Sunday Nite A Little Leaven Galatians 5:7-17

Sunday Nite Live:  The Two Sons  Matt. 21:28-32

Grace For You   Newsletter February 2012

Read Galatians chapters 1-4.  The Occasion. Galatians has been called the “Magna Charta of Christian liberty” and the “Christian’s Declaration of Independence.” The difficulty that produced this important epistle was caused by Jewish believers who proclaimed a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. Paul had proclaimed the free grace of God for all men through the death of Christ. The legalizers contended that Christianity could only work within the sphere of the Mosaic law. Faith in Christ, involving the free gifts of the Holy Spirit, was not sufficient. Obedience to the Mosaic law  which requires observance of festal days and the Sabbath was stressed. Had the Judaizers won, Christianity would merely have been a sect within Judaism. The situation called for all the skill and wisdom the great apostle could muster. With invincible logic he vindicated Christianity on the sole basis of man’s acceptance of Christ. Men are justified by the finished work of the Redeemer and in no manner by forms and ceremonies. Galatians was an echo of the great truth of justification so masterfully set forth in Romans.

1. We are supposed to disciple new converts.

2. They must be “Born again” and demonstrate spiritual evidence before we train them to preach the Gospel.

3. They must have a supernatural CALL. If they are to teach and preach the Gospel, they must “hear” the truth they are to preach supernaturally, from God.  4. You can learn how to preach from men. But, the Gospel is too important to have learned it from men. 5. The “Word of God” must be our primary Source. 6. Men can teach techniques, forms, mannerisms, facts, elocution, homiletics, communications, public speaking, etc. We can study the latest trends, ecclesiology, theology, psychology and eschatology in order to prepare ourselves to lead and teach. Some of us do. Not all. Some are satisfied with just plain old religion. 7. Only God can clearly illuminate our understanding of the Gospel. 8. It is important to remove yourself from distractions, in order to “hear” from God clearly. To be a foundation layer you must be absolutely certain what you are laying is eternally correct.

Religion brings false hope; hope placed in men; hope placed because of emotion; hope hung on others participation; hope in the familiar; hope founded on what sounds believable or seems reasonable & has a nostalgic nudge to it. But in the end it delivers death.  “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. (On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand; hymn)

A sickly saint often resembles a healthy hypocrite

Wesley's Test For Preachers

John Wesley used to ask two questions of the young men whom he sent out to preach. The first was, "Has any one been converted?" If the answer was, "No," he told them he did not think the Lord had called them to preach the Gospel, and he sent them back to their business. When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, people are either converted or—they don't like it and get mad.

It is impossible to get regeneration from reformation

Good Points About Hell

We've been a little unfair about hell. We've talked all about how bad it is, but there are some good points about it. 1. There won't be any hypocrites in hell. A lot of people stay out of church for this reason, but there won't be any there. There, all souls will act just alike. (All hypocrites here go there, but they won't be hypocrites anymore.) 2. There will not be any churches in hell. All the people who cuss the church, get mad when invited to attend, even hate the church, will never be bothered again. 3. There will be no preaching. Those who hate words like salvation, born again, repentance, joy, and Jesus will be free from ever hearing them again. 4. There will be no more Christians witnessing, no more religious programs to listen to, no Bible. 5. But to those who think that "salvation" is "social" let me point out this: you fight noise pollution, but it's nothing compared to the "weeping and wailing" of hell! Overpopulation? Man, you don't know anything. Isaiah 5:14 says hell had to enlarge itself to take care of the crowds. Hell must be pretty bad for Jesus to come and die to keep us out of it!

If you are going to put yourself under the law, and you have a good day, you are not going to be rewarded for it. Suppose I had kept all of the laws of Bastrop, which is my home city, for twenty years. Then I wait at my house for the officials of Bastrop to come and present me with a medal for keeping  those laws. Let me tell you, they do not give medals for keeping the law in Bastrop. If I had kept every law for twenty years and then stole something or broke a speeding law, I would be arrested. You see, the law does not reward you. It does not give you life. The law penalizes you. Faith, gives you something. It gives you life.

You cannot cure a blind man by increasing the light

Raccoons

Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, explains that raccoons go through a glandular change at about twenty-four months old. After that, they often attack their owners. Richmond had a friend named Julie who owned a pet raccoon. Since a thirty-pound raccoon can equal a one-hundred-pound dog in a fight, he felt compelled to warn her of the coming change. “It’ll be different for me,” she replied with a smile. “Bandit wouldn’t hurt me. He just wouldn’t.” Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, it’s easy to say, “It will be different for me.” The results are predictable.

Modern Society3

Because we live in a very addict-prone culture, we must be more careful about our personal habits than those people in other ages did. Our society produces addicts more than any other in history. Why?

1.     Our culture has a quick-fix, convenience-oriented mentality.

2.     Our society stresses easy solutions.

3.     Our era suffers from values confusion, confused morals. This is the first generation that hasn’t passed its values on to its young. People don’t have the kind of anchors they used to.

4.     Our culture is heavily oriented toward entertainment.

5.     Our culture suffers from disrupted family life. Children grow up in fragmented homes and experience internal abandonment.

6.     There is an enormous loss of community. The average person moves about every three years. The sustained support of extended family members or ongoing close friendships is missing.

7.     Ours is a high-stress, high anxiety culture.

8.     Ours is a very abusive society.

9.     There is a denial of limitations today; we don’t deal with death very well.

10.     The number of addicts tends to multiply. If you took all the various kinds of addictions, the total figure would be about 131 million. Addicts produce addicts, so there is a multiplying effect in our families.

Just the Two of Us

I first met her in high school. She was older than I was and exciting. She’d been around. My parents warned me to have nothing to do with her. They claimed that no good could come from our relationship.

But I kept meeting her on the sly. She was so sophisticated and worldly. It made me feel grown up just being with her. It was fun to take her to a party in those days. She was almost always the center of attention.

We began seeing more of each other after I started college. When I got a place of my own, she was a frequent guest. It wasn’t long before she moved in with me. It may have been common law, but it was heartbreaking for my parents. I kept reminding myself I wasn’t a kid anymore. Besides, it was legal.

We lived together right through college and into my early days in business. I seldom went anywhere without her, but I wasn’t blind. I knew she was unfaithful to me. What’s worse, I didn’t care. As long as she was there for me when I needed her (and she always was), it didn’t matter.

The longer we lived together, the more attached I became to her. But it wasn’t mutual. She began to delight in making me look foolish in front of my friends. But I still couldn’t give her up.

It became a love/hate relationship. I figured out that her glamour was nothing more than a cheap mask to hide her spite and cynicism behind. I could no longer see her beauty after I came to know her true character.

But old habits are hard to break. We had invested many years in each other. Even though my relationship with her made me lose a little respect for myself, she had become the center of my life. We didn’t go anywhere. We didn’t do anything. We didn’t have friends over. It was just the two of us. I became deeply depressed and knew that she was largely responsible for my misery. I finally told her I was leaving her for good. It took a lot of guts, but I left.

I still see her around. She’s still as beautiful as when we first met. I miss her now and then. I’m not boasting when I say she’d take me back in a minute. But by the grace of God, I will never take up with her again. If you see her, just give her my regards. I don’t hate her. I just loved her too much.

Chances are you know her family. The name’s Alcohol.

The Bait of Satan

Has anyone read the book The Bait of Satan by John Bevere? Here are people in the snare of the devil, and to recover them out of it is the object of gospel labor.

1. The devil has a snare. This snare may be infidelity; it may be the pursuit of worldly wealth; it may be worldly pleasure, the pride of life, pursuit of power and greatness; it may be vicious habits, or vicious and evil company; but whatever form this snare takes, it is in all cases the means by which Satan holds the soul in bondage to sin.

2. This snare has its lure. The lure, or bait, is that which entices the unsuspecting animal into the snare. The lure of Satan is that promise of good in this life which entices silly souls to forsake the path of righteousness and to sin against God. The devil promises the sinner honor, wealth, happiness, ease, gratification of carnal desires, great success in this life, and indemnity against punishment in the life to come. He promised mother Eve wisdom and knowledge, and exemption from death; he promised Christ the kingdoms of this world; and he promised Achan and Judas riches, and success in their schemes. He promises the philosophic skeptic great freedom of reason, exalted wisdom, and a contented mind. All this is to draw men into his snare. He tells the half-hearted professor there is an easier way to heaven than that which Moses, Daniel, and Paul trod; and he tells the impenitent sinner there is time enough yet.

3. This snare is covered up. "In vain is the snare spread in the sight of any bird;" The devil covers his snare, and keeps it out of sight. If it is a doctrinal snare, he covers it with sophistry, and makes error look plausible; but in any case, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, give false gildings, make sin appear pleasing, attractive, and desirable.

4. No wonder, then, that souls are taken captive by him. The word literally means, "taken alive by him." Ah! yes. They are taken in the full possession of their responsible faculties. They are taken while they are thinking, planning, desiring, choosing, and full of hope and anticipation, alive to all but God, alive in the awful responsibilities of a moral agent, but not alive to them.

5. They are taken by him "at his will," so completely are they in the power of the devil; so completely are they charmed, and lulled, and deceived by Satan. His will is their will! so entirely disarmed of fear, drawn along by desire, and overcome by fatal persuasion! so attracted are they by the "baits of pleasing ill;" and so enervated in their power to resist, that the will and desire of the great seducer, not their own judgment or conscience, govern them. Such is their state. Are you in the devil's snare? Be alarmed and cry mightily to God. Are you tempted by his lure? Stop short, and fly back to Christ.

How to be 100% successful

Seek to “hear” what God wants you to do. Do it. “Listen” for God to speak to you in these 5 ways: 1. Read your Bible, God’s Word with expectation; 2. Pay attention to counsel from your Christian brothers & sisters; 3. observe your circumstances; 4. listen carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit; 5. Look carefully for the Peace of God in your heart or the lack of that peace.