The existence of law serves the purpose of keeping things orderly. There needs to be law which answers the questions and points the way because if not, what would be the authority to solve questions? Now, don’t say that men can decide because if you say that, everyone would be judged by everyone else. People would bind their different views upon others and chaos would prevail. None could say that the other is wrong because each person would be a law to themselves. But if there is law, that law isn’t a person, it is the law; the higher authority and through men have differing attitudes, all must adhere to the higher authority (Roman 13:1-2).
Which brings us to what we want to teach you today. The Bible is declared to be the word of God. If that is true, which we believe it is, that would mean that mankind should consult with its teachings when deciding or seeking counsel (Psalm 119:105, 111:7-8; Proverbs 6:23). If men will live by the Bible, the issues we face as a people would disappear. There would be no abortion or gay marriage debate, no IRS scandal, no guy revealing secret information and hiding in a airport in Russia. It is a shame that our nation has disregarded the Bible and looks to the Supreme Court justices to decide marriage! Men cannot do that! Marriage has been decided by God since the beginning of time and what God has joined together, let not men put asunder! (Matthew 19:4-6). Think about what we are saying; this land need to return to respect and obedience of the scriptures. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Too many police officers have been killed in Philadelphia, and we need to learn from it. People must learn to comfort those who are suffering (Genesis 37:34-35). People must learn to respect the officers who protect us (1 Peter 2:13-14). People must stop committing crimes! (Jeremiah 25:4-5).
If criminals of the past have ended up in jail, why think that one won’t get caught? (Galatians 6:7). That man who killed the last officer knew other cop killers are either in jail or dead, but he didn’t learn and took it upon himself to kill a police officer. Now the officer is dead, his family in grief, and this offender is in jail along with the other cop killers (Colossians 3:25). Young men of the future must look at this situation and not do this kind of thing, but learn what makes a better city (Proverbs 11:11). People must not protect offenders—there is too much of that going on and it is wrong. If you are law abiding person, those who commit crimes aren’t your friends. They are felons, and you need to do the right thing and give them up (Judges 20:11-13). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Colossians 3:18-21 challenges the family, so read the following verses and see how your life matches up.
18Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 20Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 21Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. How did you match up? Is there any thing you need to change? Have you been doing what the Bible teaches in these matters? Only you, dear reader, can answer these questions, and they must be answered truthfully because your soul is at stake (Romans 14:11-12). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Here are some excuses that won’t work on the Judgment Day. Lord, I didn’t know enough! “Thy word is light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Lord, I didn’t know which church to be a member of! “The churches of Christ greet you (Romans 16:16). Lord, I didn’t think I could hold on! “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13). Lord, I thought sincerity was enough! “Not every one who said Lord, Lord shall enter heaven; only those who do the will of the Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Lord, I thought my preacher was right! “They searched the scriptures daily to see if those things were true” (Acts 17:11).
Lord, I didn’t think I was good enough! “Such were some of you, but now you are washed, sanctified and justified” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Lord, I was afraid I would offend my family and friends! “He who loves family more then me, isn’t worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). Lord, going to church wasn’t popular! “We must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). Lord, there were too many hypocrites in the church! “All must stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Lord, I thought I had plenty of time to get right! God said, fool, tonight you will die (Luke 12:20). Lord, I thought you didn’t exist! “A fool has said, there is no God and such people are corrupt” (Psalm 14:1). Lord, I thought your word was too old fashion for the times! “The word of God abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22-25). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. In Matthew 17:8, we read “when the disciples opened their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” So guess what? Man needs to see the same today. We don’t need anything else but the One who died for our sins, and that is the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12). There is so much out there trying to get our attention and many are asking that we pay money. For example, we have a lot of authors writing so called self-development books and promoting those books on TV and radio, book signings, etc. But you don’t need their books, instead you need information from the One who will save you at the end of your life (John 5:24, 6:63,68, 8:51, 12:47). The words of a famous person on TV are simply his words, and those words have no saving power because chances are the words weren’t created by him. Also if you read his book, you will see that he took much from the words of the Bible.
So all those books telling us how to be happy or how to have a great marriage, etc, are nothing new. Such information has already been spoken centuries ago by the Lord (Psalm 146:3-5). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. |