- FIRST, A MAN WILL BE A GOOD
PREACHER -- IF HE WARNS ABOUT THE
DANGER OF APOSTASY.
I
Timothy 4:1-6 = "Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron;
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from
meats, which God hath
created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth.
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be
refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God
and prayer. If thou put the
brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt
be a good minister of Jesus
Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good
doctrine, whereunto thou hast
attained."
- God’s people have never
remained faithful for long periods of time, and yet
there is
but one faith. Ephesians
4:5 = "One Lord, one faith, one
baptism."
- Preachers and teacher should
contend earnestly for it.
Jude
3-5 = "Beloved, when I gave all
diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you,
and exhort you that ye
should earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the
saints. For there are certain men crept
in unawares, who were before of old
ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning
the grace of our God
into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God,
and our Lord Jesus
Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though
ye once knew this,
how that the Lord, having saved the people out of
the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed them that believed not."
- Each generation must be taught
the will of God.
1
Timothy 4:16 = "Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and
them that hear thee."
Deuteronomy
6:7 = "And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the
way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest
up."
Deuteronomy
11:19 = "And ye shall teach them
your children, speaking of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up."
- THE LORD WILL DENY US -- IF
WE DENY HIM:
2
Timothy 2:12 = "If we suffer, we
shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he
also will deny us:"
Matthew
10:33 = "But whosoever shall deny
me before men, him will I also deny
before my Father which is in heaven."
- A PERSON’S RELIGION IS
VAIN -- IF WE BRIDLE NOT OUR TONGUE:
James
1:26 = "If any man among you seem
to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain."
James
1:19 = "Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath:"
Leviticus
19:16 = "Thou shalt not go up and
down as a talebearer among thy
people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of
thy neighbour: I am the
LORD.
1
Peter 3:10 = "For he that will love
life, and see good days, let him refrain his
tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:"
- IF WE HAVE RESPECT TO PERSONS,
WE COMMIT SIN:
James
2:9 = "But if ye have respect to
persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of
the law as transgressors."
James
2:1- 4 = "My brethren, have not the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come
unto your assembly a man with
a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also
a poor man in vile raiment;
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing,
and say unto him, Sit
thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand
thou there, or sit here under
my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves,
and are become judges of evil
thoughts?"
1
Peter 1:17 = "And if ye call on the
Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time
of your sojourning here in
fear:"
Acts
10:34 = "Then Peter opened his mouth,
and said, Of a truth I perceive that God
is no respecter of persons:"
Comment:
God has respect for His Will and faith that comes
from it, but not persons.
- FAITH ALONE IS DEAD -- IF IT
HATH NOT WORKS:
James
2:17 = "Even so faith, if it hath
not works, is dead, being alone."
James
2:19 = "Thou believest that there
is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble." James
2:24 = "Ye see then how that by works
a man is
justified, and not by faith only."
James
2:26 = "For as the body without the
spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
Galatians
5:6 = "For in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."
John
12:42-43 = "Nevertheless among the
chief rulers also many believed on him;
but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him,
lest they should be put out
of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more
than the praise of God."
- WHEN WE SPEAK ABOUT TOMORROW
OR DOING THINGS IT SHOULD BE --
IF THE LORD WILL:
James
4:15 = "For that ye ought to say,
If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this,
or that."
James
4:13-14 = "Go to now, ye that say,
To day or to morrow we will go into such
a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell,
and get gain: Whereas ye know
not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Comment:
The rich fool made the mistake of not considering this.
Luke
12:16-20 = "And
he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of
a certain rich man brought
forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying,
What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said,
This will I do: I will pull
down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow
all my fruits and my
goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years;
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said
unto him, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose
shall those things be, which
thou hast provided?"
- "IF YE DO THESE THINGS
YE SHALL NEVER FALL": [II
Peter 1:10]
Comment:
"These things" are the things mentioned
in the previous verses: -
2
Peter 1:5-11 = "And beside this,
giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;
and
to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience;
and to patience godliness, And to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly
kindness charity. For if these things be in you,
and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot
see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the
rather, brethren, give diligence
to make your calling and election sure: for if ye
do these things, ye shall never fall:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
- Christians can fall.
1
Corinthians 10:12 = "Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall."
Hebrews
3:12 = "Take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
Galatians
5:4 = "Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."
John
15:6 = "If a man abide not in me,
he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are
burned."
- Christians can prevent falling
IF we are faithful.
- IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS
CHRIST IS IN THE LIGHT: I
John 1:7 "But if we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin."
- The shedding of Christ blood
paid the price for our cleansing
Hebrews
2:9 = "But we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honour; that he by the
grace of God should taste death for every man."
- The cleansing requires that
we walk in the light to be clean.
John
8:12 = "Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life."
Psalms
119:105 = "Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet, and a light unto my path."
- THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US -- IF
WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN.
1
John 1:8 = "If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us."
Romans
3:23 = "For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God;"
Genesis
8:21 = "And the LORD smelled a sweet
savour; and the LORD said in his
heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for
man's sake; for the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither
will I again smite any
more every thing living, as I have done."
Comment:
This put those that proclaim sinless perfection,
or can not sin in a false teaching.
- A CHRISTIANS FORGIVENESS OF
SINS IS POSSIBLE ONLY -- IF WE CONFESS
OUR SINS:
1
John 1:9-10 = "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say
that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
James
5:16 = "Confess your faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much."
Acts
8:22 = "Repent therefore of this
thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the
thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee."
- KNOWING THAT WE KNOW THE LORD
DEPENDS UPON -- IF WE ARE
KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS.
1
John 2:3 = "And hereby we do know
that we know him, if we keep his
commandments."
- There is no supposing or
guessing about it.
1
John 2:4-6 = "He that saith, I
know him, and keepeth not his commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso
keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we
that we are in him. He
that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so
to walk, even as he walked."
- Keeping the Lord’s commandments
is how we prove our faith.