If you are unwilling to do that, you cannot have Christ. He won't save you if you insist on retaining the throne. You are still in your sins.
"Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:34-35).
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If your church is more concerned to teach you how to live than to teach you how to die, it might be time to find another church.
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If your church is more concerned for your happiness than your holiness, it might be time to find another church.
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You can't determine truth by counting how many people believe a particular teaching or belong to a given denomination. There is absolutely no safety in numbers. You must personally come alone to Christ alone by faith alone through the Scriptures alone if you wish to have the forgiveness of your sins and enter into eternal life.
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
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To those pastors who ministered the Word of God this morning: if you were faithful to Scripture, your value was neither increased by a large audience nor diminished by a small one. Your blessed privilege is to preach for an audience of One.
"God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints" (Hebrews 6:10).
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You know what I hate?
Churches that are proud of their coffee but ashamed of the gospel.
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Some have tried to illustrate the Trinity by comparing it to water. The same water can be ice, liquid water, or steam.
But that’s not a good example. Water doesn’t exist in all three forms at the same time. The water example only illustrates the false doctrine of modalism, which says God is one person who appears to us at different times in three different forms.
The one true God eternally and simultaneously exists in three persons. Truly, there is none like He.
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Don't trust a teacher who only makes you laugh and feel good about yourself. Spiritual wolves highlight experience and emotion while mocking doctrine and ignoring biblical exposition.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
"But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1).
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An all-sufficient Word in the hands of qualified elders is the church’s fortress against the sharks and charlatans who would try to undermine the gospel.
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The problem we face is not the irrelevance of the gospel but the irreverence of man.
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Mark it. When a so-called church emphasizes doughnuts, coffee, and casual apparel in its promotional material, its teaching won't prepare you for the judgment seat of God.
"For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things" (Philippians 3:18-19).
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Christian, take heart. Your present sins and sorrows will not follow you into heaven.
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Why do we believe the Bible? Simple. We take it from the highest authority.
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How wicked is spiritual hypocrisy? It uses false devotion to God to hide a wicked heart. Take note: the true and righteous God will not forever allow such trampling of His name.
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