Sermon On the Mount

FAITH

 

Luke 7: Jesus went to Capernaum and upon His arrival a servant of a centurion approached and told Him that his master requested His presence because his servant had become seriously ill. While Jesus was on His way the centurion had sent friends telling Jesus that He didn’t have to come, but to just heal the servant. Jesus was quite impressed with his faith and when the friends returned they found the servant healed. In fact Jesus mentioned that He did not find as ‘great a faith in anyone, as in the servant; even in Israel.’

 

In another town Jesus came upon a funeral and discovered a widow’s only son had died. His heart went out to her and He told her not to cry and brought her son back to life.

 

Meanwhile John the Baptist sent two of his men to find out if Jesus was the one spoken about that was to come for His people. Jesus told the men to report back to John to tell him of the miracles that He was performing. After the men left Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John and told them that no greater man has ever been born of women than John. Yet the least one in Heaven is greater than John. He then chastised the crowd for not believing in John or Him. Verse 28: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

 

A Pharisee invited Jesus for dinner and while He was there a sinful woman came in and cleaned Jesus’ feet with her tears and perfume. They criticized Jesus because she was a prostitute and Jesus answered them with a parable of two men owing money, one more than the other. The creditor forgave their debts and Jesus asked them who would be more grateful. They got the point and said the one who had the greater debt. Jesus acknowledged their correct answer and said that she loved much and her many sins were forgiven. Those who love little receive little. Jesus looked at the woman and said in verse 50:  “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”

 

The events in this chapter illustrate the results of faith. Faith saves, faith heals, faith comforts us in our time of need. The deeper our faith the more we can live the life that Jesus wants for us. Remember in John 10:10 when He said, “I have come that they may have life and live it to the full.” It is absolutely amazing how your faith will deepen by reading His Living Word. Are you living your life to the full? Jesus wants you to. If you have yet to ask Jesus into your heart, in faith, now is a good time to step out in faith; this is His requirement. He wants you to confess your sins to Him and ask Him to come into your heart. No man, no organization, nothing can help you but faith in Jesus Christ, Amen!

 

 

 

Sermon On the Net

LOVE YOUR ENEMY

 

Luke 6: The Pharisees accused Jesus and the disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they picked and ate grain in the field. In verse 5 Jesus told them: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another occasion they accused Him of dishonoring the Sabbath because He healed a man with a withered hand on that day.

 

Following a night of prayer Jesus chose the twelve apostles. He then went down with them and began to preach and heal those who had come to Him. Jesus gave a sermon to the apostles telling them that the poor and the hungry would receive the kingdom of God and that they would be blessed even though men will hate them for their convictions. They are to leap for joy because of blessings they will receive. Conversely, those who laugh now, the rich, the ones of whom men speak well, these will be the ones who will mourn and weep. Verse 20: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

 

“Love your enemies,” treat them well, even lend to them if they have need. It is easy to love someone who loves you; there is nothing special in that. Be humble and loving to all. And don’t do things with the expectation of getting back; this is not giving in a loving way; be merciful to those in need. Verse 31 says to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

 

Jesus told them not to judge others, especially a brother or sister. We should be concerned with ourselves. A tree is known by its fruit; a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. What comes out of one’s mouth is coming from the heart; we are exposed with our mouth.

 

Jesus used a parable of a builder who builds on a solid foundation and one building on sand to portray the one who does the will of the Father. The truth will always be victorious and the lie will always be exposed; we must build on the truth of God.

 

In this chapter I believe the most important lesson is the one of love. Love can change the world. Can you imagine living in a world of love with everybody loving each other without the expectation of return? We all know this is impossible in this world, but in Heaven we can expect to live in a world of love because we will be with God and He is Love. The clearest evidence we have of His love is His willingness to have sacrificed Jesus on the cross for us. He did it without expectation of return; as a matter of fact He did it to provide a way for us to be able to be part of His family. He has given everyone the opportunity to be free from the clutches of Satan and to be welcomed in His arms of love. Where are you? Are you in His arms? If not, all it takes is an act of admitting your sinful nature and receiving Jesus as your Savior, once and for all time. We will have not only a great future but an opportunity to live out the rest of our time here with His blessings. I always think of that tremendous verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

 

Sermon On the Net

LISTEN AND REAP

 

 

Luke 5: Yes indeed, if we listen to the Lord we will reap the many and mighty blessings He bestows upon His children. Peter listened to the Lord when He told him to cast his net overboard, after a fruitless night of fishing and catching nothing. They almost lost their boats from the weight of the fish; two boats overflowing with the blessings of the Lord. The Lord told them they would soon become fishers of men in verse 10: “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” They followed Him after He called them to come; no hesitation, they dropped everything and followed Him.

 

While Jesus was walking in one of the towns a man with leprosy approached Him and asked to be healed. Jesus healed him and told him to tell no one, but news of Jesus spread throughout the area.

 

One day while Jesus was teaching, some men brought a paralytic to Him to be healed. When they couldn’t get through the front door they climbed on the roof and lowered him through the roof. Jesus was impressed with their faith and told him his sins were forgiven. The Pharisees that were there accused Jesus of speaking blasphemy. He then told the man to get up and go home, which was a further demonstration of His authority on earth. The crowd was finally impressed.

 

Jesus left and soon spotted Levi, a tax collector, and told him to follow Him; verse 27 says, “Follow me.” Again, without hesitation, another disciple obeyed immediately and without question. Later they had supper at Levi’s house and He was criticized because of eating with sinners, to which Jesus responded by telling them that He came to save men such as these and not the righteous. Verse 32: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentence.” Jesus continued to speak to them using parables to make His points.

My friends, now is the time for those of us who don’t know the Lord as their personal Savior to listen to His words. Seek, ask, confess your sins, receive His gift and you will be saved. You will be part of God’s family. Our God has done everything possible for your salvation, except force you into a decision, which of course He won’t do. He left the choice up to each one of us. We can either accept His call and live with Him or reject Him by doing nothing and be separated from Him for all eternity as unsaved people have chosen to do. We are born to live and we can live forever in Him. The choice is yours.

 

Sermon On the Net

IT IS WRITTEN

 

Luke 4: Yes indeed everything we need to know is written in the Bible. In the first part of this chapter Lucifer is tempting the Lord following His 40 days of fasting in the desert. He was hungry and Lucifer was trying to break His will by offering Him the world and everything in it; as if He didn’t own it already. Jesus responded by telling him in verse 4:  “man does not live by bread alone.” In verse 12 Jesus said: “It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” He also said in verse 8: “It is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  

 

Jesus went to Nazareth and went into the Temple. He was handed a scroll and Jesus read the words which told them in verses 18-19 that He was sent to ‘preach the good news’ to the people, ‘to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, restore sight to the blind and to release the oppressed.’ He gave the attendant the scroll, sat down and began to teach them. He told them in verse 21 that the scripture He had just read “was fulfilled that day.” He also said that a prophet is not recognized in his own home town. He continued to preach to them and they became furious with Him and drove Him out of town where they tried to kill Him but He slipped away. He then went to Galilee and while He was in the synagogue He ordered a demon possessed man to be free of the demon which amazed the people.

 

Jesus went to the home of Simon and healed his mother who had been stricken with fever. He healed many people in the area. At daybreak Jesus went to a solitary place to pray and the people found Him and tried to prevent His leaving. But He told them that He must do what He was sent to do which was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God; salvation; verse 43: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

 

Of all the things ever written, the two most important are to love the Lord and to love others. Before we can love the Lord we need to know Him and the only way to know Him is through the name of Jesus. We need to accept the meaning of His words preached throughout the Gospels; to recognize we are sinners and to know that the forgiveness of sin can only be achieved through accepting God’s free gift; Jesus. Yes, Jesus bridges the gap between God and man. Without Jesus people are lost to eternal separation (Hell) from God. God gave us the free will to accept Jesus or to reject Him by doing nothing. As was once said, ‘if it is to be it is up to me.’ Your choice.

 

Sermon On the Net

BAPTISM DOES NOT SAVE

 

Luke 3: There was a time in the life of Billy Graham when he was very disturbed over his belief in Christianity due to the constant torrent of criticism he was receiving from a very dear friend, Charles Templeton. Satan is always working and Billy was certainly a threat to his efforts. Charles himself had a change of belief and after a long period of preaching alongside Billy refused to believe any further in Jesus and what He represented. He became an agnostic.  Billy knew he had to come to grips with his faith, so one night he fell to his knees in prayer and confessed to God that he couldn’t answer some of the theological and psychological questions that Templeton and others were raising. He finally told the Lord he would accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God and he would not allow the words of others to influence his faith. When he got up he said he felt the power of God permeate his body and we all know the rest. His main point of all his preaching was and still is coming to Jesus in faith. The one thing I admired Billy was the Bible was always in his hand; he knew the power of the living word of God.

 

Why did I shift this letter from my usual format? Because I firmly believe that we are to keep a very simplistic approach to salvation. In this chapter we find John the Baptist fulfilling his destiny; baptizing and preparing the way for Jesus. What we need to realize is that John is baptizing the repentance of sins, that is, for people to admit their sin and try to change their ways. What we must also realize is that this type of baptism will not save anyone from the eternal separation of God. John told the crowd that his baptism was one of repentance and also told them that Jesus was coming and He would baptize with them with the Holy Spirit. A look at verse 4 reveals John’s commitment to God: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

 

Today there are many who would have you believe that you must be baptized or have some other type of ritual applied to your life to be saved. This is a blatant misleading of the people because the Bible is very simple in its message of salvation. There is one requirement of the Lord and that is to believe, in faith, that Jesus is the eternal Son of the eternal God. God and His death on the cross was the FINAL and ONLY payment for sin. Confess your sins to Him and you will receive (baptism) the Holy Spirit and you will be saved. It’s as simple as that. Billy Graham and all the great preachers believe that, why not you? John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Oh what a loving God we have.

 

If you just take the time to read His Word and let Him speak to you directly; if you do I’ll probably see you in Heaven; if you don’t I pray every day that you will do just that.