They Preached the Word of God

2Timothy 4:2 - Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Acts 13:5 -  ...when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews...

Preaching, teaching or discussing the Word of God. It is the call of believers. It is the command of God. And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

This is one of my many favorite verses in the Bible: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)

If you look at just a handful of the major people of the Bible you will see they did the same thing. 

Noah - as he built the ark he preached salvation; people scoffed; all but the eight in the ark died. (Might I add, they had to enter through one door and in the New Testament Jesus is named the Door.)
Moses - brought words and miracles to a Pharaoh who would not listen until it was too late. 

John - Was instructed by God to write prophetically what the last days will be like in the Book of Revelation. 
The disciples and followers of Jesus - preached Christ crucified...the only way to salvation.

Listen:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (1Corinthians 1:17) - Paul

So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. (Acts 8:25) - Disciples

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mark 16:20) - Disciples

Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. (Mark 2:2) - Jesus

And they were preaching the gospel there. (Acts 14:7) - Disciples

Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20)

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (Acts 8:5) - Saul/Paul

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14) - all followers

The point is, as believers and followers of Christ we should be "preaching" in some way shape or form. The gospel, as seen in the last verse above, will be preached in all the world. God has a way of getting His truth out to those who will receive it.

1Corinthians 1: 21-24 - For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Our Portion

Lamentations 3:24 - “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”

We talked about the LORD (God) being our portion in Sunday school this morning. We referenced Psalm 119:57 which says: You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words.

There are several instances of this phrase about God being our portion. I have always thought portion was our all in all. We discussed how portion means a part of something. However, in this instance portion means a possession or reward. This is an amazing concept! We are a part of His inheritance, if we are in Christ Jesus.

My thoughts on all this: When we have asked Christ into our lives He is not some God in the universe anymore but is now more personal, a possession. We have become children of God after receiving Christ, which means God, as our Heavenly Father, has given us an inheritance...an inheritance or portion that each of us shared and yet all our own. I know, hard to comprehend sometimes. 

We have an amazing God. As was spoken in church yesterday morning, and is biblical... who is like our God? We cannot in our human minds understand the depths of this God...but when He becomes an integral part of our lives we gain access to this very concept of the very real, yet not fully known, amazing, unfathomable greatness of our God!

[Oh]...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

And there it is, the fullness of God, that portion. That inheritance. A part and yet the whole. Perhaps some day we will know in our spiritual minds just how awesome this God of ours is. Perhaps those who will spend eternity with Him will learn over the time of eternity everything about Him.

I’d heard this one time... In the Book of Revelation 4:8 we see this: The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Now before I go on, while we may not know who these creatures are (I don’t), there will be creatures then! One explanation of this, purely speculation, was these creatures (and perhaps all saints in heaven, those who have received Christ and are born again believers) are in such awe of what they see or hear that each “holy” (which continues night and day) is yet another revelation of God’s infinite self and character. We cannot comprehend how exceedingly great He is. It’s our faith in this Person that keeps us going. If that’s all I do is cry holy, I will be satisfied.

So, if a portion is our inheritance and He has given us this inheritance, He will also maintain it. His promises for us today are sure. He will not leave us or forsake us. He does not lie and His promises are sure. (I need to hear this myself.) He has granted us forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Portion but a whole. I want that portion. I hope you do too.

Psalm 16:5 - O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

Whoever Shall

Acts 2:21 - And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

This truth about calling on the name of the Lord can either be easy or difficult to understand. First it is the power of God! But it also is an act of our will. It’s an easy thing to do but often our will gets in the way. Oh, that pride that so strongly dwells within each of us. 

To be truly saved and called children of God, we must do exactly as the Bible suggests...

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) Repenting of sin can only be done by calling on the name of the Lord...only on the name of the Lord. Jesus Himself said that He is the only way, truth and life. No one else saves. We cannot save ourselves by good works or by knowing someone who is saved or going to church. I’m sure by now this sounds quite repetitive (and will continue to be) but there’s only one truth and one way by which we can receive forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. How many ways can it be explained? Only one way...the same way!

Let’s go one verse further, Acts 2:39, For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. This is telling us the promise of the remission of sin is for all people. This is not saying that because of one being saved, it passes on to others. Each must call on the name of the Lord. In some way, shape or form, He is extending the invitation to repent. It is up to us to respond. And a bonus when we do is the gift of the Holy Spirit who will teach us the truth. Jesus is the way to life and is the truth. He will open our understanding to the writings in the Bible.

You will note baptism comes after repentance. As a commentary I read explains: for several reasons be baptized should not be joined with for the remission of sins to teach baptismal regeneration. First, the context of this passage demonstrates that the repentance is only connected with the removal of sin at salvation: “whosoever shall call… shall be saved.” A baby can’t repent; it has no understanding of sin; so baptism for the remission of sin does not work and yet that is the way of most churches, including the one I was part of as a child. How could it be that so many churches are, sadly, mistaken? Two articles on baptism:

https://www.gotquestions.blog/biblical-baptism.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/children-baptism-communion.html

We must be able to understand we have a sinful nature and need for a Savior.  

Acts 4:12 - Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Ears to Hear, Eyes to See

Matthew 13:14-15 - For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.

...lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.

Strong words. God’s words. Truth-filled words. Maybe even words that are hard to see (read)! And the preaching of that is hard to hear, if heard. (Good news...at the end.)

Why? Because we all believe at times that we know better. We believe our morals are good enough for God. We believe in self. These too are hard words. But then why would God have had someone pen His own words:  ...lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.  Lest = for fear that. 

God has given us eyes that we might see Him through His creation. He has given us ears to hear the truth of His Word...and eyes to read it. He has given us ears and eyes to see the times we are living in and how they have been shown to us in His Book...if we take those eyes and read His words...and take those ears to a church that preaches the truth of His Word, not words to puff us up or coerce us into believing we will prosper if we plant seeds of faith into a false ministry. (This does not mean we don't tithe, according to His Word.) We need ears and eyes to know truth from lies.

The parable of the sower and the seed is what these verses allude to. The seed of God’s Word when it is heard (or read) is planted in the soil of our hearts. But we might have different soils, as the parable explains. (Luke 8:5-15)

He has given us eyes to see and ears to hear, as He says, that He might heal us. Not physical healing but spiritual healing. If one cannot see or hear properly spiritually, that healing will not happen. Eternal death comes from that. 

All hard words! But Jesus didn’t speak all words of comfort, peace and joy. His words were hard too. And often rejected. He was rejected by His own home town because who was He but the carpenter’s son. 

The enemy of our souls wants nothing more than to turn our ears and eyes away from God and life to himself and death. There is an evil spiritual realm all around us. Look at how good a job he’s doing in the world today with politics, war, and might I say, abortion and lifestyles of which He does not approve. I’m not being hateful here, just presenting God’s truth. He is also against greed, lies, lust, gluttony, pride...and more. There’s something in just that short list that can suit any one of us.  It does for me.

But here’s the good news! We can be healed! If we open our eyes to hear and our ears to listen. Don’t cast away the hard words but consider them in your heart. God wants each of us healed and the only way that can happen is through Jesus Christ. He is the Word, the hard Word, that saves us from this world’s corruption. 

The Bible is filled with examples of individuals and nations who were sinners set free. We read of their misdoings and how God forgave them when they admitted their sin before Him. Oh, people, it’s not that difficult to do. It truly is like removing chains. His words might be hard but His love is truly magnificent to those who repent and receive Him. 

Proverbs 20:12 - The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

LORD, LORD ...

Matthew 7:21-23 - Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

This can be a very troubling statement. We all think we are good. We might call ourselves Christians, but that doesn’t always mean we are good. There is only one way we can be sure. A narrow way; many Christians even believe that God wouldn’t turn anyone away, and that saying the road is narrow is absurd. But, obviously, the road is narrow because God says it is. These verses are for Christians and non-Christians alike. A sobering thought, to be sure.

I was watching a video as part of a Bible study I’m doing called Behold Your God. One of the speakers made this statement: Not everyone who says they are a Christian is a Christian. That statement is loaded!

I’ve known for many years that there is only one way to God, through His Son Jesus. No other way. No other person can be named. Some religions claim Jesus is not the only way. But there is no one else. Only one way, truth and life and that is Jesus Christ.  It’s not even about religion, but about relationship. Religion is man-centered; relationship is God-centered. Religion is works-centered; relationship is knowing that God did for us what we could not do for ourselves...redeem us. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8)

It is only through the power of God are we made a believer and follower in Christ. We are changed, as the Bible says, made whole only by the power of God, not self, not anyone else. No prayer alone will do it; not knowing someone who is born again; not even attending church. We must give ourselves over to Him (that relationship) for this change to take place. I’m sorry for those who don’t like change or are afraid of it. These will never know the power of God in their lives until they shed the pride.

We are all sinners in need of salvation. All. We are either surface Christians. in-depth Christians or none at all. We either see God as just somewhere out there loving on people and allowing any lifestyle or within our own spirits and knowing He is of great magnificence and judgment, besides love. He is ALL power!

It is true that God will receive us just as we are; but he doesn’t want us to stay that way. We are called to repent and believe...and learn the truth...and turn away from our sinful lives...and we all are there before we receive Christ...enemies of God. Only God can do this work in us but we must be willing to set aside all we think we know, or our church teaches, to know what He alone says, through His Word.

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation speaks of Jesus. It does not speak of anyone else being able to save us. It is a very interesting study. I just started rereading a book on who Jesus is in each book of the Bible. And surprisingly, in Genesis the whole reason He came is clearly evident...because of the sin of man, which separated us from God...and He had to intervene to bring about the birth of One who would save, not by the intervention of man. Only through Jesus Christ. It’s the most narrow way possible, according to scripture. 

I won’t argue with scripture. God’s Word is truth. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom.  Through the writing and words of many different men empowered by the Holy Spirit, He has revealed His magnificence, His perfect plan for mankind, that plan fallen and the reshaping of man and that plan through His Son. Will you be onboard?

Matthew 7:13-14 - Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to 

destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.