Category Archives: Christian

Fruit

Fruit

A good tree can only bear good fruit; a bad tree can only bear bad fruit. The Lord Jesus appealed in Matthew 15:13, ‘every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted’.

It is clear that God can never plant a bad tree; therefore, only a good tree can come from Him.

A person who represents a bad tree can never truly prevail, no matter what they try to do. They can take part in many purposes in the church and campaigns after campaigns, but if they are a bad tree they will never find the abundant life that God promises. On the other hand, a person who is a good tree can never beshaken. God will prune them, so that they will bear much more fruit; they will prosper and continue to develop.

A person who is a bad tree could even conquer material blessings by the strength of their own hands, but they will never be happy; they will never have peace or be satisfied within themselves because they only produce fruit of unrighteousness and fruit of disobedience.

Human beings were created to worship and glorify God, and if we are not doing what we were created to do, we can never be satisfied.

The Lord Jesus also said that every tree that does not bear good fruit, would be cut down and thrown into the fire. This is the end result for those who continue to bear fruit of unrighteousness and fruit of disobedience. But for those who bear fruit of righteousness and fruit of obedience, everything shall be well with them. They will face battles along the way, but they will continue to grow and to develop.

Dust off our Feet

dust off our feet

There are situations in our lives where God calls us to stand firm, proclaim truth, and give patient testimony. Sometimes we need to continue until we see the results of that testimony. Other times God gives us the freedom to move on. We figuratively “shake the dust off our feet” when, under the Holy Spirit’s direction, we surrender those people to the Lord and let go. We have the freedom then to move into the next phase of ministry. Jesus’ instruction to “shake the dust off our feet” reminds us that we are only responsible for our obedience to God, not for the results of that obedience.

Christians take Jesus Name

Christians take Jesus Name

Signs of the End of the Age

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him (D)privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, (H)“See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am (J)the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you (K)are not alarmed, for this (L)must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Church

Church

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:16″18,

Jesus was referring to Peter’s declaration: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This confession of faith is the rock upon which the church is built, and just like Peter, everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord is a part of the church.

Church Definition in the New Testament
The word “church” as rendered in the New Testament comes from the Greek term ekklesia which is formed from two Greek words meaning “an assembly” and “to call out” or “called out ones.” This means the New Testament church is a body of believers who have been called out from the world by God to live as his people under the authority of Jesus Christ:

God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (Ephesians 1:22″23

Church attendance

Church attendance

Church attendance is not proof that you are saved. It is not a free pass to sin because you will soon make CONFESSION in a booth to a man who cannot forgive you.

[ 1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which has called you is holy, so be all of you holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be all of you holy; for I am holy. ]

BEING SAVED IS NOT BEING THAT PERSON YOU ONCE WERE BEFORE YOU STARTED PROCLAIMING JESUS AS YOUR LORD.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as all of you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

BEING SAVED IS ALSO BEING AWARE AT ALL TIMES, MEDITATING AT ALL TIMES SO THAT YOU DON’T FALL INTO TEMPTATION AND THEN INTO YOUR OLD SINS.

JESUS SAID “PRAY SO THAT YOU DON’T FALL INTO TEMPTATION. WE LIVE IN A TEMPORARY BODY THAT INSIST ON SINNING BUT IF YOU HAVE TRULY RECEIVED GRACE, YOU LEARN HOW TO REJECT IT.

[ Titus 2:11-13
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ]

WE RECEIVE THIS GRACE THAT TEACHES AND REMINDS US THAT JESUS IS COMING SOON. WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING SOMEONE, YOU MAKE YOURSELVES READY, YOU MAKE SURE YOUR HOME IS PICKED UP, TIDY AS IF YOU WERE GOING TO BE INSPECTED.

LIVE EVERY DAY, IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED GRACE, AS IF INSPECTION DAY IS COMING. DON’T LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WEEK TO THROW YOUR TRASH ( SIN ) IN THE RECYCLE BIN AND WAITING FOR THE TRUCK TO PICK IT UP.

[ Matthew 24:42-44
42 Watch therefore: for all of you know not what hour your Lord does come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be all of you also ready: for in such an hour as all of you think not the Son of man comes. ]

THERE IS NO TRASH DAY WHEN JESUS COMES.
THERE IS THOUGH A SEPARATION.

[ Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? from whence then has it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, Will you then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while all of you gather up the tares, all of you root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather all of you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. ]

GOD WILL SEPARATE THE TARES ( THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE CHRISTIANS, BUT ARE NOT ) AND WILL BURN THEM. WE CAN TRY OUR HARDEST AND ASSUME WE ARE CHRISTIANS BECAUSE WE GATHER IN CHURCH, BUT THE TIME WILL COME WHEN GOD WILL SEPARATE HIS CHILDREN FROM THOSE WHO NEVER WANTED TO RECEIVE ADOPTION THROUGH CHRIST.

IF YOU DIED TODAY WITHOUT JESUS, WITHOUT RECEIVING JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR, ONLY A CERTAIN SEPARATION WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN YOU AND GOD AND THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE. RECEIVE CHRIST NOW, REPENT FROM YOUR SIN BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. THERE ARE MANY WHO WILL BE IN HELL WISHING THEY COULD BE BLESSED TO HEAR THE CALL TO REPENTANCE ONE LAST TIME AND WILL NOT HAVE IT.

Clapping

Clapping

Clapping is not evil, we are told to clap. Are you calling God evil because he clapped his hands in Ezekiel 21:17
Once again – please look at the context, Remember context is important.

2 Kings 11:12
Then he brought the king’s son out and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”

Psalm 47:1
O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.

Psalm 98:8
Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy

Isaiah 55:12
“For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Ezekiel 21:14
“You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them,

Ezekiel 6:11
“Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague!

Ezekiel 21:17
“I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Dance

dance

Dance is mentioned on many occasions in Scripture. The first appearance of God’s people dancing as an act of worship is found in Exodus 15:20: “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.” This joyful dance to the Lord, led by Miriam, followed Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea and celebrated Israel’s newfound freedom from slavery.

Other instances of dancing in the Bible Include 2 Samuel 6:16, which has David “leaping and dancing before the LORD.” Also, the Amalekites danced in celebration after plundering Judah and Philistia (1 Samuel 30:16); theirs was a short-lived dance, however, as David and his men soon defeated them (verses 17-20).

The Psalms offer a unique look at dance as an act of worship. In Psalm 30:11, the psalmist says, “You turned my wailing into dancing.” Psalm 149:3 encourages the use of dancing to worship God: “Let them praise his name with dancing!” Likewise, Psalm 150:4 urges, “Praise him with tambourine and dancing!” just like Miriam.

Baptism

Baptism

If we were to compile a catalogue of practices that are essential to the Christian faith, what would be included? Among other essentials, baptism would certainly need to be high on the list. Baptism is one of the means by which Jesus commissions his followers to make disciples (Matt. 28:18″20). It’s also central to the preaching of the gospel at the inception of the church at Pentecost (Acts 2:38). In short, the idea that Christians should be baptised”regardless of when or how”is central to the Christian faith. This should come as no surprise.

What may come as a surprise, however, is that Jesus himself was baptised. Baptism wasn’t just something Jesus commanded his followers to do, but an experience he also underwent. As familiar as we may be with the Gospel accounts, the fact that Jesus submitted himself to baptism may still strike us as odd.

The plot thickens even more when we consider that the baptism Jesus submitted himself to was John’s baptism, which is described as (1) accompanying “repentance” (Matt. 3:2); (2) in conjunction with people “confessing their sins” (Matt. 3:6); and (3) as the means by which to “flee from the coming wrath” (Matt. 3:7).

It doesn’t take much pondering to realise that this doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of what the New Testament says about Jesus”that he was God’s virgin-born (Matt. 1:19″25), sinless (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15), perfectly obedient Son (Heb. 5:8″9; John 17:4), fully pleasing to the Father (Matt. 3:17), who pre-existed as divine but laid aside his glory to take on flesh (Phil. 2:5″8). Nonetheless, Jesus says it is fitting and appropriate that he be baptised (Matt. 3:15).

All this leads to an important question: Why did Jesus need to be baptised?

Why Was Jesus Baptiste?

Both Mark and Luke record this story but don’t raise the question (Mark 1:9″11; Luke 3:21″22). John’s Gospel doesn’t give us the events of Jesus’s baptism but emphasises the same effect as the other Gospels”that the Spirit of God descended on Jesus, anointing him as the Son of God (John 1:32″34). Only Matthew raises the issue by including a piece of the story that the other Gospel writers don’t”John himself was hesitant to baptise Jesus. John, aware that Jesus wasn’t just another person coming to repent and confess his sins, protests: “I need to be baptised by you, but you are coming to me?” (Matt. 3:14).

As familiar as we may be with the Gospel accounts, the fact that Jesus submitted himself to baptism may still strike us as odd.
Jesus’s answer to John’s reluctance is instructive, both in answering our question and also in revealing an important aspect of Matthew’s theology. Jesus said, “Let it be so, for it is fitting in this way for us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). This is a weighty answer, containing two words”“fulfil” and “righteousness””that are central ideas in Matthew’s Gospel. Something important is going on here.

Nonetheless, Jesus’s response to John remains a bit esoteric for most readers today. So allow me to offer the following paraphrase: Jesus is fulfilling his role as the obedient Son of God by practising the required righteousness of submitting to God’s will to repent (i.e., to live in the world wholeheartedly devoted to God).

How Does a Sinless Man Repent?

To understand this, there are a couple of elements we need to unpack.

First, “righteousness” in Matthew refers to whole-person behaviour that accords with God’s will, nature, and coming kingdom. Paul uses this word in some other ways, but Matthew’s usage is more typical of the Old Testament sense of heart-deep, faithful obedience to God. In submitting to John’s baptism Jesus is showing himself to be the good and obedient Son who does God’s will perfectly.

Second, we must understand what “repentance” means. Today this word often evokes the image of someone on the street corner with a sandwich board that reads, “The end is near!” Biblical repentance is broader and tuned differently. The call to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17) is an urgent invitation to reorient our values, habits, loves, thinking, and behaviour according to a different understanding, one rooted in the revelation of God’s nature and coming reign. In short, repentance means, “Become a disciple!” Jesus repents not in the sense of turning from sin (our repentance necessarily includes this where his does not), but in the sense of dedicating himself to follow God’s will fully on earth.

God has sent John as the final herald of the King’s return and now Jesus comes in line with this and fulfils it by submitting to John’s baptism.
Thus, the qualms we (and John) may have about why Jesus would undergo John’s baptism dissipate. Even as a virgin-born, divine-incarnate, unique person in the world, the Son desires to be wholeheartedly obedient to the Father (i.e., righteous). Thus, he must submit to the God-ordained message of life-dedication preached by John. To call this a “fulfilment” of all righteousness taps into what Matthew has been arguing repeatedly from the beginning of his book (Matt. 1:18″2:23), and what he will continue to do in the following stories (Matt. 4:14″16; 5:17)”Jesus is the fulfilment of all God’s work in the world. He is the final goal and consummation of all God’s saving activity. God has sent John as the final herald of the King’s return, and now Jesus comes in line with this and fulfils it by submitting to John’s baptism.

Jesus as the Last Adam

So why did Jesus need to be baptised? Because central to Jesus’s purpose in being the Savior of the world is his own faithful obedience to the Father. He was obedient even to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:8; Rom. 5:18), thereby securing our salvation.

As Brandon Crowe helpfully summaries, “Jesus is portrayed in the Gospel as the last Adam whose obedience is necessary for God’s people to experience the blessings of salvation.” Jesus’s baptism signals the inauguration of his mission as the obedient Son and of his model of what it means to be faithful to God.

We don’t simply get baptised because he did. We’re baptised into him and he baptises us with the Holy Spirit.
The church’s ongoing practice of baptism”like another essential practice, the Lord’s Supper”is simultaneously a repetition of and a post-Pentecost transformation of Jesus’s own act. Jesus was baptised as a sign of his dedication (wholehearted obedience), and so too we follow his example. At the same time, his own baptism is transformed in our experience because he is more than just a model. We don’t simply get baptised because he did. We’re baptised into him, and he baptises us with the Holy Spirit.

Though like John the Baptist we may at first be perplexed as to why Jesus was baptised, we can see now that Jesus’s baptism is a crucial part of his saving work in the world, always to be remembered.